When preparing a piece of work, we often rely on bibliographic sources to complement or deepen our understanding of the subject. The publications consulted, regardless of their format or type, should be acknowledged so that they may subsequently be consulted by those assessing or simply reading the work. The credibility of any work we make available depends on the accuracy and consistency with which references to consulted sources are presented. Bibliographic standardisation, so important for the exchange and accessibility of bibliographic records, gave rise to the concept of the “citation”, which NP 405-1 (1994) defines as a “brief reference placed in parentheses within the text or attached to the text as a footnote, end-of-chapter note or endnote”.
The citation and bibliographic referencing standards listed below correspond to the various systems adopted by different organisations for citing sources consulted by authors. However, please bear in mind that:
Once a citation style has been chosen, it should be used consistently throughout the entire work;
Different citation styles should not be mixed within the same document;
Always consult your lecturer or supervisor, who can advise you on the most appropriate citation style to follow;
Although there is a Portuguese Standard for bibliographic references covering printed documents as well as other formats and media, some authors prefer to follow international standards, such as those listed below;
Failure to acknowledge a source that has been consulted and cited in a document may be considered plagiarism.