OU Harvard guide to citing references

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OU Harvard guide to citing references

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1 Introduction
This guide provides practical advice and examples to help you create references for information
sources using the Open University (OU) Harvard style. Some OU modules may use other
referencing styles. Please check the details for your module before using this guide.

Note: this guide was revised in October 2014. Some of the advice has been slightly amended, but
it should not differ significantly from earlier versions. If your module materials ask you to reference
OU module materials in a different way, please follow your module’s guidance. If you are unsure,
contact your tutor.

If you are unable to find the reference type you need in this guide, you are advised to find
something similar and base your reference on that example. The main aim is to record the key
information about your source to enable someone else to locate it. See What if I cannot find the
reference type I need in the OU Harvard guide to citing references? for more guidance.

1.1 Principles of in-text citations and references

When producing an academic assignment you are required to acknowledge the work of others by
citing references in the text and creating a list of references or bibliography at the end. There are
two steps involved:

Step 1: In-text citations

In-text citations enable you to indicate in your work where you have used ideas or material from
other sources. Here are some examples using the OU Harvard style. If, for example, your source is
a book written by Brown and published in 1999, your in-text references would follow one of these
three formats:

Further work (Brown, 1999) supports this claim

Further work by Brown (1999) supports this claim
‘This theory is supported by recent work’ (Brown, 1999, p. 25).

For further guidance see In-text citations (Section 2) of this guide.

Step 2: List full references at the end of your work

Everything you have cited in the text of your work, for example journal articles, web pages,
podcasts, etc., should be listed in alphabetical order at the end. This is the reference list. Each
reference should include everything you need to identify the item. You need to identify the source
type (e.g. book, journal article) and use the correct referencing format from this guide to create the
reference. If you include items that are not specifically cited but are relevant to the text or of
potential interest to the reader, then that is a bibliography.

For further guidance see Reference list (Section 3 of this guide).

Op. cit. and ibid.

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These terms (from the Latin opere citato, ‘in the work already cited’ and ibidem, ‘in the same place’)
are not used in the OU Harvard system.

1.2 The general structure of a reference

As mentioned in Section 1.1, the main aim in providing accurate and consistent referencing (apart
from meeting academic conventions) is to enable your readers to look up the exact sources that
you have cited in your piece of work. This means that you need to give accurate information about
the type of item, the name or title of the item, who produced it, the date it was produced and where
you found it. All reference examples in this guide are based on a combination of some or all of
these elements, depending on the type of item. Knowing this should help you to break down a
reference into its component parts and therefore to create references for any sources you might
use that aren’t covered in this guide.

Broadly speaking, the key pieces of information for a reference in OU Harvard style tend to be:

Author, A. A. and Other-Author, B. B. (Date) ‘Title of item’, Title of Overall Work [Item
type/information], Publisher information/location from which accessed.

Author/creator
This is usually the names of the person or people who created the specific item you are citing.

Date
This is the year, and sometimes the month and day, when the cited item was published or made
available. If no date is available, use n.d. If a work is to be published in the near future, use
‘forthcoming’.

Title/name of item

This is the title of the specific item you have cited.

Title/name of overall work

This is the title of any overall work in which the item you cited appeared, for example an edited
book from which you used a chapter or the journal from which you used an article.

Item type/information
This is information about the type of item you’ve cited, for example an ebook, a Twitter post or a
DVD. It could also be where information about the nature of the item is placed, for example that
this is a special issue or special section of a journal.

Publisher information
This is the item publisher’s location and name.

Location from which accessed

This is usually a URL or web address from which the item can be accessed.

These elements are the basic parts from which a reference in Harvard style is formed. There are
various modifications to this, depending on the type of item. If you can’t find an example reference
in this guide for the precise type of item you have cited, you should find the most similar example
and base your reference on that, bearing in mind the elements outlined above.
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2 In-text citations
In the Harvard system, references in the text (in-text citations) are referred to by the author’s
name and year of publication, for example:

It is stated that … (Bloggs, 2007) or Bloggs (2007) states …

Quotes
If you are directly quoting material (i.e. using the exact form of words used in the original and
putting the text in quote marks), you will also need to include the page number(s) of the quoted
material in your in-text citation, for example:

Bloggs talks about ‘the importance of preparation’ for interviews (2007, p. 57).

This is also the case for where you use quoted material from all the types of text referred to in the
rest of this guide, unless page numbers are not available.

Larger quotes should be displayed in a separate paragraph, for example:

Bloggs (2007, p. 348) is more critical:

I don’t agree with this at all, the argument is poorly made and does not hold up to any scrutiny. One
begins to wonder if we shall ever see any sense from this organisation on this subject at any time in the
next one hundred years.

If you do not name the source in the lead-in to the quote, then it must be given after it:

Other commentators are more critical:

I don’t agree with this at all, the argument is poorly made and does not hold up to any scrutiny. One
begins to wonder if we shall ever see any sense from this organisation on this subject at any time in the
next one hundred years.

(Bloggs, 2007, p. 348)

Authors with more than one publication

In the reference list or bibliography, items are listed only once in alphabetical order. In some
cases you may refer to more than one publication by an author for a specific year. To help identify
these different items for your in-text citation and reference list, you should add a letter of the
alphabet to the year of publication, for example:

(Thomson, 2004a), (Thomson, 2004b) and (Thomson, 2004c) where a, b and c refer to the order in
which they are cited in your text.

Multiple authors

If a publication has three or more authors the in-text citation should list only the first author
followed by et al. (‘and others’). For example:

(Jones et al., 2006)

but in the reference list or bibliography you would list each author in full as follows:

Jones, R., Andrew, T. and MacColl, J. (2006) The Institutional Repository, Oxford, Chandos
Publishing.
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Citing multiple sources

Where you have several in-text citations together, you should order them in reverse chronological
order, beginning with the most recently published source, and separate each source with a
semicolon (;). If more than one work is published in the same year, order these texts alphabetically
by author.

(Frobisher, 2012; Barnes et al., 2009; Huy, 2009; Monk and Bosco, 2001)

Op. cit. and ibid.

These terms (from the Latin opere citato, ‘in the work already cited’ and ibidem, ‘in the same place’)
are not used in the OU Harvard system.

3 Reference list
References in the reference list or bibliography give, in alphabetical order by author surname,
full details of all the sources you have used in the text. When a corporate author’s name starts with
‘The’, use the first main word of the title when alphabetising, e.g. The Open University is listed
under ‘O’. For example:

Reference list example

Bourdieu, P. (1992) The Logic of Practice, Cambridge, Polity Press.

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) (2007) This Way to Better Streets:
10 Case Studies on Improving Street Design, London, CABE [Online]. Available at
www.cabe.org.uk/default.aspx?contentitemid=1978 (Accessed 12 February 2009).

Foucault, M. (1991 [1977]) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (trans. A. Sheridan),
London, Penguin.

Glaskin, M. (2004) ‘Innovation: the end of the white line’, Sunday Times, 22 August [Online].
Available at www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article472085.ece (Accessed 12 February 2009).

Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, New York, Anchor Books.

House of Commons (2003) Hansard, 2 July, Column 407 [Online]. Available at

www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030702/debtext/30702-
10.htm (Accessed 12 January 2012).

McNichol, T. (2004) ‘Roads gone wild’, Wired Magazine, vol. 12, no. 12, December [Online].
Available at www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html (Accessed 12 January 2012).

The Open University (2006) Real Functions and Graphs: Workbook 2, Milton Keynes, The Open
University.

Ruppert, E. S. (2006) The Moral Economy of Cities: Shaping Good Citizens, Toronto, University of
Toronto Press.

Shared Space (2005) Shared Space: Room for Everyone, Leeuwarden, Shared Space [Online].
Available at www.shared-space.org/files/18445/SharedSpace_Eng.pdf (Accessed 21 February
2009).

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Thompson, K. (2003) ‘Fantasy, franchises, and Frodo Baggins: The Lord of the Rings and modern
Hollywood’, The Velvet Light Trap, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 45–63.

4 Secondary referencing
You may want to use a quotation or an idea from a source referenced in a work you have read. You
haven’t read the original, but have discovered it through a secondary source. This is known as
‘secondary referencing’. You could try to get hold of the original, but if you can’t then you need to
make it clear in your work that you have not read the original and are referencing the secondary
source, for example:

In-text citation: Bloggs (2004), cited in Smith (2007), loves chocolate.

In the reference list you would provide details for the source you read it in, for example:

Smith, J. (2007) Musings from Chocolate Lovers, Bicester, JFJ Press.

If your secondary source is part of your OU module materials, see Secondary referencing in
module materials (Section 7.7) for guidance.

5 Books, book chapters and ebooks

5.1 Books
In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says …

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) Title of Book, Place of publication, Publisher.

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

(Chalke, 2003) Chalke, S. (2003) How to Succeed as a Working Parent , London, Hodder & Stoughton.

(Winder, 2002) Winder, S. (2002) Analog and Digital Filter Design, 2nd edn, Boston, Newnes.

Note that:

If the book has an edition number, you should record this after the title as in the example above.
For guidance about how to cite works with multiple authors, see In-text citations (Section 2 of this
guide).

5.2 Book chapters

In-text citation:

... and others agree (Author of chapter, year of publication) or Author of chapter (year of publication)
states ...

Full reference:

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 Author of chapter, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of chapter’, in Author A. (ed[s]) Title of Book, Place
of publication, Publisher, page extent.

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Mason, Mason, R. (1994) ‘The educational value of ISDN’, in Mason, R. and Bacsich, P. (eds) ISDN:
1994) Applications in Education and Training, Exeter, Short Run Press, pp. 58–83.

5.3 Translated books

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication of translated version [year of publication of original work if available])
Title of Book (trans. A. Translator), Place of publication, Publisher.

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Foucault, Foucault, M. (1991 [1977]) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (trans. A. Sheridan),
1991) London, Penguin.

(Golomstock, Golomstock, I. (1990) Totalitarian Art in the Soviet Union, the Third Reich, Fascist Italy and the
1990) People’s Republic of China (trans. from Russian by R. Chandler), London, Collins Harvill.

Note that:

If there is information available about the original language and it would be helpful for you to
include that, you can format your reference as shown in the second example above.

5.4 Modern editions

In-text citation:

(Author, year of original publication) or Author (year of original publication) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of original publication) Title of Book , Editor, A. and Editor, B. (eds), Place of
publication, Publisher (this edition year).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Hume, Hume, D. (1839) A Treatise of Human Nature , Selby-Bigge, L. and Nidditch, P. (eds), Oxford,
1839) Clarendon Press (this edition 1978).

5.5 Sacred texts

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In-text citation:

(Book and chapter/Surah: verse)

Full reference:

Sacred text except for Bible. Book and chapter/Surah: verse, version of Bible only.

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

(Matthew 5: 3–12) Matthew 5: 3–12, Revised standard version of the Bible.

(Qur’an 20: 26) Qur’an 20: 26.

(Shemot 3: 14) Torah. Shemot 3: 14.

5.6 Ancient texts

Referencing ancient texts presents specific challenges. For example, titles may not be consistently
referenced: they may not have existed in the modern sense or may be subject to different
translations. It is important to cite information such that a reader will be able to find the exact
passage you are referring to in any edition of the work. To this end, you always need to give the
name of the author and the title of the work (unless only one work survives by that author, in which
case the title is not needed). When referencing ancient texts within the body of your assignment,
you should wherever possible refer to the book and/or line or chapter numbers of the work in
question, rather than the page number of the modern translation. Each ancient text has a
conventional way in which it is divided into sections. For most ancient texts the following will apply:

Prose texts (e.g. historical works, letters, speeches, essays) are divided into books, chapters and
(sometimes) sections:

Tacitus, Annals 4.31

Strabo, 7.5.1 (no title needed as only one work survives)

Poetic/dramatic works (e.g. poems, plays) are sometimes divided into books or scenes in the first
instance, and always into individual lines:

Virgil, Aeneid 3.466

Aristophanes, Lysistrata 1235-41

In your bibliography, you are required to give details not just of the author, title, the place and date
of publication but also of the translator and the title of the modern publication. The publication date
is the modern rather than the ancient date.

The guidance here differs slightly from that in the section on Translated books (Section 5.3 of this
guide) and reflects the practice used in the Department of Classical Studies at the OU.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Homer, The Odyssey 1.4) Homer, The Odyssey, trans. R. Fagles (2006) London, Penguin.

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Note that you may sometimes have to give approximate line numbers if a modern translator has
chosen not to render each line of ancient text with exactly one line of modern text.

5.7 Ebooks online

In-text citation:

(Author, year of ebook publication) or Author (year of ebook publication) states ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of ebook publication) Title of Book [Online], Place of publication if available,
Publisher if available. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Willie, Willie, S. S. (2003) Acting Black: College, Identity and the Performance of Race [Online], New
2003) York, Routledge. Available at http://library.open.ac.uk/linking/index.php?id=311027 (Accessed 10
April 2010).

(Speake Speake, J. and LaFlaur, M. (1999) The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English
and [Online], Oxford, Oxford University Press. Available at Oxford Reference (Accessed 10
LaFlaur, December 2013).
1999)

If you accessed your ebook via a database, you should reference the database name (see second
example above). If your ebook has section titles or numbered sections instead of page numbers,
you should use these to indicate the location of any quotations.

For guidance about referencing online figures, diagrams and tables, see Figures, diagrams and
tables (Section 7.6 of this guide).

5.8 Ebooks on readers

In-text citation:

(Author, year of ebook publication) or Author (year of ebook publication) states ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of ebook publication) Title of Book [ebook reader], Place of publication, Publisher.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Matthews, 2010) Matthews, D. J. (2010) What Cats Can Teach Us [ebook reader], London, Penguin.

Note that:

Ebook readers have different standards for presenting page locations, and page numbering can
vary depending on the type of reader and the settings you are using. Instead, you should use
section numbers (or, if these are not available, section titles) to indicate the location of any
quotations:

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(Pike and Price, 2011, Section 1.1)

6 Journal and newspaper articles

6.1 Printed journal articles

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) states ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, volume [abbreviated to vol.],
number [abbreviated to no.], page number(s) [abbreviated to p. or pp.].

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Thompson, Thompson, K. (2003) ‘Fantasy, franchises, and Frodo Baggins: The Lord of the Rings and
2003) modern Hollywood’, The Velvet Light Trap, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 45–63.

6.2 Ejournal articles

Please make sure that you reference the format of a journal article that you have actually used. If
you consulted a print copy of a journal (Section 6.1), you should reference it accordingly. If,
however, you have used an electronic copy of an article from an ejournal, you should reference
that version.

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) states ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, volume [abbreviated to vol.],
number [abbreviated to no.], page number(s) if known [abbreviated to pp.] [Online]. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Jones Jones, H. M., McKay, J., Alvarado, F., Plath, E., Jordan, A., Porter, M., Allsop, S. (2005) ‘The
et al., attractions of stupidity’, The St. Croix e-Review , vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 6–10 [Online]. Available at
2005) http://st_croix_e-review.com/index.php/articles/view/30/6/ (Accessed 28 October 2010).

Not all online journals have page numbers, in which case it is correct to format references without
these.

For articles that have been accepted for publication by a journal for a forthcoming issue which you
may have been able to access online before the publication date, use ‘Forthcoming’ in place of the
date.

For guidance about referencing online figures, diagrams and tables, see ‘Figures, diagrams and
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tables’ (Section 7.6).

URLs and DOIs for ejournals

If the article is not from a database, you should use the standard URL provided, as in the example
above.

If you access the article via a library subscription database, you should include the DOI (Digital
Object Identifier) in your reference, if a DOI is available. A DOI is a permanent link for an electronic
document. This takes the form of a unique number that identifies the article and should be placed
after ‘[Online]’ in the reference.

Some databases and electronic journals provide persistent links or permalinks (a URL that
should get you directly to the article). If there is no DOI, use the persistent link or permalink. If there
is no persistent link or permalink available and your article is from a database, we would
recommend just listing the name of the database you got it from. This is because if you copy the
URL in the address bar from the database following a search, it is unlikely to work for someone
else using it to find the article.

Examples showing DOI, persistent link and database name

In-text
citation Full reference

(Miller Miller, E. and Pole, A. (2010) ‘Diagnosis blog: checking up on health blogs in the blogosphere’,
and Pole, American Journal of Public Health , vol. 100, no. 8, pp. 1514–1519 [Online]. DOI:
2010) 10.2105/AJPH.2009.175125 (Accessed 15 December 2011).

(Callahan, Callahan, D. (2011) ‘Rationing: theory, politics, and passions’, Hastings Center Report , vol. 41, no.
2011) 2, pp. 23–27 [Online]. Available at http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=21495512&site=eds-
live&scope=site (Accessed 8 December 2011).

(Jones et Jones, C., Orr, B. and Eiser, J. (2011) ‘When is enough, enough? Identifying predictors of capacity
al., 2011) estimates for onshore wind-power development in a region of the UK’, Energy Policy, vol. 39, no. 8
[Online]. Available at GreenFILE, EBSCOhost (Accessed 13 December 2011).

Systematic reviews

A systematic review collects published and unpublished research on the same intervention, topic or
question. It assesses the quality of each study and provides health professionals with a summary
of evidence from the best.

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Pidala Pidala, J., Djulbegovic, B., Anasetti, C., Kharfan-Dabaja, M. and Kumar, A. (2011) Allogeneic
et al., hematopoietic cell transplantation for adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in first complete
2011) remission, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , issue 10, art. no.: CD008818 [Online] DOI:
10.1002/14651858.CD008818.pub2 (Accessed 12 December 2013).

6.3 Printed newspaper articles

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says…

Full reference:

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 Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of the article’, Title of the Newspaper, date, page number.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Mackay, 2002) Mackay, C. (2002) ‘Alert over big cat’, The Daily Mirror, 4 July, p. 28.

When there is no named author for an article, use the name of the newspaper for your in-text
citation, and start your reference with the title of the newspaper (in italics). E.g. The Times (2008)
‘Bank accounts’, 14 June, p. 7.

6.4 Online newspaper articles

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says…

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of the article’, Title of the Newspaper, date [Online]. Available
at URL (Accessed date).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(MacLeod, MacLeod, D. (2007) ‘Oxbridge trainee teachers twice as likely to get jobs’, Guardian, 3 August
2007) [Online]. Available at http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2140513,00.html?
gusrc=rss&feed=8 (Accessed 3 August 2007).

(Rawnsley, Rawnsley, A. (2013) ‘A shining lesson that politics can be a tremendous force for good’, Observer,
2013) 8 December, p. 39, [Online]. Available at Nexis UK (Accessed 11 December 2013).

Note that if you accessed a newspaper article from a database, you should format the reference as
in the second example above.

When there is no named author for an article, use the name of the newspaper for your in-text
citation, and start your reference with the title of the newspaper (in italics).

7 OU module materials
When you reference OU module materials you should continue to follow the author-date format. If
the item you are referencing has a named author or authors, use that author’s name in your
reference as you would for any other item. If not, use ‘The Open University’ as the author.

Note that: this guidance is standard across the OU. However, if your module asks you to reference
OU module materials in a different way, please follow your module’s guidance. If you are unsure,
contact your tutor.

7.1 Module texts

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says ...

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Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) Title of Book, Place of publication, Publisher.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Brace and Brace, N. and Byford, J. (2012) Investigating Psychology, Oxford, Oxford University
Byford, 2012) Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(The Open University, The Open University (2006) Real Functions and Graphs: Workbook 2 , Milton Keynes,
2006) The Open University.

Referencing a standalone unit or block with a named author

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Walmsley, 2010, p. Walmsley, J. (2010) K101 Unit 3: Social care in the community , Milton Keynes, The
126) Open University.

Referencing a standalone unit or block with no named author

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(The Open University, The Open University (2010) K101 Block 3: Diverse communities and resources for
2010, p. 5) care, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Referencing a unit within a block with a named author

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Peace, 2010, Peace, S. (2010) ‘Unit 13: Places for care’, K101 Block 4: The context of care, Milton Keynes,
p. 16) The Open University.

Referencing a unit within a block with no named author

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(The Open The Open University (2010) ‘Unit 3: Challenges to biomedicine’, K203 Block 1: Working
University, 2010, p. for health, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
70)

Please note that some faculties would prefer that you add a page number to in-text citations of
module materials, even where you are not directly quoting material. You can find more information
on this in Section 7.9.
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Please note, a module code may appear in your reference as part of the title of an item, but the
module code itself is not a component part of the reference.

7.2 Copublished module texts

Some modules use books published jointly by The Open University and another publisher and
these are referred to as ‘copublished’ books.

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) Title of Book, Place of publication of first publisher, Publisher/Place of
publication of second publisher, Publisher.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Hall and Hall, S. and Gieben, B. (eds) (1992) Formations of Modernity, Cambridge, Polity
Gieben, 1992) Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University.

7.3 Online module materials

The referencing format for online module materials can be used for a variety of different types of
online material, including study guides, study planners, activities and quizzes. For the publication
date, give the year in which your current module started.

Print-on-demand items should be referenced according to the type of document they are derived
from. For example, an online study unit should be referenced accordingly, following the guidance
below.

In-text citation:

(Author, year of module start) or Author (year of module start) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of module start) ‘Title of section/screen’, Module code Title of Document/Item
[Online]. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(The The Open University (2012) ‘3.2 Spaces of engagement’, D837 Week 4 Study Guide: Making
Open things public: mobilising around urban issues [Online]. Available at
University, http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=180430&section=3.2 (Accessed 3 October
2012) 2012).

(The The Open University (2013) ‘1.2 Language, protest and power’, Y031 Block 2 Unit 1: Making sense
Open of language and purpose [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?
University, id=443754&section=2 (Accessed 8 September 2014).
2013)

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 (The The Open University (2013) ‘Task and sentient boundaries’, Mary Seacole Programme Unit 3:
Open Service organisation and flow [Online]. Available at
University, https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=392648&section=6.6. (Accessed 10 March
2013) 2014).

(Toynbee, Toynbee, J. (2012) ‘17.2 Making music markets’, DD206 Week 17: Contesting the place of music
2012) [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=180481 (Accessed 15
April 2013).

Multiple references from one author

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(The Open The Open University (2012a) ‘Section 7: Theories and models’, K311 Learning Guide 1 [Online].
University, Available at http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=26403&section=8 (Accessed 14
2012a) November 2012).

(The Open The Open University (2012b) ‘Section 8: Working in teams’, K311 Learning Guide 1 [Online].
University, Available at http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=26403&section=9 (Accessed 14
2012b) November 2012).

(The Open The Open University (2012c) ‘Section 4: Qualitative evidence ’, K311 Learning Guide 2 [Online].
University, Available at http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=50751&section=5 (Accessed 14
2012c) November 2012).

Please note, a module code may appear in your reference as part of the title of an item, but the
module code itself is not a component part of the reference.

7.4 Module readings

Module readings may be available in printed volumes known as readers, but they may also be
found at the end of book chapters, or online.

The full reference to each reading should include the reader number or page numbers of the entire
reading. If specific pages within or sections of a reading are referred to this can then be done in the
in-text citation.

Module readers

A reader is a collection of previously published works.

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication of reading) or Author (year of publication of reading) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication of reading) ‘Title of article’, in Editor, A. (ed[s]) (year of publication of
reader) Title of Reader, Place of publication, Publisher.

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Farrington, Farrington, D. (2004) ‘Criminological psychology in the twenty-first century’ in Turner, J.,
2004) Brace, N., Motzkau, J., Briggs, G. and Pike, G. (eds) (2009) Critical Readings in Forensic
Psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

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Readings integrated into other types of publication

You may need to reference readings contained in other types of publication, for example at the
back of a module textbook.

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication of reading) or Author (year of publication of reading) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication of reading) ‘Title of reading’, in Editor, A. (ed[s]) (year of publication
of reader) Title, Place of publication, Publisher.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Greenfield and Greenfield, M. and Subrahmanyam, K. (2003) ‘Reading B: Extracts from “Online discourse in
Subrahmanyam, a teen chatroom: new codes and new modes of coherence in a visual medium”’, in Maybin,
2003) J. and Swann, J. (eds) (2006) The Art of English: Everyday Creativity , Basingstoke, Palgrave
Macmillan/Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Online readings

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication of reading) or Author (year of publication of reading) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication of reading) ‘Title of reading’, in The Open University (year of
publication of reader), Reader Title [Online]. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Friedman, 1970) Friedman, M. (1970) ‘The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits’, in The
Open University (2011) A181 Readings [Online]. Available at
http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=582224 (Accessed 9 January 2012).

7.5 Module audiovisual materials

Audiovisual materials include video clips, whole videos, audio recordings and DVDs.

Online audiovisual materials

In-text citation:

(The Open University, year of module start) or The Open University (year of module start) shows ...

Full reference:

The Open University (year of module start) ‘Title of audio/video’ [Audio/Video/Video clip], Module
code and title. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Example

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 In-text citation Full reference

In The Migration The Open University (2009) ‘The migration story’ [Video], U116 Environment: journeys
Story (The Open through a changing world. Available at http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/subpage/view.php?
University, 2009)… id=117278 (Accessed 5 May 2010).

DVDs

In-text citation:

(The Open University, year of publication) or The Open University (year of publication) shows ...

Full reference:

The Open University (year of publication) ‘Title of DVD’ [DVD], Module code and title. Place of
publication, Publisher.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(The Open The Open University (2008) ‘DVD 1: Video case studies’ [DVD], T320 E-business
University, technologies: foundations and practice. Milton Keynes, The Open University.
2008)

7.6 Figures, diagrams and tables

Regardless of the creator of the figure, diagram, illustration or table you are referencing, you
should cite the overall author or editor of the work in which you found it.

In-text citation:

(Author of book, year of publication, page reference of item) or Author of book (year of publication,
page reference of item) shows ...

Full reference:

Author of book (year of publication) Title of Book, Place of publication, Publisher, page reference of
item, type of item.

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

In Figure 1 ‘The probability and extent of Bromley, S., Clarke, J., Hinchliffe, S. and Taylor, S. (2009)
potential harms’ (Bromley et al., 2009, p. Exploring Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University, p.
313) 313, figure.

In Table 3 (The Open University, 2009, The Open University (2009) Offprints Booklet: Memory and
p.47) ... Communication, Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 47, table.

Note that:

If you have viewed the illustration/figure/diagram/table online, your in-text citation would remain as
shown above but you should reference it as you would any other web page and add the item
medium in square brackets:

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The Open University (2012) E807 Study Guide [Figure]. Available at
http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=64592&section=11.2 (Accessed 30 August
2012).

7.7 Secondary referencing in module materials

If you wish to cite an author whose work is discussed in a module unit but you haven’t read the
original, you need to make this clear in what you write. For example:

In-text citation:

Original Author (date) cited in Author (date, page) identifies ...

Full reference:

In the references list you would provide details only for the source you have actually read:

Author of book (year of publication) Title of Book, Place of publication, Publisher.

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

Goldberg (1981) cited in McAvoy, J. (2012) ‘Exposing the authoritarian personality’, in Brace, N. and Byford,
McAvoy (2012, p. 21) J. (eds) Investigating Psychology, Oxford, Oxford University Press/Milton Keynes,
described ... The Open University, pp. 14–56.

7.8 Citing materials from another module

Citing materials from another module with a named author

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Kubiak and Hester, Kubiak, C. and Hester, R. (2010) K115 Learning Guide 2: Effective practice , Milton
2010, p. 12) Keynes, The Open University.

Citing materials from another module with no named author

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(The Open University, The Open University (2009) K260 Block 1: The Social Context of Death and Dying ,
2009, p. 9) Milton Keynes, The Open University.

7.9 Page numbers

Please note that, in addition to author and date, some faculties also require you to add a page
number (where available) to the in-text citation for module materials, even when you are not
directly quoting material. This is to assist tutors in locating the section of the module materials you
are referring to.

Example

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 In-text citation

(Moohan, 2008, p. 24)

This rule applies to some or all modules within the following faculties:

Arts (module codes starting A)

Education (module codes starting with E)
HSC (module codes starting with K)
Science (module codes starting with S).

If you are unsure, check your module guidance to see if you need to include page numbers.

Note that:

If you are using bibliographic management software, you may need to manually add in page
numbers.

7.10 Lectures, seminars and presentations

In-text citation:

Tutor/Lecturer (year) states that …

Full reference:

Tutor/Lecturer (year) Title of seminar/lecture/presentation [Seminar to Module code tutor group,

location], Date.

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Bloggs, Bloggs, F. (2014) Which came first: the chicken or the egg? [Lecture to ZZ123 tutor group, Milton
2014) Keynes], 15 May.

Seminars on OU Live

In-text citation:

Tutor/Lecturer (year) states that …

Full reference:

Tutor/Lecturer (year) ‘Title’ OU Live recording for Module code [Online]. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Smith, Smith, A. (2013) ‘Week 1: Welcome to ZZ123’, OU Live recording for ZZ123 [Online]. Available at
2013) https://eu1.bbcollab.com/site/external/something (Accessed 4 October 2014).

7.11 Student-generated content

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TMAs

Referencing your own TMA isn’t generally part of standard academic practice, as a TMA will not
have been formally published. However, if you are asked to do so, we recommend the following
format:

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Pitt, 2015) Pitt, B. (2015) ZZ123 TMA 02, submitted to The Open University as part of ZZ123
assessment.

Student OU Live presentations

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Adams Adams, B., Jones, Z. and Patel, S. (2014) ‘Our joint production for TMA 04’, OU Live recording for
et al., H817 [Online]. Available at http://learn2.open.ac.uk/whereveritis (Accessed 5 June).
2014)

8 Audiovisual materials
See Module audiovisual materials (Section 7.5) for guidance on referencing DVDs that are part of
your module materials.

8.1 TV programmes
In-text citation:

(Title of Programme, year of broadcast) or Title of Programme (year of broadcast) shows …

Full reference:

Title of Programme (year of broadcast) Channel, date of transmission.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(The Apprentice, 2008) The Apprentice (2008) BBC 1, 14 June.

Note that:

If you are accessing the programme online, for example via the BBC iPlayer, then you would
amend the reference as follows:

The Apprentice (2008) BBC 1, 14 June [Online]. Available at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer (Accessed 16

June 2008).

8.2 Radio programmes

In-text citation:

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 (Title of programme, year of transmission).

Full reference:

Title of programme (year of transmission), Channel, date of transmission.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Today, 2013) Today (2013) BBC Radio 4, 10 December.

Note that:

If you are accessing the radio programme online, for example via the BBC iPlayer, then you would
amend the reference as follows:

Today (2013) BBC Radio 4, 10 December [Online]. Available at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer (Accessed

16 December 2013).

8.3 Films
In-text citation:

(Title of film, year of release) or Title of film (year of release) shows ...

Full reference:

Title of Film (year of release) Directed by Director Name [Film]. Place of distribution if available,
Distribution company.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Lord of the Rings: The Two Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2003) Directed by Peter Jackson [Film].
Towers, 2003) New York, Newline Productions Inc.

8.4 DVDs
In-text citation:

(‘Title of episode’, year of release) or ‘Title of episode’ (year of release) shows ...

Full reference:

‘Title of episode’ (year of release) Title of Programme, series number if available, episode number if
available. Directed by Director’s Name. Written by Writer’s Name. Date of original broadcast if
available [DVD]. Place of distribution, Distribution company.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(‘The crackpots ‘The crackpots and these women’ (2002) The West Wing, series 1 episode 5. Directed by
and these Anthony Drazan. Written by Aaron Sorkin. First broadcast 1999 [DVD]. Burbank, Warner
women’, 2002) Home Video.

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8.5 Audio CDs
In-text citation:

(Artist, year of release) or Artist (year of release) shows ...

Full reference:

Artist (year of release) Title [CD]. Place of distribution, Distribution company.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Talking Heads, 1984) Talking Heads (1984) Speaking in Tongues [CD]. California, Sire Records.

8.6 Songs

On audio CD

In-text citation:

(Artist, year of distribution) or Artist (year of distribution) shows ...

Full reference:

Artist (year of distribution) Title of recording [CD]. Place of distribution, Distribution company.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Sondheim, Sondheim, S. (2007) Company: A Musical Comedy [CD]. New York City, Nonesuch
2007) Records.

Song lyrics

In-text citation:

(Lyricist, year of distribution) or Lyricist (year of distribution) shows ...

Full reference:

Lyricist (year of distribution) Title of song. Place of distribution, Distribution company.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Marling, 2010) Marling, L. (2010) Blackberry Stone, London, Virgin/EMI.

Musical scores

In-text citation:

(Composer, year of distribution) or Composer (year of distribution) shows ...

Full reference:

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 Composer (year of publication) Title of Score, notes on version of score. Place of publication,
Publisher.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn, F. (1999) Fingal’s Cave, edited from composer’s notes by John Wilson.
1999) London, Initial Music Publishing.

8.7 YouTube item

In-text citation:

(Title of Item, date uploaded) or Title of Item (date uploaded) says ...

Full reference:

Title of Item (date uploaded) YouTube video, added by Name of uploader [Online]. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Google Privacy: A Google Privacy: A Look at Cookies (2008) YouTube video, added by googleprivacy
Look at Cookies, [Online]. Available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfZLztx8cKI (Accessed 12 June
2008) 2008).

8.8 iTunes or other downloads

In-text citation:

(Artist, year of distribution) or Artist (year of distribution) shows ...

Full reference:

Artist (year of distribution) Title of Recording. Name of download site [Download]. Available at URL
(date accessed).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Pixies, Pixies (1988) Gigantic. iTunes [Download]. Available at www.apple.com/uk/itunes/ (Accessed 29

1988) August 2012).

9 Works of art and visual sources

9.1 Works of art

This section is intended to cover anything that can be considered a work of art, including images,
paintings, sculptures, installations and so on.

In-text citation:

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 (Artist, year of production) or Artist (year of production) illustrates ...

Full reference:

Artist, A. (year of production) Title of Image [Medium]. Collection/institution in which the work is
held, Location.

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

(Horan, 2002) Horan, D. (2002) Kipper in the Cat’s Mouth [Watercolour]. National Gallery, London.

(Moore, 1966) Moore, H. (1966) Double Oval [Bronze]. The Henry Moore Foundation, Perry Green.

If you have viewed an image of a work of art online, you should reference it as an online image,
regardless of the original medium.

In-text citation:

(Artist, year of production) or Artist (year of production) illustrates ...

Full reference:

Artist, A. (year of production) Title of Image [Medium]. Name of collection [Online]. Available at
URL (Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Turner, Turner, J. (1839) The Fighting Temeraire [Oil on canvas]. The National Gallery [Online]. Available at
1839) www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire (Accessed
20 June 2012).

Please note, where an original artist name is not available, begin the reference with the title of the
work. If an image has no title, start your reference with a description of the image in italics.

9.2 Online images

In-text citation:

Artist/photographer (year of production) illustrates ...

Full reference:

Artist/photographer (year of production) Title of image [Online]. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Kitto, Kitto, J. (2008) Golden Sunset [Online]. Available at www.jameskitto.co.uk/photo_1827786.html

2008) (Accessed 14 June 2010).

Photographs in online collections, e.g. Flickr

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In-text citation:

Photographer (year of production) illustrates ...

Full reference:

Photographer (year of production) Title of Photo, Title of Collection, [Online]. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Kamuro, Kamuro (2008) Calmness, Flickr [Online]. Available at

2008) www.flickr.com/photos/kamuro/2624443012/in/pool-ysplix (Accessed 30 June 2010).

Where the photographer or artist is not known, start your reference with the Title of Image.

Where none of the usual details are known, i.e. artist/photographer, date, title of image, start with
[Subject of the image]. The in-text reference would then read (Woman eating chocolate, n.d.) and
the full reference would read:

[Woman eating chocolate] (n.d.) [Online]. Available at www.somewhereonline.com (Accessed 11

September 2014).

9.3 Exhibition catalogues

In-text citation:

(Author, year of production) or Author (year of production) noted that ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of production) Title of Exhibition. Exhibition held at Location, date of exhibition
[Exhibition catalogue].

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Syson, Syson, L. (2011) Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan . Exhibition held at The National
2011) Gallery, London, November 2011–February 2012 [Exhibition catalogue].

Please note, where an author name is not available, begin the reference with the title of the
exhibition. Note too that if details of the exhibition location and date are not readily available, this
information can be omitted.

9.4 Plays and live performances

Plays

In-text citation:

(Title of Play, year of performance) or Title of Play (year of performance) illustrates that ...

Full reference:
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 Title of Play by Author (year of performance). Directed by Director [Venue, Location. Date seen].

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Long Day’s Journey into Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill (2012). Directed by Anthony Page
Night, 2012) [Apollo Theatre, London. 20 June 2012].

Live concerts

In-text citation:

(Composer, year of performance) or Composer (year of performance) illustrates that ...

Full reference:

Composer, A. (year of performance) Title [if available]. Performed by Performer conducted by

Conductor Name if available [Venue, Location. Date seen].

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Lord, 2012) Lord, J. (2007) Durham Concerto. Performed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted
by Mischa Damev [Durham Cathedral, Durham. 20 October].

(Radiohead, Radiohead (2003) [Glastonbury Festival. 28 June].

2003)

10 Online/electronic materials

10.1 Personal or organisational websites

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication/last updated) or Author (year of publication/last updated) states ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication/last updated) Title of Website [Online]. Available at URL (Accessed
date).

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

(Open University Open University Library (2012) Library Services [Online]. Available at
Library, 2012) www.open.ac.uk/library (Accessed 24 September 2012).

(National Theatre, National Theatre (n.d.) Stagework [Online]. Available at

n.d.) www.stagework.org.uk/stageworks/ (Accessed 15 December 2011).

Note that:

Use (n.d.) for websites with no date (see second example above). Use the title of the website if you
cannot identify its author. Use the website’s URL if you cannot identify its author or title. However,
if a web page has no clear author or title, its suitability as an academic source may need to be

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questioned.

10.2 Online documents

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication if given) or Author (year of publication if given) states …

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication if given) Title of Document [Online], Place of publication, Publisher.
Available at URL (Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Spitzer Spitzer, K. L., Eisenberg, M. B. and Lowe, C. A. (1998) Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the
et al., Information Age [Online], Syracuse, NY, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology,
1998) Syracuse University (ED 427 780). Available at www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED427780.pdf (Accessed 28
October 2009).

10.3 Blogs
In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication/last updated) or Author (year of publication/last updated) states ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication/last updated) ‘Title of message’, Title of Website, day/month of posted
message [Blog]. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Sloniowski, Sloniowski, L. (2005) ‘Because sharing is nice’, Information Literacy in Canada, 30 June [Blog].
2005) Available at http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/ilig/archives/learning_objects (Accessed 2 February 2009).

Note that:

Some blog authors may choose to remain anonymous by using an alias. Use this instead of
surname and initials if that is all that is available.

Comments on blogs

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(DodgyGeezer, DodgyGeezer (2009) Re: ‘Conservationists are not making themselves heard’, Guardian.co.uk
2009) Science blog, 18 June [Blog comment]. Available at
www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/jun/18/conservation-extinction-open-ground
(Accessed 23 June 2009).

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10.4 Wikis
In-text citation:

(Title of wiki, year last modified) or Title of wiki (year last modified) states ...

Full reference:

Title of wiki (year last modified) Article Title [Online], date last modified. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Wikiquote, Wikiquote (2011) All’s Well That Ends Well [Online], 31 March 2010. Available at
2011) http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/All%27s_Well_That_Ends_Well (Accessed 16 December 2011).

(Wikipedia, Wikipedia (2012) Hawaiian Tropical Rainforests [Online], 19 November 2011. Available at
2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_tropical_rainforests (Accessed 16 January 2012).

10.5 Twitter
In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) states ...

Full reference:

Author of tweet (year of publication) Full tweet, date of tweet [Twitter]. Available at URL (Accessed
date).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Fry, 2013) Fry, S. (2013) Gosh! Cannibalism discovered in flightless bird species (via @pandafeets) , 21
December [Twitter]. Available at https://twitter.com/stephenfry/status/414407304839057408
(Accessed 14 January 2013).

(@Science, @Science (2011) Scientists discover that brains of tiny spiders are so big they overflow into their
2011) legs, http://bit.ly/w4cclx, 15 December [Twitter]. Available at
https://twitter.com/science/status/147576103047925760 (Accessed 16 December 2011).

Note that:

To find the URL for the individual tweet you are citing, click on the time/date stamp or the ‘Details’
link beneath the tweet in the feed, and this will take you to the unique web page for that tweet. You
should include the full text of the tweet in your reference. If the author’s name is not given in their
profile, use their username instead (see second example above).

10.6 Podcasts
In-text citation:

(Author/presenter, year of publication) or Author/presenter (year of publication) states ...

Full reference:
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 Author/presenter (year of publication) ‘Title of podcast’, Title of Internet Site [Podcast]. Date.
Available at URL (Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Townshend, Townshend, P. (2011) ‘Can Peelism survive the internet?’, BBC 6 Music [Podcast]. 4
2011) November. Available at www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/jpl (Accessed 11 September 2012).

Please note, where an author or presenter name is not available, begin the reference with the title
of the work.

11 Conference papers
In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of paper’, Title of Conference. Location, date of conference.
Place of publication, Publisher, page numbers.

Full reference [online conference papers]:

Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of paper’, Title of Conference. Location, date of conference.
Publisher [Online]. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Unpublished conference papers:

Author, A. (year of publication) ‘Title of paper’, paper presented at Title of Conference. Location,
date of conference.

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Jones, Jones, J. (1994) ‘Polymer blends based on compact disc scrap’, Proceedings of the Annual Technical
1994) Conference – Society of Plastics Engineers. San Francisco, 1–5 May. Brookfield, CT, Society of
Plastics Engineers, pp. 2865–7.

(Lord, Lord, J. (2009) ‘What do consumers say?’, Changing Attitudes, Changing Strategies: Reaching
2009) China’s Dynamic Consumer Markets. American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai conference,
Shanghai, 15 October. AMCHAM, Shanghai [Online]. Available at www.amcham-shanghai.org/add-
ons/marketingconference/default.aspx (Accessed 8 April 2010).

(Brown Brown, S. and Caste, V. (2004) ‘Integrated obstacle detection framework’, paper presented at The
and IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, Detroit, MI, 14–17 June.
Caste,
2004)

12 Reports
This section covers print and online reports.

In-text citation:
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 (Author, year of publication) or Author (year of publication) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of publication), Title, Place of publication, Publisher, report number, if given.

Full reference [online reports]:

Author, A. (year of publication), Title [Online]. Available at URL (Accessed date).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Halliday, Halliday, J. (1995) Assessment of the Accuracy of the DTI’s Database of the UK Wind Speeds ,
1995) Harwell, Energy Technology Support Unit, ETSU-W-11/00401/REP.

(British British Telecom plc (2012) Annual Report [Online]. Available at

Telecom www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Annualreportandreview/pdf/BTAnnualReport2012_smart.pdf
plc, (Accessed 11 September 2014).
2012)

13 Software

13.1 Computer programs

The author or developer of a computer program may be an individual or a company. The date is
the year the application was first released.

In-text citation:

(Author or developer, year of release) or Author or developer (year of release) shows ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of release) Program Title (Version) [Computer program]. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Banjo, Banjo (2011) Making Things (Version 3) [Computer program]. Available at

2011) www.banjo.com/downloads/makthinv3.asp (Accessed 3 September 2012).

Note that:

If you have accessed the computer program from a disk or other offline source, instead of the URL
you should provide details of the distributor and address.

13.2 Mobile application

The author or developer of a mobile application may be an individual or a company. The date is the
year the app was first released.

In-text citation:
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 (Author or developer, year of release) or Author or developer (year of release) shows ...

Full reference

Author, A. (year of release) Application Title (Version) [Mobile application]. Available at URL
(Accessed date).

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Apple, Apple (2012) iTunesU (Version 1.2) [Mobile application]. Available at

2012) http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/itunes-u/id490217893?mt=8 (Accessed 3 September 2012).

14 Personal communications

14.1 Emails
In-text citation:

(Sender, year of email) or Sender (year of email) says …

Full reference:

Sender, A. (year of email) Email to Recipient Name, date of message.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Knight, 2010) Knight, C. J. (2010) Email to Jebediah Q. Parker-Knoll, 14 May.

Note that:

You should always check with the author of the email that they are happy for you to use its content
before using the material.

14.2 Forum messages

In-text citation:

(Author, year of message) or Author (year of message) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of message) ‘Subject of message’, forum message to Name of the Forum, date posted.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Burrage, 2004) Burrage, R. (2004) ‘Virus information’, forum message to OU Service News, 10 August.

Note that:

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You should always check with the author of the forum message that they are happy for you to use
its content before using the material.

14.3 Telephone calls

In-text citation:

(Name of Speaker, year of call) or Name of Speaker (year of call) says ...

Full reference:

Speaker, A. (year of call) Telephone conversation with Recipient Name, date of phone call.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Mahju, 2009) Mahju, R. (2009) Telephone conversation with Malcolm Allen, 3 October.

Skype

Skype conversations should be treated in the same way as telephone conversations, with the
medium amended accordingly:

Coleman, O. (2012) Skype conversation with Roger Keane, 7 August.

14.4 Personal letters

In-text citation:

(Sender, year of letter) or Sender (year of letter) stated that ...

Full reference:

Sender, A. (year of letter) Letter to Recipient Name, date of letter.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Vandarmayar, 1963) Vandarmayar, V. (1963) Letter to Claire Walker, 4 April.

14.5 Unpublished interviews

In-text citation:

(Interviewee, year of interview) or Interviewee (year of interview) claimed that ...

Full reference:

Interviewee, A. (year of interview) Unpublished interview conducted by Interviewer Name, date of

interview.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

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 (Saunders, 1998) Saunders, H. D. (1998) Unpublished interview conducted by Gordon Hall-Evans, 16 March.

14.6 Second Life

To identify the speaker and recipient(s) in a communication or message in Second Life, use the
avatar display names.

In-text citation:

(Speaker, year of communication) or Speaker (year of communication) noted ...

Full reference

Speaker (year of communication) Second Life communication with Name of Recipient, date of
communication.

Example

In-text citation Full reference

(Nolan, 2011) Nolan, M. R. (2011) Second Life communication with Felint Whitefur, 8 June.

15 Theses
In-text citation:

(Author, year of submission/publication) or Author (year of submission/publication) says ...

Full reference:

Author, A. (year of submission/publication) Title: Subtitle, designation, Place of

submission/publication, Awarding institution.

Example

In-text
citation Full reference

(Morishita, Morishita, M. (2003) Empty Museums: Transculturation and the Development of Public Art
2003) Museums in Japan, unpublished PhD thesis, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Note that:

‘Designation’ refers to the publication status and academic level of the thesis you are citing. For
unpublished theses, include the word ‘unpublished’, as in the example given above.

16 Legal and legislative material

This section covers the general referencing of Parliamentary Bills, statutes and legal cases for
students studying subjects other than Law. It does not apply to students studying any Law module.

If you are studying W101, W102, W202, W203, W302, W330, W340 or W350, you should refer to
The OU Law School guide to legal citations and references.

If you are studying a University of Law module (W200, W201, W221, W222, W223, W224, W300 or
W301), you should use the guidance provided in your module material.
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Parliamentary or Assembly Bills
In-text citation:

(Name of Bill. Country. Parliament [if UK or Scottish Parliament]. Name of House/Assembly, year) or
according to the Name of Bill (Country. Parliament [if UK or Scottish Parliament]. Name of
House/Assembly, year) ...

Full reference:

Country. Parliament [if UK or Scottish Parliament]. Name of House/Assembly (year) Name of Bill.
Place of publication, Publisher (Bill number).

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

(Transport Bill. Great Britain. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1999) Transport Bill.
Parliament. House of Commons, 1999.) London, The Stationery Office (Bills 1999–2000 8).

(Marine Bill. Northern Ireland. Northern Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Assembly (2012) Marine Bill.
Ireland Assembly, 2012.) Belfast, Northern Ireland Assembly (Bill 5/11-15).

UK statutes (Acts of Parliament/Assembly)

Pre-1963 statutes
In-text citation:

(Short title of Act and year , Regnal year Abbreviated name of sovereign, chapter number) or as
enacted in Short title of Act and year (Regnal year Abbreviated name of sovereign, chapter number) ...

Full reference:

Short title of Act and year (Regnal year Abbreviated name of sovereign, chapter number).

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

The Act of Supremacy 1534 (26 Hen. 8, c. 1) Act of Supremacy 1534 (26 Hen. 8, c. 1).

Post-1963 statutes
In-text citation:

(Country. Short title of Act) or s.10(4)(6) of the Act (Country. Short title of Act) states that ...

Full reference:

Country. Name of Act: Name of sovereign. Chapter number/Act identifying code (Year). Place of
publication, Publisher.

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

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 (Wales. Local Government Wales. Local Government Byelaws (Wales) Act 2012: Elizabeth II. 2012
Byelaws (Wales) Act 2012) anaw 2 (2012) London, The Stationery Office.

(Great Britain. Access to Justice Great Britain. Access to Justice Act 1999: Elizabeth II. Chapter 22 (1999)
Act 1999) London, The Stationery Office.

Legal cases
In-text citation:

(Name of parties involved [Year]) or in Name of parties involved [Year] ...

Full reference:

Name of parties involved [Year] Volume number if available and abbreviated name of report and first
page

Examples

In-text citation Full reference

R v Jones [2009] R v Jones [2009] EWCA Crim 120.

17 Patents
In-text citation:

(Inventor, year) or Inventor (year) says ...

Full reference:

Inventor, A., Assignee name if not also inventor, (Year) Title, Country of issue and patent number.

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Bloch Bloch, S., Demirbasa, S. and Curry, A. (2003) Protection of Wireless Data Storage Devices, UK
et al., Patent GB2379834.
2003)

(Bloch Bloch, S., Demirbasa, S. and Curry, A. (2003) Protection of Wireless Data Storage Devices, UK
et al., Patent GB2379834 [Online]. Available at http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?
2003) CC=GB&NR=2379834&KC=&FT=E&locale=en_EP (Accessed 11 January 2012).

Note that:

For online patents add [Online], Available at URL and Accessed date, as in the second example
above.

18 Standards
In-text citation:

(Organisation, year) or Organisation (year) says ...

Full reference:

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 Organisation (year) Number: Title of the Standard, Place of publication, Publisher.

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(BSI, BSI (2005) BS EN ISO 17707 : Footwear. Test Methods for Outsoles. Flex Resistance , London,
2005) British Standards Institution.

(BSI, BSI (2005) BS EN ISO 17707 : Footwear. Test Methods for Outsoles. Flex Resistance , British
2005) Standards Online, British Standards Institution [Online]. Available at https://bsol-bsigroup-
com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/en/Bsol-Item-Detail-Page/?pid=000000000030105824 (Accessed 4
January 2012).

Note that:

For online standards add [Online], Available at URL and Accessed date, as in the second example
above.

19 Maps
In-text citation:

(Publisher, year) ...

Full reference:

Publisher (year) Title, Sheet number, Scale, Place of publication, Publisher (Series).

Examples

In-text
citation Full reference

(Ordnance Ordnance Survey (2002) Preston and Blackpool, sheet 102, 1:50,000, Southampton,
Survey, 2002) Ordnance Survey (Landranger series).

(Ordnance Ordnance Survey (1980) Bellingham (solid), sheet 13, 1:50,000, Southampton, Ordnance
Survey, 1980) Survey (Geological Survey of Great Britain [England and Wales]).

(Ordnance Ordnance Survey (2008) ‘Tiddenfoot Lake’, tile sp92sw, 1:10,000, Digimap [Online]. Available
Survey, 2008) at http://edina.ac.uk/digimap/ (Accessed 3 May 2010).

Note that:

For online maps add [Online], Available at URL and Accessed date, as in the third example above.
A tile number may be provided instead of a sheet number, so this should be included, as in the
example above.

20 Faculty-specific examples
Within your subject area there may be very specific resource types for which you need to provide
references. Those that need specific treatment are listed below, by faculty name.

20.1 Health and Social Care

Law material
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Statute law

When referring to a statute, it is sufficient to refer to the short title of the Act and the year in
which it received Royal Assent; for example, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
When referring to a section of a statute, you must be more specific and cite the section as
well as the statute; for example, section 24(1), Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or
the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 24(1).
In some modules, you are provided with law resources which set out certain sections of a
statute or summarise the meaning and purpose of a statute. You should refer to these law
resources by the title of the statute they relate to; for example, the law resource on care
orders should be cited as the Children Act 1989, section 31.

Case law

When referring to a case, you need to provide the case name and, if you have been given it
in the module materials, the date in brackets; for example, R v Moloney (1985). Include the
full citation if you have been given it; for example, Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd
[1944] 2, All ER 293.
The citation should appear in the same way in both the body of your assignment and the
reference list.
You are expected to follow the legal convention of using italics for the case name, as in the
examples above.
The style of brackets is also legal convention:
In the example R v Moloney (1985), the date is in round brackets, which means that it
is not important to know the year of the case in order to find it within a set of legal
reports. This is because the volumes of the law reports are numbered sequentially.
The example Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd [1944] 2, All ER 293 has the date in
square brackets, which means that the year is important in finding the case in a set of
law reports, usually because numbering of the volumes restarts at the beginning of
each year.
The set of numbers and letters after the year denote the volume, the name of the law report
and the first page of the case. For example, for the case Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd
[1944] 2, All ER 293:
the case name is ‘Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd’
the case is in the 1944 volume, in particular volume 2
‘All ER’ is the abbreviation for All England Law Reports
the case report begins on page 293.

Placement agency information

References to the placement agency should be anonymised to preserve confidentiality, as in the
following example.

In-text citation:

(Placement agency, 2006, p. 2)

Full reference:

[Generic/anonymised reference] (year of publication) ‘[anonymised] title’, Place of publication,

[anonymised] Publisher details.
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Example

[Placement agency] Adults’ and Community Services (2006) ‘[Placement agency] eligibility criteria for
community care services: a guide for people with learning disabilities’, London, [Placement agency], p. 2.

Taken from a full reference which without anonymity would be:

Lambeth Adults’ and Community Services (2006) ‘Lambeth’s eligibility criteria for community care services: a
guide for people with learning disabilities’, London, Lambeth Council, p. 2.

Note that:

You might be asked to supply your tutor with the agency/employer name if there is any doubt about
the authenticity of the reference.

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