Referencing and Bibliography Construction

This is the third of four hand-outs designed to help you as you prepare your assessed work. The others are "Reading and Note-taking", "Essay Structure" and "Essay Presentation" Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Intellectual Health Warning: These handouts are for advice only. How to study is, by definition, a personal question and so these handouts reflect my personal preferences and are only meant to make you think about what is the best way for you to study. Ask around for advice from other sources and experiment with what suits you best.

From "C" to Shining "C"

For quite reasonable reasons, students generally find referencing to be one of the most problematic areas of essay-writing. A well-referenced essay should be easy to read but will take quite a lot of effort to produce. It is a skill which you need to develop. Once you have sorted out how to reference, you will find that it is straightforward, but you will really help yourself if you set up the correct patterns as soon as you can. It is easier to set up good habits from scratch than it is to break bad habits later on.

There are two key principles for referencing in your essays. These are consistency and completeness. Whatever system you decide to use, you must use it consistently and not mix and match. You must use the system in a way that offers completeness. You must offer enough information for the reader to be able to find what you are referring to. Always err on the side of completeness. Put as much information in your references as you can rather than too little.

Why should I reference?

Referencing serves two main purposes: one for the reader and one for the writer. For the reader, referencing allows the origin of ideas and facts to be traced and to have the opportunity to test the validity of the writers' claims. For the writer, referencing forces thought and reflection about the origin and relationship of the ideas being expressed.

When should I reference?

You should reference under three main conditions: (1) when your idea is taken from someone else's; (2) when someone else has made the same point that you have made; (3) when someone disagrees with the point you have made.

When should I do the references?

Do not write the essay and then insert the references afterwards. You should really reference as you go so that you are being honest about the provenance of your work. It is much less effort to reference as you write than it is to bolt references on afterwards.

How many references should I have?

There is no magic number of references. You must give as many references as you need. Some essays will rely heavily on a key text while others will necessarily draw from a broad range of sources. An essay is not judged by the length of the bibliography (although an essay without a bibliography either displays dishonesty or a lack of reading).

How should I reference?

There are two basic systems of referencing. One is the "Harvard" system (or author date) and one is the "London" (or numerical) system. The difference is that one includes the reference in the text (Hopkins, 1992) and includes a alphabetical listing of all sources at the end while the other directs the reader away from the text.1 The choice of which to use is yours.

Where should I look for a model of how to reference?

Look closely at the academic materials that you are reading. Have a look at how the books or articles you have looked at recently give references. Usually they will serve as a model for how to reference and you can simply copy their style.

What will happen if I do not reference?

To use materials without referencing them is plagiarism and is an extremely serious offence.

What is plagiarism?

The University defines plagiarism as:

Plagiarism is the use, without acknowledgement, of the intellectual work of other people and the act of representing the ideas or discoveries of another as one's own in written work submitted for assessment. To copy sentences, phrases or even striking expressions without acknowledgement of the source (either by inadequate citation or failure to indicate verbatim quotations) is plagiarism; to paraphrase without acknowledgement in a manner likely to deceive the reader is likewise plagiarism. Where such copying or paraphrase has occurred the mere mention of the source in a bibliography shall not be deemed sufficient acknowledgement; each such instance should be referred specifically to its source. Verbatim quotation must be either in inverted commas, or indented, and directly acknowledged.

Now read it again!

Some General Tips

1. You must include page numbers where you are using quotations and it is a good idea, though not obligatory, to include page numbers even when you are not quoting directly.
2. If you quote from a text which itself is quoting someone else then you should reference the source in which you came across it. This is because, as Robert Jenkins argued "a good reference is an honest reference" (quoted in Grundy, 1994, p.4).
3. If you are using a long quotation (over roughly 3 lines long) then you should indent it, single space it (even if the rest of the document is double spaced) and not use quotation marks. All other quotations should be included within quotation marks within the text.

Some Tips for the Harvard System

1. If the name of the author appears naturally in the text then you only need include the date and page in brackets. This is the point that Gibbs (1972, p.3) makes time and time again.
2. If there are two authors then they must both be included in the bracketed reference (Beale & Bodkin, 1982) but if there are three or more you can simple cite the first author (Sedgwick et al. 1991, pp.11-13) with all the authors listed in the bibliography.
3. If you are using more than one piece by an author written in the same year then you differentiate them using a letter (Rogers, 1991b, p.2) and include the letter in the final bibliography (Rogers, 1991a).
4. Using the Harvard System does not rule out the use of footnotes to expand on some point in the text which is not necessary to include in the text, and these can also themselves include references.2
5. If you are using something from an edited book put the name of the author of the piece (i.e. not the book editor) in brackets and you put each piece you use as a separate entry in the bibliography. Only include the whole book in the final bibliography if you have used the whole book.

Some Tips for the London System

1. Include the full reference for the first reference and thereafter use only the last name and beginning of the title.
2. "ibid." means that you are referring to the previous footnote.
3. Even though the details are included in the footnotes, it is a good idea to have a full bibliography at the end of your essay.

Check Lists for Constructing References and Bibliographies

Single-Authored Books:

• Author's last name
• Author's initials (or full name)
• Book Title (underlined or italicised)
• Edition number (if not first edition)
• Year of first publication
• Publisher
• Location of Publisher (usually city)

Example

Edited Books:

• Last name of author of chapter used
• Initials (or full name) of author of chapter used
• Title of chapter used (in quotation marks)
• Last name of Editor/s
• Initials (or full name) of Editor/s
• Book Title (underlined or italicised)
• Edition number (if not first edition)
• Publisher
• Location of Publisher (usually city)
• Year of first publication

Example

Journals:

• Author's last name (include all authors if more than one)
• Author's initials (or full name)
• Article Title (in quotation marks)
• Volume
• Number
• Year (and month if available)
• Page Numbers of the full article (including all end-notes/bibliography/appendices etc.)

Example:

Internet Sources:

• Poster's name
• "Subject Line"
• newsgroup
• date

Example:

Other:

• Name of home page
• WWW site address

Example:

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