Lost marks for referencing are the most avoidable marks to lose. The Student Mentor formats your document and corrects your citations to your exact university style — Harvard, APA 7th, OSCOLA, Vancouver, MHRA, IEEE and more — so your work looks as rigorous as it reads. We align in-text citations with your reference list, fix inconsistencies, and apply your department's formatting guidelines.
This service is ideal when your writing is sound but your citations are a mess, your reference list won't match your in-text references, or your university has a strict template you need to hit precisely.
What we fix
- Reference-list rebuilds — converting a messy or mixed list into a clean, consistent bibliography in your required style.
- In-text citation consistency — making sure every in-text citation has a matching reference, and every reference is cited.
- Style conversion — switching a document between styles (e.g. Harvard to APA 7th) when you change course or journal.
- Document formatting — headings, line spacing, margins, page numbers, table of contents, list of figures/tables, and title-page layout to your university template.
- Table and figure captions — consistent numbering and labelling throughout.
The UK referencing styles we cover
- Harvard — the most common author–date style across UK universities (note: Harvard has many local variants; we match yours).
- APA 7th edition — psychology, education, health and social sciences.
- OSCOLA — law (footnote-based; we're specialists in its precise punctuation rules).
- Vancouver / IEEE — numbered styles for medicine, nursing and engineering.
- MHRA — humanities and arts.
If your department uses a custom variant, send the guide and we'll follow it to the letter.
Who this is for
Students whose content is finished but whose citations need work; anyone switching referencing styles mid-degree; international students unfamiliar with a specific UK style; and PhD candidates formatting a full thesis to a strict university template.
How it works
- Send your document, your required style, and any university formatting guide.
- We confirm scope and a fixed quote.
- We rebuild and align your references and format the document.
- You receive a clean, submission-ready file.
See the full process on our How It Works page.
Our integrity line
Correcting and formatting citations is fully permitted at UK universities — we're making your existing sources accurate and consistent, not finding or inventing sources for you. We will flag a missing reference, but the research remains entirely yours.
Pricing and turnaround
Formatting and referencing is priced by word count and document complexity. Most documents are returned within 2–4 days. See live rates on our Pricing page.
Why referencing costs more marks than students expect
Referencing isn't just a formality — at most UK universities it carries explicit marks, and it's one of the few areas where you can lose them through carelessness rather than lack of understanding. A strong dissertation with an inconsistent reference list signals "rushed" to a marker, and inconsistency is exactly what creeps in over a long document: a style applied two ways, an in-text citation with no matching reference, a bibliography ordered wrong.
It's also where plagiarism risk hides. A missing or malformed citation can look like an attempt to pass off a source as your own — even when it was an honest slip. Getting your referencing clean and complete protects both your marks and your integrity.
What you receive
You get a submission-ready document with:
- A clean, consistent reference list or bibliography in your exact required style.
- Every in-text citation aligned to a reference (and any orphan citation flagged for you to supply the source).
- Document formatting applied to your university template — headings, spacing, page numbers, contents, and figure/table lists.
- A short note of anything we couldn't resolve without you (e.g. a citation with no findable source).
Built around your university's guide
There's no single "Harvard" or single house format — variants differ by university and even by department. Send us your faculty's referencing guide or formatting template and we apply that, not a generic version. For law work, our OSCOLA specialists handle the footnote and table-of-authorities rules precisely; for health and nursing, we work in Vancouver and APA. See who's on the team on our Editors & Mentors page.
Turnaround and what to send
Most formatting and referencing jobs are returned within 2–4 days; longer dissertations and dense legal referencing take a little more. To get an accurate quote and the fastest turnaround, send:
- Your document as an editable Word file.
- Your exact required style (and any university or faculty referencing guide).
- Any formatting template your department requires.
We confirm scope and a fixed price before any work begins — no surprises.
Frequently asked questions
My in-text citations don't match my reference list — can you fix that? Yes. Aligning in-text citations with the reference list is one of the most common jobs we do. We'll flag any citation that has no matching source for you to supply.
Can you convert my references from one style to another? Yes — for example Harvard to APA 7th, or APA to Vancouver. Tell us the source and target styles.
Will you format my whole dissertation to my university template? Yes, including title page, contents, headings, spacing, page numbers and figure/table lists.
Do you specialise in OSCOLA? Yes. OSCOLA's footnote and punctuation rules trip up most students, and we have law-focused editors who handle it precisely.
How long does formatting and referencing take? Most documents are returned within 2–4 days. Longer dissertations and dense legal referencing may take a little more — we confirm an exact turnaround with your quote before starting.
Stop losing easy marks. Get a quote.