The objective of this paper is to share with other educators a teaching method that was developed to help graduate students, and potentially undergraduate students, understand how to properly reference and cite academic papers. In an attempt to teach rather than reprimand, a new teaching practice was developed for a graduate class at the University of Saskatchewan. The innovative assignment gave graduate students a short literature review to complete independently. The project then became a formative assessment of their referencing and citation skills. Student response was overwhelmingly positive. Upon successful completion, the instructor was assured of the students' understanding of appropriate referencing and citation practices.