Referencing Styles

• What is referencing?
• Why do I need to reference?
• What do I need to reference?
• Which style do I use?
• Before referencing
• Interpreting References
• Order of References
• Other JCU and Web Guides
• Glossary

What is referencing?

Referencing is a standardised method of acknowledging the sources of information and ideas you have used in an assignment. At the end of your essay, you need to include a list of references or bibliography of materials used in writing the assignment.

The most important aspects of using any style are consistency and accuracy.

Why do I need to reference?

• to acknowledge the work of others and to avoid plagiarism
• to allow the reader to verify quotations and use your sources to find further information
• to enhance the credibility of your information

What do I need to reference?

• direct quotations
• ideas you have summarised
• statistics
• electronic sources, e.g. web pages, emails

Which style do I need to use?

There are two main systems of referencing, with variations within each system.
Author-Date, often called Harvard. APA is a specific style of this system. Harvard has many variations; differences are often very minor, concerning mainly punctuation and capitalisation.
Documentary-Note. This system, which uses footnotes, is used mainly in the humanities, especially History. A variation, the Vancouver system, is widely used in the medical sciences.
The styles used most frequently at JCU are explained here. It is important that you find out from your lecturer which style you are required to use as it may vary from one School or one subject to another. There may also be variations within styles.

Before referencing

Take down the full bibliographic details including the page numbers from which the information is taken. Remember to do this as you use each item - it can be very time consuming to follow up references later.

For a book this refers to:
author or editor
year of publication
title
edition
place of publication and publisher

For a journal article this refers to:
author of article
year of publication
title of article
journal title
volume number
issue number
page numbers for the article

For electronic information this refers to:
author or editor
year of publication
article title
journal title
the type of medium (e.g. CD-ROM, online)
pages or length
where available (e.g. URL, name of database, email address)
access date

(You may find some details are not available.)

Order of References in the Reference List or Bibliography

• The list is arranged in alphabetical order of authors' surnames.
• If a reference has no author, list it alphabetically according to the title. Ignore the words 'A' and 'The' at the beginning of a title.
• If there are two references by the same author, list them in order of publication date with the older one first.
• If references by the same author have been published in the same year, list them alphabetically by title. Letters a, b, etc. are placed after the year, e.g. (2001a), (2001b).

JCU Guides

• Australian History
• The Mariner Bachelor of Nursing Science Handbook 2006 : On-Campus [.pdf file, p.50-59] | External [.pdf file, p.56-65]
• Occupational Therapy [.pdf file]
• JCU Study Skills Online: APA Referencing

Other Web Guides

• APA Style

  APA Style homepage Official APA page
  APA Referencing Guide from Curtin Library and Information Service [pdf file, 12 pages]
  APA Style Examples Monash University Library
  Psychology with Style: A Hypertext Writing Guide for APA
  References: APA Style University of Queensland guide [5 pages, .pdf file]
  Referencing Resources: APA referencing [10 pages, .rtf file] RMIT Library guide
  How to present your paper in correct APA style [9 pages, .pdf file]
  Covers topics such as Headings; Abbreviations & punctuation; Tables & figures/graphs and Appendix as well as referencing.

• Harvard and Vancouver Systems

  Harvard (Author-date) referencing guide from CQU [PDF file, 49p]
  Harvard Referencing Curtin University of Technology guide
  Harvard style bibliographes and references Leeds University Library
  Harvard Style UseIt from University of Queensland
  Reference styles: Harvard and Vancouver systems British Medical Association guide
  How to acknowledge what you've read - Harvard style and Vancouver style from Monash University Library
  Referencing Resources Links to Harvard and Vancouver guides from RMIT
  Vancouver (author-number) style
  This ICMJE publication is one of the authoritative international guides to Vancouver publication standards and style.
  Vancouver Style University of Leicester library guide
  The Vancouver System From the University of Leicester Library's Information Retrieval Skills for Physics & Astronomy

• CBE (Council of Biology Editors) Style

Scientific Style and Format Information from the Council of Science Editors about the CBE style
Using CBE Style

• MLA Style

MLA Style Authorised by the Modern Language Association of America
Guide to Referencing Using the MLA Style University of Southern Queensland
List of works consulted MLA Style University of Queensland guide [PDF format, 5 pages]
Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

Documentary-Note

Essay Writing Guide - School of Historical Studies from Monash University
Includes a guide on referencing
Short guide to referencing in history courses CQU

Chicago Style

The Chicago and Turabian styles use the note system, placing the bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page or at the end of a paper.
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed., 2003. Townsville & Cairns Reference Collction 808.02 MAN 2003
Chicago Manual of Style FAQ
Chicago (notes-bibliography) style examples Monash University Library guide
Documentation: Chicago Style
Using CMS Style

• Turabian Style

Turabian referencing style
Monash guide to the style based on Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations

• Assorted Referencing & Style Guides

Citing and referencing: How to acknowledge your sources Guide from Monash University
How to Cite InfoTrac Sources
Gale guide to citing InfoTrac electronic publications. The examples follow MLA style
Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment
How to cite sources in various styles, with citations for various kinds of sources. Covers APA, MLA, the journal Science, and Chicago
Citation Style for Research Papers
Guides for APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA (American Medical Association) and Turabian
Indispensable Writing Resources: A Guide to Writing Reference Sites
Links to the online versions of general style guides
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Style Manual for authors, editors and printers 5th edition .pdf files. Australian guide to the author-date (Harvard) system, also briefly describes the note system and Vancouver style. This edition is now superseded by the 6th edition.
Style Manuals in the JCU Library Collection

Guide to Map Citation
This guide from the University of Melbourne is to help the user of cartography in citation of maps and map-related resources.

• Guides to Online / Electronic Resources

Most of the style-specific guides include examples for electronic items
Documenting Electronic Resources from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Columbia Guide to Online Style
A few examples from the second edition of The Columbia Guide to Online Style

Glossary

Bibliography See also Reference List
The bibliography contains sources cited in the essay, plus other sources that you consulted in your research but didn't quote, or material for background or for further reading.

Citation
This means indicating the sources used in writing an assignment. Citations are given at the end of the assignment as a list of references or bibliography. You also need to insert information into the text of your essay to show when you have used information from other people - this is known as citing in the text, by means of numeric references and footnotes or endnotes, or by the author-date or Harvard system.

Plagiarism
The theft of another author's work.

Reference List See also Bibliography
A reference list contains sources cited in the essay.

 

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