From your reading of Chapter 2, you will know that many scientists—and academics generally—are concerned about receiving due recognition for the information, ideas and arguments which they have contributed. Often this is the only direct reward they receive for their work.

A key feature of this acknowledgment is the use of references in written work. Therefore, the proper understanding of referencing is important in making sense of much scientific and scholarly writing. In addition, you will have noticed that this book itself is referenced, and you may wish to understand the system used.

There are excellent—and lengthy—guides to the different referencing systems. The Australian Government Publishing Service (1988) for instance, devotes about thirty-five pages to explaining how to reference. We will give an outline of the two most important systems, and suggest you consult the Australian government if your thirst for knowledge is greater. Since the best way to learn something is by doing it, imagine that you are writing a piece of text, and you wish to reference it. What are you trying to do?

A reference should enable the reader of your text to find the passage which you have reproduced, or the ideas which you have used, by looking up the relevant page in the book or article from which it came. Therefore your reference must identify the book or article and state the relevant page number.