When you are using other authors’ ideas and information in your own understanding and in your own words, paraphrasing them, you need to clearly indicate the source where that specific idea/piece of information initially appeared. It is important to know that this is also an important aspect of the academic research and writing.

Examples of citations:

  • When citing in text within a paper, use the author/s’ (or editor/s’) last name followed by the publication year.

Example:

The digital society is one in which individuals create an attractive narrative that comes to life through posts, images and Instagram stories (Manor, 2019).

  • The digital society is one in which individuals create an attractive narrative that comes to life through posts, images and Instagram stories (Manor, 2019).

Example:

Diplomacy is no longer limited to its initial, conventional subject matter; its application has been extended from eschewing war and maintaining peace to technology, science or the environmental protection, among others (Cooper, Heine & Thakur, 2013).

  • If a work has four (4) or more authors, cite only the last name of the first author followed by “et al.” each time you refer to this work (however, your reference list should include all the authors’ names).

Example:

(Ciottone et al., 2006)

  • The names of groups that serve as authors (e.g., corporations, associations, government agencies) are integrally written every time they occur in a text citation.

Example:

(Ministry of Health, 2007)

  • There may be occasion to refer to more than one source in relation to similar information. In this case, list the sources in alphabetical order within the brackets, separated by a semicolon.

Example:

Resilience is seen as the ability to surpass adversary, fight stress and recover from hardship (Dawson, 2006; Overton, 2005).

  • If you cite different works which have the same author and were written in the same year, differentiate them by assigning lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the publication year. These works should be listed in the reference list alphabetically, by title (excluding ‘A’ or ‘The’).

Example:

Eyes are susceptible to melanoma, even though it is rare (Cancer Society of New Zealand, 2013a).

According to the Cancer Society of New Zealand (2013b) the rate of…

Example of a Reference List

Cancer Society of New Zealand. (2013a) Ocular melanoma: Information sheet. http://www.cancernz.org.nz/information/cancer-types/ [Accessed 4th June 2015].

Cancer Society of New Zealand. (2013b) Reducing your cancer risk. http://www.cancernz.org.nz/reducing-your-cancer-risk/ [Accessed 4th June 2015].

Chertoff, M. (14 January 2020) Establishing Norms in Cyberspace. Americas’ Global Role. https://americas.chathamhouse.org/article/the-paris-call-and-establishing-norms-in-cyberspace/ [Accessed 2nd February 2023].

Ciottone, G., Anderson, P. D., Auf Der Heide, E., Darling, R. G., Jacoby, I., Noji, E. & Suner, S. (2006) Disaster Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA, Elsevier Press.

Cooper, A. F., Heine, J. & Thakur, R. (eds.) (2013) The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy. Oxford, UK, Oxford Press.

Fernández-Manzanal, R., Rodríguez-Barreiro, L. & Carrasquer, J. (2007) Evaluation of environmental attitudes: Analysis and results of a scale applied to university students. Science Education. 91(6), 988–1009. doi:10.1002/sce.20218.

Hawking, S. W. (1998) A brief history of time: From the big bang to black holes. 10th ed. New York, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.

Holding, M. Y., Saulino, M. F., Overton, E. A., Kornbluth, I. D. & Freedman, M. K. (2008) Interventions in Chronic Pain Management. 1. Update on Important Definitions in Pain Management. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 89(3, Supplement 1), S38–S40.

Manor, I. (2019) The digitalization of Public Diplomacy. Washington, USA, Palgrave Macmillan.

Melissen, J. (2013) Public Diplomacy. In: Andrew F., Cooper, J. H. & Ramesh T. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, pp. 344-356.

Ministry of Health. (2007) Looking at long-term residential care in a rest home or hospital: What you need to know. Wellington, New Zealand, Ministry of Health.

Simons, N. E., Menzies, B. & Matthews, M. (2001) A Short Course in Soil and Rock Slope Engineering. London, Thomas Telford Publishing. http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=93941.

For more practical examples, please refer to:

Imperial College London ‒ Harvard Style Guide

What is a BIBLIOGRAPHY

There may be texts which you have consulted for your work, but not cited. These can be listed at the end of your assignment in a bibliography.

These items should be listed in alphabetical order by author and laid out in the same way as items in your reference list.

If you can cite from every work you consulted, you will only need a reference list.

If you wish to show to your reader the unused research you carried out, the bibliography will show your extra effort.