Citing and referencing: a best
practice guide
Class Objectives
• Produce a bibliography using appropriate
citation standards including:
• Demonstrating an awareness of what
plagiarism is and how to avoid it
• Formatting citations according to conventions
in their discipline.
• Use reference management software such
as Endnote or a web based one, e.g.
Zotero.
Why do we need to cite?
• To acknowledge the work of other writers; quoting
without plagiarising
• To demonstrate the body of knowledge on which you
have based your work
• To enable other researchers to trace your sources and
lead them on to further information
• A standard system of citing ensures an easier system of
tracing knowledge more efficiently.
• The bibliography for your dissertation represents the
results of your literature search - you may wish to discuss
your search method in the text of your dissertation e.g., in
the ‘methodology’ section or chapter.
Contradictions in academic writing
• Provide evidence of research, but …
write something new and original.
• Appeal to experts and authorities, but …
improve upon or disagree with experts
and authorities.
• Improve your English by using the structures
and vocabulary you hear and read, but …
use your own words, create your own
voice.
• Give credit/acknowledgement where necessary,
but …
make your own significant contribution.
Your Research
• Your thesis is expected to be original
research – you need to find a niche
• But your work doesn’t happen in isolation!
• In many subjects you will need a literature
review as one of your key chapters
• You can BUILD on previous work – but it
must be properly acknowledged.
• Literature review vs systematic review
Key points to remember
• ToDon’t
paraphrase
(i.e.: put another author’s
forget:
ideas/words into your own) – a paraphrase must be
cited
• If you quote text, indicate what is quoted and where
it comes from
• If you use ideas or any other intellectual property
belonging to someone else, acknowledge your
source
• If the facts are common knowledge there is no need
to provide a citation but if you are in any doubt it is
better to be safe and cite our source
Examples of plagiarism
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cutting and pasting from other documents.
Quoting without quotation marks or references.
Paraphrasing without referencing.
Summarising without referencing.
Using an image, source and/or diagram without
referencing.
Taking another student’s ideas and passing them
off as your own.
Re-cycling your own work which has been
submitted for assessment elsewhere.
Collaborating on what should be individual work.
Translating a document from another language
Tips for collecting references
• Devise a method that allows ease of sorting
and retrieving
• organise by subject / alphabetically / by
date
• organise electronically? Endnote?
• Note relevant information at the first
opportunity and at the appropriate level of
detail – saves time in the long run!!
• Note the quality / the relevance of the source
Organising your references
• My References options catalogues or
databases
• Delicious for websites
• Zotero (firefox plug in)
• Mendeley, Cite-U-Like, Connotea
• EndNote
• Use EndNote to build a store of references
• Use EndNote to interact with Word and create
automatic bibliographies
Basics of EndNote
•
•
•
•
Opening an EndNote Library
Searching the Catalogue using EndNote
Creating and editing records
Importing records
Information needed
• Search for a book on the library
catalogue.
• Search for a journal article
• How should you cite these in-text and in
your bibliography?
• What details are important?
• Record in your workbook
Citing web pages
Include the following information
1.
2.
3.
4.
Author (might be an organisation not a person),
Title of page
Date (may have no date)
Date accessed. URL
Many different types of resources on the web
•
•
•
An online journal article
A working paper
A home page or website more generally
If you’ve read a pdf of an article online
e.g. via JSTOR just treat this as a journal article,
not a webpage
Citing Theses
Include the following information
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Author
Theses title
Year of theses
Institution presenting the theses
City where the institution is based
Level of theses e.g. PhD-not always
necessary
7. Academic Department-not always
necessary
Citing Archive Materials
Archive materials can vary widely
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Author or creator's name
Title of the work
Date
Publication information
Collection name
Box and folder
Repository. i.e. archive/private collection etc
Group under collection rather than individual
author of particular MSS-this is because
often such materials don't have individual
authors
Citing fieldwork
• Primary sources such as interview data may be
cited using Harvard, but discuss with your
supervisor – sometimes they are not included in
the References list/Bibliography
• May be confidential
• Add to your appendix, not bibliography
• Example of citing interviews:
Peters, M. Personal interview. 22 June 2004.
Cohan, S. Telephone interview. 23 April 2004.
• Citation method – in text or footnotes
• Bibliographic styles
The Harvard citation system
•
•
•
•
•
This system is recommended at LSE for theses*
Confusingly, sometimes called the Harvard style – but
this is the Harvard style of referencing, not a
bibliographical style
It is a method of citing in-text using author-date with
bibliographical references at the end in alphabetical
order by author. So, you can have the author-date in-text
(Harvard system) citations using the APA style, the
Chicago style, etc.
A second system = the Vancouver or Numbered system
= in-text citation using a number with bibliographical list
at end in numerical order
A third system = footnotes with footnote references or
bibliography at the end
* Apart from the Law Department who recommend footnotes, Check your departmental MSc handbook!
What about formatting & word
order?
• Now you’ve collected your references what formatting
should you choose?
• Bibliographic style is a personal choice and different to
the Harvard system
• It is about whether titles are italicized, authors full
names or initials are included
• There are lots of these to choose from or you can
create your own
• Look at other theses from your Department and follow
precedents for your discipline
• Be consistent!
• EndNote will do a lot of the hard work for you
if you use this.
Bibliographic styles
• There are over 3000 bibliographic styles
supported by EndNote! The most well known
include:
• Chicago (known also as Turabian)
Commonly used in history and the natural sciences
• American Psychological Association (APA)
Commonly used in psychology and the social
sciences
• Modern Languages Association (MLA)
Commonly used in the humanities - especially the
fields of literature and languages
Formatting books-some examples
APA
(Bryson, 1995, p.12)
Bryson, B. (1995). Notes from a small island.
London: Black Swan.
Chicago
(Bryson 1995, 12)
Bryson, Bill. Notes from a small island.
London : Black Swan, 1995.
Formatting journal articles-some
examples
APA Style
(Secker, 1997, p. 53)
Secker, J. (1997). The digital library: a new
perspective.
Journal of Documentation 13(2), 53-65
Chicago Style
(Secker 1997, 53)
Secker, Jane. (1997). The digital library: a new
perspective. Journal of Documentation 13
(2): 53-65.
Formatting book chapterssome examples
APA Style:
Ullestad, N. (1992). Diverse rock rebellions
subvert mass media hegemony. In R. Garofalo
(Ed.), Rockin' the
boat: mass music and mass
movements (pp.23-45). Boston: South End
Press
Chicago Style:
Ullestad, Neal. “Diverse rock rebellions subvert
mass media hegemony,” In Rockin' the boat:
mass music and mass movements, ed. R.
Garofalo, 23-45. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
Formatting web pages-some
examples
APA
Freedland, J. (2004, June 8). Please, no more
1960s. Retrieved 9 June 2004, from Guardian
Unlimited Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Chicago
Freedland, Jonathan. 2004, June 8. Please, no
more 1960s. Guardian Unlimited.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/
0,5673,1234380,00.html (accessed 9 June
2004).
Formatting theses-some
examples
APA
Baker, M. S. (1994). The Parents' Music Resource
Center : symbolic conflict amidst structural
decay in the United States. University of Exeter,
Exeter.
Chicago
Baker, Mark S. 1994. The Parents' Music
Resource Center : symbolic conflict amidst
structural decay in the United States,
Department of Sociology, University of Exeter,
Exeter.
EndNote
• Selecting a style
• Creating a bibliography in Word
• Troubleshooting
Additional tips
• Quoting
Quoting
• If you use a direct quotation from an
author you should make this clear with
quotation marks
• You should include the page number/s
• If a quote is more than two lines of text
indent the quote.
• Use three full stops to indicate any
omitted text but be careful not to
change the meaning
• Be careful of longer quotes
Short quotation
Example of short quotation:
Patton (1995, p. 6) believes that
“…evaluation is an essential part of
qualitative research” and this could be
argued to form the basis of his work.
Long quotation
Longer quotes are indented:
Several studies have been written in
this field of research methodology and
it has been argued that:
“…evaluation is an essential part of qualitative
research and should be considered before the
researcher begins to undertaken their fieldwork.
Moreover, it is a crucial stage in the
process”. (Patton, 1995, p. 6)
Creating your bibliography
• If you use EndNote, it does a lot of the
hard work for you
• Need to decide how to arrange
references: alphabetical, by type of
resource
• Separate primary / secondary sources?
• Separate print / electronic not usually
necessary
• Look for examples in your department
Further help
• Library offer classes throughout the year,
so do come back if you need a refresher
• Listen to the podcast
• Lots of resources in Moodle
• Language Centre and Teaching &
Learning Centre can offer help and
advice with writing advice e.g.
paraphrasing, improving your English, so
you can put what you read into your own
words.
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