Understanding References
This guide introduces common types
of references and explains how to
interpret them.
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is
This guide will help you become familiar with the most common kinds of references: books,
book chapters and articles in periodicals. In order to find them in the library you will need
to be able to distinguish between these different types of references and understand how
to search for them on the University of Nottingham Library Online Catalogue (UNLOC).
In the examples, we have shown in bold type, the parts of the references you can
look up on UNLOC.
1. Books
References to books include the name of the author(s) or editor(s), the title, the name of
the publisher and the date and place of publication. Note that the order in which these
appear may vary between different reference lists.
Example 1
Author
Publication date
Title
Kittel, Charles (2005) Introduction to solid state physics
8th ed. New York: Wiley
Edition
Place of publication
Publisher
Example 2
Editors
Publication Date
Title
Day, D.L. and Kovacs, D.K. (Eds) (1996) Computers, communication and
mental models.
London: Taylor & Francis
Place of publication
Publisher
To find books you can look up the name of the author/editor or the title on our
computer catalogue, UNLOC. A quick way to search is to type in the author’s last name
and a word or two from the title in the All fields search box.
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2. Chapters in books
References to book chapters include the same information as to books plus the chapter
details. If the whole book is written entirely by the same author(s) the references are
straightforward as in the next example.
Example 3
Author
Date
Title
Agrios G.N. (1997)
San Diego:
Place of publication
Plant pathology.
Academic Press.
Edition
4th ed
Chapter 7
Publisher
Chapter number
A different kind of reference is used for chapters in edited books. These are books in which
individual chapters are written by different authors and the whole co-ordinated by an
editor. In this case the author and title of the chapter come before the details of the book
as shown below.
Example 4
Author of chapter
Lanczoz, C.
(1972)
Date
Title of chapter
Title of book
Einstein’s path from special to general relativity
In: General relativity: papers in honour of S.L. Synge.
Ed. by L. O’Raifeartaigh.
Editor
Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Place of publication Publisher
pp 5-19
Pages
To find this type of reference in the library look up the editor(s) or the title of the book
on UNLOC, then look in the book for the correct chapter or pages.
N.B. You will not be able to find these references by looking under the author(s) or title of
the chapter, as these are not indexed on UNLOC.
Tip: Look for the word In which follows the details of the chapter and precedes the details
of the book itself. This will tell you to look for a chapter in a book.
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3. Periodical articles
References to articles in periodicals include the title of the periodical, its volume number
and page numbers, as well as the author and title of the article.
Example 5
Author
Date
Watt, C.
(1996)
Title of article
What makes a good PSI target?
Journal of Parapsychology, 60,
Title of periodical
pp 25-41
Volume number
Page numbers
Sometimes the title of the periodical is abbreviated, as in the next example, and an issue
number may be included.
Example 6
Author
Date
Etnyre, JB.
(2005)
Title of article
Cabling and transverse simplicity
Ann. Maths. 162, (3), pp 1305-1333
Title of periodical
abbreviated
Volume
number
Issue number
Page numbers
Find these references by looking under the title of the periodical on UNLOC. Note that
abbreviations may be searched as keywords using the wildcard symbol * (e.g. Eur* Phys*).
If we have the journals, check that we have the volume number you require as well as
where it is shelved.
Note that you cannot look up these references under the name of the author(s)
because these details are not included on UNLOC.*
For more about periodicals and how to find them see the guide IS2312 Periodicals in the
George Green Library.
*We have photocopies of some periodical articles on reading lists in our Short Loan
Photocopies Collection and these exceptions can be found on UNLOC under the
name of the author.
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4. Helpful hints
Always read through references to be sure you understand them before trying to look them
up on UNLOC.
Is it a book or is it a periodical?
References to books include:
 place of publication
 publisher’s name
References to periodicals include:
 periodical title
 volume number
 issue number (sometimes)
 page numbers.
If the word In appears in the middle of a reference then it probably refers to a chapter in a
book. You cannot search for the author or title of a chapter on UNLOC. The details of the
book follow the word “In” so concentrate on this part of the reference to find the editor or
title of the book, which you can search for on UNLOC.
References in Reading Lists
Many reading lists are online with a direct link from each recommended text to the details
in the library catalogue. To view the online lists go to the Library tab on the Portal
http://my.nottingham.ac.uk and select Reading Lists Search for the relevant list by module
name or code or the lecturer’s name.
Finally
If you have problems with difficult or incomplete references please ask the library
staff for advice.
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