Cite Them Right is a comprehensive online guide which explains the basics of referencing and provides worked examples of how to cite just about any source (including things like social media, images and unpublished materials) using your chosen referencing style.
Print versions, along with other referencing style guides, are also available to borrow from the Philosophy Library's Study, Research and Teaching Skills collection.
Cite Them Right also provides guidance on one of the most common queries we receive: how do I cite a source quoted in another author's work (secondary referencing).
Referencing is a way of acknowledging other people’s work that you have used to produce your own essays, assignments and research. It involves providing the person reading and assessing your work with the information they need to easily refer to the source materials (e.g. books, articles, etc.) you have read or cited so that they can check your and their own understanding of them.
Correctly referencing, or citing, the sources, you have used to produce your work is good academic practice and it is essential for avoiding plagiarism (using someone else's work without proper acknowledgement). It is also important to be aware of self-plagiarism (failing to cite your own work previously submitted for publication, or using your own work that has been previously submitted for assessment as part of another assessment). This is explained further in the University's Plagiarism FAQs.
To learn more, we recommend working your way through this online tutorial on Good Academic Practice and Avoiding Plagiarism.
There are lots of different ways, or styles, you can use to cite your sources. Students in the Faculty of Philosophy can use any referencing style they wish but the ones commonly used in Philosophy are APA, Chicago, Harvard and MHRA.
General guidance on presenting and referencing your coursework is available from the Faculty website for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Guidance for MPhil Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Data and Algorithms students is available from the CFI student intranet. University account (formerly Raven) login is required to access these links.
For specific guidance, Cite them Right (University account (formerly Raven) login required) is a good place to start. It’s an excellent ‘how to guide’ to referencing using the different referencing styles commonly used in Philosophy, among others.
It's important to note down the details of the material you are reading (including author, title, publisher, place and date of publication) and the page numbers of any sections you wish to quote or paraphrase in your work.
Reference Management software is available to help you keep track of readings as you find them, and to easily create in-text citations and bibliographies in your chosen referencing style. See the Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley LibGuides to learn how they can make referencing quicker and easier and for details of available training.
Ask your supervisor if you need help choosing an appropriate referencing style or have any questions about presenting and referencing your coursework. For specific queries, try Cite them Right or contact the Philosophy Library team for help.
This page was last updated on 8 March 2025.
Information about library spaces, services and electronic resources can go out of date quickly. If you discover any incorrect information on any of the websites linked from this page, please email philosophy@lib.cam.ac.uk. We will contact the site owners and ask them to update their pages.