Final Projects & Dissertations: Referencing

For guidance on how to format references in styles used by CU Group, see our main Referencing LibGuides

An appendix (plural - appendices) is an additional, non-essential section of your work. This typically comes after the reference list, at the end of your assignment. Some reports and research projects might require an appendix.

There are three main reasons why you might need to include an appendix:

• You have created something to support the main body of your assignment (a diagram/schematic synthesising a theory, a data analysis table etc.) which cannot easily be included as a figure/table within the main body.
• You have referred to evidence which cannot be easily retrieved by the reader (for example a report which is not widely available, an internal document or promotional materials - this is sometimes called 'grey literature'). If this contains any confidential information, ensure you have permission to include this!
• You are working from a case study which the reader may not be familiar with, and want to include the details for quick access.

An appendix is not appropriate where the content can easily be found online and could be referenced using an institutional referencing style (for example an illustration of a reflective cycle found via Google Images or a section of a professional body's code of practice). Materials created by other people should be referenced within each appendix (as they are separate from the main document and it's reference list); if you have materials which need referencing, this may indicate that the content should be cited and referenced instead of being an appendix.

Appendices are generally numbered (Appendix 1, 2, 3) or lettered (Appendix A, B. C). Where there are multiple appendices, a list of appendices is usually provided preceding the first appendix. Content in an appendix should be referred to within the main body of the assignment, generally in brackets "(see appendix 1)" or narratively - "as shown in the data table in appendix 2".

Appendices may continue the main document page numbering, have their own page numbering (where a facsimile of an existing document is being provided), or have no page numbering. It is advised to clearly separate appendices, starting each on a new page and including a clear title.