A Quick Guide to proper referencing – Oxford Style

Citations and references in text

  • Authors must cross-check their citations and references to ensure that all cited papers appear in the References and that all papers listed in the References have been cited.
  • Citations in the text appear as Smith (2003), or (Smith, 2003, 2004; Jones, 2005)—single brackets only. The citation of a work with three or more authors should appear as Smith et al. (2005), except in those rare instances where it is necessary to distinguish between two sets of authors with the same first-named author and the same date, i.e. Smith, Jones, and Brown (2001) and Smith, Green, and White (2001).
  • Multiple citations should be listed in chronological (year) order.
  • Citations with page numbers should appear as (Smith, 1994, p.45-7).

References in Bibliography

  • Please ensure that the References are in alphabetical, and within that chronological, order. References appear in the following style in the bibliography:

Author, A. (2001) Title of paper in upper and lower case; no quotation marks, Journal in Italics, 45, 133-47.

Author, A. (2003) Book Title in Italics, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Author, A. (2004) Title of article, in A.N. Editor (ed.) Book Title, University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Author, A. Author, B. (2001) Title of paper, Discussion Paper No. 1, Department of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich.

Author, A., Author, B., Author, C. (2007) Title of paper, Journal in Italics, forthcoming.

Author, C. (2005) Title of working paper, available at

  • The authors must be listed in full (surname plus initials) for each entry.
  • Please use italics only for titles of books and journals, include only the volume number (not the issue number), and use least numbers, i.e. 133–47, not 133–147.

Other style details

  • Emphasis: Italics are used strictly for journal and book titles, some headings, maths, and non-English expressions, i.e. per capita.
  • The Oxford comma: Oxford Economic Papers uses the Oxford comma before the word ‘and’ in lists of three or more items, i.e. peaches, plums, and pears. It is not used with two items, i.e. peaches and pears.
  • Quotation marks: Use single quotes throughout, unless there is a quote within a quote. Quotation marks (single) can of course be used for the first use of an unusual term which the author is defining.
  • Lists: Lists are numbered (i), (ii), (iii), etc. For lists within lists we use (a), (b), (c), etc.
  • Spelling: Please ‘Select All’ and choose English UK to check your spelling.