Assignment Writing: Manual Referencing v/s Referencing Tools!

Referencing, no doubt is an essential part of assignment writing and also one of the most mind-boggling tasks. Earlier, when there were no tools, students had to do all the referencing manually. But since the last few years, various referencing tools have come, which have drastically changed the way referencing is done.

Now, students no more look for assignment help UK for referencing and can generate references automatically for their assignments. Despite having so many advantages, there has always been a question mark on the use of referencing tools. There are people who still support the use of manual referencing rather than tools.

In today’s article, you can find the comparison between both methods of referencing and tell which one is better.

Manual Referencing

In manual referencing, the students have to, first of all, identify the type of referencing they wish to use for their paper. Before using it, they should have complete knowledge about it. Now you have to enter the in-text citations, foot-notes as well as bibliographies manually for each source.

Sometimes instead of using pure manual referencing, students combine it with tools like Endnote to ease the work. Here you have to manually remember each source, but they will be added automatically by the tool once you enter them.

Referencing tools

You will find a large number of reference tools online which will do the job for you with very little or no effort at all. You just have to select the refining style you wish to use and put the source which you want to cite. The tool will automatically generate the citation. Later you can check and edit the citations generated.

Advantages of both the methods

Advantages of manual referencing

· As you are entering each and every source on your own along with complete detail, the accuracy rate increases.

· You get to learn about different ways of referencing. In-depth knowledge about referencing styles can be an added advantage for you in the future. You will get an edge over others in academic writing and also will be able to better find out mistakes.

· The instructor gets to know about your dedication to your assignment, and your chances of scoring better improve.

Advantages of using Referencing tools

· They are quick and save you a lot of your valuable time and effort.

· In case of any changes, you can easily manage and organize them with minimal effort.

Which one should you use?

After looking at both methods of referencing, it is quite difficult to say which one is better. Both the methods have their own merits and demerits. The choice will be dependent upon your situation and the requirement.

If you wish to gain knowledge about different referencing styles like APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, etc., you should use manual referencing. While, if you are already a pro and want to save time on referencing, referencing tools are the best choice. You can choose the mix of both if you have some time in hand to get the best results.

Summary: This article discusses manual referencing as well as referencing tools. It clearly states the advantages of both the techniques to help the reader make a decision about which one to use in assignment writing.