REFERENCING AND REFERENCE TECHNIQUES

Referencing is giving relevant accurate and complete information indicating and acknowledge
which sources you used for writing an assignment, a thesis or dissertation, a research article or a
research report for work. Citing (or citation) means the same as referencing. The two terms are
often used interchangeably. Referencing or citing a source of information is usually done in a
standardized manner according to specific citation or reference styles and methods

In this lesson you will learn about what referencing and reference techniques entail and how to
reference correctly. You will look at the different styles of referencing techniques that are most
commonly used worldwide in both the print and online environment. You will also be introduced
to various reference management systems and learn how they can help you organise and manage
your references, indicating and acknowledging which source(s) you used for writing an
assignment, a thesis or dissertation, a research article or a research report for work. 'Citing' (or
citation) means the same as referencing.

WHY IS REFERENCING OR CITING NECESSARY?

Copyright law and academic integrity require that you acknowledge when you have used another
person’s idea when creating your own work. If you do not this, it means that you are stealing
someone else’s ideas and committing the serious offence of plagiarism. At a practical level,
referencing shows that you have done extensive reading and research on your topic.

It also shows that you are presenting more that just you owns ideas and opinions and it can help
you emphasize or illustrate o point that you want to make in your work. Referencing your sources
means that the reader can view and use those sources if necessary and that the sources can be
verified.

WHEN DO I REFERENCE?
As students, researchers or lectures, referencing of works that aided in your write up is very
important. When to the referencing is each time you use an idea in your work that is not purely
your own original idea. An idea can be a fact, a quotation, a table, graphics, music, or anything
else obtained from a source of information whether in print or electronic format such as a book,
an article, a newspaper, or other information found on the web, including information taken from
social media sites.

WHAT IS THE REFERENCING TERMINOLOGY?

There are many terms used in referencing that you need to understand, the two most
important referencing terms are:
• Reference list

• bibliography.

WHAT IS REFERENCE LIST?

A reference list is usually a list at the end of your document that contains a detailed description of
all the sources that are used to underfeed or cited in the text of your work document.

WHAT IS A BIBLIOGRAPHY?
The term bibliography has several meninges. A bibliography is first of all another name for a
reference list providing a list of sources that were used and reference list providing a list of sources
that were used and referred to in assignment, research report or other work or document created
by you. For the purposes of this chapter, this is what we mean by the term. However, since people
commonly use reference list or bibliography when referring to a list of sources at the end of the
document, we will use the combined expression reference list/bibliography.

WHAT ARE THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF REFERENCING?

Although there are many different styles or systems of referencing , they all share the same basic
principles and aims:

• To acknowledge the work and ideas of others used in your work.

• To provide enough relevant information of the original work so that it can be traced and
used by the person reading your work.

WHAT IS IN-TEXT REFERENCING?

Most referencing styles require you to acknowledge the source of your information in the text of
your work. These are known as in-text citations or in-text references and these normally contain
at least the name of the author and the date of publication of the information source.

WHY AND HOW TO REFERENCE AT THE END OF A DOCUMENT?

Creating a reference list/bibliography at the end of a document is an integral and compulsory part
of acknowledging information sources used for the creation of your works. It also provides the
information needed for others to find these information sources again. Later in this chapter you
will look at the different ways in which these reference list/bibliographies are compiled.

WHAT ARE FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES?

• A footnote is the term used for the note that appears at the end (foot) of a page. A small
number of letters inserted in the text refers you to the footnote which either tells you where
the information was found, i.e. the sources of the information, or provides additional
information about the text in the document.
• An endnote contains additional information about the text but appears at the end of
document itself. Not all reference systems make use of footnotes and endnotes.

WHERE TO FIND THE INFORMATION THAT IS NEED FOR REFERENCING?

The information needed for references/citations is called bibliography information. Bibliography
information consist of everything that you need to identify and fully describe the sources where
you got your information.
For books you need:

• The author (this is the persons responsible for the creation of the book i.e. the writer,
compiler, editor, translator, or corporate author)

• The title of the book plus sub-title where applicable

• The edition of the book (second subsequent editions only)

• The Name of publisher

• The place of publication

• The date of publication.

• For journal articles you need:

• the author of the article (but not the editors of the journal)
• the title (and sub-title) of the article

• the title of the journal in which the article appears

• the volume number of the journal

• the issue number (if applicable), or season/month which is usually provided if there is no
issue number
• the date of publication
 • the page numbers in the journal where the article appears.

For sources found on the web you usually need (depending on the referencing style):

• As much as possible of the above information (depending on the type of document that is
used)
• The URL (Uniform Resources Locator) or the DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

• Date of creation or last update of the webpage

• Date of access (the date when the webpage was visited).

Books
You can find the full bibliographic information for books on the imprint page, which is on the back
of the title page of the book. You should not use the cover page or the title page as the full
information is not always provided there.
On the title page, only the title, the names of the authors and, sometimes the name of publisher,
are provided. However, on an imprint page, you will find the title, the name and the place of
publication, the date of publication, the edition, number the ISBN and much more. For electronic
books including those that are accessed through the internet, the important bibliographic
information can be found in the same place as the print version, or sometimes it is placed at the
end of the books.

Journal
You can find bibliographic information for journals in a variety of places in the printed journal,
including the cover, the back page, and at the bottom of the first page of the article itself.

Webpages
Depending on the type of document, good/professional webpage will usually contain all the
bibliographic information you need to describe the source that you use. In most cases, the corporate
body is the author. The page or an article within the page will have a title. The date the site was
last updated can be found at the bottom of the page and the URL can be found in the address bar
at the top of the website.

DIFFERENT REFERENCING SYSTEMS

There are many methods or systems of referencing to choose from when citing/referencing the
sources that you used. Different disciplines sometimes prefer to use their own systems, or a
particular system may be prescribed by a faculty going to publish a research article.

CHECK FIRST WHICH REFERENCE SYSTEM DO YOU NEED TO USE?

• When writing an assignment, research report, thesis or dissertation, check which style of
referencing is required from you.
• If you are writing an article for publication in scholarly journal, checks on the journals
website for instruction for authors to find out which style you are expected to use. This is
important as you may be penalized for not adhering to the preferred or prescribed method.
• In the corporate environment most companies prescribe an in-house referencing style that
all employees are required to use when writing proposals, reports and creating other forms
of documentation.

REFERENCING/CITING SOURCES USING THE VARIOUS STYLES/SYSTEMS

Generally speaking, the basic techniques for using the various systems of referencing are all
similar. However, certain aspects of the reference styles can vary including the use of capital
letters, italics, punctuation, adding page numbers, adding web addresses for online sources,
endnotes and/or footnotes etc.

Styles

HARVARD METHOD

Authors are listed alphabetically by surname.

How Books are referenced using Harvard Style

This type of referencing method starts with the surname and initials of the authors or editors, or
in the case of corporate author the full name of any entity that acts as author is used. After which
you write the year of publication, followed by the full title of the work in italics which will
immediately follow by the place of publication and the name of the publisher. Example:
Brown, R.S. 2006. Coming back to the old country. New York: Manhattan press.

How Journals are referenced using Harvard Style

For journal articles, citation using the Harvard method, one has to follow the same basic format as
book with the title of the journal in italics after which you write the volume, number and the pages.
Example:

 Schumann, A, (2005) the many faces of mental health in society. Health and religion, 12(6),
331-338

How online sources are referenced using Harvard Style

In citing online document using Harvard method, it is important to use the DOI instead of the URL.
Where the DOI is not known, the URL does the trick.

Example: WARD, PS. (2013). Three minutes of peace. Retrieved from ASB Corporate online do:
10.2101/ASBC.2013/159173.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style

MLA citation style uses a simple two-part parenthetical documentation system for citing sources:
Citations in the text of a paper point to the alphabetical Works. Cited list appears at the end of the
paper.

How Books are referenced using MLA

Start with the author surname, full name, title, Place of Publication, publisher, year of publication
and medium, such as print or web. Every important word in the title is capitalized. Titles may be
underlined or written in italics. You can choose either way but you need to be consistent. The
subsequent lines are indented. Example:

Osman, Hawa. The importance of Electronic Resources to the Faculty of University of Health and
Allied Sciences, Ho: EP Printing Press, 2017. Print.

How Journal articles are referenced using MLA

Start with author surname and first name, title of the article, and the name of the journal in italics.
This is followed by the volume, the date of publication in brackets, and the page number of the
article. Example:

Mann, Susan. "Myths of Asian Womanhood." Journal of Asian Studies. 59.1 (2000): 835-62

How online sources are referenced using MLA

MLA assumes that content can be found online as long as relevant information is included.
Therefore, URL listing is not required. The publisher or sponsor of the webpage is asked for as
well as date of the creation/last update of page and the date of page was viewed. Italics and
quotation marks are used for the title. Example:

 Faris, Marc. “That Chicago Sound: Playing with (Local) Identity in Underground Rock.”
Popular Music & Society27.4 (2004): 429-454. EBSCOhost. Web. 5 April 2011.

Referencing Email Using MLA

Start with author surname and first and name followed by the subject title in the quotation marks
and italics. When you write message to the author, followed by the day, month, the year and Email
address. Example:

 Husein, Kamaludeen. RE: "Importance of Information Literacy." Message to the author.

26 June 2017. Email. ITC: (Husein) [email protected]

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

The APA style is a widely used author-date system of referencing or bibliographic citation.
Authors are listed alphabetically by surname.
How Books are referenced using Harvard Style

Start with author’s surname and initials followed by the date of publication in brackets, the title in
italics, place of publication and name of the publisher. The second and following lines are indented.
Where there six of fewer authors, all the authors have be listed in the reference list/bibliography.
Example:

 Patterson, G.L. (2011) Religion and health. Johannesburg: psychology press

How Journals articles are referenced using Harvard Style

Citing journal document with APA style is the same as in book with volume and number of the
pages coming after the title of the journal which is written in italics. Example:

 Schumann, A, (2005) the many faces of mental health in society. Health and religion, 12(6),
331-338

How online sources are referenced using Harvard Style

If the DOI is available for online document is used in the place of URL. Example:

 WARD, PS. (2013). Three minutes of peace. Retrieved from ASB Corporate online do:
10.2101/ASBC.2013/159173.

VANCOUVER METHOD

Vancouver Style uses in-text citations and a Reference List at the end of your document. Citation
within the text of a paper is identified with a number in round brackets. Example: (5) has argued
that… and page number is included for any direct quotes or specific ideas. Example: “…has been
proven that, malaria is caused by …” (2, p23). References are numbered consecutively in the order
they are first used in the text. The full citations will be included in the Reference List at the end of
your document, with matching numbers identifying each reference.
How Books are referenced using Vancouver style

Vancouver method of referencing is done by entering the author’s surname and initials without
punctuating between the surname of an author and the initials. A space is used to separate the
surname of the author and the initials, and there also no punctuation or spaces between the initial
of the author. This is followed by the place of publication and the name of the publisher is provided.
The year of the publication is the last. Vancouver method of referencing, all the authors have to be
listed if the work is done by six or less authors,. Example:

 Mandala cf. the use of drugs in rehabilitation centers. London: Cambridge press; 2011

How Journal articles are referenced using Vancouver style

The name of the journal is followed by the date of publication, the volume number and other
numbers of the publication, and lastly the page numbers. When page number is given, digits are
not repeated unnecessarily. Example:

 Botha LR. No way out. Medical journal 2014 Jul 5; 19(6):133-6

How online resources are referenced using Vancouver style

To cite an online document using Vancouver method, begin with author’s surname, and initials
followed by the title of the website, designation (internet). This is followed by place of publication,
and the date the site was accessed (cited), and then the URL. Example:

 smith A.M. Dental hygiene education. (internet). Bomby: dentist association, 2010 (cited
20 April 2013). Available from: http://www.da.gov/dentalhygiene.htm.

CHICAGO STYLE

Involve referencing sources through numbered footnote or endnote thus, sources are cited in the
text using a numbered maker and bibliographic information is provided in notes (footnotes or end
notes) as well as in The quotation is indicated by a number in the text at the end of quote. The
reference list comes at the end of the text and it is arranged alphabetically.
Author’s Last name, First name. Title: Subtitle. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher, date of
publication. Example: brown, coming back, 81. Example of reference:

How books are referenced using Chicago Style

Start with the author surname and full name, the title, and then the place of publication, publisher
and the year of publication. Example:

 Kathleen Thelen, How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 271.

How journal articles are referenced using Chicago Style

Start with the author, article title, journal title, issue information and then the date, followed by the
page numbers Example:

 Barber, Marcus. “Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health: Emerging Crises
and Systemic Solutions.” The Australian Journal of Anthropology21, no. 3 (2010): 390 –
391.

How online resources are referenced using Chicago Style

The URL is listed at the end of the citation, but not the date when the content was accessed. DOIs
can also be used instead of the URL. Example:

 Lynda Mulvin and Steven E. Sidebotham. “Roman Game Boards from Abu Sha'ar (Red
Sea Coast, Egypt),” Antiquity78, no. 301 (2004): 604, accessed May 27, 2013, url:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=14595148&site=ehos
-liv

How emails are referenced using Chicago Style

Emails are only cited in footnotes and are listed in the bibliography. Example: Andrew smith,
email message to author, October 16, 2012