Practical tips

  1. Always refer to your sources, even if you only take the idea and tell everything in your own words.

  2. Use a consistent way to refer to the sources you have used, for example IEEE or APA style. In this way, the reader of your documentation (e.g. a team member, a client, or a team that builds on your work) can easily check whether the sources used are suitable, which makes your work more reliable and thus more convincing.

  3. One of the guidelines for writing is to tell one thought per paragraph. If the whole paragraph is about the same source, then it is sufficient to indicate the source only once. You do not have to repeat the reference every sentence.

  4. Always quote the most original source. So if you find a source and it uses information from another source, then you refer to the latter.

  5. Word can help you with consistent referring according to a specific style. For example, consider this tutorial. Please note that you choose the right kind of source document and fill in the information in the correct fields!