Whenever you refer to another person's work in your own essay, dissertation or article you must acknowledge them and give full details of your source. You risk being accused of plagiarism if you fail to do so.
The APA style of referencing is recommended by the Department of Economics. This page includes guidance on using this style. For general information on referencing, including an explanation of different citation systems, and guidance on citing specific types of publication, see our Citing references guide.
For help with citing specific types of publication contact your subject librarian, Gordon Connell.
For advice on using references in your work, and how to use them to support your arguments, consult the guidance on the Study Advice website or make an appointment with them.
APA referencing is a variant on Harvard style. Many of the conventions are the same, with brief author-date citations in brackets in the body of the text and full citations in the reference list. It is usual to include a reference list only rather than a bibliography in APA style. Citations for websites are also slightly different, with no need to include an access or retrieval date unless the page content is likely to change over time.
Sources for more information
7th edition guidance
A new version of the APA style was published in 2019. Departments will gradually switch to this version - check your course handbook.
APA 7th edition differs significantly from APA 6th edition and other Harvard styles in that the place of publication is usually omitted from the reference.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 7th ed. by 
6th edition guidance
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by 
When you do your dissertation you could consider using EndNote to manage your references. This bibliographic management package can be used to store references, and then insert the citation in your Word document, automatically building the bibliography for you in the correct style.
Find out more on our EndNote webpages:
For information on other options for electronic management of your references see our guide to Managing references:
