Writing Guide
Introduction | Document structure | Style | Using references | Language, words & format |
Preparation for reproduction | Tips for writing | References on style and writing | Some final words
Using references
The Harvard (author-date) referencing system should be used. In this system all references must both be cited within the text and given in full at the end of the work. Those references (and only those references) cited in the text are listed in alphabetical order of the first author's surname at the end of the work. References allow your reader to locate the source for further research. Consistency of presentation is paramount. Punctuation is only required where contractions are used and to separate items where confusion would otherwise result.
Footnotes and endnotes
Footnotes and endnotes should be used sparingly for additional points of clarification only. References should not be put in footnotes or endnotes. Instead, they should be cited by the Harvard (author-date) system (see below). Footnotes have only four main functions:
- to refer to authorities when a debatable point is raised in the text;
- to expand or add something - e.g. a rider to an argument or an illustration which is extracted from the text to avoid breaking the flow;
- to define terms, if a glossary is not used;
- and to provide cross-references.
The footnote number is best placed at the end of the sentence after the full stop. Generally footnotes are numbered consecutively through each chapter and listed at the end of the chapter. However, they can be placed at the bottom of the page on which the references occur separated from the text by a ruled line.
References within the text
The following examples of formats have been adapted from examples given in the Style manual (AGPS 1994) and cover references and quotations in the text. For any item not covered here please refer to that manual.
A reference of a book, journal article, paper and so on give name and date:
A recent study (Jeeves 1978) has shown ...
If the author's name forms part of the text then only the date is given in parentheses:
Smith (1975) has noted that ...
Two or three authors:
A recent study (Baker & Smith 1977) has stressed ...
Baker and Smith (1977) stated that ...
The theory proposed (Larsen, Greene & Withers 1971) ...
Larsen, Greene and Withers (1971) proposed that ...
Note that the ampersand is replaced by 'and' when the names are incorporated in the text.
More than three authors:
A recent study (Baker et al. 1986) has shown ...
Baker et al. (1986) have shown ...
Where the authors have the same surname, differentiate by initials:
This recent study (Olive J M 1973) noted that ... but S Olive (1976) claimed ...
Note that in this form of referencing the surname appears first in parentheses but in the text the initials are given first.
More than one publication in the same year by an author can be differentiated by using a, b, c and so on:
A recent study (Herbert 1978b) ...
This refers to the second 1978 publication listed under Herbert in the reference list.
To acknowledge more than one source or reference, the references are separated by semicolons and enclosed in brackets. The order is alphabetical by author's surname, or, if by the same author, in sequence by year of publication:
Recent studies (Baker 1988; Jones 1982; Osborne & Billings 1986) have illustrated these points whereas Powell (1976a; 1976b; 1978) has emphasised that ...
Personal communications are set out as shown but do not appear in the reference list:
Rogers (1989 pers. comm. 18 August) informed me ...
Where no reliable date for publication can be established:
Writings by Westmore (n.d.) indicate that ...
Where approximate publication date is known:
Hungerford (c.1829) wrote that ...
Where publication date is dubious:
Banks (?1812) illustrated ...
Work not yet published:
Henderson (forthcoming) shows that ...
Work that has been accepted by the publisher for publication and is thus in process of publication but date is uncertain:
The plants emerged after the storm (Mizloff in press).
Unpublished work, such as a thesis:
Raymond and Andrews (unpub.) note that ...
Where there is no author's name given, cite the name of the organisation or institute which is responsible for compiling or publishing the material:
One source (Australia Medical Council 1970) outlines ...
Anonymous work should be identified by title and date. Do not use the expressions 'anonymous' or 'anon.':
As stated in The end product (1927) the upper levels ...
The upper levels were devalued (The end product 1927).
Unorthodox material such as motion pictures, video recordings, sound recordings, still photographs, off-air broadcasts, microforms, computer software, maps and three dimensional objects should contain the title and date of production (if available) and the format:
Understanding the GNP (video recording) 1982
Referencing legal authorities requires the name of the case, date or volume number or both, the abbreviated name of the report series and the beginning page of reference:
Greutner v. Everard (1960) 103 CLR 177
For all direct quotes you must give the page number with the reference in the text:
'Throughout all the body cavities one finds food storage organs, glands, and other tissues of uncertain function' (Dewdney 1983 p43).
For indirect references you should give page numbers when your reference is from large publications, such as books and monographs, where it may be difficult for your reader to locate your source:
Dewdney (1983 p202) gives several examples of problems faced by Punizlan astronomers.
For indirect references from smaller publications such as a journal or newspaper articles, page numbers are not required as it should be relatively easy to find the source of the reference.
If it is necessary to specify volume, section, table, figure or other part of a work, the system below should be used:
An investigation (Brown 1989 pp22-28) showed ...
Lapsley (1989 p1178) indicated that ...
Priestley (1843 2(3) p78) related ...
... other forms of resistance (Janzen 1975 Table 3.1) ...
Boland (1980 Fig. 2) indicates that ...
Section 14(b) in Lovett (1981) describes ...
The reference list
A list of all references cited (but not personal communications) should appear at the end of your work and include full details about the references to enable the reader to locate and check or engage further research about the subject. All references should be arranged in alphabetical order by authors' surnames. Do not abbreviate any part of a reference unless the abbreviation is used in the title of the article.
Maximal capitalisation is used for titles of journals, magazines or newspapers. These titles should also be in italics (or underlined if italics are not available). For the titles of books, journal articles and most other items minimal capitalisation is the preferred style with capitals only used in names, proper nouns and at the start of titles. For specific examples of how to reference material carefully refer to the sections below.
These examples of formats have been adapted from the Style manual (AGPS 1994). The GSE prefers a simpler format to that found in the Style manual e.g. no brackets around dates or full stops after initials. Commas are only required to clarify meaning. If in doubt, refer to the more detailed section above or to the Style manual.
Items should be set out as follows:
Books:
Sprout H 1960 Early geologists in Tasmania Hicks & Smith, London.
Chapters in books:
Wellings I T 1945 Wonderful Melbourne in Fact and fantasy for travellers eds P Y Pultzer & J J Styro, Oxford University Press, Oxford pp158-187.
Journal or magazine articles:
Burke T 1983 The private rental sector: problems and policy Urban Policy and Research 1: 2-10 or 1(4):2-10.
(For articles, this Guide, and the Macquarie University standard, departs from the Style manual (AGPS 1994). In the above reference: 1 refers to the volume of the journal, 4 in parentheses to the number of the journal and 2-10 refers to the pages. For journals that run page numbers consecutively through a volume (the vast majority) the issue number can be deleted.
Newspapers:
Minerals and their export potential 1970 The Sydney Morning Herald 26 Feb. p6.
West W 1989 Single body forecast for higher education The Australian 26 April p13.
Unpublished works:
Fried A C 1960 The origin and development of quartz deposits in Gove unpublished MSc thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Official publications:
Department of Foreign Affairs 1978 Annual Report 1975 Australian Parliament, Paper 146, Canberra.
Commission of Inquiry into Poverty 1975 Legal aid in Australia Law and Poverty Series, AGPS, Canberra.
Motion pictures and videos:
The comedic fall (motion picture) 1981 Englewood, New Jersey, Pratfall Releases.
Television productions:
What are we going to do with the money? (video recording) 8 August 1982 ABC Television.
Multiple authors:
Elbow S J, Scapula B C, Kneebone A and Smith G P W 1992 Do-it-yourself, a guide to surgery Medical Publishers Australia, Sydney.
Microform documents:
Herbert W G 1987 The Australian beef industry: an overview Australian Livestock Council, Canberra, microfiche.
Electronic sources
The guiding principle here is that enough information needs to be given to be able to locate files electronically. Thus, important information to be included in the reference list for individual items includes, generally in this order, the author, publication date, the title of the work, title of the electronic work from which it comes (i.e. the source), producer (if known), the site/path/file details and, lastly, the access date. Where no author is given e.g. in the case of a database, the title becomes the first element of the reference. Examples are provided below.
Please bear in mind that, like the internet itself, information sources are in a constant state of flux and, therefore, changes will be necessary as the sites themselves proliferate and adapt to the new era of electronic print. It is advisable to have a hard copy of the file available, particularly if the file is likely to be erased at a later date e.g. e-mail messages.
WWW sites:
Burka L P 1992 'A hypertext history of multi-user dimensions' MUD History http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/lpb/mud-history.html, 5 Dec 1994.
FTP sites:
Carroll L 1991 Alice's adventures in wonderland The Millenium Fulcrum edition 2.7a, ftp://ftp.quake.think.com/pub/etext/1991/alice-in-wonderland.txt, 4 Nov 1995.
GOPHER sites:
Ray J W 1992 Hot air about the atmosphere? ECIX Climate Digest gopher://gopher.unt.edu/Science/Canadian Global Change Newsletters/climdig9_jul92, 6 July 1992.
E-mail:
Page M [pagem@etsuarts.east-tenn-st.edu] African dance and Malawi Private e-mail message to Masankho Band [mbanda@igc.apc.org] 28 Nov 1994.
Rickert N W 1992 'Consciousness and stimulation' Psycoloquy:Refereed Electronic Journal of Peer Discussion 3(47) Available: e-mail: psyc@pucc Message: Get psyc 92-00077, 14 June 1993.
News group messages:
Legg S [legg@harquebus.cgd.ucar.edu] African history book list in [soc.culture.african] 5 Sept 1994.
Mailing list messages:
Walsh G [gwalsh@acs.bu.edu] REPLY: Using African newspapers in teaching in H-AFRICA [h-Africa@msu.edu] 18 Oct 1995.
Databases:
Asian or Pacific Islander females [CD-ROM] 1990 Available: 1990 Census of Population and Housing Summary Tape File 3A Path: Vermont/Burlington, VT MSA/Race by sex by age File: Asian or Pacific Islander females.
Graphic images:
Charts:
Gulf War vote, January 12 1991 [chart] 1992 in The almanac of American politics p1477 [online] Available: LEXIS Library: LEXREF File: AMPOL.
Maps:
Turkey: Elevations [map] [diskette] 1990 Available: PC Globe Path: country/elevations File: Turkey.
Photographs:
Daniels M 1991 Corinthian: handle at right [photograph] [multimedia] Available: Perseuse 1.0 Path: Art and archaeology/pottery/index by Collection/New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery Card: Yale 1988.