3. Referencing
Introduction
When information is published or put in the public domain, the author is making it available to be read and used by others, as long as they do not claim it for themselves.
This information is a product and like any other, it has a value. While it is public, the owner still has rights and owns the intellectual property rights to that information.
Referencing is a standardised and easily understood method of acknowledging that information is the intellectual property of another (they still own it) and also showing where information came from.
Every reference is unique and refers to an individual source: a paper, book, article, web page, discussion, speech, etc.
Referencing is an important method of giving credit to the source of the information (not claiming it for yourself) and also giving credibility to the claim or thesis you are putting forward.
Note this:
The terms Reference and Citation are both used to refer to a pointer or marker showing that certain information came from another source and identifying that source
