REFERENCING GUIDE

2015
(Revised edition)

Compiled by Elrita Grimsley

Information Service
CENTRE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING (CTL)
UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE
BLOEMFONTEIN
Telephone number: 051 401 7422

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 4
2. Technical guidelines for referencing 7
AUTHORS
3. A book by one author 9
4. A book by two authors 10
5. A book by three or more authors 11
6. Citing more than one author/source at the same time 12
7. Primary and secondary sources 13
EDITIONS
8. When the author publishes two or more
publications in the same year 14
9. When the same author has published
various publications in different years 15
10. Different editions of the same publication 16
EDITORS
11. A book with one editor 17
12. A book with more than one editor 18
13. Chapters/contributions in publications 19
OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
14. An article in a journal 21
15. Newspaper articles 22
16. Unpublished theses, dissertations, conference
proceedings 24

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 ELECTRONIC SOURCES
17. Internet contributions 26
a. World Wide Web 26
b. Blogs 28
c. E-mail discussion lists / Personal e-mails 29
d. iPods 31
e. Wiki’s 31
f. PowerPoint presentations 32
g. E-books 33

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
18. Government publications 35
a. Acts and bills 35
b. Green papers and White papers 36
c. Policy documents 37

ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE GUIDE

19. General tips for writing a list of references 39
20. Abbreviations 40
21. Academic writing 41
22. Words to use 43
23. How to answer questions 46
List of sources used to compile this guide 47

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 REFERENCING ACCORDING TO
THE HARVARD METHOD

1. Introduction
The following are some guidelines for citing sources and compiling
a list of references according to the Harvard method.

Why do you need to do referencing?

“Using other people’s writings as sources and acknowledging their
contribution by ‘citing’ the source – i.e. supplying a reference to it
– is central to academic writing. It is good academic practice. It
shows a proper concern on your part with the quality of the
evidence you have used and with substantiating your conclusion”
(Levin 2005:106).
Plagiarism has become a serious problem, especially with the
internet providing information that can easily be copied and
pasted into documents.
Beware of the following practices that can easily be called
plagiarism:
 Directly copy information from the internet, a book, a journal,
or any other source without acknowledging the source.
 Cut and paste from one or several sources without
acknowledging the author.
 Changing some words from copied text and presenting it as
your own.
 Paraphrasing or summarising ideas from sources without
acknowledgement.
 Translating material without acknowledgement.
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To avoid plagiarism it is very important that you declare and
acknowledge the sources that you have used.

What do you reference?

Doing your dissertation or an assignment, you need to obtain
information from a source. Every time you do this, you need to
acknowledge the source and the work done by other people. This
is done by referencing. It is done in the content of your document
as well as the end by providing a list of references.

When do you reference?

Referencing should be done when you:
 Quote another person’s exact words
 Copy any figures, tables or structures, pictures
 Paraphrase or convert someone else’s ideas into your own words
 Summarise or give a brief account of another person’s work.

Six steps to effective paraphrasing

 Reread the original passage until you understand its full
meaning
 Write your own paraphrase (rewrite what you have read in
your own words)
 Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you
later how you envision using this material
 Check your rendition with the original to make sure your
version is expressing all the information
 Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phrase you
have borrowed exactly from the source
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 Record the source so that you can credit it easily if you decide
to incorporate the material into your text
 Use pages 37 – 44 of this guide to help you with your writing
style.

How do you do referencing?

The remainder of this guide focuses on the “how” to do referencing.
The guide adheres to the criteria for referencing by using the
Harvard method. An aspect which you must bear in mind is that
there are variations to this method and also other referencing
styles. When you submit articles to journals, there may be
different requirements that the specific journal requests for
referencing and bibliographies.

The name of the game of referencing is uniformity. That is also

the main purpose of this guide: To lay down rules to have a
uniform style of referencing.

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2. Technical guidelines for referencing

 Direct quotations: Quoting directly from the content of a book, the

author, year and page number must be supplied:

 “Every dissertation has to comply with certain

requirements” (Levin 2005:3).

(Note: Check the position of the quotation marks, brackets and full stop)

 Referring to an author or paraphrasing: When referring to an

author or paraphrasing (that is to put the information in your own
words), the same information must be supplied, but just in a different
form:

 Levin (2005:3) is of the opinion that every dissertation has

its own set of rules and requirements.

 Technical aspects to keep in mind when using direct quotations:

 Using a quote that starts with a capital letter in the middle

of your sentence:

 Henning (2004:3) states that “[t]he distinction between the

qualitative paradigm and the better known quantitative
paradigm lies in this quest for understanding and for in-
depth inquiry”.

The square brackets around the [t]

indicate that in the original quotation the
word ‘the’ began with a capital T.

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 Using a quote which contains grammar, spelling or gender
mistakes in the original text:

 “Coding plays an important part in the analysis, and

I[sic] needed to establish where and how it originated”
(Henning 2004:131).

The word [sic] is used to indicate that a

mistake in the source you have quoted is
not your mistake.

 Words omitted from quotations:

 “Academic standards in assessing both skill and

knowledge have traditionally been judged and assessed
through written documents … These judgments are
what constitute higher education awards” (Gilles
2007:130).

To omit words from quotations, use an

ellipsis … The quotations must still keep
the same sense.

 If the quotations does not begin at the start of a sentence:

 According to Henning (2004:71) “… forms of sampling

are all related.”

The use of the ellipsis … conveys to the

reader that the quotation does not begin
at the start of a sentence in the original
source.

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 Authors
3. A book by one author
IN THE TEXT
 Direct quotations: Quoting directly from the content of a book, the
author, year and page number must be supplied:

 “Every dissertation has to comply with certain

requirements” (Levin 2005:3).

(Note: Check the position of the quotation marks, brackets and full
stop)

 Referring to an author or paraphrasing: When referring to an

author or paraphrasing (that is to put the information in your own
words), the same information must be supplied, but just in a different
form:

 Levin (2005:3) is of opinion that every dissertation has

its own sets of rules and requirements.

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 Surname of the author
 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the
title page of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Ramsden, P. 1992. Learning to teach in higher education.

London: Routledge.

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4. A book by two authors

IN THE TEXT
Throughout both authors must be included/referred to:

 “Mixed methods research is a research design with

philosophical assumptions as well as methods of
inquiry” (Creswell and Clark 2007:5).

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 Surnames of both authors
 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the
title page of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Creswell, J.W. and Clark, V.L. 2007. Mixed methods

research. London: Sage.

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 5. A book by three or more authors

IN THE TEXT
The first time all the authors must be written out, thereafter “et al.” may be
used:

 Jones, Smith, Peters and Carlson (1999:5) are of the

opinion that language proficiency is essential.

For the rest of the document, the names are written as follows by using “et al.”:

 “Language proficiency is essential” (Jones et al. 1999:5).

(Note et al. is written in italics and a full stop placed at the end
thereof)

 Jones et al. (1999:5) point to the fact that …

(Note: Please use a plural verb and not a singular verb after the use of et al.)

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 Surnames of all the authors
 Full initials of all the authors
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the
title page of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Jones, P.J., Smith, S.R., Peters, G.P.W. and Carlson,

S.R.F. 1999. A guide to classroom assessment techniques.
London: Sage.

(Note: Do not use et al. in the list of references)

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6. Citing more than one author/source at
the same time

IN THE TEXT
If you want to refer to more than one source at the same time, use a ;
(semi-colon) to distinguish the different sources:

 A flood can be expected (Vance 1994:6; Crade

1995:89; Leeds & Smith 1996:8).

(Note: There is no rule how to list these authors. It can be

done according to the alphabet or chronologically.)

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

Ensure that you list all these authors in your list of references.

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 7. Primary and Secondary Sources

Quoting a specific author from the work of another author:

In the publication of Ramsden, Learning to teach in higher education, on p.

97 there is a quotation from Sawyer that you want to use. The
particulars of Sawyer are listed in the list of references provided by
Ramsden. BUT, you cannot put Sawyer in your list of references,
because it is not the main source and you (the student) did not read
the book of Sawyer. Make use of the following correct referencing
technique(s).

IN THE TEXT
 According to Sawyer (in Ramsden 1992:97), it
requires effort to master anything – from football
to relativity.
OR

 Sawyer (as quoted by Ramsden 1992:97) states:

“To master anything – from football to relativity
– requires effort.”

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

Sawyer is not listed in the list of references, but Ramsden is. If anybody
wants to find out more about what Sawyer said, Ramsden can be
consulted.

Sawyer is then regarded as the primary source and Ramsden as the

secondary source.

REMEMBER: YOU CITE WHAT YOU SEE!

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 Editions

8. When the same author publishes TWO or more

publications in the same year

IN THE TEXT
When the same author has published more than ONE publication in the same
year, it is important to differentiate between the various publications. It is
done by putting a small letter a, b or c next to the year of publication:

 According to Hall (1990a:12) …

 Hall (1990b:88) states that ….

(Note: Always refer to what authors state/say in the present tense)

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references the same method is used, by placing an a, b or c
next to the year of publication. This way the reader will know which
source you are referring to:

 Hall, J.C. 1990a. Teaching for special needs. Pretoria: Van

Schaik.

 Hall, J.C. 1990b. Developing school teachers. Pretoria: Van

Schaik.

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9. When THE SAME AUTHOR has published
various books, articles, etc. in different years

IN THE TEXT
Make sure that you are referring to the correct year that the publication was
published for the specific citing.

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

List the names of the publications in a chronological order, according to
the date/year:

 Surname of the author

 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the title
page of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Babbie, E. 1999. The practice of social research. London:

Sage.

 Babbie, E. 2002. An introduction to the practice of social

research. London: Sage.

 Babbie, E. 2005. Social research. London: Sage.

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10. Different editions of the same publication

IN THE TEXT
When using different editions of a publication, no indication is made of the
edition in the text.

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references it must be indicated which edition of the
publication you are referring to. Note: First editions of publications are
not specified, only from the second edition on:

 Surname of the author(s)/editor(s)

 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the
title page of the publication in italics
 The edition
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Babbie, E. 2007. The practice of social research. 6th ed.

Oxford: University Press.

(Note: The abbreviation of edition is ed. The abbreviation of editor

is (Ed.) and editors are (Eds).

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 Editors
11. A book with one editor

IN THE TEXT
In the text of a document, no reference is made to the fact that the book is
published by an editor.

 Research is done in various ways (Maree 2007:44).

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references it must be indicated that the book was published by
an editor:

 Surname of the editor

 Full initials
 Indicate the abbreviation for editor (Ed.).
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the
title page of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Maree, K. (Ed.). 2007. First steps in research. Pretoria:

Van Schaik.

(Note the full stops: (Ed.).

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12. A book with more than one editor

IN THE TEXT
In the text of a document, no reference is made to the fact that the book is
published by editors:

 Research is done in various ways (Gillies and Lucey

2007:44).

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references it must be indicated that the book was published by
two or more editors:

 Surnames of the editors

 Full initials
 Indicate the abbreviation for editors (Eds).
 Year
 Title of the publication, exactly as it appears on the
title page of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Gillies, V. and Lucey, H. (Eds). 2007. Power, knowledge

and the academy. New York: Palgrave.

(Note the full stop: (Eds).

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13. Chapters/contributions in publications

IN THE TEXT
When a publication is compiled of chapters and each chapter is written
by a different author, reference is made in the text to the authors(s)
who wrote the chapter:

 The purpose of this chapter is to design a research

proposal (Maree and Van der Westhuizen 2007:23).

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references, it must be indicated which chapter and in which
book this information can be found. There are two methods to do this,
both are correct. The first method:

 Surname of the author(s) of the specific chapter

 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the chapter (not in italics)
 In
 The author/editor of the name of the
publication
 The name of the publication in italics
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Maree, K. and Van der Westhuizen. 2007.

Planning a research proposal. In Maree, K.
(Ed.). First steps in research. Pretoria: Van
Schaik.

(Note: The name of the chapter is not in italics, but the

name of the publication is in italics)

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The second method:

 Surname of the author(s) of the specific chapter

 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the chapter (not in italics)
 In
 Title of the book (in italics), followed by
edited by
 Full initials of the editor(s)
 Surname(s) of the editor(s)
 Place of publication
 Publisher

 Smith, P. 1998. Approaches to learning. In

Learning strategies and learning styles, edited by
R.R. Schmeck. New York: Wiley.

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 OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
14. An article in a journal
IN THE TEXT
The same rule as on the previous page (chapters written in a book by
various authors) also applies when referring to an article in a journal. In
the text, reference is made to the author of the article, the year and the
page number. The name of the journal is not referred to in the text.

 Peck (2009:24) admits that the facts and figures of

learning may be distorted or forgotten, but the
cumulative effect remains.

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references, it must be indicated which article and which
journal you are referring to as well as the pages in the journal:

 Surname of the author(s)

 Full initials
 Year
 Title of the article, exactly as it appears in the journal
 DO NOT USE IN here
 The name of the journal in italics
 Volume
 Number
 All the page numbers for this specific article: e.g. 20–34

 Peck, A. 2009. Keep the change: Using

reflection to frame the transformative qualities
of learning.
About Campus 14(1):21-25.
If journal articles are found on an electronic database, it is not necessary to
reference the whole electronic site. Only use the referencing as mentioned above.
WHEN the journal is only available as an electronic journal, the website can be
added.

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15. Newspaper articles

IN THE TEXT
When referring to newspaper articles, the following
information is needed for referencing:
 Title of the newspaper in italics
 The date of the day, the name of the month and year
 The page number of the article

 Floods caused great damage in the Free Sate (Sunday

Times 9 July 2001:2).

 The author of the article. This is optional and less

important because there is not always an author
mentioned for newspaper articles. The author can
thus be omitted, but you may also specifically refer
to the author, e.g.

 According to Smith (in Sunday Times 9 July

2001:2) floods caused great damage in the Free
State.

 Note that to the information in the brackets the

word in was added.
 The name of the author is NOT USED IN THE LIST
OF REFERENCES.

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IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 Title of the newspaper in italics

 The year
 The name of the article
 The date of the day and the name of the month
 The page number of the article

 Die Volksblad. 2009. Die fees vat vonk. 15 Julie:1.

 Mail and Guardian. 2009. Courses, seminars and

events. 14 May:26.

 Sunday Times. 2001. Floods cause great damage in

Free State. 21 May:3.

 The Citizen. 2008. The skills shortage. 7

August:3.

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16. Unpublished theses, dissertations,
conference proceedings and papers

IN THE TEXT
In the content, referencing to these documents is done in the same way as
one would do in an ordinary document with one or two authors.

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

A title of a publication is only written in italics if the reference referred
to, was published. The following would therefore not be written in
italics:

1. Doctoral theses
2. Master’s mini-dissertations / dissertations
3. Conference proceedings (unless published in book form
later)

4. Workshop proceedings

Information needed is:

 Surname
 Full initials
 Year
 Title (not in italics)
 Full particulars, e.g. place where the conference was
held, and the exact date if possible
 In the case of theses, dissertations, etc. the name of
the university and the place

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 Examples

 Thesis

Herselman, M.E. 1999. Evaluating games for teaching.

(Unpublished Ph.D. thesis.) University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
(Note: The place is not put first as for books, there is no colon)

 Dissertations

Mohase, L. 2008. Quality assurance in postgraduate studies:

Student-related factors influencing completion rates.
(Unpublished mini-dissertation.) University of the Free State,
Bloemfontein.
(Note: The place is not put first as for books, there is no colon)

 Conferences

Smith, M.O. 1999. Development Institutions of the future.

(Paper presented at the ASAHDI Conference on Higher
Education: “Imperatives of equity and redress” held at the
Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on 19 and 20
October.) University of Durban Westville, Durban.
(Note: Specify the theme of the conference; the place and city where the
conference was held; date(s) on which the conference was held; the institution
who is responsible to host the conference and where is this institution.)

 Unpublished paper

Leatt, J.V. and Martin, D.H. 2000. Reflections on collaboration

within SA higher education by two bloodies but unbowed
participants. (Unpublished paper.) Adamastor Trust and
Information, Cape Town.

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 ELECTRONIC SOURCES

17. Internet contributions

The main problem with using information from the internet is to supply the
reader with correct information to find the information that you are referring
to, again. The internet cannot be trusted as a scholarly medium if readers
cannot gain access to the original sources as cited material. Fit your citing and
referencing to the Harvard style in order to maintain consistency.

Electronic citations require much of the same information as printed sources

(author, year of publication, title, place, publisher), however, some extra details
are required:

o It must be indicated that you accessed the source in an electronic

format
o The date on which the information has been accessed, must be
provided
o The location of the online source must be cited

(a) World Wide Web

IN THE TEXT
Author: In the text, it is necessary to have an author, date and page number to
refer to. This is problematic if you cannot find an author for the article.
Remember that societies, companies, organisations or only the name of the
article can also be used as “authors”. If none of the above can be found, cite the
page title.

Date: If no date can be found, the abbreviation n.d. (meaning without year) can
be used.

Page numbers: While page numbers are usually included for print materials,
many electronic resources do not have page numbering. Two options can be
used to indicate page numbers for websites:

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  Print the material you are referring to. Now you have a paper copy of
the information. Indicate the page numbers then by using e.g. 1 of 6 in
your text.
 Indicate the page number by using the word Online.

 The delivery of food and medical aid is queried

(World Health Organisation 2006:1 of 6).
(Note: The page title is cited as no author could be located.)

 According to Jackson (n.d.:7) the delivery of food

aid to poor nations can be problematic.

 Emerging teaching technologies (2007:Online)

promised …

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

For the list of references, you need:

 Surname(s)
 Full initials
 Date (if available) or use n.d. (if no date can be found)
 Title of the article in italics (followed by a full stop)
 Place
 Publisher or sponsor of the site
 Web address (in round brackets) or <pointed
brackets> On no account must a web address be
followed by a full stop, since that means the full
stop is part of the address, which is incorrect
 Date on which the information was retrieved or
downloaded (in a new line). Choose only one of
these words and use it consistently.

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  Jackson, J.D. n.d. Delivery of food to developing nations.
London: Agriculture Ltd.
(http://ec.europa.eu/agricultur/index_en.htm)
Downloaded OR Retrieved on 6 July 2007.

 Roeber, E. 1995. Emerging student assessment systems

for school reform. Washington: ERIC.
(http://ericae.net/db/edo/ED389959.htm)
Retrieved OR Downloaded on 21 August 2007.
 World Health Organization. 2006. Food and
health for developing countries. New York: World
Health.
(http://www.who.int/en/)
Retrieved OR Downloaded on 4 April 2009.
(Note: An organisation is cited as no author could be located).

 Emerging education technologies. 2007. Sydney:

University of Australia.
(http://www.ericae.net)
Retrieved OR Downloaded on 15 January 2009.
(Note: The page title is cited as no author could be located).

(b) Blogs
A blog is a personal website on which messages are posted and subjects are
discussed. It is like a personal diary. Various discussion threads and
messages can be exchanged on it.

IN THE TEXT
Include the author name and year of posting:

 Information provided by Bartlett (2007) …

 Information provided (Bartlett 2007) …

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 IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES
 Start with the surname and initials of the owner of the
blog
 The year
 You also need to include the title, in italics or
underlined
 The word: weblog
 Day, month and year you accessed the blog
 The URL of the blog post

 Byford, P. 2006. Phil Byford's website, weblog,

accessed 26 July 2006. http://www.byford.com/

(c) E-mails
A distinction can be made between two types of e-mails, e-mail discussion
lists and personal e-mails.

E-mail discussion lists

On e-mail discussion lists, an article or information is posted and the resulting
discussion list can be a source of information. These discussion lists generate e-
mail messages which are sent directly to the subscriber. Reference to these
should be treated in a similar way to journal references.

IN THE TEXT
Include the author name and date of posting

 The discussion (Wiggers 2006) …

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IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES
Information needed is:

 The surname and initials of the author

 The e-mail address of the author between pointed/rounded
brackets
 Year of posting
 Title of posting (from the ‘subject’ line in the message) between
inverted comma’s
 Format (list server)
 Date of posting
 Name of the list owner
 Day, month and year of viewing
 URL or internet address (between pointed brackets)

 Wiggers, D. <[email protected]> 2006 ‘Media

and imperialism’, list server, 4 June, Humanities
and Social Sciences OnLine, accessed on 3
September 2008, <http://www.h-net.org/~film/>

Personal e-mails
In-text references to e-mails are dealt with in the same way as in-text
references to other types of personal communication (conversations, letters,
memo’s, interviews, lecture presentations, facsimiles, e-mails and telephone
conversations) and in general, it is not necessary to provide further details. If
there are occasions where readers will be keen to pursue the subject, the e-mail
address can be provided in the reference list. Please note: E-mail addresses
should never be cited without the permission of the owner of the address.

IN THE TEXT
When citing from personal e-mails or any other forms of personal
communication, this must be indicated in the text:

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  Bryan Burgin (2006, personal communication, 18 July) notified
me that my proposal had been accepted.
 The proposal has been accepted (Bryan Burgin, 2006, personal
communication, 18 July).

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

NOTE: As personal communications are untraceable, they are not included in
the reference list.

(d) iPods
An iPod is a storing devise. When referring to information on an iPod, refer to
the original document.

(e) Wiki’s
Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit
web page content using any web browser. Exactly for this reason the
reliability of wiki’s for academic research is queried. NO CITING AND
REFERENCING OF WIKI’S ARE THUS ALLOWED.

Especially when it comes to research methodology, supervisors prefer that

copies of publications written by acknowledged authors are used and not
internet sources such as wiki’s and encyclopedias.

31 | P a g e
 (f) PowerPoint presentations

IN THE TEXT

In the content, referencing to a PowerPoint presentation is done in the same

way as one would do in with an ordinary document with one or two authors.

 Murray (2014) summarizes his research …

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

Information needed is:

 Surname
 Full initials
 Year and day of presentation in
 Title (in italics) as given on the PowerPoint title page
 Type of medium in [square brackets]
 Presentation details

 Smith, J. 2009, January 9th. Handwashing for the

beginner. [PowerPoint slides.] Presented at a GM124
lecture at the University of the Free State.

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 (g) E-Books (Electronic Books)

If an e-book is readily available still in print form then you can reference an e-
book as if it was a print book. The publishing details will be on the usual
pages inside the e-book. If it is an e-book that is not available in print form, or
has been re-formatted in text or HTML format (losing the original page format
view), then reference as below.

IN THE TEXT
 Author Surname, Year, page number(s).
 If no pages numbers are available, use the term Online.

 Cross (2009:47) or
 Cross (2009:Online).

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

For the list of references, you need:Surname(s)

 Full initials
 Date (if available) or use n.d. (if no date can be found)
 Title of the book in italics (followed by a full stop)
 Place
 Publisher or sponsor of the site
 Web address (in round brackets) or <pointed
brackets> On no account must a web address be
followed by a full stop, since that means the full
stop is part of the address, which is incorrect
 Date on which the information was retrieved or
downloaded (in a new line). Choose only one of
these words and use it consistently.

33 | P a g e
 Cross, J.R. 2009. Adult education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
(http://www.adulteducationetwork.com)
Retrieved OR Downloaded on 24 January 2015.

34 | P a g e
 Government Publications
18. Government publications

Every country in the world has a “Department of Education” as well as a lot of

other government departments. It is thus very important to indicate the
country that you are working with. Therefore, always start with the country
that you are referring to in the text. Each government also has a variety of
publications for e.g. acts and bills, call for comments, government notices, green
papers, regulations and white papers. Working with South African documents,
the volume and number of the Government Gazette in which acts and bills are
published are not mentioned because of the number of amendments that are
constantly made. The rule is changed when you are referring to a specific fact
in a specific gazette.

(a) Acts and Bills

IN THE TEXT
The author will always be RSA (Republic of South Africa); the year of
publication and page:

 The Higher Education Act (RSA 1997:7)

recommends that …

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 In the case of an act or a bill, it always falls under the RSA
(Republic of South Africa). (Acts and Bills are usually not linked
to any Department.)
 The year
 The title of the act or bill is in italics
 The place is either Cape Town or Pretoria and the publisher the
Government Printer
 If it is not stated in front that the place is Cape Town, you may
assume that it is either in Cape Town or in Pretoria

35 | P a g e
  RSA (Republic of South Africa). 1997. Higher
Education Act (Act no. 101 of 1997). Pretoria:
Government Printer.

 RSA (Republic of South Africa). 2000. South

African Council for Educators Bill. Cape Town:
Government Printer.

(b) Green Papers and White Papers

IN THE TEXT
 In case of the author, determine which Department you are dealing
with and add that to the RSA. In this instance a white paper
published by the Department of Education (DoE) has been consulted.
 Add the year and the page.

 The publication of the White Paper (RSA DoE

1997:48) was the first …

IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 The Department of Education is added to the Republic of

South Africa
 The year
 The name of the white or green paper in italics
 The place which will be Pretoria (unless it is specifically
stated that the place is Cape Town)
 The publisher, which would be the name of the
department

36 | P a g e
  RSA DoE (Republic of South Africa. Department
of Education). 1997. Education White Paper 3:
Programme for the transformation of higher education.
Pretoria: Department of Education.

 RSA DoE (Republic of South Africa. Department

of Education). 1998. Green Paper on education and
training: Preparing for the twenty-first century through
education, training and work. Pretoria: Department
of Education.

(c) Policy documents

IN THE TEXT
In case of the author, determine which Department you are dealing with and
that has to be added to the RSA. In this instance a policy paper published by
the Department of Health (DoH) has been consulted

Add the year and the page

 The publication of the policy (RSA DoH

1998:56) was the first …

37 | P a g e
IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

 The Department of Health is added to the Republic of South

Africa
 The year
 The name of the policy in italics
 The place which will be Pretoria (unless it is specifically
stated that the place is Cape Town)
 The publisher, which would be the name of the
department

 RSA DoH (Republic of South Africa.

Department of Health). 1998. HIV/AIDS and
sexually transmitted diseases in the workplace:
HIV/AIDS policy guideline. Pretoria:
Department of Health.

38 | P a g e
 Academic Writing Style Guide

19. GENERAL TIPS FOR WRITING A LIST OF

REFERENCES

 The reference list at the end of a dissertation allows readers

to locate and use the sources you have cited. Each source
mentioned in the content of your document, must appear in
the list of references, and each source mentioned in the list of
references, must appear in the content of your document.

 The reference list is not a bibliography. A bibliography is a

list of sources that you have sourced and read to understand
your topic. Sources that you don’t specifically cite in your
literature review or elsewhere have no place in your reference
list.

 The list of references is arranged alphabetically according to

the names of the authors used in the text.

 In the list of references, list publications in the language in

which it was published. This may not be the language you
are writing in, but you may not translate anything. If you
write in English but the source you are referring to is
Afrikaans or a Sotho reference, all particulars pertaining to it
are provided in Afrikaans or Sotho.

 Use of & (ampersand):

When two authors are referred to in the content, the “&” sign may
only be used inside the brackets (when brackets are used). When
the authors are referred to and brackets are not used the word
“and” is used.

39 | P a g e
  According to Creswell and Clark (2007:38),
research can be done …
 Research can be done (Creswell & Clark
2007:38)

In the list of references “&” or “and” may be used. Decide on one

method and use it consistently:

 Creswell, J.W. & Clark, V.L. 2007. Mixed methods

research. London: Sage. OR
 Creswell, J.W. and Clark, V.L. 2007. Mixed
methods research. London: Sage.

20. ABBREVIATIONS

Edition (ed.)
Editor (Ed.)
Editors (Eds)
Without year n.d.
Without date s.a.
“Sonder jaar” s.j.
Without place s.l.
Publisher of a source cannot be determined s.n.

40 | P a g e
21. ACADEMIC WRITING

 Acronyms:

The first time an acronym is used in the text, it is written out fully with
the acronym in brackets, e.g. “National Qualifications Framework
(NQF)”. Thereafter only the acronym is used, except in headings in the
content. In headings the full name still has to be used.

If a lot of acronyms are used, it would be advisable for the benefit of the
reader to supply a LIST OF ACRONYMS in the same way as a Table of
Contents is supplied before commencing with Chapter 1. In this list each
acronym is also written out fully. Do it alphabetically

 Gender:
It is rather tortuous to use he/she, s/he style of writing to indicate
gender. It is preferable to use the plural ‘they’, or choose ‘he’ or ‘she’ at
the outset and explain in a brief footnote that this has been done in the
interests of stylistic conciseness.

 Is or are:

o Use a plural verb and not a singular verb after the use of et al.
o Data are …
o (List here your own singular or plural verbs that you are using in your text)

41 | P a g e
 Latin words:

Latin words commonly used in texts:

inter alia – among other things
vide - see
(Note: these words are always typed in italics when it is used in the text)

 Numbers:

Use figures (e.g. 47, 298, 401) to express numbers 10 and above.
Use words (e.g. nine, five, one, seven) to express numbers below 10.

 Spelling:
Oxford English is used, not the American spelling, e.g. behavior should
be behaviour.

Uniformity is the rule. If words like organize/organization or

organise/organisation are used, stick to ONE version. Both spellings are
correct. Uniformity also applies to the following words: (Both versions
are correct, just stick to the chosen one).
co-operate cooperate
co-operation cooperation
co-operative cooperative
co-ordinate coordinate
co-ordination coordination

 Vague pronouns:

Make sure that vague pronouns such as “it” and “this” refer to
something specific.

42 | P a g e
 22. WORDS TO USE
Listed below are some options of words to use when you paraphrase:

When the author argues: Synonyms that can be used are:

Affirm, agitate, allege, altercate, analyse, announce, annunciate, approve, argufy, assert,
asseverate, attest, aver, avouch, avow, bandy words, be construed as, be indicative of, be
significant of, be symptomatic of, bespeak, betoken, bicker, breathe, canvass, cavil,
characterise, claim, clash, conflict, connote, contend, contest, convince, cross swords, cut
and thrust, debate, declare, defend, demonstrate, demur, denominate, denote, differ,
differentiate, disaccord, disagree, disclose, discuss, display, dispute, dissent, dissuade, entail,
enunciate, establish, evidence, evince, exhibit, expostulate, express, fight, furnish evidence,
give and take, give evidence, give indication of, give token, go to show, hassle, have, have it
out, highlight, hint, hold, identify, illustrate, imply, import, indicate, insist, investigate,
involve, issue a manifesto, jib, join issue, justify, lay down, lock horns, maintain, manifest,
manifesto, mark, mean, moot, note, object, persuade, pettifog, plead, point to, predicate,
prevail upon, proclaim, profess, pronounce, protest, prove, put, put it, quarrel, quibble,
reason, refer to, remonstrate, reveal, review, row, say, scrap, set down, set forth, show, show
signs of, sift, signalise, signify, spar, speak, speak for itself, speak out, speak up, speak
volumes, spell, squabble, stand for, stand on, state, study, submit, suggest, symbolise,
symptomatise, symptomise, take sides, talk, talk out of, tell, tend to show, testify, thrash
out, try conclusions, ventilate, vindicate, warrant, witness, wrangle

Main entries similar to: Argue

Adumbrate, affirm, agitate, allege, announce, approve, ask, assert, asseverate, attest, augur,
aver, avouch, avow, bandy words, bespeak, betoken, bicker, breathe, canvass, cavil,
characterize, chop logic, claim, clash, concert, confer, connote, contend, contest, debate,
declare, defend, demonstrate, denote, differ, differentiate, disagree, disclose, discourse,
discuss, display, dispute, draw in, draw on, entail, enunciate, evidence, evince, exhibit,
expostulate, express, fight, hassle, have, highlight, hint, hold, identify, illustrate, imply,
import, indicate, induce, insist, involve, issue, justify, lay down, maintain, manifest, mark,
mean, moot, note, pettifog, plead, point to, predicate, premise, pro and con, proclaim,
profess, pronounce, protest, prove, put, quarrel, quibble, refer, refer to, reveal, say, scrap, set
down, set forth, show, signalise, signify, spar, speak, speak for itself, speak out, speak up,
spell, stand for, stand on, state, submit, suggest, symbolise, take sides, tell, testify, thrash
out, trade, urge, vindicate, warrant, witness, wrangle
(http://freethesaurus.net/s.php?q=argue&btnM=Search)

43 | P a g e
When the author gives a fact:

Say, know, testify, list, report, state, express, articulate, mention, declare, conclude, find,
refer, write, research

When the author demonstrates:

Indicate, combine, explore, identify, point out, observe, reiterate, lead to, show, continue,
remark, present, explain, conceded, signal, articulate, suggest, recommend, regard, define,
reveal, urge, make clear, highlight, see, offer

Demonstrate: Synonyms that can be used are:

Account for, affect, afford proof of, air, approve, argue, ascertain, attest, balance, brandish,
bring forth, bring forward, bring home to, bring into view, bring out, bring to notice,
broaden the mind, call in question, call to mind, challenge, check, check out, cite, cite a
particular, civilise, clarify, clear up, clinch, complain, cry out against, dangle, decipher,
demonstrate against, denote, describe, determine, develop, direct, disclose, display, dispute,
divulge, document, double-check, edify, educate, elucidate, embody, enact, enlighten, enter
a protest, establish, evidence, example, exemplify, exhibit, explain, explain away, explicate,
expose, expose to view, exposit, expostulate, expound, express, figure, flourish, follow,
follow from, foreshadow, furnish evidence, give a for-instance, give indication of, give
instruction, give lessons in, give reason for, give the meaning, give token, go to show,
ground, guide, have a case, highlight, hold good, hold up, illuminate, illustrate, image,
impersonate, imply, incarnate, indicate, inform, instance, instruct, inventory, involve,
itemise, make clear, make good, make out, make plain, manifest, march, mark, materialise,
mean, mirror, nail down, name, object, open the eyes, overhaul, parade, particularise,
perform, personate, personify, picket, point to, popularise, prefigure, present, press
objections, proclaim, produce, project, protest, prove, prove to be, prove true, put forth, put
forward, quote, rally, rationalise, realise, reflect, remonstrate, remove all doubt, represent,
reveal, roll out, school, scruple, set, set at rest, set forth, set right, settle, settle the matter,
shadow, shadow forth, sharpen the wits, shed light upon, show, show forth, show how,
show signs of, show the way, signalise, signify, simplify, sit in, solve, speak for itself, speak
volumes, spell out, state a grievance, strike, suggest, take stock, teach, teach a lesson, teach
in, teach the rudiments, tell, tend to show, throw light upon, token, trot out, unfold, unlock,
unravel, vaunt, verify (http://freethesaurus.net/s.php?q=demonstrate)

44 | P a g e
When the author theorises / gives an opinion:
Claim, submit, goes a step further, theorise, argue, contend, contemplate, imply, admit,
insist, know, predict, affirm, comment, justify, ask, acknowledge, support, add, believe,
criticise, differ, assert, feel, defend, assess, contest, deny, dispute, consider, confirm, propose,
question, think, affirm, maintain, speculate, disagree, clarify, find, agree, describe

Theorise : Synonyms that can be used are:

Analyse, apply reason, conjecture, deduce, entertain a theory, espouse a theory, generalise,
guess, have a theory, hypothesise, infer, intellectualise, philosophise, provide a rationale,
rationalise, reason, speculate, submit, synthesise, use reason
(http://freethesaurus.net/s.php?q=theorise)

When the author writes:

Adapt, arrange, assemble, bring to life, build, carve, cast, characterise, chart, check in,
chronicle, collaborate, communicate with, compose, compound, construct, copy, copy out,
correspond, correspond with, create, cut, delineate, depict, describe, devise, diagram, docket,
draft, draw, draw up, edit, elaborate, evoke, evolve, express, fabricate, file, fill out, form,
formulate, frame, give words to, index, inscribe, insert, instrument, list, log, make, make a
memorandum, make a note, make an adaptation, manufacture, map, mark down, mold,
notate, note, note down, orchestrate, outline, paint, patch together, picture, piece together,
place upon record, poll, portray, post, post up, prepare, print, produce, put down, put in
writing, put on paper, put together, put up, raise, rear, record, register, render, represent,
revise, rewrite, run up, schematise, set down, set forth, set up, shape, sketch, tabulate,
take down, trace, trace out, trace over, transcribe, transpose
(http://freethesaurus.net/s.php?q=write)

45 | P a g e
23. How to answer questions

Analyse Examine elements and determine their relationship to each

other
Apply Demonstrate how a principle works in practice
Compare Indicate similarities and/or differences
Compile Draw up a list or put together a description
Consider Think about
Contrast Indicate differences between ideas, events or
interpretations
Critically Examine, evaluate and explain problematic ideas
examine
Criticise Discuss weak and strong points
Define Precisely explain what a word or idea means
Describe Indentify key features and illustrate how they are related
Develop To plan, prepare and construct
Discuss Present the different aspects of a question or problem
Distinguish Emphasise the differences between what is compared
Draw up Formulate or construct
Evaluate Comment on the strengths and limitations
Explain Clarify by describing features
Identify Name the appropriate features in detail
Illustrate Give examples
Indicate To show, provides reason for
Interpret Make sense of
Justify Give reasons for your opinion
List Mention (bullets)
Outline Provide a brief overview of
Prove Demonstrate or show by logical argument
Question Reflect on
Refine Develop further, make clear or specify
Summarise Briefly give an account of the main features

46 | P a g e
SOURCES USED TO COMPILE THIS GUIDE

Heydenrych, M. 2009. Harvard (Author-Date) referencing guide. Department

Drama and Theatre Arts, University of the Free State.

Learning Support Services. 2004. Quote, unquote. The Harvard Style of

referencing published material. Including electronic information. Learning
Support Services, Leeds Metropolitan University.

Levin, P. 2005. Excellent dissertations. Student-friendly guides. Maidenhead: Open

University Press.

Liebenberg, S.C.J. 2007. Higher Education Studies Referencing Guide. Centre

for Higher Education Studies and Development, University of the Free State.

Naude, F., Rensleigh, C. and Du Toit, A.S.A. 2005. Analysis of the citation of
Web-based information resources by UNISA academic researchers. South
African Journal of Information Management 7(3):1-10.

Synonyms
(http://freethesaurus.net)
Downloaded 27 July 2009

Van Aswegen, E.S. 2007. Postgraduate supervision: the role of the (language)
editor: Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodies? (Juvenal, Satire 6, 346-348). South African
Journal of Higher Education 21(8):1142-1154.

Examples given to illustrate rules are not listed.

47 | P a g e