University skills: How to reference
9th October, 2023
For students just starting University (or even some who have been there for a year or two!) referencing can seem a little overwhelming!
You must ‘cite’, or reference, a source whenever you use a direct quotation, ideas, or information from a third-party source. Your citation will point readers to the original source, so they can follow your trail of research, and so that the original author’s ideas are credited accurately.
It’s well worth learning the basics of referencing early on so that you feel confident about this essential skill when submitting your essays, as well as setting yourself up for success when it comes to writing dissertations or extended essays later in your degree.
Many students get confused because there are different referencing styles you can use. Before you get started, always check your university or course’s guidelines, or speak to a staff member to find out which style you should use.
Remember that whichever style you choose, you must reference your sources, include a bibliography (which is usually alphabetical), and – most importantly – you must stay consistent!
You’re most likely to be asked to use:
Harvard Referencing Style
When you’re referencing using this style, you must acknowledge the name of the author or editor and the year of publication in brackets in the main flow of your text.
For example, if this blog is by ‘Enjoy Education’, we could cite its information as (Enjoy Education, 2023).
Everything you reference must appear in your bibliography. The formula for referencing a book is:
Author / Editor, (Year of Publication) Title. Series title and number if applicable, Edition if it is not the first edition, Place of publication, Publisher.
For example, a book titled ‘How to Reference’, published in 2023 by Enjoy Education by Enjoy Education Publishing might look like this:
Enjoy Education (2023) How to Reference. London, Enjoy Education Publishing.
Referencing journal articles, webpages or online books may require further steps, such as the inclusion of the URL or reference to issue numbers. Imperial College London has a fantastic resource that breaks down how to reference each of these different types of source material. Take a look here.
Chicago Referencing Style
The Chicago-style citations are also a commonly used form of referencing. Slightly confusingly, it branches into two styles, ‘notes and bibliography’ and ‘author-date’.
Notes and bibliography:
This style uses footnotes, marking where references need to be made in the text with numbers, and including the relevant information in the footnotes, rather than in the main body of the text.
If you’re using Microsoft Word, head to the ‘References’ tab and click ‘insert footnote’ to create these. Through doing this, you’ll notice a number immediately pop up next to your writing and you’ll be directed to fill in the information in the footnote.[1]
In the footnote, you’ll want to include:
Author Name, Title of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication), page numbers.
If you want to keep your footnotes to a minimum, or if your essay or dissertation has a word count that includes footnotes, you can also shorten this to:
Author Surname, Title of Book, page numbers.
Just like the Harvard Referencing style, everything you cite must be included in your bibliography. The format for the bibliography is as follows:
Author. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Of course, this changes again if you need to cite a specific chapter in a book, a journal article, or an online resource. Take a look at the Chicago Manual of Style here to see examples of how your references should look.
Author-Date:
This style tends to be used more for the sciences and social sciences, whereas the notes and bibliography style are more common in the Humanities. In a similar way to the Harvard style, in-text citations are bracketed names and dates. They follow this rule:
(Author Surname Year of Publication, page numbers)
For example:
(Enjoy Education 2023, 7-10)
Your bibliography should be formatted as follows:
Author Surname, Author First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher.
MLA (Modern Language Association) Referencing Style
This is another common referencing style used within the Humanities. In-text citations use the following format:
(Author Surname, Page number)
If the Author is mentioned in the sentence, e.g. ‘Enjoy Education writes that…’ you may just need to include the page numbers in your brackets.
In your bibliography, follow this format:
Author Surname, Author First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.
Read more about how to reference articles, recordings, and other sources here.
If you’re just starting out at University, we’re here to help you develop the skills to succeed and feel confident when submitting written work.
Get in touch with our team today to enhance your University journey.
[1] OR use these keyboard shortcuts to add footnotes to your word document on your Windows PC: Alt+Ctrl+F and on your Mac: Command+Option+F