A Guide to Referencing Academic Work

Table of Contents

1. A Guide to Referencing Academic Work
2. Referencing and plagiarism
3. Referencing Systems
4. Modern Humanities Research Association
   1. Footnotes and Endnotes
   2. Books
   3. Books with more than one author
   4. Books with an editor or translator
   5. Chapters or Articles from Books
   6. Articles from Journals
   7. Articles from newspapers and magazines
   8. Unpublished dissertations and theses
   9. Plays and Long Poems
   10. The Bible
   11. Online Sources
   12. Articles from electronic journals
   13. Material from online databases
   14. Recorded media - films, music, sound recordings etc.
   15. Subsequent references
   16. Bibliography
   17. Variations on the footnote system
5. Harvard (author-date) referencing system
6. Revision quiz

Books

1

How much do you know already? What is wrong with this footnote? J. T. Landale, The Economics of Medieval Viticulture (London: Vintners, 2003), p. 27. a) The title should be in italics. b) The place of publication and the publisher are the wrong way around. c) Nothing! It's all correct. d) The title should appear before the author's name. Please select an answerCorrect! Read the section below and try the exercises at the end to consolidate your knowledge.Oh dear! You need to brush up on your referencing skills. Read the section below and try the exercises at the end to test your knowledge.Oh dear! You need to brush up on your referencing skills. Read the section below and try the exercises at the end to test your knowledge.Oh dear! You need to brush up on your referencing skills. Read the section below and try the exercises at the end to test your knowledge.

Books with a single author

When using the MHRA referencing system, citations should be set out in full in footnotes or endnotes. In order for readers to find the book easily from the reference, the following information must be included

• Author - as written on the title page of the book
• Title and any subtitle as written on the title page
• Series
• Edition
• Number of volumes
• Details of publication - place of publication, publisher and date of publication
• Volume number
• Page number(s) of reference

The name of the author is written with initials or given name before the surname; in a footnote, there is no need to reverse the order found on the title page of the book. Do not replace the author's given name with initials if it is written in full on the title page. The author's name should be followed by a comma.

The title of the book is written in italics, with a colon separating the title from the subtitle, even when there is no punctuation on the title page. All significant words should begin with a capital letter, as should the first word of the title and subtitle.

The publication details are placed in parentheses (brackets). The place of publication is written first, and is separated from the name of the publisher by a colon. If the place of publication is in the USA, include the standard abbreviation for the American state to avoid confusion e.g. Manchester, CT or Venice, FL. The year of publication should appear after the publisher, following a comma. This can be found on the copyright page, which is usually the reverse of the title page of a book.

The specific page reference(s) follow the place of publication, and volume number if applicable. If the reference is to a single page then 'p.' should be used, if reference is made to several pages then 'pp.' is used. Do not use the abbreviation 'f.' or 'ff.' for 'following page(s)'. Be specific.

Always end the note with a full stop.

Examples

Exercises

2

Which of these references to books is correct? a) Neville Morley, Metropolis and Hinterland: The City of Rome and the Italian Economy 200BC-AD200 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 77. b) Neville Morley, Metropolis and Hinterland: The City of Rome and the Italian Economy 200BC-AD200 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1996, p. 77. c) Neville Morley, Metropolis and Hinterland: The City of Rome and the Italian Economy 200BC-AD200 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 77 d) Neville Morley, Metropolis and Hinterland: the city of Rome and the Italian economy 200BC-200AD (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 77. e) Neville Morley, Metroplis and Hinterland: The City of Rome and the Italian Economy 200BC-200AD (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 77. Please select an answerNo! The title should be in italics if you are making reference to a book.Oh No! The date of publication should be inside the brackets.Whoops! There is no full stop at the end of the note!Oh Dear! The first and all main words of the subtitle should begin with capital letters.Well Done! All correct.

3

Check these references. Which one is correct? a) Richard Sheldon, The Longshoreman: A Life at the Water's Edge (London, Atlantic, 2004) pp. 61-70. b) Richard Sheldon, The Longshoreman: A Life at the Water's Edge (London: Atlantic, 2004) p. 61-70. c) Richard Sheldon The Longshoreman: A Life at the Water's Edge (London: Atlantic, 2004) pp. 61-70. d) Richard Sheldon, The Longshoreman: A Life at the Water's Edge (London: Atlantic, 2004) pp. 61-70. e) Richard Sheldon, The Longshoreman: A Life at the Water's Edge (Atlantic: London, 2004) pp. 61-70. Please select an answerNo! There should be a colon after the place of publication, not a comma.Oh No! The page reference is to more than one page, so should be written as 'pp.'Oh Dear! There should be a comma between the author's name and the title.Well Done! All correct!Whoops! The place of publication and the publisher are the wrong way around!