Can I use a referencing website or online tool to create my references?
Answer
Online referencing tools are not a 'magic bullet' and work best when you have a solid understanding of referencing to begin with. Without this, using referencing tools often creates more problems than it solves.
If you are a student studying at level 6 (third year undergraduate) or above, the Library supports the use of Zotero, an online reference management service. However, for foundation, first or second year students we do not recommend that you use Zotero or any similar tools.
Many of the free online tools available (such as CiteThisForMe or MyBib) rely on tying to fit data they find online into the right categories to produce a reference for you. This data is often not well-formatted, labelled or accurate, which means that the reference list entry they produce will be wrong. Moreover, because 'Harvard referencing' is not a single, universal system, the formatting may not match what we ask for in our Newman Harvard style.
If you decide to use a reference management system or an online tool, it will work best if it has "Cite them right 12th edition" available as an output style. Always carefully check any references they make for you against the Library referencing guide and correct any errors.
You can find information about Zotero and how to get started on our Library referencing guide.
