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Types of Dissertation Referencing

Types of Referencing: Harvard Referencing

Of the different types of referencing system, the best known is Harvard referencing. This gives the author, the date of the work and the page number in the body of the text and then has a bibliography, sorted alphabetically by author at the end of the piece. To use a fictitious example, assume that these last two sentences were from a work by Joseph Brown published in New York by Academic Publishers in 2006. Within a dissertation the first sentence above could start as follows:

According to Brown (2006, page 27), of the different types of referencing systems …

Included in the bibliography would be the information about the book giving author, date, title, place of publication and publisher:

Brown, J. (2006) Types of Referencing Systems, New York: Academic Publishers

It is good practice to vary the positioning of the citations, regardless of the types of reference being used. For example the reference could have been as follows:

Of the different types of referencing systems, the best known is Harvard Referencing (Brown, 2006, page 27).

When using different types of referencing systems it is sometimes unnecessary to use page numbers, for example when summarising information from different sections. However, when quoting directly, the page number is definitely needed:

Brown (2006, p. 72) has his own opinion: “Using footnotes removes clutter from the text and gives a more professional look to the piece.”

If a work has more than three authors it would become cumbersome to mention all of them, so Harvard referencing does the following:

The benefits of using standardised types of referencing systems are many and varied, according to Brown et al (2007, pa 58).

Here “et al” is a Latin expression which means “and others”. In this example the book concerned could have been written by Brown, Jones, Smith and White. Note that all authors should be acknowledged in the bibliography.

It is sometimes necessary to refer to a secondary source. For example, Joseph Brown might have quoted an author called Marcus Henry to support an argument in his work. A student using Brown’s book would cite Henry’s contribution as follows:

According to Marcus Henry (in Brown, 2006, page 88) students find the variety of types of referencing systems confusing.

When using newspapers, magazines or the Internet as sources, the author is sometimes unknown; use the publication’s name instead.

In some cases multiple sources need to be quoted. Most types of referencing system would handle this as follows:

Throughout the literature there has developed a consensus that certain referencing systems are suited to the Arts, whilst others are more appropriate for the Sciences. (Brown, 2006, p 47; Jones, 1992, p 16; Smith, 2003, p 72)

Web sources are handled in the same way as books, except that different information is needed in the bibliography. Include the full web page address and the date viewed:

Brown, J. (2006) Types of Referencing Systems in Current Use
http:\\www.academicresources.com\referencing\currentpractice.html
Date accessed 23/09/2008

Types of referencing systems: Oxford Referencing

The alternative to in text referencing is the use of footnotes. The best known footnote type of referencing system is Oxford referencing. Here a reference number in a superscript is placed at the end of the sentence concerned. Then at the bottom of the page a note is printed, also in superscript, giving full details of the work referred to. Assuming that Joseph Brown also commented on this, there could be a reference as follows:

Of the footnote types of referencing systems, one of the best known is Oxford Referencing.

(Please look at the bottom of this page and the next for footnotes.)
Inserting the footnote is straightforward in most Word Processing systems. In MS Word the facility is found under the menu “Insert”, then “Reference” and “Footnote”. Note that the difference between footnotes and endnotes is that the first appear on each page, whereas the second appear together at the end of the chapter. A bibliography is also provided, sorted alphabetically by author. When referencing a work more than once, Oxford referencing allows abbreviated references in subsequent footnotes.
For example, the first reference to Browns book in footnote 1 is comprehensive; the second would be handled as follows:

However, Brown feels that there is no significant difference between most types of referencing system.

In Oxford referencing the bibliography is handled in a similar way to Harvard referencing; the only real difference being that with Oxford referencing the date of publication appears at the end of the information, as in footnote 1 above.

Lists of Types of Referencing Systems

What follows is a list of other common types of referencing systems and either the word “Harvard” or “Oxford” to indicate whether they are similar to the Harvard or Oxford systems respectively. An internet search on each will give more specific information if needed.

OSCOLA: The Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (Oxford)
APA: American Psychological Association (Harvard)
MLA: Modern Languages Association (Harvard)
Turabian (Oxford)
Chicago (Harvard)
Open University (Harvard, but might vary in different faculties)
Vancouver: Similar to in text systems but uses numbers which refer to a numbered bibliography.
MHRA: (Oxford)
BMJ: Similar to the Vancouver system.