All academic writing is expected to adhere to certain guidelines, usually specified by a certain Referencing style. Examples of referencing styles include APA, Turabian, Harvard, and Chicago, to name a few. Different disciplines use different referencing styles. At Alphacrucis, we use either APA style or Turabian style. You may choose one style and use it consistently in all of your assignments.

A referencing style specifies everything from how to format your pages (such as margins, font, page numbering, etc.) to how to cite sources within the essay as well as in your list of references at the end of the essay. Your whole essay must be formatted consistently using either APA or Turabian. Ensure that you thoroughly familiarise yourself with your preferred referencing style.

Basic guidelines of both APA and Turabian styles of referencing are provided in the postgrad student handbook, and the study skills page on Moodle. You can find more detailed information about these styles in the referencing style manual for each of the styles, which can be found in the library. There is also a large body of information online on these styles of referencing.

If a referencing style is specified in an assignment (for example Turabian) but you wish to use a different referencing style (i.e. APA), ensure that you mention to the lecturer that you will be using a different referencing style than the one specified in the assignment, just so s/he is aware.