Citing references in the text

Reporting verbs

When introducing references into the text (citing) you should choose suitable reporting verbs as these can:

• strengthen your arguments.
• help the reader understand why the source is relevant.

Ways of introducing references into text

You can introduce references into the text in various ways. Certain rules apply. You should cite all sources you refer to; ideally this should not break up the flow of the writing.

• When the author's name occurs naturally in the sentence put the year in round brackets
  Piaget (1999) has argued that...
• When the author's name does not occur naturally in the sentence, put both the surnames with an ampersand (&) and publication date in brackets. The full stop should appear after the bracket:
  It is acceptable to use both short and long quotes in academic assignments (Harris & Jones, 2001).
  Note: When the names are part of the text use 'and':
  Harris and Jones (2001) have commented on...
• When the author is unknown use 'Anon':
  It has been argued (Anon, 1995) that...
  Note: Be careful of using work with unknown authors.
• When you read the source in another text and are paraphrasing refer to the primary source and link by using the words 'cited in':
  Burnham (1888 cited in Smith 2000) pointed out that... (In your references at the end, list both sources if possible)
• When there is no author, for example, in a newspaper article, then use the name of the paper instead.
  A recent study describes... (The Herald, 1998, p4)
• When there are three or more authors use: 'et al':
  An additional theory was developed (Hughes et al, 2002) supporting the teaching methods identified above.
  Note: For Psychology, all the authors' names are mentioned the first time they appear in the text there after they can be referred to using et al
• When you refer to different work by the same author in the same year make this clear by adding letters after the date: 'a' for first, 'b' for second and so on.
  In his first article Jones (1997a) suggests ...
  Jones (1997b) also argued that...

Next: Referencing at the back

Updated: 28 October, 2008 | Effective Learning Service | Legal