Acknowledging Sources, References and Citation Formats
Business School > Internal > Information for Students > Study Skills > Acknowledging Sources
Acknowledging sources, references and citation formats
Essentially, you have to acknowledge the work, whether it be words or ideas, of others in your written work and you do so by clear referencing. It is essential that you follow these instructions for all work prepared outside formal examination room conditions which counts towards the final assessment - in particular they apply to assessed coursework, projects and the dissertation.
However even when writing non-assessed work, you are advised to apply the rules for the following reasons:
· It helps you to get used to doing so, and this makes it easier to apply when it is essential.
· Referencing can help with revision for a written examination - with detailed references you can quickly consult the original source.
· Preparation for the workplace: you will be expected, in report writing for example, to list your sources so that the reader can verify or follow up material.
On the other hand, it should be noted that you are free to use established concepts such as elasticity, the marginal propensity to consume, standard deviation, without having to give references to their definitions or first use.
Where you want to use someone else's writing, whether actual words or ideas, you need to acknowledge that fact by referencing. The Harvard system is recommended. It is also known as the author-date method because the main means of indicating a reference to some one else's work in your text is to insert the author's surname and date in brackets. It also avoids the use of footnotes for providing bibliographical details which detract the flow of the text. (Use footnotes sparingly for material not directly relevant to your main argument.)
Examples
Here are some examples of how you can reference your sources. The full details of the work cited can then be included in a bibliography or list of referencesat the end of your essay.
Example 1 - basic reference.
Your text reads as follows:
In the context of evaluating training programmes, Ashenfelter (1978) noted a potentially serious limitation of this procedure when he observed that the mean earnings of participants in government training programmes decline in the period prior to programme entry.
Example 2 - reference to multiple authors using one long extract from another author.
Your text reads as follows:
A large number of case studies have documented this for hundreds of firms in the Asian countries (Hobday, 1996; Kim 1997; Goto and Odagiri, 1997). All arrive at a view that is illustrated by a quotation from Hobday (1995).
East Asian latecomers did not leapfrog from one vintage of technology to another. On the contrary, the evidence shows that firms engaged in a painstaking and cumulative process of technological learning: a hard slog rather than a leapfrog. The route to advanced electronics and information technology was through a long difficult learning process, driven by the manufacture of goods for export. (p.1188).
Note that this example includes a long extract not in quotation marks but indented. It also gives the page number where the extract can be found in Hobday's publication. Shorter quotations, if not indented, should be within quotation marks.
Example 3 - reference using a short quotation in quotation marks.
"In the savannah, the problems appear at first to be more difficult. However, modernisation of cotton and peanut crops can mean immediate advances." (Dumont, 1966, p. 157).
Example 4 - reference to the title of a book or to a seminal work which merits more than the basic reference.
Occasionally you might want to give the title of the author's work because of its seminal importance or because you want your reader to be immediately informed of the publication rather than have him or her consult your list of references or bibliography. Note that the title of the work is distinguished from the rest of the text.
Your text reads as follows:
During the century and a half following the publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (1776), a body of economic theory was developed step by step which has become known as the classical theory.
Example 5 - reference to second-hand sources.
Indian democracy is said to have 'provided a subtle and resilient mechanism for conflict management' (Bardham, 1984:77, cited by Toye 1987, p. 133).
Details of the Toye publication will be cited in the list of references but the Bardham publication would not be listed because you have not actually seen it. Note here an alternative way of indicating the page number for the Bardham publication: compare with Dumont above).
Example 6 - multiple authors.
Where you refer to a publication written by up to three authors you should list all the names - see Example (2) above. Where there are over three authors you should refer to them in text as follows:
In the multidisciplinary work by Shaw et al (1992) it was pointed out that the behaviour of this group of customers was contrary to theoretical expectations.
In the list of references all the named authors should be listed.
Example 7 - two works published in different years by the same author(s)
Basic models of regional growth may be found in, for example, Armstrong and Taylor (1985, 1993).
Both works will appear in the list of references.
Example 8 - reference to two or more works written by an author in the same year
The first time you refer to one work you refer to it thus
(Haggett, 1968 a),
the second work will be referred to as
(Haggett, 1968 b) etc.
Both works will appear in the list of references.
Example 9 - diagrams, charts, tables, etc
Be sure to apply the same basic principle of acknowledgement by referencing to all diagrams, charts, tables, etc. by giving the source below the item. Examples:
1. Source: Lipsey (1998, p. 56)
Where you have exactly reproduced Lipsey's work
2. Source: After Lipsey (1998, p.56)
Where you have adapted Lipsey's work.
3. Source: Compiled from data in OECD (1995)
Where your table of statistics uses data from several pages of the OECD publication.
4. Source: Constructed from OECD (1995, p. 34)
Where your chart, for example, is derived from data on a specific page.
Lists at the end of your essay
The full details of all publications you have used in your work should be given in two lists each alphabetically ordered by author - one of References to works you have cited in your text and the other a Bibliography which lists the works you have generally consulted. The latter may include, for example, a dictionary of technical terms you have used to check you have understood a basic concept or an textbook you have used to check the details of a particular economic model or statistical test.
(Note: you will not find both a list of references and a bibliography at the end of articles published in academic journals. This is because the authors of such works will expect the readers to have the relevant basic background knowledge. Textbooks, however, often give a list of 'further reading' in addition to a list of references.)
Citation formats
Acceptable citation formats for use in the list of References and Bibliography are:
For a book: Surname, initials. (date). Title: subtitle. Edition. Place of publication, publisher.
Examples:
Nickell, S.J. (1995), The Performance of Companies, Oxford, Blackwell.
Hintjens, H.M. and Newitt, M.D.D. (eds.) (1992), The Political Economy of Small Tropical Islands: The Importance of Being Small, Exeter, University of Exeter Press.
For an article: Surname, initials. (date). 'Article Title', Journal Title, Volume (part), pages Example:
Hobday, M (1995), 'East Asian latecomer firms: learning the technology of electronics', World Development, vol. 23, no. 7, (July), pp.1171-93.
For anonymous works published by organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the Council of Europe, the Office of Fair Trading:
Use the basic format as for books.
Note: Strictly speaking the full title of such organisations should be given in the bibliography/list of references and certainly on first usage in the text where the commonly accepted abbreviation should be given:
According to data published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF, 1998) the rate of inflation fell in five of the ten countries examined.
Subsequent references to the organisation in the text can be by the abbreviation.
Abbreviations: A list of abbreviations and the full titles should appear in your work: this is especially the case in long projects or the dissertation.
Web sites: Material from Web sites should be cited in the standard book format but must include the Web site address and the date the material was consulted/quoted.
Last updated on Friday 03 October 2008 - 11:22:02
Business School
The University of Exeter, Streatham Court, Exeter, Devon, UK EX4 4PU
Telephone: +44 1392 263200
Copyright and Disclaimer