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LIBRARY GUIDE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Citing and referencing sources

Citing and referencing your sources

Being ethical and responsible when using information is something extremely important in higher education. You should always cite and reference all sources used in your assignments. This is will enable you to distinguish your own ideas from those that you have found and that were published by other people.

Avoid plagiarism!

You never start from scratch when you write an academic or a research paper (report, dissertation, article, etc.): inspiration and some ideas always come from other works and you build upon them to create new knowledge. Whenever you do this it is mandatory to cite and reference those sources. Here's why:

  • It gives credit to the authors you have cited;
  • It helps the readers to locate the cited sources;
  • It respects the copyright laws;
  • It allows you to act in a honest and responsible way (you're being ethical!).

If you don't proceed this way you might be charged of plagiarism which is a severe crime. It not only shows you don't know how to behave ethically, but it means you have infringed copyright.

University of Guelph McLaughlin Library. 2022. "Cite Your Sources: When and Why to Cite". Vídeo, 2:05. Acesso em 16/08/2023. Youtube.

What does citing mean?

  • To cite you create in the text an abbreviated form of mentioning other authors' ideas or works (such as text, images, software, formulas, among others).
  • The citation must be done in either situation: if you paraphrase (which is to explain in your own words an idea from other author), or if you make a transcription (which is to use an original extract from another's author source, placing it between inverted commas).
  • For each citation in your text, the respective bibliographic reference must be created in the list placed at the end of your document.

What does referencing mean?

  • It is a more detailed form to indicate the bibliographic data of the sources used (for example: author/s, publication date, title, publication place and editor - these are the basic elements, but more elements may be necessary).
  • The bibliographic references should be placed at the end of the document and presented as a list ordered alphabetically or numerically.
  • Each reference should appear just once on the list of bibliographic references, while the same citation can appear several times across the text.

Format for the citations and references

The format of citations and bibliographic references depends upon the style you select. There are thousands of styles available to format citations and references. FEUP's Library recommends the standard style from the University of Chicago which is Chicago Style (author- date).

How should you cite and reference your sources

You can do it manually, but there are specialized tools to help you which are reference managers such as EndNote, Mendeley or Zotero. These tools allow you to cite and manage your references in an effective and ethical way, ensuring that the application of a citation style in your documents happens automatically and is correctly accomplished. Check out bellow a brief introduction to those reference managers!

About EndNote

EndNote is a reference manager software, subscribed by the University of Porto. It helps you to manage your references and insert citations automatically while you are writing your text.

Using your UPorto credentials, you can download Endnote thorugh this link.

There are two versions: EndNote Desktop and EndNote Online. You can use one or the other, or both in an integrated way by synchronizing both versions.

EndNoteTraining. 2020. "How to use EndNote 20 in seven minutes: Windows". Youtube video, 7:02. Youtube

About Mendeley

Mendeley is a free online reference manager that allows you to manage, organize, cite while you write and even collaborate with your peers or other people.

To know more, check out this link.

Mendeley. 29/09/2020. "The new Mendeley Reference Manager". Youtube video, 2:24. Youtube.

About Zotero

Zotero is a free reference manager that allows you to store, organize, cite and share bibliographic references. 

It has a desktop version and a web version, which can be used independently or integrated.

Zotero user manuals are available online.

University of Alabama Libraries. 2021. "How to Zotero: Adding Items to your Library". Youtube video, 4:13. Youtube.

In-person Sessions and Webinars!

The library offers training sessions about how to use Endnote, Mendeley or Zotero. Check out the sessions' calendar below!

You can register in the training sessions by clicking this link!

Related guides

Check out the guides that we have at your disposal about reference managers!

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