Referencing
What is referencing?
Referencing is the process of acknowledging other people’s work when you have used it in your assignment or research. It allows the reader to locate your source material as quickly and easily as possible so that they can read these sources themselves and verify the validity of your arguments. Referencing provides the link between what you write and the evidence on which it is based (Pears and Shields, 2019, p.1).
What referencing style should I follow?
Please follow the referencing guidance provided by your partner university:
London Metropolitan University
Degree apprenticeship learners should follow the style of their partnership university:
CMDA & DTS - University of Roehampton
SLMDA - Middlesex University London
DMDA - Solent University
Higher apprenticeship learners (AI Level 7 & SLA) should follow the Harvard Referencing Style as found in Cite Them Right 11th Edition.
When following the Harvard Referencing Style, you need to reference the sources used in your research twice:
in the body of your text (in-text citation) and
at the end of your research report (reference list).
Reference list v. bibliography
A reference list is the list of references cited in the book. Importantly, it "is not the same thing as a bibliography, which uses the same referencing style, but also includes all material (for example, background readings) used in the preparation of your work" (Pears and Shields, 2019, p.1).
In other words, a bibliography is a reference list plus the material that you have read for your work, but not actually cited. For example, you might have read twenty books while writing your research report, but quoted and paraphrased only from ten of those publications. The references of those twenty books will be your bibliography, whereas the references of the ten cited books - the reference list.
In most cases, students are expected to include reference lists in their assignments. Bibliographies are mainly used in dissertations for Master's degrees and theses for PhD degrees. If ever in doubt, check with your lecturer whether a reference list or bibliography is required.
You may also come across bibliographies in textbooks.
What references are for?
Readers "can:
go and find the source themselves if they want to;
understand the nature of your source;
form their own view about the use you make of it.
And, of course, if your reader is a tutor, s/he can see what you have read and what sources you have used for your assignment. That helps them to assess the quality of your work and the range of your research" (Williams and Carroll, 2009, p. 5).
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s work without acknowledging them. This includes "material or ideas from any (published or unpublished) sources, whether print, electronic (even if freely available on the internet) or audiovisual. Using the words or ideas of others without citing and referencing them would be construed as plagiarism, and is a very serious academic offense. At the end of the day, it is regarded as the stealing of intellectual property" (Pears and Shields, 2019, p. 5).
How sources can be used
Paraphrasing
'Paraphrasing' means "restating of someone else’s thoughts or ideas in your own words. You must always cite your source when paraphrasing" (Pears and Shields, 2019, p. 245).
EXAMPLES OF IN-TEXT & FULL REFERENCES
The following text and examples are from the Cite Them Right guide (for access, see a VLeBooks guide)
Printed books
Citation order:
Author/editor
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title (in italics)
Place of publication: Publisher
Series and volume number (where relevant)
Book with one author
In-text citation:
According to Bell (2014), the most important part of the research process is ...
Reference list:
Bell, J. (2014) Doing your research project. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Book with two or three authors
In-text citation:
Goddard and Barrett (2016, p. 17) noted that 'teenagers are vulnerable'.
Reference list:
Goddard, J. and Barrett, S. (2016) The health needs of young people leaving care. Norwich: University of East Anglia, School of Social Work and Psychosocial Studies.
Book with four or more authors
In-text citation:
This was proved by Young et al. (2015, pp. 21–23) ...
Reference list:
Young, H.D. et al. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics. San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Or, if your institution requires referencing of all named authors:
Young, H.D., Freedman, R.A., Sandin, T.R. and Ford, A.L. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics. San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Book with an editor
In-text citation:
The formation of professions was examined in Prest (2014).
Reference list:
Prest, W. (ed.) (2014) The professions in early modern England. London: Croom Helm.
Book with author(s) and editor(s)
In-text citation
Orksun (2017, p. 22) stated ...
Reference list:
Orksun, B. (2017) Healthcare management. 7th UK edn. Edited by B. Jones and D. Kirk. London: Medical Press Ltd.
Book with no author
In-text citation:
The Percy tomb has been described as 'one of the master-pieces of medieval European art' (Treasures of Britain and treasures of Ireland, 1990, p. 84).
Reference list:
Treasures of Britain and treasures of Ireland (1990) London: Reader's Digest Association Ltd.
Chapters or sections of edited books
Citation order:
Author of the chapter/section (surname followed by initials)
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of chapter/section (in single quotation marks)
'in' plus author/editor of book
Title of book (in italics)
Place of publication: Publisher
Page reference
In-text citation:
The view proposed by Franklin (2012, p. 88) ...
Reference list
Franklin, A.W. (2012) 'Management of the problem', in Smith, S.M. (ed.) The maltreatment of children. Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.
The second and later editions
Citation order:
Author/editor
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title (in italics)
Edition (edition number and/or rev. edn.)
Place of publication: Publisher
Series and volume number (where relevant)
In-text citation:
The excellent study by Waugh (2015) ...
Reference list:
Waugh, D. (2015) The new wider world. 5th edn. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
Revised edition
In-text citation:
The beautiful work by Moxon (2013) ...
Reference list:
Moxon, J. (2013) The art of joinery. Rev. edn. Fort Mitchell, KY: Lost Art Press.
In-text citation:
Steinberg's analysis (2016, p. 45) ...
Reference list:
Steinberg, E.L. (2016) Court music of Henry V. 4th rev. edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ebooks
When an ebook looks like a printed book, with publication details and pagination, you should reference it as a printed book.
Citation order:
Author/editor
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of book (in italics)
Place of publication: Publisher
In-text citation:
In their analysis, Hremiak and Hudson (2011, pp. 36–39) ...
Reference list:
Hremiak, A. and Hudson, T. (2011) Understanding learning and teaching in secondary schools. Harlow: Pearson Longman.
On some personal electronic devices, specific ebook pagination details may not be available, so use the information you do have, such as loc, %, chapter/page/paragraph – for example, (Richards, 2012, 67%), (Winters, 2011, ch. 4, p. 12).
Citation order:
Author/editor
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of book (in italics)
DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
In-text citation:
Arthur's argument with the council was interrupted by the Vogon Constructor Fleet (Adams, 1979, loc 876).
Reference list:
Adams, D. (1979) The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 29 January 2018).
Journals
Journal articles
Many serials have print and online equivalents (either with all details the same or with small variations, for example page numbers). Or they may just be available online or in print editions.
As always, you should reference the version that you are using. Students and tutors can access academic journal articles through password-protected institutional databases, but other readers may not have access to these.
Therefore, as long as the serial reference provides enough bibliographic information for the article to be located by the reader, other elements – for example, [Online], database title, and URL – no longer need to be included.
However, include the URL or DOI if you are using an article that is only available online (see the example below).
Citation order:
Author (surname followed by initials)
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of article (in single quotation marks)
Title of journal (in italics – capitalise first letter of each word in title, except for linking words such as and, of, the, for)
Issue information (that is, volume (unbracketed) and, where applicable, part number, month or season (all in round brackets))
Page reference (if available)
If accessed online:
DOI or Available at: URL (if required) (Accessed: date)
Example: electronic or print or both
In-text citation
In their review of the literature (Norrie et al., 2012) ...
Reference list
Norrie, C. et al. (2012) 'Doing it differently? A review of literature on teaching reflective practice across health and social care professions', Reflective Practice, 13(4), pp. 565–578.
Or, if your institution requires referencing of all named authors:
Norrie, C., Hammond, J., D'Avray, L., Collington, V. and Fook, J. (2012) 'Doing it differently? A review of literature on teaching reflective practice across health and social care professions', Reflective Practice, 13(4), pp. 565–578.
Example: electronic article with DOI
In-text citation
Shirazi's review article (2010) ...
Reference list
Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education, 33(3), pp. 323–326. doi:10.1080/02619761003602246.
Example: electronic article with no print equivalent (URL and no DOI)
In-text citation
It was noted in Mueller's study (1987) ...
Reference list
Mueller, N. (1987) 'Epidemiologic studies assessing the role of the Epstein-Barr virus in Hodgkin's disease', The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 60(4), pp. 321–332. Available at: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4582569 (Accessed: 5 February 2021).
Digital & internet
Web pages with individual authors
Citation order:
Author
Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
Title of web page (in italics)
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Burton (2012) provided information for the visit.
Reference list
Burton, P.A. (2012) Castles of Spain. Available at: http://www.castlesofspain.co.uk/ (Accessed: 14 October 2018).
Web pages with organisations as authors
Citation order:
Organisation
Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
Title of web page (in italics)
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
After identifying symptoms (National Health Service, 2018) ...
Reference list
National Health Service (2018) Check your symptoms. Available at: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/checksymptoms (Accessed: 17 October 2018).
Web pages with no authors
Use the title of the web page.
Citation order:
Title of the web page (in italics)
Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Illustrations of the houses can be found online (Palladio's Italian villas, 2005).
Reference list
Palladio's Italian villas (2005) Available at: http://www.boglewood.com/palladio/ (Accessed: 23 August 2018).
Web pages with no authors or titles
If no author or title can be identified, you should use the web page’s URL. It may be possible to shorten a very long URL, as long as the route remains clear, but it may be necessary to give the full URL, even in your citation. If a web page has no author or title, you might question whether or not it is suitable for academic work.
Citation order:
URL
Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
(Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Video files may need to be compressed (http://www.newmediarepublic.com/dvideo/compression.html, 2018).
Reference list
http://www.newmediarepublic.com/dvideo/compression.html (2018) (Accessed: 14 July 2018).
Web pages with no dates
If the web page has no obvious date of publication/revision, use the Author (no date) and the date you accessed the page. You might question how useful undated information is to your research as it may be out of date.
Citation order:
Author
(no date)
Title of web page (in italics)
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Compression may be required (New Media Republic, no date).
Reference list
New Media Republic (no date) Compression. Available at: http://www.newmediarepublic.com/dvideo/compression.html (Accessed: 16 June 2018).
You should not use web pages for academic work which have no obvious author, title or date.
Blogs
Blogs (weblogs) and vlogs (video logs) are produced by individuals and organisations to provide updates on issues of interest or concern. Be aware that because blogs/vlogs are someone’s opinions, they may not provide objective, reasoned discussion of an issue. Use blogs/vlogs in conjunction with reputable sources. Note that due to the informality of the internet, many authors give first names or aliases. Use the name they have used in your reference.
Citation order:
Author of message
Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
Title of message (in single quotation marks)
Title of internet site (in italics)
Day/month of posted message
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Nick Robinson (2014) noted the 'Cameron Direct' phenomenon.
Reference list
Robinson, N. (2014) 'Cameron Direct', Nick Robinson's newslog, 4 June. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/ (Accessed: 11 October 2018).
Facebook
Citation order:
Author (if available; if not, use title)
Year that the page was published/last updated (in round brackets)
Title of page (in italics)
[Facebook]
Day/month of posted message
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
The campaign had over 7,000 members in less than one week (Tynemouth outdoor pool, 2015).
Reference list
Tynemouth outdoor pool (2015) [Facebook] 29 August. Available at: http://www.facebook.com (Accessed: 31 August 2018).
Instagram
Citation order:
Author (Instagram account holder/poster)
Year posted (in round brackets)
Title of post (in single quotation marks)
[Instagram]
Day/month of posted message
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
He offered her a slice of cake (Tusk, 2018) ...
Reference list
Tusk, D. (2018) ‘A piece of cake perhaps?’ [Instagram]. 20 September. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn8Luwbjzf9/ (Accessed: 7 February 2019).
Snapchat
Citation order:
Author (if available; if not, use title)
Year that the page was published/last updated (in round brackets)
[Snapchat]
Day/month of posted message
Example
In-text citation
The meeting was arranged by Kelvin (2018).
Reference list
Kelvin, D. (2018) [Snapchat] 14 August.
Twitter
Citation order:
Author
Year tweet posted (in round brackets)
full text of tweet (unless it is very long, then use ellipsis to shorten)
[Twitter]
Day/month tweet posted
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Laura Kuenssberg (2018) tweeted on the party conference.
Reference list
Kuenssberg, L. [@bbclaurak] (2018) anyone might imagine that inside he’s a tiny bit pleased [Twitter] 25 September. Available at: https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1044553972277817344 (Accessed: 19 December 2018).
Media & art
Newspaper articles
Where the author (byline) of a newspaper article is identified, use the following citation order:
Author/byline
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of article (in single quotation marks)
Title of newspaper (in italics – capitalise first letter of each word in title, except for linking words such as and, of, the, for)
Edition if required (in round brackets)
Day and month
Page reference (if available)
If accessed online:
DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example: electronic or print article
In-text citation
Financial incentives were offered to graduates (Mansell and Bloom, 2018).
Reference list
Mansell, W. and Bloom, A. (2018) '£10,000 carrot to tempt physics experts', The Guardian, 20 June, p. 5.
Photographs from the internet
Citation order:
Photographer
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of photograph (in italics)
Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
His beautiful photograph (Kitto, 2013) ...
Reference list
Kitto, J. (2013) Golden sunset. Available at: http://www.jameskitto.co.uk/photo_1827786.html (Accessed: 14 June 2018).
Podcasts
Although podcasts can be downloaded onto portable devices, you should reference where they were published or displayed for download rather than trying to give your electronic device as a source.
Citation order:
Author/presenter
Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
Title of podcast (in italics)
[Podcast]
Day/month of posted message
DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example: with author/presenter
In-text citation
Verity et al. (2018) noted that the Olympics had a detrimental effect on sales.
Reference list
Verity, A. et al. (2018) Retail sales figures [Podcast]. 4 September. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/money (Accessed: 25 September 2018).
Or, if your institution requires referencing of all named authors:
Verity, A., Laurie, D., Clark, M. and Naylor J. (2018) Retail sales figures [Podcast]. 4 September. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/money (Accessed: 25 September 2018).
Example: without author
In-text citation
Internal networks are critical (Oracle Business Sense, 2013) ...
Reference list
Oracle Business Sense (2013) Structure [Podcast]. 12 June. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/podcast/0,,329509709,00.xml (Accessed: 27 June 2013).
Online video sharing platforms
If you wish to refer to a specific time within a video, use a time code in your in-text reference, with the format minutes: seconds.
Citation order:
Name of person/organisation posting video
Year video posted (in round brackets)
Title of film or programme (in italics)
Date uploaded (if available)
DOI
OR Available at: URL or name of streaming service/app (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation for specific part of video
When mixing the plaster (Leponline, 2017, 02:00) ...
Reference list
Leponline (2017) Ask the experts – plastering a wall. 4 December. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9wpceIlxCU (Accessed: 13 January 2017).
Research
Company annual reports
Citation order:
Author or organisation
Year of publication (in round brackets)
Title of report (in italics)
Place of publication: Publisher
Or if accessed on the internet:
DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
The company's profits expanded (BSkyB Ltd, 2017, p. 23) ...
Marks and Spencer Group (2017) addressed concerns about its investments ...
Reference list
BSkyB Ltd. (2017) Annual report 2017. Available at: http://www.annualreports.co.uk/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/LSE_BSY_2017.pdf (Accessed: 8 January 2019).
Marks and Spencer Group PLC (2017) Our approach to human rights. Available at: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/imported-documents/plan-a-ourapproach/m-and-s-human-rightsreport-june-2017 (Accessed: 8 January 2018).
Market research reports from online databases
Citation order:
Publishing organisation
Year of publication/last updated (in round brackets)
Title of extract (in italics)
DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Example
In-text citation
Mintel Oxygen (2016) noted problems in the market ...
Reference list
Mintel Oxygen (2016) Car insurance UK. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk (Accessed: 5 January 2018).
ZoteroBib
What is ZoteroBib?
ZoteroBib is a fast, free bibliography generator. It is a website-based version of the Zotero app.
You can use ZoteroBib to create a bibliography in a number of different referencing styles (eg, Harvard). You can save your bibliography and share it with any other type of user.
Since the Zotero app is larger and allows for more functions (eg, saving to PDF), it is recommended for use on larger projects. But ZoteroBib is best for quickly throwing reference lists together. It is quick and convenient for smaller projects.
Find it at https://zbib.org/.
How do I add the Harvard citation style?
ZoteroBib doesn't automatically produce Harvard references. You need to add Harvard to the list of citation styles.
At the ZoteroBib website, click on the drop-down list of citation styles, then click on 10,000+ other styles available at the bottom.
In the Add a citation style window, search for "Cite them right 11" then select Cite Them Right 11th edition - Harvard.
Now you can produce citations in the Harvard style.
How do I use ZoteroBib to reference a paper?
At the ZoteroBib website, copy and paste the DOI (digital object identifier - a code used to identify papers in online databases) or URL of the paper you want to reference into the search bar.
Click Cite, and a reference for the paper you want should appear.
The simplest way to use your references or bibliography is to copy and paste it, but you can also download versions of it in HTML, RIS or BibTeX formats (eg, for use with other reference management software).
How do I use ZoteroBib to reference a book?
At the ZoteroBib website, copy and paste the title of the book you want to cite into the search bar.
Click Cite, and select the book you want to cite from the available options.
Please note: it is not recommended to search for books by ISBN.
The simplest way to use your references or bibliography is to copy and paste it, but you can also download versions of it in HTML, RIS or BibTeX formats (eg, for use with other reference management software).
Referencing Accessible Formats
When using an accessible format (such as the DAISY + Images format available through RNIB Bookshare), page numbers are sometimes unavailable.
Where there are no page numbers, you can use other location markers for your references:
Location ("loc.") - for example
Percentage ("%") - for example
Chapters and headings - for example
Timestamps (for audio versions of text) - for example