ACADEMIC REFERENCING

DEFINITION

When writing work such as an essay, dissertation, article etc, an academic is expected to make
reference to other people / scholars’ ideas or work. This is done in order to, among other things,
strengthen their piece of work. These ideas from other scholars should be acknowledged or
referenced.

A reference is a detailed bibliographic description of the item/ piece of work from which one
gained their information, e. g the author of the ideas and the year of publication of the
ideas/source. This is the brief citing, in –text and full publication details of these should be given
in full at the end of one’s work in a reference list or end-text.

Academic referencing is acknowledgement that one has used other scholar’s ideas in one’s own
work. This should be done whenever one quotes, paraphrases or summarizes someone else’s
ideas, theories or data. Also simply put, Academic referencing is the use and acknowledgement
of other people’s ideas in one’s own work.

Thus, academic referencing is the practice of referring to other people’s work in the body of a
written text. Information from books, journals, magazines, the internet, newspapers, conference
papers, TV / radio programmes, dissertations / theses, should be acknowledged. These (books,
journals etc) are known as sources of information.

PURPOSES OF REFERENCING/ REASONS FOR REFERENCING

References to other people’s ideas are made and acknowledged in order:

1. To acknowledge authorship of the material in question.

2. To show evidence of background reading.

3. To support one’s arguments and to establish one’s position by showing it in the context
of other writers.

4. To give credit to the concepts and ideas of other authors.

5. Academic referencing helps to authenticate the writer’s work.

6. Acknowledgement of other people’s ideas provides the reader with evidence of the
breadth and depth of one’s reading.
 7. Referencing and acknowledgement of other people’s ideas is done to support
controversial issues.

8. Academic referencing shows academic maturity.

9. Referencing helps to criticize other scholar’s views.

10. It helps to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is the use of other people’s ideas without
acknowledgement or the passing off of the work of others as one’s own, among other
definitions.

11. It allows the reader to identify the source of a particular idea/ point in one’s work.

12. It allows the reader to trace and retrieve the cited sources.

PLAGIARISM

- Is defined by De Montfort University student regulations as “the significant use by a

student, of other people’s work and the submission of it as though it were his or her own,
directly or indirectly”.

- It is also copying and pasting of text and images without saying where they came from.

- Plagiarism is also not showing when a quotation is a quotation.

- It is also summarization of information without showing the original source.

- It is also changing of a few words in a section of text without acknowledging the original
author.

Soles (2010:48) says plagiarism is “… the failure on the part of the writer to recognize the work
of others”. The Anglia Ruskin University year book (2006) refers to it as the passing off of the
work of others as your own.

REFERENCING WAYS

There are two ways of bringing in / incorporating ideas from other scholars into one’s work
which are:

a) The direct quotation

The exact words used by the scholar being cited can be brought into one’s essay / assignment by
making use of the author / scholar’s surname, the year of publication and the page number where
the citation is found in brackets, followed by the words in quotation marks, e.g: Henderson
(2005:88) believes or asserts, or argues, or says, or is of the opinion/ view that “ the
acknowledgement of another person’s work in your work is called a citation”.

b) The paraphrase / indirect quotation

To paraphrase means to state another person’s words in your own words and style of writing.
Here the surname of the author of the ideas being quoted is used, followed by the year of
publication. Page number and quotation marks are not included, eg, According to Henderson
(2005) a citation is an acknowledgement by writers whenever they borrow ideas from some other
authors or Henderson (2005) indicates that… or says that… or argues that… or asserts that…etc.

REFERENCING MODELS / SYSTEMS / STYLES (Types) (REFERENCING

CONVENTIONS)

There are several referencing models (types) systems/styles which vary according to discipline.
These are:

1. The Harvard referencing model / system / style.

2. The American Psychological Association (APA) referencing model.

3. Chicago /Turabian/Cambridge referencing models.

4. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards (IEEES) referencing

model/ system/ style.

5. Vancouver referencing model/system/style.

6. Oxford referencing model/system/style.

THE HARVARD REFERENCING MODEL/ SYSTEM/ STYLE

The Harvard referencing model/ system/ style contains author- date references within the text
(in-text referencing). These are the references made to other scholars’ ideas (citations) inside the
paragraphs/ sentences of one’s text (research paper). This information in the text is supplemented
by a list of sources, normally listed at the end of the research paper with sufficient bibliographic
details to facilitate the identification of the works cited in the text. This list is referred to as End-
text references/ a list of references. So Harvard referencing is done in two ways-In-text (inside
the research paper) and End-text (after completing the research paper on a fresh page). The
Harvard referencing system / model or style is also known as the Alphabetical Name-date
system.

IN-TEXT AND END-TEXT REFERENCING USING HARVARD

In-text referencing is when the writer of an essay/ dissertation / article (Research Paper)
identifies the author (s) he/she uses in his/her research paper to support, among other reasons,
his/her own arguments. These citations (direct quotations and paraphrases) are placed within
sentences and paragraphs so that it is clear what information is being quoted and whose it is.

References cited in the text of a research paper must appear in a reference list (End-text). This
list provides the information necessary to identify and retrieve each source. The reference list is
made up of only those sources actually referred to in the text. This is a single list of references
which should be given at the end of a research paper, alphabetically arranged by author’s
surname, initial (s) year of publication, source title, city (place) of publication and the publishing
company etc. Consistence is very essential in the use of punctuation marks.

RULES FOR END-TEXT REFERENCING (APPLIES TO ALL REFERENCING

MODELS)

1. End-text references are written on a fresh page.

2. End- text references are alphabetically ordered using surnames of the author (s).

3. End-text references are not numbered.

4. Skip a line after each complete reference.

5. Do not write anything under the surname and initial (s) of the first author if the reference
overlaps to the next line.

6. Underline book/ source title if you are handwriting and italicize/bold if you are typing.

7. Do not use author credentials such as “Doctor”, “Professor”, “Reverend” etc when
referencing both in-text and end-text.

RULES FOR IN-TEXT REFERENCING

1. Author initials or full names (first) should never be used in-text just the surnames for
sources with authors.

2. No source titles in-text for sources that have authors.

3. No author credentials such as “Doctor”, “Professor”, “Reverend” etc in-text.

IN-TEXT AND END-TEXT REFERENCING OF VARIOUS SOURCES USING
HARVARD:

a) A book /source by one author

In-text-According to Agatha (2005:12) “Women work better than men” (Direct quotation) or
According to Agatha (2005) Women are better workers than men (Para phrase/Indirect
quotation).

End-Text- provide full details for the source/book:

e.g Agatha, S. (2005) Women on the job, Toronto: Heath and Company.

b) A book /source by two authors

In-Text- Write surnames of both authors as they appear on the source, eg Chung and Ngara
(1985:90) assert that “…” or Chung and Ngara (1985) assert that…

End-Text e.g Chung, F. and Ngara, E. (1985) Socialism, Education and Development, Harare:

Zimbabwe Publishing House.

c) A book / source by 3 or more authors (Multiple authors)

In-Text-Write the surname of the first author on the source followed by the abbreviation et al
which means “and others”, then the year of publication and page number for a direct quotation or
just the year for a paraphrase, eg Mandiki et al (2007:7) argue that “…” or Mandiki et al (2007)
…

End-Text- Write surnames and initials of all the authors for the source in the order in which they
appear on the book/source:

e.g Mandiki, T. L.; Gumbo, L.; Moyo, M.; Shumba, S. and Zhou, Z. (2007) How students Fail,

Gweru: Mambo Press.

d) An Edited book

In-text- Just use the surname(s) of the author(s) and year of publication and page number for a
direct quotation or just the surname(s) and year for a paraphrase, According to Shumba (1985)
… The abbreviation (Ed) is not indicated in-text. “Ed” is short for Editor.

End-Text- e.g Shumba, M.D. (Ed) (1985) How to write a good Assignment, Harare: Longman.

e) A chapter in an edited book which is also a revised edition

In-text- Use the surname(s) of the chapter writer and other necessary details, eg Moran (2005:
110) postulates that “…” or Moran (2005) postulates that…

End-text- again start with details of the chapter writer and the chapter title then details of the
Editors of the book which contains the chapter, together with the edition after book title:

e.g Moran, M.J. (2005) “Engineering Thermodynamics” in Kreith, F. and Goswami, D.Y. (Eds)
The Handbook of Mechanical Engineering: Second Edition,
London: Penguin Books, pp105-125.

IN-TEXT AND END-TEXT REFERENCING OF ARTICLES OTHER THAN BOOKS

USING HARVARD.

f) Journal Articles

In-text- Just use the surname(s) of the author(s) and year and page number for a direct quotation
or just the surname(s) and year for a paraphrase, eg- According to Mellers (1999:5) “…” or
According to Mellers (1999) ...

End-text- provide other necessary details-author surname and initials, article title (in quotation
marks), journal name, Volume number, Issue number, page numbers that are covered by the
article…

e.g Mellers, B.A. (1999) “Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences”, Psychological
Bulletin, 16 (5), pp 910-934.

g) Newspaper Articles/Reports

In-text- For a newspaper report written by a reporter using their real name just use the surname
of the author, year and page number for a direct quotation or just the surname and year for a
paraphrase, eg- According to Moyo (1998:2) “…” or According to Moyo (1998) …

Another scenario is for a reporter not using their real name but a by-line, job title or pseudonym,
in that case just use that title, by-line or pseudonym, eg The Sports Editor (2014:10) says “…” or
The Sports Editor (2014) says…

End-text- provide other details- author surname and initial(s), year, report title (Headline),
newspaper name, date and month, page number(s) where the report is found,

Eg- Moyo, L. (1998) “16000 Miners Killed in South Africa”, The Sunday Mail, 6 September, p9.

for one using a by-line, job title or pseudonym:

eg-The Sports Editor (2014) “World cup fever grips Nation”, H-Metro, 6 June, pp 10-11.

(Note that this should be incorporated in the alphabetically ordered references as normal,
use the letter ‘T’ on the word “The” in the alphabetical ordering)

h) Unpublished reports

In-text- These are Reports written by individuals, groups of people or Organisations

/Commissions etc. In-text just use the surname(s) of the report writers or the full names of the
Organisations or Commissions, eg, According to Zacquett (2000: 100) “…” or According to
Zacquett (2000) … or According to The Chidyausiku Commission (2013:90) “…” or According
to The Chidyausiku Commission (2013) …

End-text- Include other details- surname(s) and initials of the report writers or the name of the
Commission or Organisation, Report title in quotation marks, the word unpublished in brackets,
department under which it was produced etc:

e.g Zacquett, I. (2000) “The Human Rights Movement” (Unpublished) Department of Law
University of Zimbabwe, Harare.

Eg- The Chidyausiku Commission (2013) “Operation Murambatsvina” (Unpublished)

Government Printers, Harare.

i) Thesis/ Dissertation

In-Text- Just write the surname of the author, year and page number for a direct quotation or just
the surname and year for a paraphrase, eg Shumba (2003:50) contends that “…” or Shumba
(2003) contends that…

End-Text- Provide author surname and initial(s), dissertation/ Thesis title, word unpublished,
department for which dissertation/ thesis was written, institution name:

Eg-Shumba, N.Z. (2003) “An investigation into the problems faced by black women in schools”
(Unpublished Thesis) Department of Psychology, Midlands State
University.

j)Internet sources

In-Text- Where a work is published online, if the author and year of publication can be found on
the document itself, then the author’s surname and the year can be used as a reference in the
text the normal way, e.g: Ekudu (2004) states that….Where there is no author use the website
address, e.g http:// www.cs.bham.ac.uk/pxc/refs.html states that...

End-text- Internet sources that have authors and years of publication should fall within the other
alphabetically ordered references as normal:
Online Article:

e.g Ekudu, G. (2004) “Walking Made Easy,” at http://www.nhs.uk.walking (Accessed

31/08/12).

Online Journal:

Eg Chiber, P. (1999) “Foreign Ownership and Profitability”, Journal of Law, 42(2) pp209-238
@

http://www.home.process.com (Accessed 20/07/13).

Online Book:

Simons, N. (2007) A Short Course in Soil and Rock Slope Engineering, London: Thomas

Telford Publishers, @http://www.mylibrary.com (Accessed 25/07/12).

For internet sources with no author(s) write the website addresses in the order in which they
appear in the research paper. NB, these should be written last on the reference list after all
sources that have authors:

Eg- http:// www.cs.bham.ac.uk/pxc/refs.html

k) Sources that have no author

In-text-If a source has no author, use the title of the source, which should be underlined when
handwriting or italicized or written in bold when typing e.g The book College Bound Seniors
(2007) states that….

End-text-The word Anon (Short for anonymous) is used in place of author name

Eg: Anon (2007) College Bound Seniors: Third Edition, Accra: Scarlett Books.

NB- This reference should come last on the alphabetically ordered reference list just before
website addresses for internet sources with no authors. The letter ‘A’ on the word ‘Anon’ should
not be considered in the alphabetical ordering because Anon is not a surname.

l) Sources with no years of publication

In-text- For sources with no year of publication, write the surname of the author and the
abbreviation nd in brackets in place of the year. This means ‘no date’ e.g Piemonte (nd)
believes / says that……

End-text-The abbreviation ‘nd’, meaning ‘no date’ is used in place of year of publication,
e.g Piemonte, A.L. (nd) “Ebola Virus” in Angel, W. and Lorenzo, T.N. (Eds) The Deadly
diseases in the world: Third Edition, Chicago: Chicago University Press.

m) Secondary Sources

In-text-When an author quotes/ cites another author and you wish to cite the original author,
acknowledge both sources in the text but only include the item you actually read in the reference
list. e.g: if Asmah discusses the work of Hayfron it will be either: a) Hayfron (2005) as cited by
Asmah (2008) says / argues/ asserts… or Hayfron’s 2005 study (cited in Asmah 2008: 156)
shows that…

End-text- Asmah, J. (2008) The Importance of Trees, Kumasi: Longman.

n) If an author has published more documents in the same year on the same subject distinguish
between them by adding lower-case letters, e.g: in recent studies by Bekele (1999a, 1999b,
1999c) …

End-text- eg Bekele, P. (1999a) “Trees are Life”, Journal of Nature, 5 (2) pp123-140.

Bekele, P. (1999b) “Of Trees and Human Survival”, The Herald, 6 June, p9. Etc…

o) Citing information (almost the same / same) found in more than one source

In-text-If you find information from more than one source on the same subject/topic, you may
want to include all the references to strengthen your argument. In which case cite all the sources
in the same brackets, placing them in order of publication (earliest first). Separate the references
using a semi colon (;) e.g several writers (Jones 2004; Biggs 2006; Smith 2008) argue that…

End-text- Each source should have its own details and be incorporated in the other
alphabetically ordered sources making use of the surname of its author.

The end-text references should be arranged alphabetically, so supposing a writer made use of the
above sources in his/her research paper, the order would be:

Agatha…

Asmah…

Bekele…

Biggs…

Chiber….

Chung….

Ekudu……
 Gumbo….

Jones…

Mandiki…

Mellers…

Moran….

Moyo….

Piemonte….

Shumba, M.D…

Shumba N.Z…

Simons…

Smith…

The Chidyusiku commission….

The Sports Editor….

Zacquett……

Anon… ( books/ sources with no authors come last)

http://www...

http://www.-

DEFINITION OF TERMS USED IN ACADEMIC REF

1. Indention

This should be done when a direct quotation is more than three lines long. The writer has to
leave space on either side of the page and write the direct quotation in the middle of the page:
There is no use of quotation marks here

2. Ellipsis

These are three spaced dots …to indicate omission of certain words in a direct quotation.

3. Referencing models are placed into two broad categories: Name-date/Author -date (Harvard,
APA, Vacouver) and Numerical/ Notation models (Chicago, Turabian, Cambridge, IEEES).

4. Referencing is done in two components-In-text and End-text.

END-TEXT REFERENCES OF VARIOUS SOURCES – HARVARD IMAGES (S) OR

DIAGRAM (S) WITHIN A BOOK

For in-text referencing of the following just use the surnames of the artists, singers, conference
paper presenters etc…and the years of production, presentations etc…

Where the image cited from a book is not the work of the author, additional reference to the
work should be made as follows:

Image: Artist (Yr), Title of the work, in (where found, e.g in a book/ museum) in: Author/ Editor
of book (Yr), Title, Place of Publication: Publisher e.g Masolino, T. (1427) “ The Temptation
of Adam and Eve” (Painting) in : Bruce- Mitford, M. (1996) The Illustrated Book of Signs and
Symbols, London: Dorling Kindersely OR

Diagram: Mintzberg, H. (1979) “The basic parts of organizations- Minzberg’s Model”

(Diagram) In: Cole, G.A. (2004) Management Theory and Practice: Sixth Edition, London:
Thomson

Conference papers e.g

Gibson, E.J. (1977). “The performance concept in building”, in: Proceedings of the 7 th CIB
Triennial Congress, Edinburgh September 1977, London:
Construction Research International, pp. 129-136.

Live performance a) Dance

e.g Composer/ choreographer (Yr of Premiere) Title, Company (optional) location and date
seen).

Ashton, F. (1948) “Cinderella”, Royal Opera, London, 13 Jan 2004.

Play

Title, Author (Yr of performance) directed by company (optional) (location, Date seen):
“An Inspector Calls”, by Priestley, J. B. (2009) Directed by Dalndry Stephen (Arts Theatre
Cambridge, 11 May).

Video/ film broadcast

Film: Title (Yr) of Media Originatot (e.g director) place of production: production co// e.g:

“Rebel without a cause” (1983) Film, Directed by Nicholas Ray<USA, Warner Brothers.

A television or radio broadcast should also include the date and time of broadcast and the
episode no// where possible:

Title (Yr) Type of media, Originator (e.g channel) exact date and time of broadcast

e.g “Dyslexic children” (1999) Tv Channel 4 , 24 July, 1900hrs

or Doctor Who (2008) Episode 8, “Silence in the library”, TV BBCI , 31 May , 1900hrs

or Book of the week (2008) Three Atlantic Ocean , Radio, BBC Radio 4, 21 July , 0945hrs

Individual contributors or interviewees:

e.g Brown, G. (2008) Interview in: Today Programme, Radio, BBC Radio 4,15 May , 0810hrs

Online Film

Screen Name (Yr) Title of film , available from: web address (Date Accessed)

e.g Los Angeles Opera (2008) “Tristan and Isolde”, podcast (online video) Available at: http://
www.youtube.com/watch = agqaail ( accessed 03/04/08).

Song(s)

e.g Matavire, P. (2003) “Ma U”, Matavire Mbune, Vol 1, Harare: Grammar Records.

That is, name and surname of the singer, year of release, Song name, album name, volume (if
necessary) and city of launch then recording studio.

For in-text of the above just use the surnames of the singers, artists etc and the years of
production…eg According to Matavire (2003)…