Complete Overview: ACU Referencing Guide

Writing your citations while having the ACU referencing guide requires careful consideration while preparing the citation. This is an important part of your writing and research submission to the university. The referencing guide of Australian Catholic University is different from that of other universities. It provides students with the proper guidelines and formatting to include in their citations. Different guidelines and instructions are provided by the Australian Catholic University in their referencing guide. We are going to cover what the referencing guide says about the citations and what the guide encompasses.

Whether it is about the ACU APA referencing guide or MLA, we will cover all of it. You will learn to appropriately cite the work you have used, and information inputted in your research from different sources. In a way, we are going to provide you with our own referencing guide for writing for ACU. We will be explaining to you in detail how to write and create citations based on the different writing styles. The common writing styles that we will be using include APA, MLA and Chicago. So, without further ado, let us open the curtains for you!

What is ACU Referencing?

The ACU referencing guide provides an overview of the way and method to cite your sources in the writing style. It provides a comprehensive reference guide on how to refer to the sources in your assignment. The reference guide provides students with information on the different types of style citations based on the writing style. It also shows examples of citing and referencing and how to use them. The referencing guide commonly used at the ACU combines the Australian Guide To Legal Citation (AGLC) for legal sources and the Harvard Referencing Style.

While we are going to cover the details of the ACU APA referencing guide, the key highlights about referencing at ACU consist of:

• Acknowledge any source of information that is not yours originally.
• Directly reference and quote an author by placing quotation marks on their name.
• Paraphrasing a particular idea/information from another source using your own words.
• Referencing any information that is general knowledge is not to be cited.
• Using reference management software to generate references automatically in a required style.
• Verify whether the automatically generated references match the examples from the ACU referencing guide.

ACU Referencing: In Three Different Writing Styles

There are different writing styles - APA, MLA, and Chicago that are generally used in academic writing. Each style follows its own pattern and structure, and even the format of how to input and show any information. Referencing, which is also known as citing, is the practice of acknowledging and citing sources of information, ideas, or data used. The basic purpose of referencing in academic writing is to provide readers with the necessary information about the original source and let them have a look at it directly. It also gives the reader the assurance that the information is accurate and makes it credible. Let’s look at the ACU APA referencing guide first, followed by referencing styles in the MLA and Chicago.

Read More: How to Cite A PDF as Per Different Referencing Styles

APA

Two parameters were followed to cite the sources in APA style: In-Text Citations and References List. Let us show you how to refer the sources in both.

In-Text Citations

• Author’s last name and the year of publication (example - Barbara, 2020)
• If the author’s name already appears in the main text, show the year in parentheses (for example - “Barbara (2020) claims that…”)
• When there are direct quotes from the author, show page numbers after the year, separated by commas (example - “Barbara, 2020, p. 231”)
• If there is confusion, then use academic writing help to properly cite your sources in APA style.
• If there are sources without page numbers, use paragraph numbers or section titles.
• Show multiple sources with a semicolon (for example - “Barbara, 2020; Henry, 2023”)

References List

• When using multiple sources, use alphabetical order with the author’s last name
• Use a hanging indent when there are entries with different span lines.
• Journal names and book titles are to be italicized.
• Include the URL or DOI (as per availability) for online sources.

MLA

The difference between the APA and MLA citation styles, as per the ACU referencing guide, is that while APA has a references list, MLA has a works cited list. It requires:

In-Text Citations

• Use the author’s last name and page number in parentheses (example - Barbara 275)
• Show page number in parentheses if author’s name appears in the main text (example - “Barbara claims this applies (275)”)
• Use paragraph numbers or section headings for sources without page numbers.
• Show multiple citations with a semicolon (example - Barbara 275; Henry, 323”)

Works Cited List

• With the author’s last name, list all the sources used in alphabetical order
• Similar to the ACU APA referencing guide, use a hanging indent for citations with multiple span lines
• Italicize the book titles and journal names; use quotation marks for article titles and chapter titles
• Include the URL and DOI for the online sources as per the availability

Chicago

The reference guide for citing your sources in Chicago style is the same as the APA style guide, except that the second point of in-text citations will not be applied. The second point of APA in-text citations is - if the author’s name already appears in the main text, show the year in parentheses. As per the ACU referencing guide, this is not a part of the Chicago style. However, everything else from this point is exactly the same as the APA citation style.

Take Professional Help to Properly Cite Your Sources

Preparing the reference list and providing citations to your sources is not an easy task. Many students find it difficult to navigate the requirements of ACU, especially when it comes to different writing styles. Different writing styles require different formatting and writing styles to cite your sources in the assignment. We suggest you take the help of our online assignment expert. They are well-qualified and equipped with all the necessary knowledge regarding the citation style. When working with our academic experts, you will be able to gain in-depth knowledge of your work. Along with that, you will have value-added services such as multiple revisions and 21-quality checking. So what are you waiting for? Signup now!