Referencing is a critical aspect when it comes to academic writing. When you correctly reference your work, you will have a perfect finish and also have support for your arguments, as presented in the dissertation.
It refers to a collection of pointers to the sources that have been mentioned or quoted. Different institutions employ different styles of referencing, but they have the common factors that must get included, which are:
There is not much of a big window when it comes to this sector. Most universities already have their systems of referencing in place, which every student is required to follow. You can choose between the parenthetical or footnote style, which is purely for Arts and Humanities, or you could opt for numerical formats that get applied in Sciences.
Referencing a dissertation will get you dealing with tens or even hundreds of sources. If you do not keep track of your sources and wait till the end to list them down, you are going to have an uphill task. Developing a systematic mannerism of tracking the work you have read or cited will help you a great deal.
You have choices to make at this point. You may use a spreadsheet or keep notes while you write. The best way to do this is to use software to manage your references. Most institutions will use subscription packages like EndNote and RefWorks to help students. You also have the option of using Zotero.
Such software contains the following features:
The packages can immensely help you save time and steer you toward completing your dissertation. Keep in mind that these platforms are man-made. Therefore, they cannot be ultimately accurate. Some errors may occur, and it is up to you to cross-check your documents for such setbacks and clean them up. You may sometimes feed in a piece of information to the wrong box, which will result in an error of placement of words. It is, therefore, best if you proofread your work before submitting it to your supervisor or tutor.