How Should You Reference Sources in an HSC Assessment?

Use the referencing style your teacher specifies, then apply it consistently throughout your assessment. If your teacher requires Harvard, use Harvard. If they require APA or footnotes, follow those instructions instead. There isn't one referencing format that every NSW HSC assessment must use.

The important rule is that readers must be able to distinguish your own thinking from information, evidence, words, and ideas that came from someone else. You need to acknowledge those sources accurately, both when you quote someone directly and when you explain their ideas in your own words.

NESA's academic honesty guidance requires students to acknowledge material originating from other sources. This includes books, journal articles, websites, images, data, other students' work, and generative AI. Failing to acknowledge these contributions can constitute plagiarism and lead to malpractice procedures ([NESA: How to acknowledge a source](https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/all-my-own-work/how-do-i-acknowledge-other-peoples-work/acknowledge-source); [NESA: 2026 Rules and Procedures](https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/rules-and-procedures/2026-guide/before-you-start-your-hsc)).

## What does referencing actually involve?

Imagine you're writing a Biology assessment about the effect of temperature on enzyme activity.

You find a scientific article explaining why an enzyme's activity decreases when its structure changes at high temperatures. You understand the explanation and use it to support your own argument.

The scientific explanation isn't your original discovery. Even if you rewrite every sentence yourself, the underlying idea came from the article.

Referencing makes that connection visible. It tells your teacher:

- Which information came from another source.
- Who originally produced that information.
- Where the information can be checked.
- Which parts of your assessment represent your own analysis.

Think of a reference as a trail back to the evidence. A reader should be able to follow that trail without having to guess which website, book, or article you used.

[IMAGE: An annotated HSC Biology assessment draft on a student's desk, showing an original paragraph with a highlighted paraphrase, an in-text author-date citation, and a corresponding reference-list entry. Use callouts to show how the citation connects the paragraph to the full source.]

## The two places you need to acknowledge a source

NESA identifies two places where sources should be acknowledged:

1. Within the assessment, at the point where you use the source.
2. In a reference list at the end of the assessment.

These serve different purposes.

### 1. In-text citations

An in-text citation appears alongside the information you've borrowed. It identifies the source without interrupting the flow of your explanation.

For example, using a simplified Harvard author-date format:

> Enzyme activity generally increases with temperature until the enzyme reaches its optimum temperature, after which activity decreases as the enzyme's structure is disrupted (Smith, 2023).

The citation tells the reader that the scientific explanation is supported by Smith's work.

Notice that the citation appears immediately after the borrowed idea. It doesn't sit at the end of the entire assessment, where the reader might struggle to identify which claims it supports.

Depending on your teacher's required style, the citation might instead appear as a footnote or endnote.

### 2. The reference list

The reference list gives the complete details of the sources you cited.

For the example above, a reference entry might look like this:

> Smith, J. (2023). *Understanding enzyme activity*. Example Science Publishing.

This is a fictional source used to demonstrate the format, not a real scientific reference.

The in-text citation and reference-list entry must match. If you cite Smith (2023) in your assessment, the reader should be able to find Smith's 2023 publication in your reference list.

NESA also makes an important distinction between a reference list and a bibliography:

| Reference list | Bibliography |
|---|---|
| Contains the sources cited in your assessment. | Can include sources you consulted while preparing your assessment, even if you didn't cite them directly. |
| Every cited source should appear here. | May contain additional background reading. |

You may be asked to provide both. Follow the task instructions rather than assuming that one replaces the other.

## How to reference different types of sources

The basic principle stays the same, but the information required depends on the source.

The following examples use a simplified Harvard author-date approach to demonstrate the structure. They are not a replacement for your school's referencing guide.

### Websites

For a webpage, record the organisation or author, publication year (if available), page title, website name, and URL.

**In-text citation:**

> The rate of photosynthesis is affected by environmental conditions, including light intensity (Organisation Name, 2024).

**Reference list:**

> Organisation Name (2024). *Factors affecting photosynthesis*. Website Name. Available at: https://example.com/photosynthesis

### Books

For a book, record the author's name, publication year, title, edition if relevant, and publisher.

**In-text citation:**

> The development of the atomic model involved successive changes as new experimental evidence became available (Brown, 2022).

**Reference list:**

> Brown, T. (2022). *Introduction to atomic theory*. 3rd ed. Example Academic Press.

### Journal articles

For a journal article, include the author, year, article title, journal name, volume, issue, and page range where available. A DOI should be included when applicable.

**In-text citation:**

> Experimental evidence suggests that the relationship between temperature and reaction rate depends on the activation energy of the reaction (Jones and Lee, 2021).

**Reference list:**

> Jones, R. and Lee, M. (2021). Temperature and reaction kinetics. *Journal of Chemical Education*, 98(4), pp. 120-126.

These are fictional examples. Do not use invented publication details in your actual assessment.

### Images, graphs, and tables

Images and data need acknowledgement too.

Suppose you include a graph from a scientific website showing the relationship between temperature and enzyme activity. Even if you redraw the graph yourself, the underlying data still came from that source.

You should acknowledge the original source in the figure caption and include the source in your reference list, following your teacher's required format.

For example:

> Figure 1. Relationship between temperature and enzyme activity. Source: Smith (2023).

If you modify an existing graph, make that clear:

> Figure 1. Adapted from Smith (2023).

Redrawing someone else's graph does not make the original data your own.

[IMAGE: Side-by-side comparison of an original scientific graph copied from a source and a student-redrawn version using the same data. Include clear figure captions distinguishing 'Source' from 'Adapted from', with a matching reference-list entry.]

## Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarising: what's the difference?

These three methods are easy to confuse. The difference is important because changing the wording doesn't automatically make an idea your own.

### Quoting: using the exact words

A quotation reproduces the original author's words.

Use quotation marks around a short direct quotation, and include a citation that identifies the source. Some referencing styles also require a page number or paragraph number.

For example:

> Smith (2023, p. 42) states that "enzyme activity depends on the structure of the active site".

The quotation marks show that those words belong to Smith, not you.

Use direct quotations when the original wording is particularly important. In most science and mathematics assessments, explaining evidence in your own words is usually more useful than filling your response with quotations.

### Paraphrasing: explaining the idea in your own words

A paraphrase communicates the original meaning using your own sentence structure and wording.

Original source:

> Enzyme activity increases as temperature rises until the enzyme reaches its optimum temperature. Above this temperature, changes to the enzyme's three-dimensional structure can reduce its ability to bind to the substrate.

Possible paraphrase:

> Increasing temperature initially raises enzyme activity because particles have more kinetic energy and collide more frequently. However, excessive heating can alter the enzyme's shape, reducing the number of substrates that can bind successfully (Smith, 2023).

The wording and sentence structure have changed, but the scientific explanation still comes from Smith. The citation is therefore necessary.

A useful test is this: if you had not read the original source, would you have known this particular information? If not, acknowledge where it came from.

### Summarising: presenting the main idea briefly

A summary condenses a larger section of information into its essential points.

For example:

> Smith (2023) explains that temperature affects enzyme activity by changing both particle motion and, at sufficiently high temperatures, enzyme structure.

This doesn't reproduce the detailed explanation. It identifies the central idea in a shorter form.

A summary still needs a citation because the underlying ideas came from the original source.

[IMAGE: Three clearly separated versions of one scientific source passage: a short direct quotation with quotation marks, a genuine paraphrase with different sentence structure, and a concise summary. Show the citation attached to each version.]

## Worked example: building a properly referenced paragraph

Let's put the pieces together.

Imagine your Biology assessment asks:

*Explain how temperature affects the activity of an enzyme.*

You have found a source discussing enzyme activity and want to use its explanation in your response.

For this demonstration, assume the source is the fictional publication by Smith (2023), introduced earlier.

A weak response might look like this:

> Enzyme activity increases as temperature rises because particles gain kinetic energy. However, at high temperatures, enzymes become denatured and cannot function properly.

The explanation may be scientifically correct, but the reader cannot tell whether you developed it independently or obtained it from another source.

Adding a reference is only the first step. You should also connect the evidence to your own explanation.

A stronger response would be:

> Increasing temperature initially increases enzyme activity because particles gain kinetic energy, resulting in more frequent successful collisions between enzymes and substrates (Smith, 2023). However, above the enzyme's optimum temperature, changes to its three-dimensional structure can alter the shape of the active site. This reduces the number of successful enzyme-substrate interactions. Therefore, although increasing temperature initially increases activity, excessive heating causes activity to decrease.

Notice what has happened.

- The first sentence uses scientific information from the source and acknowledges it.
- The second sentence develops the explanation.
- The final sentence draws the ideas together into a clear conclusion.

The citation doesn't replace your own thinking. It supports it.

[IMAGE: An annotated version of the completed Biology paragraph, with the source-supported scientific explanation highlighted separately from the student's connecting reasoning and concluding sentence. Include a matching Smith (2023) reference entry.]

## A practical process for referencing your assessment

Referencing becomes much easier if you organise sources while researching rather than trying to reconstruct everything the night before submission.

[IMAGE: A student research workflow showing a webpage being recorded in source notes, key information being paraphrased into an assessment draft, an in-text citation being inserted, and the full entry being transferred into an alphabetical reference list.]

Use this process:

**Step 1: Record the source immediately.**

Whenever you find useful information, record its author, title, publication date, website or publisher, URL, and any other details your required style needs.

Don't rely on your browser history to reconstruct your research later.

**Step 2: Separate source information from your own notes.**

Make it clear which statements are direct quotations, which are paraphrases, and which are your own analysis.

Quotation marks in your research notes are useful. They help prevent you from accidentally copying a source's wording into your assessment without acknowledging it.

**Step 3: Add the citation while writing.**

Don't leave every citation until the final editing stage. Insert the citation as soon as you use a source.

This makes it much harder to lose track of where an idea originated.

**Step 4: Build the reference list.**

Collect the full details of every source cited in your work. Arrange the entries according to the rules of your chosen referencing style.

For a typical Harvard reference list, entries are arranged alphabetically by the author's surname or organisation name.

**Step 5: Check both directions.**

Read through your assessment and check that every borrowed quotation, paraphrase, summary, image, and set of data has an appropriate acknowledgement.

Then check that every in-text citation or footnote has a matching reference-list entry.

**Step 6: Check the actual source.**

Open each source and confirm that it exists, that the author and publication details are correct, and that it genuinely supports the claim you have attributed to it.

A reference that looks convincing but leads to a non-existent article is not acceptable. NESA explicitly identifies referencing non-existent sources as an example of misrepresentation.

## What if you use AI or another person's help?

This is worth addressing because referencing a source and having permission to use it are two different things.

Acknowledging AI assistance does not automatically make AI-generated assessment work permissible.

NESA requires HSC assessment work to reflect your own knowledge and capability. Its rules also identify unauthorised generative AI use as a potential breach of academic integrity. Your school's AI policy determines what assistance is permitted for a particular task.

Before using AI to research, summarise, draft, edit, or generate references, check the instructions for your assessment. If AI use is permitted, follow the school's requirements for acknowledging it. If it is prohibited, citing the tool does not make its use acceptable.

Similarly, acknowledging a tutor, friend, or family member does not make substantial unauthorised contributions to an individual assessment acceptable.

For a more detailed discussion, read [Can You Use AI for HSC Assessments? A Practical Checklist](https://tutorgum.com/learn/resources/can-you-use-ai-for-hsc-assessments-a-practical-boundary-checklist/).

## Questions and solutions

The following questions move from identifying a citation to making more careful decisions about source ownership, paraphrasing, and academic integrity.

### Question 1

A student writes:

> The rate of a chemical reaction generally increases as temperature increases because a greater proportion of particles have enough energy to react.

They obtained this explanation from a textbook but rewrote it in their own words.

Do they need to include a citation? Explain your answer.

### Solution 1

Yes. The student needs to cite the textbook because the scientific explanation came from another source.

Changing the wording does not change the origin of the idea. This is paraphrasing, and paraphrased information must still be acknowledged.

The student should include an appropriate in-text citation or footnote, depending on the required style, and provide the complete textbook details in the reference list.

### Question 2

A student uses two sources in a Mathematics investigation.

- Source A is a book by Taylor, published in 2022.
- Source B is a webpage published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2024.

The student cites both sources in the assessment using Harvard author-date referencing.

Which source should appear first in the reference list, and why? Does the order in which the sources were used in the assessment matter?

### Solution 2

Source B should appear first if the organisation's name, Australian Bureau of Statistics, is used as its author.

The reference list is arranged alphabetically by author or organisation name, not by publication date or the order in which sources appear in the assessment.

The correct order is:

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024).
2. Taylor (2022).

The organisation's name begins with A, which comes before T.

This is why a reference list is not simply a record of your research process. It follows a consistent sorting system that makes individual sources easier to locate.

### Question 3

A student finds a journal article containing the following sentence:

> The resistance of a metallic conductor increases as its temperature rises.

They write:

> When a metal wire becomes hotter, its electrical resistance becomes greater (Lee, 2021).

They then include Lee (2021) in their reference list.

Has the student paraphrased the source appropriately? Explain what else they should consider.

### Solution 3

The student has changed the wording, but whether the paraphrase is sufficiently independent depends on how closely it follows the original source and whether the student understands the idea.

The sentence communicates the same basic relationship, but it is a very close paraphrase. Simply replacing a few words with synonyms is not a reliable way to demonstrate independent expression.

A stronger response would explain the relationship in the context of the student's argument:

> As a metallic wire heats up, its resistance increases. The greater thermal vibration of the metal's lattice ions makes it more difficult for conduction electrons to move through the conductor (Lee, 2021).

This version develops the physical explanation rather than simply restating the original sentence.

The student should also verify that Lee (2021) actually supports the additional explanation about lattice vibrations. A citation must support the specific claim being made, not just a broadly related topic.

### Question 4

A student includes a graph in a Physics assessment.

They find a published graph showing the relationship between the potential difference across a conductor and the current through it. They redraw the graph using the original data but change the colours, labels, and formatting.

They then include the statement:

> Figure 2. Current against potential difference for a metallic conductor.

They do not acknowledge the original publication because they created the graph themselves.

Is this acceptable? Explain how the student should correct the figure.

### Solution 4

No. The student must acknowledge the original source because the data came from another publication, even though they drew the graph themselves.

Changing the appearance of a graph does not change the origin of its data.

A suitable caption would be:

> Figure 2. Current against potential difference for a metallic conductor. Adapted from Author (Year).

The student should also include the full source details in the reference list.

There is another important distinction here. If the student collected their own experimental data and created a graph from those measurements, they would not cite an external source for the data. However, if the graph's underlying measurements came from someone else's publication, that source must be acknowledged.

The key is to identify the origin of the information, not simply who performed the formatting.

### Question 5

A student is preparing an individual HSC Chemistry investigation.

They find a published scientific article containing an explanation of a reaction mechanism. They also use an AI tool to simplify the explanation, then discuss it with a tutor, who suggests a more accurate way to describe one of the reaction steps.

The student checks the article, understands the mechanism, and writes a new explanation in their own words. They cite the scientific article, but they do not mention the AI tool or the tutor.

They argue that the final explanation is their own because they understand the chemistry and wrote every sentence themselves.

Is that argument sufficient to establish that the assessment is academically honest? Explain how the student should decide what to acknowledge and what work they are permitted to submit.

### Solution 5

No. Writing the final sentences independently and understanding the chemistry are important, but they do not automatically establish that every part of the student's process was permitted or properly acknowledged.

There are three separate contributions to consider.

**First, the scientific article.**

The original reaction mechanism and scientific explanation came from the article. The student must acknowledge it, even though the final wording is their own.

**Second, the AI tool.**

The student must check the school's AI policy and the specific assessment instructions. If the use of AI to simplify or interpret scientific material was permitted, they must follow the required acknowledgement procedure. If that use was prohibited, citing the AI tool does not make the assistance permissible.

There is also a distinction between acknowledging an AI tool and using it as an authoritative scientific source. An AI-generated explanation is not a substitute for checking the underlying scientific evidence.

**Third, the tutor's contribution.**

The student needs to consider the extent of the tutor's assistance and the assessment conditions. A brief explanation that helps a student understand a concept is different from another person developing a substantial part of an individual assessment response.

If the tutor supplied a specific scientific explanation that the student incorporated, the student should check whether the assistance must be acknowledged. More importantly, they must ensure that the tutor's contribution does not breach the school's rules about assistance with individual assessment work.

The tempting argument is that the final words are original, so the work must be entirely the student's own. That confuses original wording with independent work.

Academic honesty involves more than avoiding copied sentences. It requires honest acknowledgement of outside contributions, compliance with assessment conditions, and work that genuinely demonstrates the student's own knowledge and understanding.

The student should check the task notification and school's malpractice and AI policies, and ask their teacher if the permitted level of assistance is unclear. They should also retain their research notes and drafts so they can explain how their understanding and response developed.

## Final referencing checklist

Before submitting your assessment, work through this list:

- [ ] I have followed the referencing style specified by my teacher.
- [ ] I have acknowledged every borrowed quotation, paraphrase, summary, idea, image, graph, and set of data.
- [ ] I have placed citations or footnotes where the borrowed information appears.
- [ ] My quotations use the original wording and are clearly identified.
- [ ] My paraphrases use genuinely independent wording and sentence structure.
- [ ] Every in-text citation or footnote has a matching reference-list entry.
- [ ] My reference list is arranged and formatted consistently.
- [ ] Every source exists and supports the claim I have attributed to it.
- [ ] I have followed my school's rules for AI use and outside assistance.
- [ ] I have retained enough research notes and drafts to explain how I developed my work.

The most useful habit is to reference as you research, not after you finish writing. It saves time, prevents missing citations, and makes it easier to separate your own reasoning from the evidence supporting it.

If you are unsure about a particular source or referencing format, ask your teacher before submitting. NESA provides the overarching academic honesty requirements, but your teacher's instructions and your school's assessment policy determine the practical referencing requirements for your task.

For help interpreting those instructions, see [How to Read an HSC Assessment Notification Effectively](https://tutorgum.com/learn/resources/how-to-read-an-hsc-assessment-notification-weighting-outcomes-and-marking-criteria/). 

Use the referencing style your teacher specifies, then apply it consistently throughout your assessment. If your teacher requires Harvard, use Harvard. If they require APA or footnotes, follow those instructions instead. There isn't one referencing format that every NSW HSC assessment must use.

The important rule is that readers must be able to distinguish your own thinking from information, evidence, words, and ideas that came from someone else. You need to acknowledge those sources accurately, both when you quote someone directly and when you explain their ideas in your own words.

NESA's academic honesty requirements apply to all HSC assessment tasks. Its 2026 Rules and Procedures guide requires students to acknowledge work originating from other people, including material from books, journals, websites, generative AI, and other students. Failing to acknowledge sources appropriately can constitute plagiarism and lead to malpractice procedures (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.1).

## First, understand which referencing rules apply

Before you start formatting citations, establish what your assessment actually requires.

NESA recognises several referencing styles, including:

- Harvard (author-date).
- American Psychological Association (APA).
- Modern Language Association (MLA).
- Oxford (footnotes or documentary-note referencing).

NESA's All My Own Work guidance requires students to use a consistent, correctly formatted referencing style. It also directs students to check with their teachers if they are unsure which style to use. For external assessments, students should consult the relevant NESA course syllabus for referencing information (NSW Education Standards Authority, n.d.).

There are a few different responsibilities to understand:

| Who sets the requirements? | What you need to know |
|---|---|
| NESA | Establishes the overarching HSC academic honesty and malpractice requirements. |
| Your school and teacher | Specify the referencing style and assessment conditions for school-based tasks, including applicable AI and assistance policies. |
| An external institution or provider | May have additional task-specific instructions. Check these through your school or assessment coordinator. |
| UAC | Manages university applications and offers. It does not determine the referencing format for your school-based HSC assessment. |

The distinction is important. A school might require Harvard referencing for a particular assignment, but that does not establish a universal NSW requirement to use Harvard in every subject.

Your first practical step should be to check your assessment notification and ask your teacher if the referencing requirements aren't clear.

For more guidance on interpreting task instructions, see [How to Read an HSC Assessment Notification Effectively](https://tutorgum.com/learn/resources/how-to-read-an-hsc-assessment-notification-weighting-outcomes-and-marking-criteria/).

## The two places you need to acknowledge a source

Imagine you're writing a Biology assessment about enzyme activity.

You find a scientific article explaining why an enzyme's activity decreases when its structure changes at high temperatures. You understand the explanation and use it to support your own argument.

The scientific explanation isn't your original discovery. Even if you rewrite every sentence yourself, the underlying idea came from the article.

Referencing makes that connection visible.

NESA identifies two places where sources should be acknowledged:

### 1. In-text citations

An in-text citation appears alongside the information you've borrowed. It identifies the source without interrupting the flow of your explanation.

For example, using a simplified Harvard author-date format:

> Increasing temperature initially increases enzyme activity because particles gain kinetic energy, resulting in more frequent successful collisions between enzymes and substrates (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026).

The citation tells the reader that the explanation is supported by the cited source.

Notice that the citation appears immediately after the borrowed information. It doesn't sit at the end of the entire assessment, where the reader might struggle to identify which claims it supports.

Depending on your teacher's required style, the acknowledgement might instead appear as a footnote or endnote.

### 2. The reference list

The reference list gives the complete details of the sources you cited.

For example, a real NESA webpage used in this guide can be referenced as follows:

> NSW Education Standards Authority (n.d.) '3.3 How to acknowledge a source', *All My Own Work*, NSW Government. Available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/all-my-own-work/how-do-i-acknowledge-other-peoples-work/acknowledge-source (Accessed: 9 November 2026).

The in-text citation and reference-list entry must match.

If you cite the NSW Education Standards Authority in your assessment, the reader should be able to locate the corresponding entry in your reference list.

NESA makes an important distinction between a reference list and a bibliography:

| Reference list | Bibliography |
|---|---|
| Contains the sources cited in your assessment. | Can include sources you consulted while preparing your assessment, even if you didn't cite them directly. |
| Every cited source should appear here. | May contain additional background reading. |

You may be asked to provide both. Follow the task instructions rather than assuming that one replaces the other.

[IMAGE: An annotated HSC assessment draft showing an in-text author-date citation connected by a clear visual line to its full entry in an alphabetical reference list. Include a second, uncited research source to illustrate the difference between a reference list and a bibliography.]

## Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarising

These three methods are easy to confuse. The difference matters because changing the wording doesn't automatically make an idea your own.

### Quoting: using the exact words

A quotation reproduces the original author's words.

Use quotation marks around a direct quotation, and include a citation that identifies the source. Some referencing styles also require a page number or paragraph number.

For example, NESA states:

> "You must acknowledge any part of your work that was written, created or developed by someone other than you." (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.1)

The quotation marks show that those words belong to NESA, not you.

Use direct quotations when the original wording is particularly important. In most science and mathematics assessments, explaining evidence in your own words is usually more useful than filling your response with quotations.

### Paraphrasing: explaining an idea in your own words

A paraphrase communicates the original meaning using your own wording and sentence structure.

Consider the NESA statement above.

A suitable paraphrase would be:

> Students are responsible for identifying material in their assessments that originated from other people, rather than presenting that material as their own (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.1).

The sentence communicates the same principle, but the wording and structure are different.

The citation is still necessary because the underlying idea came from NESA.

A useful test is this: if you had not read the original source, would you have known this particular information? If not, acknowledge where it came from.

### Summarising: presenting the main idea briefly

A summary condenses a larger section of information into its essential points.

For example:

> NESA considers acknowledging outside contributions an essential part of academic honesty (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026).

This doesn't reproduce the detailed explanation. It identifies the central idea in a shorter form.

A summary still needs a citation because the underlying ideas came from the original source.

[IMAGE: Three side-by-side versions of the same NESA statement: a direct quotation with quotation marks, a genuine paraphrase with different sentence structure, and a concise summary. Show the corresponding author-date citation beside each version.]

### A common mistake: changing a few words

Consider this original sentence:

> Students must acknowledge any part of their work that was written, created or developed by someone other than them.

A student rewrites it as:

> Students should acknowledge parts of their work that were written, made or developed by someone else (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026).

This is too close to the original wording to be a convincing independent paraphrase.

Replacing individual words with synonyms doesn't demonstrate that you've independently explained the idea.

A better approach is to understand the principle first, put the original source aside, and explain the meaning naturally in your own sentence structure. Then check your explanation against the source and add the citation.

Remember: a citation doesn't give you permission to reproduce someone else's writing without identifying it as a quotation.

## How to reference different types of sources

The basic principle stays the same, but the information required depends on the source.

The following are simplified Harvard-style structures, not completed references. Your school's referencing guide may require different punctuation, ordering, or additional details.

### Websites

For a webpage, record the author or organisation, publication year, page title, website name, and URL.

**General structure:**

> Author or organisation (Year) 'Page title', *Website name*. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

If no publication date is provided, don't invent one. Follow your referencing guide for how to identify an undated source.

Also, cite the actual webpage you used rather than the search engine that helped you find it.

### Books

For a book, record the author's name, publication year, title, edition if relevant, and publisher.

**General structure:**

> Surname, Initial. (Year) *Book title*. Edition. Publisher.

If you use a specific page or chapter, check whether your required style asks you to identify it in the citation.

### Journal articles

For a journal article, include the author, year, article title, journal name, volume, issue, and page range where available. Include a DOI when applicable.

**General structure:**

> Surname, Initial. (Year) 'Article title', *Journal Name*, volume(issue), pp. page range. DOI.

Journal articles are particularly useful for scientific assessments because they can provide detailed experimental evidence and explanations.

However, finding an article in a scientific journal doesn't automatically mean its conclusions are reliable. You still need to assess the quality of its methods and evidence.

### Images, graphs, and tables

Images and data need acknowledgement too.

Suppose you include a graph from a scientific publication showing the relationship between temperature and enzyme activity.

Even if you redraw the graph yourself, the underlying data still came from that publication.

You should acknowledge the original source in the figure caption and include the source in your reference list.

For example:

> Figure 1. Relationship between temperature and enzyme activity. Source: Author (Year).

If you modify an existing graph, make that clear:

> Figure 1. Relationship between temperature and enzyme activity. Adapted from Author (Year).

Redrawing someone else's graph does not make the original data your own.

[IMAGE: Side-by-side comparison of a published scientific graph and a student-redrawn version using the same data. Show matching axes and data points, with captions distinguishing 'Source' from 'Adapted from'. Include the connection to the corresponding reference-list entry.]

## Worked example: building a properly referenced paragraph

Let's put the pieces together using an actual NESA source.

Suppose your assessment asks:

*Explain why acknowledging sources is important in HSC assessments.*

You have consulted NESA's 2026 Rules and Procedures guide and its All My Own Work referencing guidance.

You want to use the information to support your own explanation.

**Step 1: Identify the information you want to use.**

NESA explains that students must acknowledge material originating from other people. Its guidance includes books, journals, online resources, AI, and peers.

**Step 2: Explain the idea in your own words.**

You could write:

> Academic honesty requires students to distinguish their own contributions from material obtained elsewhere. This includes acknowledging information taken from published sources, online resources, and other people's work (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.1).

This is a paraphrase. The explanation has been rewritten, but the original source is acknowledged.

**Step 3: Connect the evidence to your argument.**

Continue:

> This allows readers and assessors to identify the origins of the evidence supporting an argument. It also makes it possible to check whether the information has been represented accurately.

The second part develops the significance of the requirement rather than simply repeating the source.

**Step 4: Include the full reference.**

The corresponding reference-list entry is:

> NSW Education Standards Authority (2026) '2. Before you start your HSC', *Rules and Procedures guide 2026*, NSW Government. Available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/rules-and-procedures/2026-guide/before-you-start-your-hsc (Accessed: 9 November 2026).

The citation and reference now work together.

Notice that the source supports the explanation, but the student still needs to develop the argument themselves. Referencing doesn't replace analysis.

## A practical process for referencing your assessment

Referencing becomes much easier if you organise sources while researching rather than trying to reconstruct everything the night before submission.

[IMAGE: A student research workflow showing a webpage being recorded in source notes, key information being paraphrased into an assessment draft, an in-text citation being inserted, and the complete entry being transferred into an alphabetically organised reference list.]

Use this process.

**Step 1: Record the source immediately.**

Whenever you find useful information, record its author, title, publication date, website or publisher, URL, and any other details your required style needs.

Don't rely on your browser history to reconstruct your research later.

**Step 2: Separate source information from your own notes.**

Make it clear which statements are direct quotations, which are paraphrases, and which are your own analysis.

Quotation marks in your research notes are useful. They help prevent you from accidentally copying a source's wording into your assessment without acknowledging it.

**Step 3: Add the citation while writing.**

Don't leave every citation until the final editing stage. Insert the citation as soon as you use a source.

This makes it much harder to lose track of where an idea originated.

**Step 4: Build the reference list.**

Collect the full details of every source cited in your work. Arrange the entries according to the rules of your referencing style.

For a typical Harvard reference list, entries are arranged alphabetically by the author's surname or organisation name.

**Step 5: Check both directions.**

Read through your assessment and check that every borrowed quotation, paraphrase, summary, image, and set of data has an appropriate acknowledgement.

Then check that every in-text citation or footnote has a matching reference-list entry.

**Step 6: Check the actual source.**

Open each source and confirm that it exists, that the author and publication details are correct, and that it genuinely supports the claim you have attributed to it.

A reference that looks convincing but leads to a non-existent article is not acceptable. NESA explicitly identifies referencing fabricated or non-existent sources as an example of misrepresentation (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.2).

## What if you use AI or another person's help?

This is worth addressing because referencing a source and having permission to use it are two different things.

Acknowledging AI assistance does not automatically make AI-generated assessment work permissible.

NESA's 2026 Rules and Procedures identify unauthorised use of generative AI as a form of malpractice. Its academic honesty requirements also apply to material developed by other people, including tutors and subject experts.

Your school's AI policy and the specific assessment instructions determine what assistance is permitted.

Before using AI to research, summarise, draft, edit, or generate references, check the conditions of your assessment.

If AI use is permitted, follow the required acknowledgement procedure. If it is prohibited, citing the tool does not make its use acceptable.

Similarly, acknowledging a tutor, friend, or family member does not make substantial unauthorised contributions to an individual assessment acceptable.

One useful distinction is that NESA does not require formal acknowledgement of material you learnt from your teacher in class. However, if you use an external article, published diagram, or other resource supplied during a lesson, you still need to acknowledge the original source where appropriate (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.1).

For a more detailed discussion, read [Can You Use AI for HSC Assessments? A Practical Checklist](https://tutorgum.com/learn/resources/can-you-use-ai-for-hsc-assessments-a-practical-boundary-checklist/).

## Questions and solutions

The following questions move from identifying a citation to making more careful decisions about source ownership, paraphrasing, and academic integrity.

### Question 1

A student writes:

> The rate of a chemical reaction generally increases as temperature increases because a greater proportion of particles have enough energy to react.

They obtained this explanation from a textbook but rewrote it in their own words.

Do they need to include a citation? Explain your answer.

### Solution 1

Yes. The student needs to cite the textbook because the scientific explanation came from another source.

Changing the wording does not change the origin of the idea. This is paraphrasing, and paraphrased information must still be acknowledged.

The student should include an appropriate in-text citation or footnote, depending on the required style, and provide the complete textbook details in the reference list.

### Question 2

A student uses three sources in a Mathematics investigation:

- A webpage authored by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- A webpage authored by the NSW Education Standards Authority.
- A book written by an author whose surname is Taylor.

All three sources are cited in the assessment.

The student also read a fourth article during their research but did not use any information from it.

Explain:

a) In what order should the three cited sources appear in a typical Harvard reference list?

b) Should the fourth article automatically be included in the reference list?

c) What changes if the teacher requests a bibliography rather than a reference list?

### Solution 2

a) The three sources should appear in alphabetical order according to their author or organisation names:

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
2. NSW Education Standards Authority.
3. Taylor.

The order is determined by the author or organisation, not the publication date or the order in which the sources appear in the assessment.

b) No. If the student is preparing a reference list, the fourth article should not automatically be included because it wasn't cited in the assessment.

c) A bibliography can include sources consulted during research, even if they weren't directly cited. Therefore, the fourth article may belong in the bibliography.

The important distinction is that a reference list records acknowledged sources, while a bibliography can provide a broader record of the research undertaken.

### Question 3

A student finds the following sentence in a NESA publication:

> You must acknowledge any part of your work that was written, created or developed by someone other than you.

The student includes this sentence in their assessment but removes the quotation marks. They add an in-text citation immediately afterwards.

They argue that the citation is sufficient because the original source has been identified.

Is the student's approach correct? Explain two ways they could fix the problem.

### Solution 3

No. The citation identifies the source, but it does not make the copied wording an acceptable paraphrase.

The student has reproduced the original sentence almost exactly. Removing the quotation marks does not change the fact that the wording belongs to NESA.

There are two ways to correct the problem.

**Option 1: Use a direct quotation.**

The student can reproduce the original sentence using quotation marks and include the required citation and any page or paragraph locator specified by their referencing style.

**Option 2: Write a genuine paraphrase.**

The student could explain the idea using a different sentence structure:

> Students must identify contributions originating from other people rather than presenting those contributions as their own (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2026, section 2.1).

This communicates the original principle in a new form while acknowledging its source.

The important distinction is that a paraphrase requires more than swapping individual words. The student needs to understand the original idea and explain it independently.

### Question 4

A student includes a graph in a Physics assessment.

They find a published graph showing the relationship between potential difference and current for a metallic conductor. They redraw the graph using the original data but change the colours, labels, and formatting.

Their figure caption reads:

> Figure 2. Current against potential difference for a metallic conductor.

They do not acknowledge the original publication because they created the graph themselves.

Is this acceptable? Explain how the student should correct the figure and reference the original information.

### Solution 4

No. The student must acknowledge the original source because the data came from another publication, even though they drew the graph themselves.

Changing the appearance of a graph does not change the origin of its data.

A suitable caption would be:

> Figure 2. Current against potential difference for a metallic conductor. Adapted from Author (Year).

The student should also include the full source details in the reference list.

There is another important distinction. If the student collected their own experimental data and created a graph from those measurements, they would not cite an external source for the measurements themselves.

However, if the graph's underlying measurements came from someone else's publication, that source must be acknowledged.

The key is to identify the origin of the information, not simply who performed the formatting.

### Question 5

A student is preparing an individual HSC Chemistry investigation.

They find a scientific review article, which we will call Source R. The review discusses an original research paper, Source P, and includes a graph adapted from that original paper.

The student reads Source R but never accesses Source P.

They then:

- Paraphrase an explanation from Source R.
- Redraw the graph using the data presented in Source R.
- Ask an AI tool to summarise the explanation in Source R and use that summary to help draft their paragraph.
- Cite only Source P, arguing that it is the original scientific publication and therefore the most appropriate source.

The assessment notification explicitly states that AI may be used to generate research search terms, but not to summarise sources or draft assessment responses.

What should the student change before submitting their work? Explain the different issues involving source attribution, secondary sources, graph data, and permitted AI assistance.

### Solution 5

The student needs to change their approach before submitting. Citing the original research paper does not resolve the problems with their source attribution or unauthorised AI use.

There are three separate issues.

**First: the student must acknowledge the source they actually consulted.**

The student has read Source R, not Source P.

Although Source P is the original research publication, the student cannot imply that they personally consulted it. Their explanation is based on information obtained through Source R.

They should therefore acknowledge Source R as the source they actually used.

If their teacher's required referencing style permits secondary citations, they can identify Source P as the original work reported or discussed in Source R. For example, the citation may use an equivalent of:

> Source P, as cited in Source R.

The exact format depends on the school's referencing requirements.

The full reference-list entry should identify the source the student actually consulted. They should not present Source P as a publication they personally read.

If they want to cite Source P directly, they need to access and examine the original publication.

**Second: the graph needs an accurate acknowledgement.**

The student has reproduced information from a graph presented in Source R.

Changing the appearance of the graph does not make the data original.

The figure caption should acknowledge the source from which the student obtained the graph, while preserving the attribution to Source P if Source R identifies it as the original source.

The student should follow their teacher's required format for acknowledging adapted figures and secondary sources.

They must not imply that they independently collected the measurements.

**Third: acknowledging AI does not make prohibited AI use acceptable.**

The assessment notification allows AI for generating search terms but specifically prohibits using it to summarise sources or draft assessment responses.

The student has gone beyond the permitted use.

Adding an AI acknowledgement would not fix that breach. They should not submit the AI-generated summary or rely on it as a substitute for their own reading and understanding.

Instead, they should return to Source R, examine the original explanation, take their own notes, and independently develop a new paragraph. If they are uncertain about how to address their previous AI use, they should speak with their teacher before submitting.

The tempting argument is that Source P is the original publication, so citing it must be better than citing Source R. That overlooks a crucial issue: a reference must accurately represent the research the student actually undertook.

This question combines three different responsibilities:

- Acknowledge the source you actually used.
- Represent the origin of reproduced evidence accurately.
- Follow the assessment conditions governing how you may obtain and develop your work.

Academic honesty involves more than avoiding copied sentences. It requires honest source attribution, compliance with assessment conditions, and work that genuinely demonstrates your own knowledge and understanding.

## Final referencing checklist

Before submitting your assessment, work through this list:

- [ ] I have followed the referencing style specified by my teacher.
- [ ] I have acknowledged every borrowed quotation, paraphrase, summary, idea, image, graph, and set of data.
- [ ] I have placed citations or footnotes where the borrowed information appears.
- [ ] My quotations use the original wording and are clearly identified.
- [ ] My paraphrases use genuinely independent wording and sentence structure.
- [ ] Every in-text citation or footnote has a matching reference-list entry.
- [ ] My reference list is arranged and formatted consistently.
- [ ] Every source exists and supports the claim I have attributed to it.
- [ ] I have not presented a source I haven't read as one I consulted directly.
- [ ] I have followed my school's rules for AI use and outside assistance.
- [ ] I have retained enough research notes and drafts to explain how I developed my work.

## Official sources used in this guide

The following official NESA publications provide the basis for the referencing and academic honesty requirements discussed above.

NSW Education Standards Authority (n.d.) '3.3 How to acknowledge a source', *All My Own Work*, NSW Government. Available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/all-my-own-work/how-do-i-acknowledge-other-peoples-work/acknowledge-source (Accessed: 9 November 2026).

NSW Education Standards Authority (2026) '2. Before you start your HSC', *Rules and Procedures guide 2026*, NSW Government. Available at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/hsc/rules-and-procedures/2026-guide/before-you-start-your-hsc (Accessed: 9 November 2026).

The most useful habit is to reference as you research, not after you finish writing. It saves time, prevents missing citations, and makes it easier to separate your own reasoning from the evidence supporting it.

Once you can identify where your evidence came from, the next decision is whether that evidence is reliable and whether it actually supports your argument. Those are the skills that turn a correctly referenced assessment into a convincing one.