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How To Write References

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How To Write References

Uploaded by

Pranjol Shrestha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HOW TO WRITE REFERENCES

This section is an introduction to writing references and covers the most common types of
material in both print and electronic form: books, chapters in books, conferences and their
papers, official publications, dissertations and theses, journal articles, images, pictures and
illustrations, maps, internet resources.

Tip – Saving Time


Make sure that you get all the reference information you need while you still have the source
material (e.g. book) in front of you. You will waste a lot of time if you have to have to go back
and find this information later. For example: if you make a photocopy check that you have the
page numbers; if you interview someone make a note of the date; if you print a web page make a
note of the full web address and the date on which you accessed it.

Why should I include references in my work?


1. It shows the range of reading which you have done. This gains you marks.
2. You may support your arguments with the opinion of acknowledged experts and use
data from reputable sources. This can make your own arguments more convincing.
3. It is a basic academic requirement to show details of the sources of your information,
ideas and arguments. Doing so means that you cannot be accused of plagiarism, i.e.
stealing from another person’s work.

When should I include references in my work?


1. Whenever you quote someone else’s work. This does not just include words but tables,
charts, pictures, music, etc.
2. When you rewrite or paraphrase someone else’s work.
3. When you summarize someone else’s work.

Why should I give such detailed information?


The purpose of the details provided is to make it easy for someone else to follow up and trace the
materials which you have used. Without full references, your tutor may be led into thinking you
are trying to take credit for someone else’s work i.e. plagiarism.

What are the most important points about my list of references?


1. Keep it accurate. This means that the marker/tutor does not waste time if they wish to
consult the items you have listed. If your list is full of errors you will lose marks.

2. Provide all the relevant details. This makes it is easy for the marker to identify the items
which you have listed. Again, if some of the important information is missing you will
lose marks.
3. Use a consistent format for your references. This will ensure that it is easy to locate a
reference within your reading list.

What do I need to include?


The most important parts of a reference are as follows:
1. The person(s) who ‘wrote’ the work: - The Author(s) or Originator(s).
2. Anyone who edited, translated, arranged the item.
3. The name of the work: - usually the Title.
4. Any additional information about the name of the item: - usually the Subtitle.
5. The person who puts the work into its physical format: - usually the Publisher.
6. The date when the work was made available or published (not necessarily when it was
written, etc.).
7. The place of publication (if known).
8. Physical details of the item such as Vol. No. page numbers etc..
9. Any additional information helpful to locate the works (such as a web address, a
catalogue number, the title of a series, etc.).

How do I Cite an Item in the Text of my Project?


Researcher need to provide the following information if you mention another piece of work,
book etc. in your assignment.

(a) When quoting directly from someone else’s work give:


Author(s) followed by the year in round brackets.
e.g. “As with any investment, working capital exposes the business to risk.” Verma
(2003)

(b) If there is no author give either:


A statement that the work is anonymous (Anon) followed by the year in round brackets:
e.g. Anon. (2006)

(c) If the author produced more than one work in the same year:

Use letters to indicate this (probably it is best to arrange the items alphabetically by their
title first):
e.g. Singh (2004 a)
Singh (2004 b)
(d) When referring to or summarising put both the author(s) and year.
e.g. Verma (2007) describes how the business is exposed to risk by working capital.

GENERAL RULES
(i). Authors
a) Single Author
Family name first, then a comma and space and then personal name(s) or initial(s). e.g.
Singh, A.
b) Two Authors
List the authors in the form above with “&” between them.
e.g. Mohammed, A. & Khan, J.
c) Three Authors:
List the authors as above with a comma after the first and “&” after the second.
e.g. Pryce-Jones, T., Patel, V. & Brown, P.
d) More than three authors should be listed with only the first named followed by the
Greek term “et al”. This translates as “and others”.
e.g. Hussain, J. et al.
Editors
Editors are treated the same as authors except that Ed. or Eds. is put in brackets after the
editor or editors names.

e.g. Walker, T. (Ed.)

Corporate Author
A corporate author is a group which takes responsibility for writing a publication. It
could be a society and professional body, an international organization, a government
department or any other group. A government publication should begin with the country,
then the department, then any committee or subcommittee.
e.g. Great Britain. Department for Education and Skills
e.g. PriceWaterhouse Coopers

(ii) Date

The date of ‘publication’ should be included.


If there are a number of different reissues or reprints of the item give the earliest date of the
edition you are referring to.
e.g. if the information in the book reads “1989 reprinted in 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000” give
1989.
If it is not possible to ascertain the date put the following: [n.d.] or [undated] or [no date].

(iii) Title
The title should be copied from the item itself if possible and should be in italics. If there is no
title on the item you may need to invent a descriptive title. In this case you should put it in square
brackets [ ].

(iv) Edition
If there are different editions of the work you should give details of which edition you are using.
e.g 3rd ed

(v) Place
Where appropriate you should include the place where the item was published.
e.g. New Delhi (India)
If there is more than one place of publication given choose the first one.
e.g. for Paris, New York, London give “Paris”

(vi) Publisher
If the item is published give the name of the publisher as it appears on the item.
e.g Sultan Chand & Sons
If the item is unpublished it may still be possible to give the name of the body responsible for
issuing the work.
e.g. Verma , R. (1998). Impact of Market Orientation on Corporate Success. Unpublished
PhD thesis, University of Himachal Pradesh.
(vii) Other Information
You may wish to include other information about the item such as its ISBN, physical format (e.g.
Lecture, Web Site, E-Mail, internet address, etc.). More detail is given in the section

DETAILED EXAMPLES
(i) Books (or reports)
Information about a book should, if possible, be taken from the title page and the back of the title
page.

It is usually laid out like this:


Kotler, P. (2006), Marketing Management, 12 Ed. New Delhi: Pearson Publishers Ltd., pp. 1-23.
th

Author Date of Title Edition Place of Publisher Pages


Publication Publication

(ii) Electronic Books


Electronic Books should be treated very similarly to print ones. You need to include the address
of the website at which you viewed the work and the date on which you viewed it.
e.g.
Roshan, P. & Leary, J. (2003) Financial Analysis. Sebastopol, CA: Cisco Press
[available at: http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/1587050773 viewed on 11/03/2017]

(iii) Journal Articles


Publications that are published regularly with the same title and often a volume and/or part
number are usually known as serials. These could include publications published annually,
quarterly (4 times per year), bimonthly (every 2 months), monthly, weekly or daily.
Popular serials e.g. Business World, are usually called magazines but more academic
publications are often known as journals.
The reference from journal should be laid out like this:

Author Year Article Title Journal Title in Italics


Kumar, G. B. (2005) Changes Ahead in Health Care Management. HR Magazine, Vol. 50, No
13, pp. 60-61.
Volume
Part/Issue
Page Numbers

(iv) Web Sites


A web page should be treated similarly to a print work in that it may have an author or editor and
a title. It may be dated and the main site (of which the page is a part) may also have a publisher
and may also give an address in the “about us” or “contact” section. You should include the
address of the web page and also include the date on which you viewed the page.
e.g.
Barger, J. (2000) A biography of Leopold Paula Bloom
http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/ulysses/bloom.html [viewed 11/07/2006].

Note:
 All references should be given alphabetically.
 The literature reviewed should be arranged as per the requirement of theme.

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