Report Guide: D) References in text

For students who started before 2025

For referring to AI generated materials, see the current guidelines below.

For students who started in 2025 or later

Reference to sources

A thesis always includes sources in both text (in-text citation) as well as the list of references. The text reference directs the reader to the list of references, which contains more detailed information about the source. The relationship between the text reference and list of references is explained in more detail under List of references.

Several different ways to refer to sources exist, and different educational institutions and publications may use different styles. TAMK’s instructions are based on the APA7, by Amperican Psychological Association, which have been edited to better suit TAMK’s purposes.

In-text citations include the author’s family name, year of publication, and page(s), if available. 

Reference to just one page uses the abbreviation p., whereas referring to several pages uses the abbreviation pp. 

Example:

The aim of LD is to create a learning environment that is e ective and allows students to engage in meaningful learning experiences (Brunton & Beatty, 2023, p. 28).

Sometimes the source may not have an author, in which case the family name cannot be used. These types of materials include e.g. companies’ own materials or many online sources. In those cases, the name of the publishing organisation is mentioned. Also, the year of publication or updating cannot be found on all sources to demonstrate up-to-dateness of the text. The missing year is replaced with the abbreviation n.d. (no date) in the reference and list of references, for example (Smith, n.d.). Missing page numbers can be replaced with chapter numbers or percentages if for example an e-book indicates the progress in percentages. As regards audiobooks, the time of reference is marked into the reference.

A text reference is written for both a direct quotation and a quotation written in the author’s own words. When referring to the source, it is important to make the difference between writer’s own idea, summarizing and direct quotation explicit. A text reference does not carry over from one paragraph to another, but instead the reference must be written for each paragraph individually, even if it is repeated in several paragraphs.

In the following examples, the author’s thoughts are separated from the summarised views by means of the reference technique. There is no need to mention the writer’s own thoughts by mentioning them as opinions. The writer’s own thoughts often combine ideas from different sources or compare or illustrate them. It can also be so-called metatext.

For example:

Garrison (2017) defends the original three-dimensional CoI framework and states that the argument for adding the emotional presence as a separate element, would only increase the complexity of the framework as the emotional elements are already largely presented in the social presence which has influence on all aspects in the CoI (Garrison, 2017, p. 31). What is agreed by many, is that emotions do affect the online learning experience and further study is needed to better understand the influence of emotions (Rienties & Rivers, 2012, Cleveland-Innes & Campbell, 2014 and Garrison, 2017).

Criticism of sources is assessment of the information origin, reliability, viewpoint and usability in relation to the assignment. Source information always has to be set to a context for example by considering who has produced the information, for what purpose and where it has been published. Plagiarism is forbidden. It means copying of someone else’s content as such and presenting it as one's own.

The essence of information can best be understood by reading related material widely. Sources must be quoted correctly. Information may not be taken out of context in such a way that a misleading image is given. Information may, for example, not be claimed certain or generally applicable if the original source does not do that.