LibrarySearch Research Assistant: Citing LibrarySearch Research Assistant

Using LibrarySearch Research Assistant is much like using an online encyclopaedia.

If you use the overview summary information in your work and assignments you should cite the Research Assistant.

Citation order in Harvard style:

• Creator = LibrarySearch Research Assistant
• Year (in round brackets)
• Title (in single quotation marks) = question entered
• Series and volume number = not relevant
• Available at: URL = https://librarysearch.stir.ac.uk/discovery/researchAssistant?vid=44UST_INST:VU1
• Accessed: date (in round brackets) = (Accessed: Day Month Year).

For example:

In-text citation:

Inadequate serum vitamin D levels have been associated with increased bone fracture risk (LibrarySearch Research Assistant, 2025).

Reference list:

LibrarySearch Research Assistant. (2025) 'How does vitamin D deficiency impact overall health?' Available at: https://librarysearch.stir.ac.uk/discovery/researchAssistant?vid=44UST_INST:VU1 (Accessed: 15 January 2025).

Alternatively, if you use the Research Assistant to find and locate a source and read the information in that original source, then you don't need to cite Research Assistant. Instead cite the original source.  For example:

In-text citation:

Inadequate serum vitamin D levels have been associated with increased bone fracture risk (Haroon and FitzGerald, 2012).

Reference list:

Haroon, M. and FitzGerald, O. (2012) Vitamin D Deficiency: Subclinical and Clinical Consequences on Musculoskeletal Health ', Current Rheumatology, 14, pp. 286–293.

For more about referencing: see our Referencing Guide