How Do You Arrange the Reference List?

• What is referencing?

• How do you arrange the reference list?

• Why should you reference?

• What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography?

• Which referencing system should you use?

• Examples for reference lists

• References in the text of your assignment

• Should you paraphrase or use quotations?

• Examples of in-text references

• A sample extract from an essay

• Reference lists

• Further reading

• Keeping track of the referencing details

• More on referencing

What is referencing?

When you write an assignment at university, you are usually required to refer to the work of other authors. Each time you do so, it is necessary to identify their work by making reference to it—both in the text of your assignment (called ‘in-text’ referencing) and in a list at the end of your assignment (called a ‘Reference List’ or ‘end-text’ referencing). This practice of acknowledging authors is known as ‘referencing’.

References must be provided whenever you use someone else’s opinions, theories, data or organisation of material. You need to reference information from books, articles, videos, computers and other print or electronic sources. A reference is required if you:

• paraphrase (use their idea in your own words)
• summarise (use a brief account of their ideas)
• quote (use someone else’s exact words)
• copy (use their figures, tables or structure)

Why should you reference?

References enhance your writing and assist your reader by:

• showing the breadth of your research
• strengthening your academic argument
• showing the reader the source of your information
• allowing the reader to consult your sources independently
• allowing the reader to verify your data.

By using references appropriately, you will avoid plagiarism, which is wrongfully claiming someone else’s words or ideas as your own. Visit the UniSA website for more information on plagiarism <http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/plagiarism/>.

Which referencing system should you use?

There are a number of different referencing systems used in academic writing. The two most common types are:

1 author-date systems, such as the Harvard system or the APA (American Psychological Association) system

2 numerical systems, such as the Chicago or Turabian system, footnotes or endnote system.

It is important that you choose only one referencing system for an assignment and to be consistent with all the details required by the system.

If your course requires the use of a particular system (for instance, psychology students may be required to use the APA referencing system, and some engineering students may have to use endnotes), you should follow the system specified for your course. Check any specific requirements in the course handout materials or with your lecturer.

What is provided here is the Harvard system based on the 2002 Style Manual 6th edn. When you make use of the ideas of others, they must be acknowledged twice within your assignment.

1 The author and date (and sometimes the page number) must appear in the text/main body in round brackets.

2 All the details on each source must be in the reference list at the end.

In-text referencing: References in the text of your assignment

When you cite (identify) references in the text of your assignment—regardless of whether you paraphrase, summarise, quote or copy —you should include:

• the author’s surname (family name) (or name of editor or organisation responsible)
• the year of publication (latest edition or when site was last reviewed)
• page numbers if appropriate and where available.

There are two ways of citing references. One way gives prominence to the information, with all the required referencing details in brackets:

It has been argued that the relative seriousness of the two kinds of errors differs from situation to situation (Smith 2001, p. 45).

The other way of citing gives prominence to the author by using the author’s name as part of your sentence, with the date and page number in round brackets:

Smith (2001, p. 45) has argued that the relative seriousness of the two kinds of errors differs from situation to situation.

Page numbers are necessary when you paraphrase or summarise an idea from a particular page, when you directly quote a passage, or when you copy tables or figures:

A recent study (Jones & Chan 1996, p.2) has shown a series of outcomes that ‘result from economic hardship in the community’.

Page numbers are not necessary when you paraphrase or summarise ideas that come from a larger portion of an author’s work:

A recent study (Jones & Chan 1996) has shown that more students stay in school if unemployment increases.

Examples of in-text references

The following examples show how to reference different sorts of publications in your text.

Two or three authors

More than three authors

Several sources

Different authors, same surname

Author cited in another work

Multiple works by same author

Multiple works by same author in same year

Author for a web site

No author, but sponsoring body

No author, but newspaper article or report

Editor is significant

No date of publication

Personal communication

Reference lists

The reference list is arranged alphabetically and placed at the end of your assignment. It includes full details of all the sources (except for personal communications) that you cited in the text of your assignment. The reference list is usually titled ‘References’.

One purpose of the reference list is to enable your reader to consult your sources, so you need to include all the information needed for someone else to locate that item. Remember to be consistent with the elements included, the order of the details and the punctuation. The order of elements for books, journal articles and electronic sources are listed below and the examples show appropriate punctuation.

For a book, the following elements should be presented in this order:

• author’s surname(s) and initials (or the full given name)
• year of publication
• title of book (in italics or underlined with minimal use of upper case/capital letters)
• publisher
• place of publication.

For example:

Escritt, S 2000, Art nouveau, Phaidon, London.

For a journal article, the following elements should be presented in this order:

• author’s surname(s) and initials (or full given name)
• year of publication
• title of article (in single quotation marks with minimal use of upper case/capital letters)
• title of journal or periodical (in italics or underlined with important words in upper case)
• volume number (if applicable)
• issue number or other identifier (if applicable)
• page number(s).

For example:

Hilton, GM, Ruxton, GD, Furness, RW & Houston, DC 2000, ‘Optimal digestion strategies in seabirds: A modelling approach’, Evolutionary Ecology Research, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 207-230.

For an electronic source, the order and elements vary according to the type of source. The following elements may be presented:

• author – the person or organisation responsible for the source
• date of publication
• title (with minimal use of upper case/capital letters)
• type of medium (e.g. [online] or [CD-ROM], except for Internet source)
• edition
• place of publication
• publisher
• date of update/revision
• date of viewing
• location (may include: a host document; availability and access number)
• notes

For example:

Thomas, S 1997, ‘Guide to personal efficiency’, Adelaide University, viewed 14 Nov. 2001, <http://library.adelaide.edu.au/~sthomas/papers/ perseff.html >.

Keeping track of the referencing details

As you find information and consult references, write down all the appropriate details needed to locate that source. It is well worth getting into the habit of jotting down these details, as having to backtrack for bibliographic information is time consuming, especially when deadlines are looming. You could create a form similar to the one in Figure 1 for recording the necessary details and save time by keeping a set of photocopies of the form or an electronic template to record the details as you work.

Figure 1 A suggested form to record bibliographic details and reading notes

How do you arrange the reference list?

The reference list is arranged in alphabetical order of authors’ surnames. Do not group references by type of publication.

If a reference has no author, list it alphabetically according to the title (ignoring the words ‘A’ and ‘The’ at the beginning of a title). If an institution or organisation has sponsored the source, list the sponsoring body. If there are two or more references by the same author then list them in order of publication date with the oldest work first. If references by the same author have been published in the same year, then list them alphabetically by title and add the letter ‘a’ after the first date, ‘b’ after the second date and so on (e.g. 1993a, 1993b).

What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography?

The reference list only includes sources cited in the text of your assignment as in-text references. You may also be asked to provide a bibliography, though this is not often required at undergraduate level. A bibliography uses the same format as a reference list but it includes all material used in the preparation of your assignment. In other words, a bibliography will repeat everything in your reference list and include all other sources which you read or consulted but did not cite. Beware, because some lecturers may use the terms ‘bibliography’ and ‘reference list’ interchangeably. Make sure you are clear about what is required.

Examples for referencing lists

The following list provides examples of various publications and how each type would appear in a reference list or bibliography. In some cases acceptable variants of a reference are given together. When you compile your reference list, remember to arrange all items alphabetically—do not sort them by type of publication.

Books

Single author

Multiple authors

No author, 2nd or later edition

Edited work, editor’s role not paramount

Edited work, editor’s role significant

Chapter in an edited book

One volume of multi-volume work

Encyclopedia

Work sponsored by institution, corporation or other organisation

Journal articles

Single author

No author

Multiple authors

From a book of Readings provided by the University

No volume or number

Specialised sources

Conference paper

Government periodical

Government report (common title can also be added)

Standards

Patent

Newspaper article

Pamphlet

Video, television recording

Microfiche

Audio cassette