I decided to give referencing its own section within the guide because so many psychology students underestimate its importance, but the simple fact is that from an academic perspective, referencing is vitally important.
The cornerstone of any academic writing be it a term paper, essay, research project or dissertation is the dissemination of ideas. References, i.e., source material based on the views, opinions and research findings of others provide the conceptual framework necessary to engage in analytical debate.
Imagine you had to write an academic answer to the following question without references.I'm afraid from an academic perspective an unsubstantiated personal opinion is not worth the paper it's written on. This is why the convention within academia is to write in the third person?
A key aspect of referencing that psychology students tend to overlook is the fact that references allow the reader to identify access and use the material themselves.
It is also crucial to reference properly so that there can no possible suggestion of plagiarism i.e. taking and using the writings of others and passing it off as one’s own. Plagiarism is an extremely serious offence and can result in a student been expelled if found guilty.
When you begin your school, college or University course you should at some point (usually in the first week) be given specific guidelines on the standard referencing style required. In most cases this will be the APA referencing format, although many UK institutions favor the Harvard system. Make sure you have these guidelines to hand whenever you do any form of academic writing. It's the best form of referencing quality control you can have, so use the guidelines as intended.