Writing references in your work

Referencing your work correctly is essential. If you acknowledge the work of others you are taking steps to prevent plagiarising someone else's work. You are also allowing the reader to trace your line of research.

Disciplines will recommend different referencing systems so do check which ones your discipline supports. Once you know which system you are using it is important that you are consistent.

Harvard

Even within the Harvard system you will see variations in approach. If you are in any doubt as to the validity of an approach for any piece of work that you need to submit then consult your tutor.

British Standards

British Standards Online provides full text access to all the following standards (on campus only).

  • British Standards Institution (1989) BS 1629:1989 Recommendations for references to published materials. Milton Keynes, BSI.
    • Available in the Hartley Library at Gen Ref PN 147 BRI.
  • British Standards Institution (1985) BS 4148:1985 Specification for abbreviation of title words and titles of publications. Milton Keynes, BSI.
    • Available in the Hartley Library in the Reserve Collection.
  • British Standards Institution (1990) BS 4821:1990 Recommendations for the presentation of theses and dissertations. Milton Keynes, BSI.
    • Available at Hartley and Health Services.

Chicago

IEEE

Modern Humanities Research Association

  • Modern Humanities Research Association, MHRA style guide: a handbook for authors, editors, and writers of theses (London, Modern Humanities Research Association, 2002)
    • A PDF version of this work is freely available for downloading and printing for personal use, from the link in the title above. Please make sure you abide by the conditions of use. Section 10 of the book covers the MHRA referencing system in detail.
    • Paper copies are available in the Library at Hartley.
    • There are also paper copies of the Guide's predecessor, the MHRA style book, at Avenue, Hartley and Winchester School of Art.
  • MHRA examples (Word document, Hartley Library)
    • Contains examples of forms of reference taken from section 10 of the MHRA Style Guide referred to above. It is designed as a quick reminder once you have read the MHRA Style Guide.
  • (Word document, Hartley Library)
    • A sample bibliography in MHRA format, used in Information Handling Skills courses at Southampton.

Modern Languages Association

  • MLA examples (Word document, Hartley Library)
  • Using MLA Style to Cite Documents and Resources  (Bedford/St.Martin's)
  • Gibaldi, J. (2003) MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 6th ed. New York, Modern Language Association of America
    • Copy at Hartley Library, plus copies of earlier editions at other sites

Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities

Royal Society of London

  • Royal Society (1974) General notes on the preparation of scientific papers. 3rd ed. London, The Society
    • Copies at Hartley and the National Oceanographic Library

Vancouver

General guides to research skills

Please check WebCat for details of locations and availability.

  • Bell, J. (2010) Doing Your Research Project: a Guide For First-time Researchers in Education and Social Science. 5th edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press
  • Blaxter, L. et al. (2010) How to research. 4th edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press
  • Denscombe, M. (2010) The good research guide. 4th edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press
  • Hart, C. (1998) Doing a literature review: releasing the social science imagination. Thousand Oaks, Sage

  • Harvey, G. (1998) Writing with sources: a guide for students. Indiana: Hackett Publishing

  • Lester, J. (2005) Writing research papers: a complete guide. 11th edn. New York, Longman