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English Language Materials
The Language Centre
NewcastleUniversity
Guidelines on Citing and Referencing
1 Introduction
This paper gives guidelines on how to refer to other authors in an assignment, dissertation or thesis. We give an example for each type of text you are likely to meet. The system used here is known as the ‘author-date’ system. Many Schools in the University encourage their students to use this system, although some prefer the ‘Endnote’ system. Whichever system you use, you must be consistent: in other words you must follow the same system throughout your text.
In these guidelines we look at 3 key areas: general strategies for dealing with sources of information, in-text citations, and end-of-text reference lists.
2Strategies for referring to sources
a)What counts as a source?
A source is anything written or said by another (or even by yourself!) which you want to refer to in your own writing. Sources may be:
a book or an article
a thesis or dissertation
a lecture or a lecture handout
a “personal communication” (what someone has told you)
electronic or tape media: a video or audio cassette, a piece of software or a Web site
b)Strategies for using others' ideas
The one key strategy here is: always state (“cite”) the source of any information or ideas that aren't your own! If you forget to do this, you risk being accused of plagiarism, i.e. pretending that someone else's work is your own. This is a serious academic offence – after all, it is really theft of someone else's intellectual property.
First, some general guidelines on incorporating others' ideas in your own text:
Summarising
The best strategy is to summarise where possible, adding your own comments if appropriate. For example:
Krashen (1981, 1985) claimed that formally-taught (“learned”) rules could not become usable in fluent conversation (“acquired”), a view which many language teachers would disagree with. Ellis (1991) does not reject Krashen's model outright, but claims that “learned” rules help the learner notice features in the input that he or she would otherwise miss.
In the example above, the phrase “a view which many language teachers would disagree with” is a comment added by the person summarising Krashen’s claims.
Comments must be easily identifiable as such, so that there is no confusion in the reader’s mind as to which ideas are derived from the source you are citing and which are your own.For example, phrases such as “As Brown points out, …”, “I concur with Brown’s view that…” are comments indicating agreement with the author cited.
Paraphrasing
If you have to refer in detail to a source, the next best strategy is to put the author's text into your own words so that it fits in with your own writing style.
Quoting
Sometimes, however, you may wish to quote directly. If it's a sentence (or less), include it in your normal paragraph, using “ ” or ‘ ’ to mark the quotation, and [...] to mark any words you want to miss out:
Dictionary work, however, is not always tedious: “If the hunt for the right word is painfully slow [...] it can also be one of the translator's greatest professional joys” (Robinson 1997: 167).
If it's longer than a sentence, use a left-indented paragraph (without “ ” ‘ ’); smaller font-size is optional:
As for “content-driven” learners, Robinson (1997: 66) writes that they are:
typically stronger in linguistic and logical/mathematic than in personal intelligence; they focus most fruitfully on the information content of a [...] text. Learning is dependent on the effective presentation of information [...].
The subject of the present case study certainly seems to fit Robinson's description.
But use quotations sparingly, to support your argument (not to make it!). An essay that is just a joined-together string of quotations will get poor marks because (a) it is difficult to read and (b) because markers don't know how far you have understood the information you quote.
3In-text citation: guidelines
Here we list standard ways of referring to different types of source in the body of your text. Copy the punctuation, etc. exactly!
a)Article in book or journal
According to Roberts (1995) good visual design helps sell coursebooks. It also makes the actual learning easier by stressing the learning path that the learner should follow (Smith, 1987).
Here, we exemplify two types of citation: integral citation, where an author's name (Roberts, in this case) is part of the reporting sentence, and non-integral citation, where the author’s name (Smith, in this example) appears in brackets at the end of the sentence. Note the comma after Smith. Don't give the author's first name or the article title (unless it's necessary for your argument)!
b)Book
If you are referring to a whole book, follow the previous guideline. Often, however, your information comes from a certain page or pages. Then add the page numbers as follows:
As for “content-driven” learners, Robinson (1997: 66) says ...
Cunningsworth (1984: 78-79) stresses that ...
c)Citing several works at once
Often you will need to refer to several sources at once. Put them in year order (not alphabetical order), separating each citation witha semi-colon(;):
Several authors (e.g. Rowntree and Connors, 1978; Dougill, 1987; Breen, 1988) have stressed the importance of good physical design in coursebooks.
d)Works by more than one author
For a work by two authors, separate the surnames with and. For more than two, add et al. after the first surname:
Some (e.g. Smith and Jones, 1995) claim that ... despite the evidence of Naiman et al. (1978) ...
e)More than one work (or citation), same author, same year
If you are referring to several works by one author in the same year, call the first work which you refer to a, the second work b, etc.:
Charlton (2001a) found that career choices were still determined to a considerable extent by traditional gender roles. However, for both genders career choices were more diverse than in the 1980s (Charlton, 2001b).
If you are referring repeatedly to the same source, only repeat the year if it hasn't been mentioned in the same or the previous paragraph, or if you're discussing different works by the same author.
In a ground-breaking study of the good language learner, Naiman et al. (1978) claim ...
Naiman et al. also found that ...
f)Different authors with the same surname
Use initials to distinguish them:
Several authors (e.g. L. Jones, 1983; C. Jones, 1986; G. Jones, 1986; F. Jones, 1993) have written about CALL simulations.
g)Other written sources
With anything produced and “issued” by a known author in a known year – e.g. theses, assignments, lecture handouts, newspaper articles – use the author-year system as above.
h)Sources not (yet) published
For something accepted by a publisher (but not yet published), use in press instead of the year. For something being written, use in progress. For any other unpublished text without a year of “issue”, use unpublished.
As for experiential learners, Windeatt (in press) says ..., whereas Fernández (in progress) says that ... It is also claimed that ... (Jones, unpublished).
i)Author and/or year unknown
In Teach Yourself Tibetan (author unknown, 1953), Tibetan grammar is presented...
Skehan (year unknown) reported that language aptitude consists of two elements…
In ‘Notes on the Teaching of Quechua’ (author and year unknown), it is claimed that ...
j)Software, broadcasts, websites
If you know the author(s) and the year of issue of a software program, web sites, etc., give the title plus an author-year citation. If there isn't an obvious author or a year, just give the title. Here are some examples:
Storyboard (Jones, 1983) is a highy popular CALL program.
Sueños has replaced España Viva as the BBC's main audio/video Spanish course.
On Scott Windeatt's home page ( you can find...
k)Spoken sources
If the spoken text was “publicly issued” (e.g. a broadcast or lecture), use the author-year system. If it was passed on to you in conversation, use personal communication:
Artificial intelligence is often “not that intelligent” (Scott Windeatt, personal communication), because ...
In other cases, simply explain:
In a comment from the floor at the 1997 BAAL Conference, Paul Meara suggested that ...
4Using secondary sources
Whenever possible, you should read the original work you wish to refer to in your text rather than relying on secondary sources. If you cannot obtain the original work or primary source and must therefore read about it in another publication, you must acknowledge both sources, as in the example below:
Jefferson (1972) in Schegloff, Jefferson and Sacks (1977) illustrates the dispreferred status of other-correction …
Here, Jefferson (1972) is the primary source you haven’t read, while Schegloff, Jefferson and Sacks (1977) is the secondary source where you obtained the information for your citation.
5References List
The References List at the end of your assignment, etc. is the list of works you have cited in the text (to be distinguished from a Bibliography, which is a list of works which readers should read if they want to find out about a subject).
a)General guidelines
Only put a work in the References List if you have cited it in the text (so if you want to show that you've read a book, make sure you mention the fact in the text), e.g.:
The checklist below is based on Cunningsworth (1984) and Shelton (1987).
Make sure that every source (apart from personal communications) is listed in the References List (check your text carefully before submitting it!).
b)Ordering the list
Alphabetical order of author's surname(s) alphabetical order of initials year year/a, year/b in press/etc.. Treat Author unknown as a surname.
Arnold, J.B. (1992) Mentoring Schemes in Secondary Education. Carlisle: Cumberland and Borders Press.
Author unknown (1973) From School to University. Newcastle upon Tyne: Geordie Press.
Blair, M.I. (1991) Gender and Academic Achievement. London: Education Press.
Blair, M.I. (1993) Career Stereotypes.Brighton: The Women’s Press.
Blair, M.I. (in press) New Directions in Careers Guidance at School.Edinburgh: Tartan Press.
Blair, M.I. and R. Al-Hamid (1988) Paths to Success.Observer Magazine, 28th January 1988: 12.
Blair, M.I. and G. Weber (1994) High School Students’ Perceptions of Engineering Degrees. Higher Education23/1: 49-69.
Crozier, C. (1982) ...
c)Author name(s)
Look carefully at the order below:
Blair, M.I. (1993) Career Stereotypes. Brighton: The Women’s Press.
Blair, M.I. and R. Al-Hamid (1988) Paths to Success. Observer Magazine, 28th January 1988: 12.
Blair, M.I. and G. Weber (1994) High School Students’ Perceptions of Engineering Degrees. Higher Education 23/1: 49-69.
Now we list some examples of how to set out the key types of source. Copy punctuation exactly!
d)Whole book
Written by an author:
Arnold, J.B. (1992) Mentoring Schemes in Secondary Education. Carlisle: Cumberland and Borders Press.
An edited collection:
Hashimoto, R. and G. Weber (eds.) (1999) New Directions in Student-Centred Research. Manchester: University of Cheshire Press.
For one editor, just put (ed.).
e)Article in edited book
Jameson, F.R. (1999a) Self-study and achievement. In G. Weber (ed.) Student-Centred Learning. Oxford: Greenwell.
Jameson, F.R. (1999b) Attitudes to self-study and exam success: a preliminary investigation. In R. Hashimoto and G. Weber (eds.) New Directions in Student-Centred Research. Manchester: University of Cheshire Press.
Note: article title in plain text, with first word only in capitals; no page numbers.
f)Article in journal
Blair, M.I. and G. Weber (1994) High School Students’ Perceptions of Engineering Degrees. Higher Education 23/1: 49-69.
Note: journal title in italics; 23 = volume number; 1=issue; 49-69 = page numbers.
g)Thesis or dissertation
Ahmed, A. (1997) Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Engineering Majors Studying through the Medium of English. PhD thesis, MidlandsUniversity.
h)Unpublished conference paper/talk
Weber, G. (2001) Developing student autonomy through the use of multimedia. Paper presented at the 2nd Independent Learning Annual Conference, University of Northumberland.
i)Newspaper or magazine article
Blair, M.I. and R. Al-Hamid (1988) Paths to Success. Observer Magazine, 28th January 1988: 12.
Note: 12 = page-number.
j)Translated source
Ahmed, A. (2001) Language development beyond childhood. Translated by J. Smith. In F.R. Jones (ed.) Adolescence. Camford: CamfordUniversity Press.
k)Untranslated foreign-language source
Crespo, S. (2000) Sudamérica en el Siglo XXI [South America in the 21st Century].Buenos Aires: Ediciones del Milenio.
l)Document obtained from the Internet
A journal article:
Jacobson, A.P. and F. Torres (1995) A history of language teaching.Language Teaching and Learning 5/3: 186-198. Retrieved 25 January 2002 from:
WWW document - no author:
GVU’s 8th user survey. Retrieved 8 August 2000 from:
m)Newspaper or magazine on CD-ROM:
Gardner, H. (1981, December) Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today [CD-ROM]: 70-76.
n)Article from CD-ROM Encyclopaedia
Crime (1996) In Microsoft Encarta 1996 Encyclopedia [CD-ROM]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
o)Film or videotape
Maas, J. B. (Producer) and D. H. Gluck (Director) (1979) Deeper into hypnosis [Film]. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
For further information on electronic citation styles you can visit:
APA Style
Columbia Guide to Online Style
Online Citation Styles
AllREF: Guidelines on Citing and Referencing
Created by Francis Jones and Alicia Cresswell, 10/98
X:\materials\ReferenceGuides\citatref.doc
Updated by Alicia Cresswell, 9/04/03