Full MHRA Referencing Handbook
Contents
Part 1: The Basics of Referencing
What is referencing?
Copyrighted sources
Why should I reference?
What should I reference?
How should I reference?
Setting out citations
Setting out quotations
Making changes to quotations
Paraphrasing
Summarising
Secondary referencing
Points to look out for
Books
Printed books
E-Books
Multi-volume works
Sacred texts
Journals
Journal articles
Pre-publication journal articles
Magazine articles
Digital and internet
The internet
CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs
Computer games and programs
Personal and virtual learning environments
Media and art
Newspaper articles
Live performances
Visual sources
Audio-visual material
Reviews
Interviews
Research
Unpublished or confidential information
Unpublished academic work
Reports
Genealogical sources
Scientific and technical information
Legal material
House of Commons and House of Lords Papers
Hansard
Legislation from UK devolved Assemblies
More legal material
Government and EU
European Union publications
Government publications
Departmental publications
Communications
Conferences
Public communications
Advertisements and PR
Sample footnotes
Sample bibliography
Hints and tips
FAQs
Further information and useful websites
Any questions?
Glossary
Index
The overall style guide for the MHRA style is located in the link below. Before you ask your tutor for help, see if your query can be answered using this guide. If not, then ask your tutor or your subject advisor.
http://www.mhra.org.uk/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/StyleGuideV3_2.pdf
Note:
Some of the examples used within this guide have been invented by Library Services staff members. Don’t be too alarmed if you click on a URL and it does not take you to the correct website!
What is referencing?
The University has adopted the ‘Cite Them Right’ (www.citethemrightonline.com) style of referencing and according to the co-authors, Graham Shields and Richard Pears, referencing is;
“…the process of acknowledging the sources you have used in writing your essay, assignment or piece of work. It allows the reader to access your source documents as quickly and easily as possible in order to verify, if necessary, the validity of your arguments and the evidence on which they are based. You identify these sources by citing them in the text of your assignment (called citations or in-text citations) and referencing them at the end of your assignment (called the reference list or end-text citations). The reference list only includes the sources cited in your text. It is not the same thing as a bibliography, which uses the same referencing style, but also includes all material, for example background readings, used in the preparation of your work.” (http://www.citethemrightonline.com/Basics/what-is-referencing)
Copyrighted sources
At present copyright law allows only small extracts of items to be copied legally provided that they are referenced (and following the guidance herein fulfills that perfectly!), the only what is necessary is copied, and the use falls into one or more of the following categories:
personal private study;
non-commercial research;
criticism and review;
illustration for instruction;
parody pastiche or caricature;
or quotation.
Students’ use will fall under personal private study, criticism and review, illustration, and/or quotation. For further information, go to; https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/copyright
Why should I reference?
Whatever else they disagree upon, all historians insist upon referencing, and there are certain rules that we all follow. There are four good reasons for referencing, and for referencing properly, which underpin our own work, and should also underpin yours:
(i) To let anybody check where you got your information.
(ii) So that you can come back to your own work and know where you found a particular quotation or piece of information.
(iii) To avoid accusations of plagiarism.
(iv) To prevent you using outdated and inaccurate books, articles, or websites.
While it is certainly possible to produce respectable work which contains no references (most textbooks, for instance), as a general rule you should not put your trust in any resource which does not give references.
What should I reference?
The level of referencing will depend on the nature of the piece of work you are writing: a coursework essay for a first-year survey module will probably require less than a third-year dissertation. There is no maximum level of referencing, but do not let referencing become a fetish. If you have worries about the amount of referencing which would be appropriate, seek advice from your module tutor.
As a general minimum, you should include a reference when:
(i) You quote or paraphrase from a primary source or secondary work;
(ii) You make use of a statistic;
(iii) You paraphrase or otherwise refer to the ideas or writings of a named or identifiable historian.
For most modules you will not be required to give references for basic factual material – only at dissertation level is it the guiding rule that ‘every substantive statement requires a reference’. Where facts are contested, and you are taking sides in an argument, you must then indicate the source of your own ideas, and if appropriate acknowledge the opposing camp(s) with references as well.
How should I reference?
There are many different ways to reference, but this handbook will focus on the MHRA style of referencing. As of the creation of this handbook, the courses at the University that used this method include;
Shakespeare Institute
ACS
English Literature
If you are still not completely sure which referencing style to use, consult your tutor or subject advisor.
This handbook will focus entirely on the MHRA style of referencing, as found on the ‘Cite Them Right’ website. For more information on other referencing styles, such as; APA, Vancouver and Harvard (author-date), they have their own separate handbooks which are to be found on the i-cite page on the University intranet.
Setting out citations;
Using this method of referencing, the footnotes in your work must be included in the final word count. Footnotes give details of the source that you are quoting from or referring to. These footnotes will then link to the same reference in your bibliography at the end of your work. The bibliography is always arranged in alphabetical order by author. If you have cited a work in an appendix, but not in the main body of your text, this should still be included in the reference list.
Superscript numbers (5, 8, 9 etc) are used within this style.
If you have used a direct quote or an idea from a specific page, or set of pages, you should include the page numbers in your footnote (but not in your bibliography). The abbreviation for page is p. or pp. for multiple pages of books, but not journal articles. See the examples below to see how they are used correctly.
According to Guy9, the Zulus faced many grave dangers when confronting the British…
9. Jeff Guy, In Zululand (London: Zulu Press), p. 7. (footnote)
Guy, Jeff, In Zululand (London: Zulu Press). (bibliography)
Note that the first time you cite a source, you should give full details in the footnote or endnote. Subsequent entries to the same source can be abbreviated to author's surname and the first few words of the title, plus a page number if you are citing a specific part of the text, giving you a short citation.
As well as footnotes or endnotes, you should list all your sources, including those you have read but not cited, in a bibliography at the end of your work.
Setting out quotations;
Quotations should always be relevant to your arguments and used wisely within your text. Overuse of quotations can disrupt the flow of your writing and prevent you from demonstrating your understanding and analysis of the sources you have read. Direct quotations are also counted in the word count.
Short, direct quotations should be enclosed in quotation marks. These can either be single or double quotation marks, but make sure to always be consistent. These are included in the body of the text.
Example: short, direct quotation
'If you need to illustrate the idea of nineteenth-century America as a land of opportunity, you could hardly improve on the life of Albert Michelson'.3
Longer quotations should be entered as a separate paragraph and indented from the main text. Quotation marks are not required.
Example: longer quotation
King describes the intertwining of fate and memory in many evocative passages, such as:
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So the three of them rode towards their end of the Great Road, while summer lay all about them, breathless as a gasp. Roland looked up and saw something that made him forget all about the Wizard's Rainbow. It was his mother, leaning out of her apartment's bedroom window: the oval of her face surrounded by the timeless grey stone of the castle's west wing.9
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Making changes to quotations
Omitting part of a quotation
Show this by using ellipsis […].
‘Thunderstorms… have become increasingly common’.8
Inserting your own, or different, words into a quotation
Put them in square brackets [].
‘Nothing [football boots] comes close…’.4
Pointing out an error in a quotation
Do not correct the error, instead write [sic].
Crowley6 noted that ‘capentars [sic] worked with wood’
Retaining/modernising historical spellings
Decide whether to retain the original spelling, or modernise the spelling and note this in your text.
‘Hast thou cleaned the water closet?’
‘Have you cleaned the toilet?’ (spelling modernised).4
Emphasising part of a quotation
Put the words you want to emphasise in italics and state that you have added the emphasis.
‘Minimal numbers of men take up netball’ (my italics).6
If the original text uses italics, state that the italics are in the original source.
‘Minimal numbers of women take up rugby league’ (italics in original).3
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is expressing someone else’s writing in your own words, usually to achieve greater clarity. Used properly, it has the benefit of fitting more nearly into your own style of writing. You must ensure that you do not change the original meaning and you must still cite and reference your source of information.
Harrison6 clearly distinguishes between the historical growth of the larger European nation states and the roots of their languages and linguistic development, particularly during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At this time, imperial goals and outward expansion were paramount for many of the countries, and the effects of spending on these activities often led to internal conflict.
Summarising
Summarising is providing a brief statement of the main points of a source. This differs from paraphrasing as it only lists the main topics or headings, with most of the detailed information being left out.
Nevertheless, one important study9 looks closely at the historical and linguistic links between European races and cultures over the past five hundred years.
Secondary referencing
It is possible that you will want to reference a work mentioned in another author’s work (secondary referencing). If possible, you should try to locate and verify the details of the source referred to. If you can successfully locate it, then you can reference it as normal.
Points to look out for;
Capitals
Capitalise the first letter of the first word, all nouns, verbs and adjectives. Also capitalise articles if they are the first words of a subtitle after a colon, for example Cite Them Right: The Essential Referencing Guide.
Commas
Use commas to separate the elements of the reference.
Dates
Dates should always be given in the form ’29 March 1995’. The name of the month should always appear in full between the day (‘29’ not ‘29th’) and the year. No internal punctuation should be used except when a day of the week is mentioned, e.g. ‘Wednesday, 29 March 1995’. When referring to a period of time, use from the form ‘from 1910 to 1990’ (not ‘from 1910-1990).
Footnotes
All notes should end with full stops, and a note reference number should follow any punctuation except a dash.
Abbreviations
Never begin a sentence with an abbreviation, and avoid abbreviations as far as possible in passages of continuous prose.
Chapter – ch. or chap.
Edition – ed.
Editors – ed. or eds.
And others – et al.
No date – n.d.
(issue) number – no.
Page – p.
Pages (page range) pp.
Series – ser.
Supplement – sup.
Table – tab.
Volume – vol. vols
Author names
In the footnotes, author names should be forename followed by surname. In the bibliography, author names should be surname followed by forename.
Page references
Page references are always p. 7 for a single page, or pp. 7-9 for multiple pages. However, p. and pp. are not used for journal articles.
Place of publication and publisher
This is only required for printed books, reports, and similar sources. The place of publication should be capitalised and, unless it is a well-known city (like London, New York, Oxford etc) then state the county or state (if published in the US). For example:
London: Jones Publishing. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press. The state name is always abbreviated. Apart from Mass. and Calif., US state names should use their initials (GA, WA, and so on).
Series/volumes
Only include these if they are relevant. Insert them after the publisher – Oxford: Clio Press (World Bibliographical Series, 78).
ISBNs
They are not commonly used in references, so only use in order to eliminate confusion about editions and reprints.
Issue information
When provided, it is necessary to use the following information in the order;
Volume number
Issue/part number
Date or season
URLS
The URL is given in full, but with < in front and > after the address, for example http://yorkpress.co.uk then [accessed date].
DOIs
These tag individual digital sources. A ‘doi’ often replaces the URL as it is the permanent identifier for the source, and so therefore it is not necessary to include an accessed date.
Edition
Only include the edition number if it is not the first edition. Edition is abbreviated to edn.
Italics
Avoid the use of italics for rhetorical emphasis. Foreign words and phrases which have passed into regular English usage should not be italicized. Italics are used for the titles of all works individually published under their own titles: books, journals, plays, longer poems, pamphlets, and any other entire published works.
Ellipses
In quotations, points indicating an ellipsis should be enclosed within square brackets – […].
BOOKS
Printed books
Printed Book (one author)
In-text citation:
According to Guy1...
Footnote:
1. Jeff Guy, The View Across the River: Harriette Colenso and the Zulu Struggle Against Imperialism (Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 2001), p. 37.
Bibliography:
Guy, Jeff, The View Across the River: Harriette Colenso and the Zulu Struggle Against Imperialism (Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 2001).
Author/editor
Title (in italics)
Edition (only include the edition number if it is not the first edition)
Place of publication: publisher, year of publication (all in round brackets)
Printed Book (two or three authors)
In-text citation:
Research by Banerjee and Watson1…
Footnote:
1. Avijit Banerjee and Timothy F. Watson, Pickard’s Manual of Operative Dentistry, 9th edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Bibliography:
Banerjee, Avijit and Timothy F. Watson, Pickard’s Manual of Operative Dentistry, 9th edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Author/editor
Title (in italics)
Edition (only include the edition number if it is not the first edition)
Place of publication: publisher, year of publication (all in round brackets)
Printed Book (more than three authors)
In-text citation:
This was proved in ‘Engineering design’1…
Footnote:
1. Clive L. Dym, and others, Engineering Design: A Project-Based Introduction (Hoboken, New Jersey: 2009).
Bibliography:
Dym, Clive L., and others., Engineering Design: A Project-Based Introduction (Hoboken, New Jersey: 2009).
Author/editor
Title (in italics)
Edition (only include the edition number if it is not the first edition)
Place of publication: publisher, year of publication (all in round brackets)
Printed Book (book with an editor)
In-text citation:
In ‘Complications in Implant Dentistry’4…
Footnote:
4. Mouhamed Al-Sabbagh, ed., Complications in Implant Dentistry (Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2015).
Bibliography:
Al-Sabbagh, Mouhamad., ed., Complications in Implant Dentistry (Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2015).
Author/editor
Title (in italics)
Edition (only include the edition number if it is not the first edition)
Place of publication: publisher, year of publication (all in round brackets)
Printed Book (book with authors and editors)
In-text citation:
Lucas3 remarks that…
Footnote:
3. George Lucas, The Wonders of the Universe, ed. by Fred Jones, James Smith and Tim Bradley (London: Smiths, 2004), p. 189.
Bibliography:
Lucas, George, The Wonders of the Universe, ed. by Fred Jones, James Smith and Tim Bradley (London: Smiths, 2004).
Author/editor
Title (in italics)
Edition (only include the edition number if it is not the first edition)
Place of publication: publisher, year of publication (all in round brackets)
Printed Book (book with no author)
In-text citation:
It is clear5 that…
Footnote
5. Medicine in Old Age, 2nd edn (London: British Medical Association, 1985).
Bibliography:
Medicine in Old Age, 2nd edn (London: British Medical Association, 1985).
Title (in italics)
Edition (only include the edition number if it is not the first edition)
Place of publication: publisher, year of publication (all in round brackets)
Encyclopaedia Entry
In-text citation:
It is obvious that6…
Footnote:
6. David Crystal, ‘Medical Science’, The Penguin Concise Encyclopaedia, 3rd edn (London: Penguin, 2007).
Bibliography:
Crystal, David, ‘Medical Science’, The Penguin Concise Encyclopaedia, 3rd edn (London: Penguin, 2007).
Author
Title of entry (in single quotation marks)
Book title (in italics)
Edition
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication
Encyclopaedia (full)
In-text citation:
It is obvious that6…
Footnote:
6. David Crystal, The Penguin Concise Encyclopaedia, 3rd edn (London: Penguin).
Bibliography:
Crystal, David, The Penguin Concise Encyclopaedia, 3rd edn (London: Penguin, 2007).
Author
Book title (in italics)
Edition
Place of publication
Publisher
Year of publication
Electronic books (ebooks)
E-Book
In-text citation:
Wear5 suggests that…
Footnote:
5. Angela Wear, Knowledge and Practice in English Medicine (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press),
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