Guidelines on Referencing Literature in Academic Writing

Guidelines on referencing literature in academic writing
Please read the following document very carefully. Students often come across problems when
referencing literature in their coursework. Bad or inaccurate referencing affects the quality of
presentation of the work at the very least, and at worst leads to accusations of plagiarism and
possible failure of coursework.
Referencing well is important for the following reasons:
 acknowledging the academic sources you have used to inform your arguments
 demonstrating wide and relevant reading
 demonstrating how your thoughts contribute to the field and link to other research/ writing
 avoiding plagarism – inadvertent or otherwise
 contributing to a high standard of presentation.
These are all criteria on which academic writing is assessed.
Remember also that your references need to tally with the books / articles etc quoted in the
bibliography and that your references serve as a route for the reader to follow up your arguments.
The following rules are therefore designed to make that as easy as possible.
There are few basic and simple rules / principles to guide you in referencing in your text which are
outlined below, with examples, all in a different font. (NB: the examples are not all real so do not
quote them!!)
1. When do I reference?
When you are using ideas or information / data from the literature you must refer to the relevant
authors. You need to do this EACH TIME you are using an idea from the literature you are reading.
It does not matter whether you have referred to the author before, elsewhere in the text – each time
the reference must be complete in line with the following guidelines. Otherwise you may be guilty,
inadvertently, of appropriating someone else’s ideas, which counts as plagarism.
2. Referring to a work without directly quoting from it.
When you use an idea from an author, without using their own words, you need to acknowledge
that author by citing the name and the date of publication.
There are two ways of doing this.
a)
If the author’s name is integral to the sentence (ie serves some grammatical purpose) then add the
author’s name and the date of publication in brackets.
Eg :
Bentall (2003) argues that teachers’ understandings of the training process
need to be explored and built on during training.

or
In her research Bentall (2003) found that teachers’ existing understandings of
the training process were a major influence on how they learned during
training.
In both the above examples if you took out the author’s name the sentence would not make sense,
so the name serves a grammatical function in that sentence and therefore stays outside the brackets.
b)
If the author’s name is not integral to the sentence then place the author’s name and date of
publication both within brackets. Place this information in the sentence after the idea you are
referring to.
For example:
It is recognised that teachers’ understandings of the training process need to
be explored (Bentall 2003).
or
It is recognised that teachers’ understandings of the training process need to
be explored (Bentall 2003) and their existing understandings of content
acknowledged (Calderhead 1992).
In these two examples you could take out the authors’ name and the sentence would make
grammatical sense.
NOTE : the author’s name and date come within the sentence. DO NOT place the brackets after the
full stop as this will imply that the authors’ name and publication date refer to what is happening in
the next sentence. It is not usual to start an English sentence with something in brackets that serves
no grammatical function.
3. Paraphrasing
When you are referring to an author without direct quotation be careful that your paraphrasing of
their ideas is entirely in your own words. The aim is to sum up their idea so that you communicate
the meaning of it. Taking their sentence and changing 3 or 4 words is NOT paraphrasing!!! This is
easy to do inadvertently when one has read the passage a number of times, as it feels like the
sentence is your own. Always go back to the source and check whether you are in fact making a
direct quotation, even of just a few words, or part of a sentence, or a term that the author uses, or
whether you really have paraphrased and only communicated the sense of what they are arguing. If
you find you are actually quoting then follow the guidelines in section 4 below.
4. Quoting an author directly – using their words
It is imperative that the use of an author’s own words is acknowledged by the use of quotation
marks. This is the case whether you quote a particular concept that the author has ‘invented’, such

as Bourdieu’s (1990) notion of ‘habitus’, part of a sentence, a whole sentence, data they have
presented or even a paragraph.
Direct quotations must be in quotation marks and referred to by page number. Place the page
number in the brackets next to the publication date:
eg:
Bentall (2003 : 16)
or
(Bentall2003 : 16)
In order to decide whether the author’s name goes in or outside the brackets follow the grammatical
rule outlined above in section 2.
Don’t put the page number at the end of the sentence separate from the publication date and
author’s name as this means the reader has to keep moving backwards and forwards to get all the
relevant information for following up a quotation. This can be very irritating to read.
If the quotation comes later in the sentence than the mention of the author’s name this does not
matter. Still put the date of publication and page number with the author’s name. Don’t quote the
author’s name at the beginning of the sentence and then quote them again at the end. This is
unnecessary and uses up more of your word count.
Examples
Correct:
Bentall (2003 : 243) explores how teachers learn during training and concludes
that teachers’ “existing understandings of the training process influence their
understandings of both course content and reflective practice”.
Note how in this example the words in the quotation dovetail into the words of the sentence, but it is
clear where Bentall’s words begin and end.
Incorrect:
Bentall explores how teachers learn during training and concludes that
teachers’ “existing understandings of the training process influence their
understandings of both course content and reflective practice” (Bentall 2003 :
243).
Note that you might need to quote only a phrase or word that an author has used, because this is a
particular name they have given to something they have discovered. Even this needs referencing as
a direct quotation.
Example:

Edwards and Mercer (1987: 47) illustrate the importance of these norms, which
they call ‘educational ground-rules’, in classroom communication.
5. Quoting / referring to an author via another author.
Sometimes we want to refer to the idea of one author, but we have no access to their original
writings. Instead we have a reference or quotation from them in another author’s work. In this case
you need to remember that what the reader needs is to be able to find the reference as you did. This
means that you indicate the route you took to that author’s ideas in the way you reference.
So if you have found a good idea of Smith’s in a work by Jones, then you reference as follows:
Smith (in Jones 1996)
or
(Smith in Jones 1996)
You give the date of publication that refers to the work you actually referenced (ie Jones 1996) –
showing the indirect route to the first author’s ideas. And it is the indirect reference that goes in
your bibiliography at the end of the piece of writing.
If you quote Smith directly again it is the page number of the Jones publication that you give in
your brackets.
6. Long quotations
Long quotations of more then 40 words need to be indented. Some people like to leave the reference
to the end of the quotation, though if it can be incorporated in the sentence leading up to the
quotation this is also acceptable.
Example:
As Berlo (in Prosser 1978:88-9) states, when interpreting each other’s
understandings,
We make inferences as to the source’s purpose, his communication skills,
his attitudes toward us, his knowledge, his status. We try to estimate
what kind of person would have produced this kind of message. We often
decide what the source’s purpose was, what kind of ‘personality’ he has,
what objects he values or believes in, what he thinks is worthless.
(Note the indirect reference to Berlo and the quotation of pages numbers from the Prosser
publication).
7. When do I use quotations?
Think carefully before using many long quotations. The idea of using an author’s words is that they
sum up what you are trying to say in a particularly interesting, concise, clear, unusual way, which

would be lost if you paraphrased. They should be woven into your argument. Using long quotations
just to demonstrate that you have read a particular work is not sufficient reason for using quotations.
Using quotations creatively and precisely demonstrates that you have processed what the authors
are arguing, have weighed it up, criticised it and then decided whether you agree or not and how
they support the main argument you are trying to make. Quotations should be used far less than
general references to authors’ works and you should always be clear as to why the quotation is there
ie. how it helps your argument.
8. Multiple authored works.
If you are quoting a work by more than one author you MUST always indicate that it is a multiple
authored work. So if two people wrote the article / book you must always quote both names.
Eg
Mitchell and Marland (1989)
If you are quoting a work by more than two authors you need to write all the names the first time
you reference that work and then subsequently you can put the first author and the words ‘et al’.
Eg
First time:
Zeichner, Tabachnick and Densmore (1987)
Subsequent references to the same work:
Zeichner et al (1987)
Again the same rules as above about names in or outside brackets and the use of page numbers and
quotations marks apply.
9. Referring to an author’s work many times.
If you are using a particular author’s ideas to support a large section of your argument, for example
in a particular paragraph, there is no need to refer to them in every sentence. However, be careful
with this!
You need to refer to them sufficiently so that the reader knows which ideas are yours and which are
the authors. So you may have to refer to the author 3 times in a paragraph. Think about how you
write about the ideas so it is clear where they come from.
The school generally dislikes the use of ‘ibid’ or ‘op cit’ as alternatives, so avoid using these.
10. Referring to more than one piece of literature at a time.

If you are making a point about conclusions reached by authors in the field you might want to
demonstrate the strength of opinion or support for your argument by listing a number of books /
articles. This is perfectly acceptable and a good way to demonstrate that you have read widely,
without having to go into depth about each work. It is a good way of setting the scene for your
argument.
For example:
In my PhD I needed to justify the focus of my research and so set out my stall by describing what is
already known from research in the area. I wrote the following:
However, there is a concern consistently expressed by practitioners in the
literature that formal training programmes seem to have relatively little impact
on the development of teachers’ understandings of their practice (see for
example Zeichner, Tabachnick and Densmore 1987, Bullough 1991,
Calderhead 1993, Gutierrez Almarza 1996).
Note that I listed authors spanning a time period to show that these views have been held for a while
and that these views are still relatively current. Notice also that I indicated that I could have quoted
even more support for my position by adding the words ‘see for example’ in the brackets. This
shows I know there is more support in the literature for my argument, but there is a limit as to how
many references a reader might follow up, so I have chosen a representative selection.
Note also the multiple authorship of the first work cited.
Careful however that you do not reference a single direct quotation to more than one publication. A
direct quotation CANNOT be the extact words from more than one publication printed on different
dates and by different authors, unless it has been plagiarised!!
Incorrect:
“Teachers’ views on training have to be understood, as well as their view on the content of that
training”, (Bentall2003 : 15, Smith 2004)
Correct :
“Teachers’ views on training have to be understood, as well as their view on the content of that
training”, (Bentall2003 : 15). This argument is supported by Smith (2004).
11. Unsubstantiated comments
Often students make claims about particular situations, experiences, ideas which are based on their
own experience. They knew them to be ‘true’. However, this is not sufficient in an academic piece
of work. Claims which can be contested need to be supported by literature as far as possible. If they
cannot be then it needs to be clear that they come from personal experience, but remembering that
that carries less weight than a claim supported by the literature and may be read as ‘anecdotal’.
So for example, avoid saying,
Teachers working conditions in Mozambique are so poor that effective training
is impossible.

This is contentious and is arguably not possible to prove for each teacher in Mozambique. It might
be your view, but has more weight if you write the following:
There is evidence that teachers’ working conditions in Mozambique are poor
and that this adversely affects the outcomes of training (Mondlane 1998).
Or
There is evidence that teachers’ working conditions in Mozambique are poor
and that this affects the outcomes of training. Mondlane (1998) cites the
combination of low and unreliable salaries, delapidated buildings, lack of
materials and large classes and argues that this influences teachers’ ability to
implement the training effectively.
The use of a phrase such as “there is evidence” also acknowledges that this might be contentious,
but that you are using data to support your view, so anyone who disagrees has to question the
research you have cited.
Remember! It is more impressive in an academic essay if you can back up ideas / conclusions you
have arrived at independently with references to literature. We expect students to be original, but
not that original!! Your argument has more weight if you can show that what others have said and
thought supports it.
Quoting unpublished comments / ideas
You may wish to quote other people who have participated in a discussion with you on an issue (for
example in the e-discussions). Treat these quotations as data, NOT as published works. In the text
use either of the following ways of citing:
a) One of the other participants argued that “Black and Southern perspectives is a difficult concept
to incorporate in a training event” (personal communication 25.1.2005)
b) Participant 1 argued that “Black and Southern perspectives is a difficult concept to incorporate in
a training event”.
If you choose b) then you can code the different participants in the discussion with numbers (as I
did above) or letters, or, if they are in agreement, you can use their names.
In the bibliography such contributions are NOT included, as they are not published works, but
rather data.
Quoting web-based sources
Web-based sources need to be treated similarly to published works, so that above rules apply. If the
work you are citing has a clear author’s name attached to it and is a piece of writing that has some
status and has been posted on a well-known website then follow the usual rules on citing the author,
date of publication, pages numbers.

If you are quoting from a web-site that is regularly updated and is not a ‘published piece of work’ as
such (eg the CAFOD home page) then you need to cite the organisation.
In both cases the date you accessed the website should be included in the bibliography (see below).
Bibliographies:
There are a number of key rules to remember when compiling a bibliography. Remember that the
main aim is to show a record of works you have cited, to acknowledge those authors’ works, but
also to help a reader access the same material you have done.
Bibliographies MUST:
 be in alphabetical order
 not be sorted into sections with different types of publications (put all publications cited in one
list)
 contain information about the author, date of publication, title, publisher and place of
publication, journal issue etc (see below for examples)
 only include works referred to in the text of the piece of writing (Do NOT list everything you
have read but not referred to!)
 be in a consistent style
Please follow the following style guides for your bibliography. Make note of where brackets are
used, italics, order of information etc. In the following style, the information that is in italics is that
which you would see on the spine of the publication if it were on a shelf. For a book this is the book
title and for a journal it is the journal title (even if you are referring to a chapter or an article from
within those publications).
Book references (single and multiple authored):
(Note that the order of the authors in multiple authored works is the order on the book cover - NOT
alphabetical!)
Hope, A. and Timmel, S. (2001) Training for Transformation: A Handbook for Community
Workers. London: OTDG
Jacques, D. (2002) Learning in Groups. London: Kogan Page.
Joseph, J., Akpokavi, K.B., Chauhan, V. and Cummins, V. (2002:7) Towards Global Democracy:
Black Perspectives in Global Youth Work. London: DEA
Edited books:
Inman, S and Wade, R (Eds.) (1997) Development Education within Initial Teacher Training:
Shaping a Better Future. Oxford: Oxfam

Extracts from edited books:
(Note that the date is the date of the edited book, regardless which part of the book you are referring
to. Note also how the reference indicates that this is a chapter in another book).
Voiels, V (1997) The Inner Self and Becoming a Teacher. In M. Steiner (ed) Developing the Global
Teacher. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books
Journal articles:
(Note the indication of the journal issue and the inclusion of page numbers where known)
Chauhan, V. (2002) You, Me and the World. Young People Now. May issue.
Newell-Jones, K., Cumberbatch, L. and Calvert, D (2001) An Evaluation Framework for
Development Education from the WEA Global Development programme. The Development
Education Journal 7.3pp24-27.
Reports (other similar literature):
(Note that an organisation is often the author of a report type work. However, take care to check
this, as often authors write publications for organisations and in those cases the author’s name
should be given)
DEA (2003) Evaluating Development Education- A Practical Training Resource Manual for
trainers. London: DEA
Web-site articles:
Bell, B (2002) Bibliographical Note. Online. Available http ://www.passiflora.co.uk/biog_first.html
(accessed 5 Dec 2002)
Other rules:
If you cite two works by the same author published in the same year then refer to them in the
bibliography AND your text as:
Smith (1990a)
Smith (1990b)
If you cite two works by the same author published on different dates put them in the order in the
bibliography that they appear in your text.
Clare Bentall January 2004 Global Trainer Certificate