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Assignment
On
Referencing Styles
(Essentials of Dissertation Writing)

















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Table of Contents
Referencing style..3
APA Style of Referencing.3
MLA style.5
Harvard Style of Referencing.8




















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Referencing Styles
Referencing acknowledges the sources that you use to write your essay or assignment paper.
Referencing is an acknowledgement that you have used the ideas and written material belonging
to other authors in your own work.
A. APA Style
The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a widely used author-date system of
referencing or bibliographic citation.
In-text citation: Referencing sources within the text
If you use the name of the author(s) in your writing, place the year of publication of the work in
parentheses after the authors name.
[Mullane (2006) conducted research into the effect of]
Electronic items
When referencing electronic resources it is necessary to provide details about the location of the
item. The 6th edition of the Publication Manual advises that wherever possible the DOI (digital
object identifier) should be provided in the reference. Electronic sources should be referenced in
the same format as that for a fixed-media source, such as a book, with the DOI included at the
end.
Referencing secondary sources
The Publication Manual advises that secondary sources should be used sparingly, such as when
an original work is out of print. In these instances you may want to quote or paraphrase a source
(A) that is referred to within another source (B). You should not cite source A as though you
read the original work. You must cite source A through the secondary source (B) which you
actually read.
For example, the book you are using is written by Smith who quotes another author called Jones.
In your essay you wish to use Jones idea. In-text you should acknowledge both the primary
source (Jones) and secondary source (Smith) as follows:
Jones (as cited in Smith, 2009) agreed that the experiment failed to confirm this hypothesis or
The experiment failed to confirm this hypothesis (Jones, as cited in Smith, 2009).

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Different works of the same author name
If you have references for multiple works by the same author, each of the works with the same
author is listed alphabetically in the reference list by the initials of the first author, irrespective of
the names of the other authors or the years. In the text, citations are differentiated by including
the first authors initials even if the year of publication is different e.g.

Books and book chapters
Single author


Two Authors








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Journal Article (Print Version)



Journal Article (full text from electronic databases)

B. MLA Style
In the body of your work, the MLA citation style requires only enough information to find the
source in the list of works consulted list (bibliography) - usually author and, if a particular
passage is being referred to, page numbers. This parenthetical reference should be as brief as
possible.
Your list of works consulted (bibliography) should identify all references to other works
consulted in sufficient detail so that others may locate and use your sources.
MLA requires that you refer to authors by their name as used not just by initials.
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Your list of works consulted (bibliography) should appear at the end of your essay/report
with entries listed alphabetically by author or by title (if no author).
If you have used Internet sources, these should be listed in your list of works consulted
(bibliography).
The details required in order, are:
1. name/s of author/s, editor/s,
compiler/s or the institution
responsible
2. title of publication and subtitle if
any (all titles must be underlined
or italicised)
3. series title and individual
volume if any
4. edition, if other than first
5. place of publication
6. publisher
7. year of publication
8. page number(s) if applicable
One author
Berkman, Robert I. Find It Fast: How to Uncover Expert Information on any Subject. New
York: Harper Perennial, 1994.
Explanation of above citation:

Two authors
Moir, Anne, and David Jessel Brain Sex: The Real Difference between Men and Women.
London: Mandarin, 1991.
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FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE
The details required are:
1. Names of Authors of the article
2. Title of the article
3. Title of periodical
4. Volume no
5. Issue (or Part) Number
6. Year of publication
7. Page Numbers
Journal article
Turner, Graeme, and Delys Bird, Australian Studies: Practice Without Theory. Westerly
27.2 (1982): 51-56.
Explanation of above article citation:


Conference paper Treat the proceedings of a conference like a book, adding pertinent
information about the conference. Cite a presentation from the proceedings as you would a work
in a collection of pieces by different authors.
Bohrer, S., T. Zielke, and V. Freiburg Integrated Obstacle Detection Framework for Intelligent
Cruise Control on Motorways. Proceedings of the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles
Symposium, September 19-20, 1996, Sikei University, Tokyo, Japan Piscataway, N.J.: Institute
of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc., 1996. 49-52
Newspaper article
Simpson, L. Tasmanias Railway Goes Private. Australian Financial Review 13 Oct. 1997:


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C. Harvard Reference Style
The Harvard referencing system is the most frequently used style at Staffordshire and is also
known as the Author-Date style. It emphasizes the name of the creator of a piece of information
and the date of publication, with the list of references in alphabetical order at the end of your
piece of work.

Punctuation and capitalization when using Harvard
The recommended University style suggests that you should use capitals for authors names
within your bibliography but, if you decide to use upper and lower case within the authors
names instead, you will not be marked down for this as long as you are consistent in the style
you use.
Book (1 author)
Format:
FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication - in brackets) Book Title - in italics or
underlined. Series title and volume - if applicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of Publication:
Publisher.
Bibliography example:
NEVILLE, C. (2010) The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism. 2nd edition.
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
In-text examples:
(Neville, 2010) Neville (2010) commented that Direct quotations are placed in double
quotations marks (Authors Surname, Year of Publication, p. followed by page number in
brackets)
Journal article (online/electronic journal article)
Online article format:
FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication in brackets) Title of article. Title of
journal - in italics or underlined. [Online in square brackets] Volume number. (Part
number/month in brackets). p. - followed by page numbers. Available from - URL. [Accessed:
followed by date in square brackets]


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Bibliography example:
WILSON, J. (1995) Enter the cyberpunk librarian: future directions in cyberspace. Library
Review. [Online] 44 (8). p.63-72. Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com. [Accessed: 30
January 2012] 21
In-text example:
(Wilson,1995) According to Wilson (1995). Direct quotations are placed in double quotations
marks (Authors Surname. Year of Publication, p. followed by page number in brackets).
Journal article (printed journal article)
Printed article format:
FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication in brackets) Title of article. Title of
journal - in italics or underlined. Volume number. (Part number/month in brackets). p.
followed by page numbers.
Bibliography examples:
TEFTS, K. & BLAKSEE, S. (2000) Did you hear the one about Boolean operators?
Incorporating comedy into library instruction. Reference Services Review. 28 (4). p. 369-378.
In-text example:
(Trefts & Blaksee, 2000) This supports Trefts & Blaksees (2000) evidence that Direct
quotations are placed in double quotations marks (Authors Surname, Year of Publication, p.
followed by page number in brackets)

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