SOLUTION: guide to citing and referencing for students | My Assignment Tutor

1Oxford University Computing LaboratoryA guide to citing and referencingfor students2A guide to citing and referencing for studentsThis guide is divided into two sections. The first explains what citing and referencing are, andtells you when and how to cite and reference. The second section provides explanations andexamples of the way references should be formatted/laid out. But first we need to ask…1.1)Why bother to reference?Whenever you produce academic work you will be asked to provide references for yourideas. You will find this easier to do if you understand why it is seen as so important inBritish universities. Referencing is essential to: Acknowledge other peoples’ ideas Allow the reader of your work to locate the cited references easily, and so evaluateyour interpretation of those ideas Avoid plagiarism (i.e. taking other peoples’ thoughts, ideas or writings and usingthem as though they are your own) Show evidence of the breadth and depth of your reading Avoid losing marks!2) Section one – Citing in the text2.1)CitingWhen preparing a piece of written work, you will inevitably come across other peoples’ideas, theories or data, and you will want to mention or refer to these in your own work.And in referring to these authors, you will also need to create a list of who they are andwhere their published work is to be found.This is placed at the end of your written work so that your readers can identify what isyour work and what is that of other people, and so that they can get hold of those piecesof published work to read, should they wish to do so.Making reference to other authors in your own written work is called citing. The namesof the authors who are cited in your text are gathered together, and supplied as analphabetical list at the end of your written work. This is a reference list.There is no one-best-way to lay out the reference list, and much of it is a matter oftradition or preference. Broadly speaking, the process of citing authors (and theassociated reference list) can be done in one of two main styles – the Numeric, wherethe list of authors is numbered in the order of mention in the text, or the Alphabetical,where the authors’ names are listed in alphabetical order.One of the ways in which alphabetical referencing is done has been given the name ofthe Name and Date System or the Harvard Referencing System. There are a numberof ways in which the Harvard Referencing System can be presented, and all of theseare therefore ‘correct’.2.2)The difference between the reference list and the bibliographyWithin your piece of written work, you will have cited a number of books, journals,newspaper articles (or whatever), using the author’s name and the date of publication.At the end of the piece, you provide a list of all those authors, giving full details of whattheir work is called, and where it was published. This list is headed References, andprovides all the information about the published works you have mentioned in your text,ALPHABETICALLY by the names of the authors (or originators). This list can besubdivided by year and letter if necessary. (More about this later.)3Also, during the course of your preparatory reading, you may use material that has beenhelpful for reading around the subject, but which you do not make specific reference toin your own work. It is important to acknowledge this material. Under the headingBibliography, list all these items, again alphabetically by author, regardless of whetherit is a book or journal, and include this list separately after the reference list.The Bibliography indicates to your reader or examiner that you have read more widelythan was strictly necessary to produce the piece of written work, and that you thereforehave a better grasp of the area or the topic than if you had only used the works cited inyour text and your reference list. Everything you cite (i.e. mention) in your piece ofwritten work will be listed once alphabetically by author and subdivided by year andletter, if necessary, in your References.The Bibliography would look the same as the reference list does. See Section 2:Formats for conventions that apply to all the different types of media – books, journals,newspapers, conferences etc.Some people mix the list of references from within the text (References) and thereferences to wider reading (Bibliography) together in one list, which they then call theBibliography. This is not recommended, because it creates difficulties for your examiner,who has to sort out which is which, in order to be clear about the accuracy of yourreferencing.(Please note that when it comes to dissertations or theses, then both a reference listand a bibliography are required.)Note: In the examples given below, pay attention to the punctuation, and in yourown work, copy it exactly as it is set out – put the full stop in where it is placed inthe example, and leave it out, if it isn’t in the example.2.3)Citing in your textThe Harvard System (sometimes called the Name and Date System) uses the nameof the author of the work you wish to cite and the date it was published. These areincorporated into the text of your work each time you make reference to that person’sideas.2.3.1) Citing a single authorThe author and the date of publication are provided. For example:Seymour (2005) discusses learning emotion rules in service organisations.orSome commentators suggest that, in service organisations, it is necessary to learn emotion rules(Seymour, 2005), while others believe this is not the case.Note the comma after Seymour in the second example. 2.3.2) Citing more than one authorIf there are two authors, the names of both should be given in the text and in thereference list. If there are more than two authors, the name of the first author onlyshould be given, followed by the abbreviation et al. (meaning ‘and others’ in Latin).4 For example:O’Donovan et al. (2004) showed that motivation…Note that et al. is in italics and is followed by a full stop because it is an abbreviation.In your reference list, however, you will list all the authors who compose the et al. For example:O’Donovan, B., Price, M. and Rust, C. (2004) ‘Know what I mean? Enhancing student understandingof assessment standards and criteria’, Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 325-336.Or, if the full name has been used in the publication,O’Donovan, Berry, Price, Margaret and Rust, Chris. (2004) ‘Know what I mean? Enhancing studentunderstanding of assessment standards and criteria’, Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 9, No. 3,pp. 325-336. 2.4)The required informationYou will find all the information that you need to build up the reference from the titlepage of the book or document you are citing. Remember to: Keep the order of authors’ names Cite the first named place of publicationAnd note that edition dates are not necessarily the same as reprint dates (new editionswill have new text and must be cited as such). The copyright sign will often indicate thedate of production.Occasionally, a source (for example, papers presented at conferences, but not‘published’) has not originated from a commercial publisher and lacks obvious title pagedata. If that is the case, try to find use as much information as you can from any part ofthe source.A book’s editor is referenced exactly as an author. For example:Harris, P.J. and Mongiello, M. (eds.) (2006) Accounting and Financial Management: Developments inthe International Hospitality Industry. Oxford: Butterworth HeinemannNote that the title of a book is in italics and uses upper and lower case. 2.4.1) Corporate authorsSometimes it is impossible to find a named individual as an author. What hasusually happened is that there has been a shared or ‘corporate’ responsibility forthe production of the material. Therefore, the ‘corporate name’ becomes the author(often called the ‘corporate author’). Corporate authors can be government bodies,companies, professional bodies, clubs or societies, international organizations. For example:Institute of Waste Management (1995) Ways to Improve Recycling. Northampton: Institute of WasteManagement. The ‘corporate author’ appears in the text in the usual alphabetical way.For journal articles without authors the journal title becomes both author and citedjournal title.52.4.2) Chapters in edited booksAn edited book will often have a number of authors for different chapters (ondifferent topics). To refer to a specific author’s ideas (from a chapter), cite him orher in the text, not the editors. Then, in your reference list, indicate the chapterdetails and the book details from which it was published. For example:Whitehead, C. (1991) ‘Charismatic Leadership’. In: W. Harrison and D. Cole (eds.) Recent Advancesin Leadership Theory. London: Waverley. pp. 73-89.Bibbings, L. (2005) ‘Learning Resources’. In: D. Airey and J. Tribe (eds.), An International Handbookof Tourism Education. Oxford: Elsevier Publications. pp. 426-435.Note the use of ‘in’ to link the chapter to the book and the use of page numbers for the chapter, andthat the initials of the editors come before their surnames. (In your text, you would put (Bibbings,2005) i.e. the author of the chapter, not the editors of the books. 2.5)Secondary sourcesA journal article or book which someone else cites that you have not seen is called asecondary source. You should try and find this source for yourself and cite it in the normal way. It isimportant if you are criticising ideas that you do it ‘firsthand’. If you cannot locate the secondary source, you may cite it in your text using thereference that is provided in your primary source.In your text and reference list, you must link these two items with the term ‘cited in’. Theformat is:Author of original work’s surname, initials (or full name, if provided) (Year of originalpublication) Title of original work. Place of publication: Publisher. Cited in Author/editorinitials (or full name) surname (Year) Title. Place of publication: Publisher. For example:The citation in the text:A great deal of absenteeism in a firm is an indication that there is likely to be something wrong withthe way that staff are managed (Murray, 2005, cited in Allan, 2006).In the reference list:Murray, A. (2005) Absenteeism in the Public Sector. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Cited in M. Allan(2006) Public Sector Problems. London: Butterworth. 2.6)Quotations2.6.1) Short quotationsIf you quote from the publication directly, then you must place the page numberwithin the citation. Quotations within the text use single quotation marks and shouldbe, at the most, two lines long. In the reference list, however, it is not necessary toindicate the page number, as it is already in your text. For example:‘Literacy is important because people who are literate no longer have to be content with what otherpeople choose to teach them, but can find out for themselves what they want to know’. (Brown et al.,2006, p. 181). 62.6.2) Longer quotationsQuotations that are more than a couple of lines long should be distinguished fromthe rest of the text. Thus, indent quotations on both sides and format them in singlespacing, while the rest of your text will be in 1.5 or double spacing. You could use asmaller typeface if you like to further distinguish the quote. Unlike the shortquotations, indented longer quotes do not use quotation marks. For example:[Here is some text introducing the quotation]Many financial offerings tend to be functional or utilitarian in nature, for example,insurance, where the benefits are distant or, perhaps, not even realized. This qualityof financial services may require persuasion on the part of the provider to effect asale. (Farquhar, 2003, p. 394).[Here is more text following the quotation] In your text, never split a quotation. If it doesn’t fit on a page, then start a new page,so the whole quotation is kept together.2.7)Distinguishing an author’s several publications in the same yearOccasionally, authors publish two or more book or journal articles in any given year.This would make the text citation identical for both. To distinguish between differentpublications, letters (a, b, c etc.) are used with the date in the text: For example:Bowen (2001a) has researched tourist satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and consumer satisfactionand dissatisfaction (Bowen, 2001b). Within the reference list, the articles are presented alphabetically: 2001a, then 2001b,etc. For example:Bowen, D. (2001a) ‘Research on tourist satisfaction and dissatisfaction: Overcoming the limitations ofa positivist and quantitative approach’, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 31-40.Bowen, D. (2001b) ‘Antecedents of consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction on long-haul inclusivetours – a reality check on theoretical considerations’, Tourism Management, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 49-61. 2.8)No publication details givenOccasionally, you will come across documents that lack basic publication details. Inthese cases, it is necessary to indicate to your reader that these are not available. Aseries of abbreviations can be used and are generally accepted for this purpose: author/corporate author not given use (Anon.) no date use (n.d.) no place (sine loco) use (s.l.) no publisher (sine nomine) use (s.n.) not known use (n.k.).3) Section Two – Formats for the reference list and bibliographyNow that we have discussed how to mention the authors you have referred to in your text,this section tells you how to set out the reference list and bibliography at the end of yourwork.7There are many different types of material that you may use that will need referencing. Eachdifferent type has an accepted ‘style’ for presentation within the reference list and/orbibliography.The following examples give the format style and are followed by an example. They arebroadly separated into ‘printed’ and ‘electronic’ material.Take special note of the way that punctuation has been used, as well as quotation marks,italics and upper and lower case. While the examples below are only one of many acceptedstyles, if you follow these examples exactly, you need have no worries that your referencingis in error.3.1)Printed material3.1.1) BooksAuthor/editor surname, initials or full name if you have it. (Year) Title. Edition. Placeof publication: Publisher. For example:Brown, Reva Berman. (2006) Doing Your Dissertation in Business and Management: The reality ofresearching and writing. London: Sage Publications. Note Usually, the title of the book is written using capital letters for each significantword. However, it is also acceptable to use a capital letter for only the first wordof the title. There is a full stop at the end of the title. The title is in italics. The date is the year of publication not printing. The edition is only mentioned if other than the first edition. The place of publication is the City not the Country (normally the first stated).3.1.2) Journal articlesAuthor surname, initials. (Year) ‘Title of article’, Journal name, Vol. Volume number,No. Issue number, pp. first and last page numbers. For example:Whyatt, G. (2004) ‘Town centre management: How theory informs strategy’, International Journal ofRetail and Distribution Management, Vol. 32, No. 7, pp. 346-353. Note The title of the paper is between single quotation marks and in lower case, witha comma following Journal name is italicised, not the article title There are a number of other ways you could set out the volume no., issue no.and page nos., depending on the University or journal you are writing for (forexample, 32(7), 346-353, or 32, (7):346-52). It is because this is the case thatwe have suggested that you use the vol., no., pp. layout consistently. If you doso, then you won’t get confused and you won’t inadvertently mix up the variouslayouts, and thus you won’t lose marks p. indicates only one page and pp. indicates a range of pages.83.1.3) Corporate authorFormat is the same as for a book, but uses the ‘corporate’ (company, business,organisation) author in place of a named author. For example:Royal College of Nursing (1983) Guidance on the Handling of Patients in the Hospital andCommunity. London: Royal College of Nursing. 3.1.4) Government publicationsAvailable data may vary for these, but where possible include the following:Government Department/Institute. Subdivision of department/institute (if known).(Year) Title of Document. (Name of chairperson, if it is a committee). Place ofpublication: Publisher. For example:Department of Health and Social Services (1980) Inequalities in Health: Report of a researchworking group. (Chairman: Sir Douglas Black). London: DHSS. 3.1.5) Conference papersConference papers are often unpublished Word-processed text, distributed at theconference. Thus it is necessary to include the name, place and date of theconference.Author, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of conference paper’. Paper presented at name ofconference, place of conference, month of conference. For example:Slinn, J. (2005) ‘Changing technology and ownership: A challenge too far. The MonotypeCorporation in the 1970s’. Paper presented at the British Academy of Management AnnualConference, Saïd Business School, Oxford, September. Conference papers are often published in book form or as a special issue of ajournal. In this case, treat the reference as you would a normal book or journalpaper, but include the fact that it is the publication of conference proceedings, if thisis mentioned in the publication information.Author, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of conference paper’, in Conference Proceedings Title.Place of publication: Publisher, month, page nos. For example:Smallbone, T. (2004) ‘Can Britain really find a “way with waste”? A case study of the implementationof the WEEE Directive’, Proceedings of the 2004 Business Strategy and the EnvironmentConference, Leeds, September, pp. 235-242. 3.1.6) NewspapersJournalist name, initial. (Year) ‘Title of news item’. Name of newspaper. Date, Pagenumber. For example:Mintz, A. (2006) ‘House prices continue to rise’. Financial Times. 4 June, p. 28.Note that the name of newspaper is italicised. 9If it is a news article and does not attribute an author, the newspaper name is usedin the text and instead of the author in the reference list For example:The Guardian (2005) ‘Lottery for breast cancer help’. The Guardian. 21 March, p. 10. 3.2)Legislation3.2.1) Law reportsNames of parties involved in case. [Year] Volume number/Abbreviated name of lawreport/Page number on which report starts.Dates are given in square brackets, not round. For example:Holgate v Duke [1984] 2 All ER 660 3.2.2) StatutesThe usual method of citing an Act of Parliament is to cite its title in your text.(Normally the country of origin is regarded as the ‘author’, but this is not alwaysstated if you are discussing the law of the land you are actually in). The format istherefore:Title of statute, year of statute. Place of publication: publisher. For example:Data Protection Act 1984. London: HMSO. 3.2.3) Statutory instrumentsIt is not necessary to put the country of origin if it is the UK. The format would be inthis form:Short title of the statutory instrument. Year (SI year: number). Place of publication:Publisher. For example:Lobster pots (size regulations). 1989 (SI 1989: 1201). London: HMSO. 3.2.4) ThesesAuthor, initials. (Year) Thesis title. Level of thesis. Awarding Institution. For example:Gibbs, A. (2004) MBA Quality – An investigation into stakeholders’ perspectives. PhD Thesis,Oxford Brookes University. 3.2.5) Unpublished materialSome printed materials are not produced by recognisable publishers, and may notbe widely available. In this case, it is necessary to indicate this, and if the documentis archival in nature – for example, a manuscript or personal letter – its locationshould also be included.10 For example:Arthur, C. (2004) Childhood Vaccinations. Health promotion leaflet, Temple Cowley Group Practice,unpublished. 3.3)WebsitesNOTE: For journal articles and reports retrieved from library databases such as EBSCO,you do not need to include the full web address if your reference provides all thestandard information relevant for the print-version of the article or report.For websites, in addition to the usual information (such as name of author, date, title,and name of journal/newspaper if there is one) you also need to include: Retrieved from: + the full web address [Accessed + date of access]Sometimes the word ‘retrieved’ is used instead of ‘accessed’. Both are equally correct.You should also include the phrase [Online] as shown below. Note that square bracketsare used with web references.For webpages which are not from a newspaper or journal, the title is shown in italics, asshown in the two examples below.For printed material, if you use a quotation, you include a page number in yourreference. For webpages, there are no ‘page numbers’. If you use a quotation from awebpage, please give as much information as possible so that the reader can find thequotation; for example, you could mention the section of the webpage containing thequotation.If a Web page does not appear to have an individual author, use the corporate author(e.g. BBC). If there is no corporate author, use the title. The following examples havecorporate authors. Library & Information Services (2003) Electronic Resources: finding resources bysubject [Online]. Nottingham: The Nottingham Trent University. Retrieved from:http://www.ntu.ac.uk/LLR/e_resources/index.html [Accessed 3 July 2003]. Tesco Plc (2002) Annual report and financial statements 2002 [Online]. Tesco PLC.Retrieved from:http://81.201.142.254/presentResults/results2001_02/Prelims/Report/pdfs/Tesco_Report2002.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2003].If you cannot find the organisation responsible for the site, firstly consider whether it iswise to use information if you’re not sure who is responsible for it, but if you must, usethe first few words of the title page of the website and publication date.Do NOT use the full web address in the citation in the body of the text. Instead, use(author, date); for example (BBC, 2004) (Greenpeace, 2006)3.4)Personal communicationPlease avoid using lecture notes as a source – try and go back to the original sources.Meetings and interviews should be referenced if they are important. Do not use otherpeople’s email addresses if this is personal (i.e. private) information. An example of areference for a conversation would be:Smith, A.B. (2002) Personal communication, Happy Restaurant, Oxford, 15 May.113.5)Database examplesReports from databases such as Mintel and Thomson Gale Investext Plus are usuallyavailable in print as well as electronically. It is important to provide all relevantinformation (such as the date of the report) so that another person could find the report.3.5.1) Mintel report For example:Mintel (2004) ‘City breaks in the UK’. Mintel Leisure Intelligence – UK – April. 3.5.2) Stockbroker report For example:Shiret, T. (2006) Marks and Spencer Group plc., Company Report., Credit Suisse – Europe, 16thNovember 2006. 3.6)Other sourcesThere are a variety of other electronic sources that can be cited, for example:3.6.1) VideotapeFor off-air recordings, use this format:Broadcast company (Year) Title of programme. off-air recording. Transmissiondate. Format. (e.g. film, videotape, DVD) For example:Channel Four (2003) Great Paintings of the Renaissance. Off-air recording. 10th June, 2003.Videotape. Note: In your text, you refer to (Channel Four, 2003).For an off-air recording of a film use this format:Title (Year) Person or body responsible for production. Off-air recording. Format. For example:The Graduate (1969) Directed by Mike Nichols. Off-air recording. Videotape. Note: In your text, you refer to (The Graduate, 1969).3.6.2) FilmTitle. (Year). Person or body responsible for production. Running time. Productioncompany. Place of production or publication (if known). Format. For example:The Apartment (1960) Directed by Billy Wilder. 124 mins. United Artists. Videotape. Note: In the text of your written work, refer to (The Apartment, 1960)