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Reference with MHRA

If you are a student in English Literature, Drama or Creative Writing, you will need to use the MHRA referencing style in your assignments, projects and dissertation. Use this online guide to find out how the style works and what your footnotes and bibliography should look like.

A shorter print guide Citing your References in the MHRA Style (revised August 2021) is also available to download as a word file or PDF.

Need help using MHRA? Contact Joanna

Further guidance on MHRA:

MHRA basics: 1. Creating footnotes & bibliographies

MHRA basics: 2. How to set out quotations

How to reference a book

How to reference a book chapter

How to reference a journal or newspaper article

How to reference a poem

How to reference a play

How to reference a novel or short story

How to reference a web page

How to reference other sources (tv, lectures & more)

MHRA basics: 1. creating footnotes and bibliographies

When writing essays or dissertations you may need to refer to a variety of sources in the body of your work, including literary texts, books and journal articles. You need to acknowledge the original source through referencing when you are providing a direct quotation AND where you’re paraphrasing or summarising from the original text in your own words.

There are two parts to MHRA references:

Footnotes - When you want to cite a specific source, create a footnote (a note placed at the foot of the page) in Word. Alternatively you can use endnotes (notes placed at the end of your essay).

Bibliography - A list of all the sources you have used, whether you've cited them in the text or not, placed at the end of your essay.

Find out how to:

Create footnotes

Create a bibliography

Deal with repeated references

Deal with secondary referencing (source cited by another writer)

Calculate your word count

Illustration of robot reading a book

How to create footnotes

To insert a footnote:

  • In Word, click on ‘References’ and ‘Insert Footnote’. Word will automatically assign it a number in superscript and create the corresponding footnote at the bottom of the page.
  • In Word for Mac, go to the ‘View’ menu and click ‘Print Layout’. In your document, click where you want to insert the note reference mark. Go to the ‘Insert’ menu and click ‘Footnote’.

Key things to remember:

  • In the footnote put the full reference to the source, following the format set out in this guide. Footnotes should run in one sequence throughout your document.
  • Ensure that the footnote number in the text is placed at the end of a sentence, after the full stop.
  • If you have mentioned several sources in the same paragraph, you can use a single footnote/endnote to cover all of them.

You can view more examples in this sample text with MHRA referencing in Cite Them Right Online.

Examples of footnotes

Schug analyses the narrative structure of Frankenstein.1



The action in Mary Shelley’s novel takes place in a variety of locations, moving from Geneva to Evian and to Ireland. The geographical aspect has been explored by several critics, including Bohls and Randel.2

_______________________________

1 Charles Schug, ‘The Romantic Form of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein’, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 17.4 (1977), 607-19.

2 Elizabeth A. Bohls, ‘Standards of Taste, Discourses of “Race”, and the Aesthetic Education of a Monster: Critique of Empire in Frankenstein’, Eighteenth-Century Life, 18.3 (1994), 23-36.

Fred V. Randel, ‘The Political Geography of Horror in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein’, ELH, 70.2 (2003), 465-491.

How to create a bibliography

A bibliography is a complete list of all the sources you’ve used – those you’ve cited in the text and additional ones you’ve read but not cited.

  • In a bibliography reference, reverse the order of the first author's name, for example:
    Austen, Jane
  • Note that if there are several authors, only the first author's name is reversed, for example:
    Wallis, Mick and Simon Shepherd,
  • The bibliography should be arranged in one alphabetical sequence - by the first author's surname - and should appear at the end of your document.
  • If there is no author or editor, list the source by title, ignoring initial definite or indefinite articles.
  • References in your bibliography should not end with a full stop.
  • If the list includes more than one work by the same author, list them in alphabetical order of title, ignoring initial definite or indefinite articles. For each source after the first, substitute the author’s name with a long dash (Em Dash), for example:
    Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, ed. by James Kinsley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)
    _____, Sense and Sensibility, ed. by James Kinsley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)

You can view more examples in this sample text with MHRA referencing in Cite Them Right Online.

How to deal with repeated references: citing the same source multiple times

You will often need to refer to the same source several times throughout an essay, especially when analysing literary texts. To avoid repeating the same footnote multiple times, there are two options. Choose the one that best suits the specific context.

How to deal with secondary referencing (source cited by another writer)

In some cases you will want to reference a work mentioned or quoted in another author's work. If you can, you should try to locate and verify the details of the source referred to and then reference it as normal. However sometimes you won't be able to track down the original source. This is known as 'secondary referencing'.

For example, you have read a journal article by Eva Badowska which contains a quote from Susan Stewart's book Crimes of Writing: Problems in the Containment of Representation. You would like to use this quote in your essay but you have been unable to access Stewart’s original book.

In the footnote, you need to mention both sources:

  • the original source - the Stewart book
  • the source that you have read - Badowska's article.
Use the phrase 'quoted in' or 'cited in', depending on whether the author of the work you are reading is directly quoting or summarizing from the original.

In the bibliography you just list the source you have read, in this case the Badowska article.

Example of secondary referencing

Susan Stewart describes Walpole's Gothic Revival villa Strawberry Hill as 'a form of trompe-l'oeil, a triumph of surface over materiality and time'.3

____________________________________

3Susan Stewart, quoted in Eva Badowska, ‘On the Track of Things: Sensation and Modernity in Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret’, Victorian Literature and Culture, 37.1 (2009), 157-175 (p.163) <http://www.jstor.org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/stable/40347219> [accessed 13 January 2015].



In the bibliography:

Badowska, Eva, ‘On the Track of Things: Sensation and Modernity in Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret’, Victorian Literature and Culture, 37.1 (2009), 157-175 <http://www.jstor.org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/stable/40347219> [accessed 13 January 2015]

How to calculate your word count

When writing an essay or a dissertation for English Literature, Creative Writing and Drama, you will usually need to provide a word count. Note that the allowed word length does not include abstract, footnotes/endnotes, bibliography and any appendices but it does include quotations used in the body of the text.

NB Different rules apply for PhD theses - check the guidance provided by the Graduate Office.

To calculate the word count without including the bibliography, highlight the relevant text to be counted. To exclude footnotes:

  • In Word, click on ‘Review’ and ‘Word count’. A dialog box will open allowing you to choose whether to include footnotes and endnotes.
  • In Word for Mac, click on ‘Tools’ and select ‘Word Count’. The default is to include text in footnotes and endnotes, so un-tick the option ‘Include footnotes and endnotes’ to change this.

MHRA basics: 2. How to set out quotations

Direct quotation from any source must be indicated as such and the exact reference given within a footnote.

For further help and examples, see the MHRA Style Guide Online: 9. Quotations and Quotation Marks

Find out how to deal with:

Prose quotations

Quotations from poems

Quotations from plays

Illustration of book and quill pen

Dealing with prose quotations

Short quotations may be run into the text, using single quotation marks. The number for the note should appear at the end of the quotation, after the full stop, even if the quotation appears in the middle of the sentence. See the example of Lynch (right).

Longer quotations should be separated from the rest of the text and should not be placed in quotation marks. Place the number for the note at the end of the quotation. If you have omitted part of the text indicate this with three dots in square brackets, like this [...]. For examples see the MHRA Style Guide 5.7

Longer prose quotations, including the first line, can be indented. See the example of Bewell (right).

Examples of prose quotations

Short quotation:

Lynch emphasizes that ‘In the culture about which Shakespeare wrote, hands were felt to have unique holy and sacramental powers’.4

Longer quotation:

This is how Bewell interprets John Clare’s view of language:

Ecolect is thus inseparably fused with idiolect in his poetry, and, in resisting John Taylor’s efforts to rid his poetry of dialect and provincialisms, Clare was struggling for the continuance not just of a nature but also of the unique language in which that nature had long been experienced and understood.5
_______________________________

4 Kathryn L. Lynch, ‘“What Hands Are Here?” The Hand as Generative Symbol in Macbeth’, The Review of English Studies, 39.153 (1988), 29-38 (p.32) <https://www-jstor-org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/stable/515476> [accessed 13 July 2014].

5 Alan Bewell, ‘John Clare and the Ghosts of Natures Past’, Nineteenth-Century Literature, 65.4 (2011), 548-78 (p. 570) <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/ncl.2011.65.4.548> [accessed 13 July 2014].

Dealing with quotations from poems

Verse quotations should be separated from the rest of your essay text and should not be placed in quotation marks. 

You should follow the lineation and indentation of the original text as it appears on the page; see the example of Keats (right).

Never centre lines of poetry. 

Omitted lines of verse should be marked by three dots in square brackets, like this [...] on a separate line.

See the guidance below on how to reference a poem in your footnotes and bibliography.

Example of a poetry quotation

Keats describes a desire to escape the pain of reality in ‘Ode to a Nightingale’:

O for a beaker full of the warm South,
 Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
  With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
   And purple-stained mouth;
 That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
  And with thee fade away into the forest dim -6

_______________________________

6 John Keats, ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, in The Complete Poems, ed. by John Barnard, 3rd edn (London: Penguin, 1988), pp. 346-48 (p. 346), ll. 15-20.

Dealing with quotations from plays

Short quotations are those of fewer than forty words or two lines of verse. These may be run into the text of your essay, using single quotation marks. 

The number for the note should appear at the end of the quotation, after the full stop, even if the quotation appears in the middle of the sentence.

Long quotations are those over forty words or two lines of verse. These quotations should be separated from the rest of your text and should not be placed in quotation marks. 

You should keep the original spelling and punctuation of the play you are quoting, and aim to reproduce the formatting of the text as it appears on the page. The speakers’ names should be positioned to the left of the text. See the example from Macbeth (right).

Place the number for the note at the end of the quotation. 

Omitted lines should be marked by three dots in square brackets, like this [...] on a separate line.

See the guidance below on how to reference a play in your footnotes and bibliography.

Example of a play quotation

MACBETH          Prithee peace:
I dare do all that may become a man,
Who dares more is none.

LADY MACBETH       What beast was’t then
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.

(Macbeth, I.7.46–51) 7

_______________________________

7 William Shakespeare, Macbeth, ed. by Nicholas Brooke (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), I.7.46-51.

How to reference a book

Find out how to deal with:

Book with 1 or more author(s)

Book with author and editor/translator

Edited book

Library eBook

eBook without page numbers

eBook that's part of an online collection

The Bible and other sacred texts

Illustration of person taking tablet from bookshelves

Referencing a book with 1 or more author(s)

Guidance notes

Authors:

  • If you are referencing a book with up to three authors, list their names in the order shown in the source. If there are four or more authors, give the name of the first author, followed by ‘and others’.
  • In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Virginia Woolf. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. Woolf, Virginia. Subsequent authors should be first name followed by surname, as in the example of Wallis and Shepherd (right).

Title: Use book title as it appears on the title page.

Publication details:

  • Include edition if not the first, in the form ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev. edn’ etc, preceded by a comma.
  • If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

Page numbers:

  • Include page number(s) in footnote references only as you are citing a specific section of the book, in the form ‘p.’ for ‘page’ or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’.
  • In the bibliography you are citing the whole book, so no page numbers are needed.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references

For further tips and examples, see the MHRA Style Guide on referencing books (11.2.2) and Cite Them Right Online: Printed books (MHRA)

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Footnote examples:

Janette Dillon, The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 34.

Mick Wallis and Simon Shepherd, Studying Plays, 3rd edn (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010), p. 78.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography examples:

Dillon, Janette, The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Wallis, Mick and Simon Shepherd, Studying Plays, 3rd edn (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010)

__________________________________________

Referencing a book with an author and an editor / translator

Guidance notes

Authors:

  • In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Virginia Woolf. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. Woolf, Virginia. Subsequent authors should be first name followed by surname.
  • The name of an editor or translator follows the title, as in the examples (right). For editors, use the format 'ed. by'; for translators, use the format 'trans. by'.

Title: Use book title as it appears on the title page.

Publication details:

  • Include edition if not the first, in the form ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev. edn’ etc, preceded by a comma.
  • If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

Page numbers:

  • Include page number(s) in footnote references only as you are citing a specific section of the book, in the form ‘p.’ for ‘page’ or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’.
  • In the bibliography you are citing the whole book, so no page numbers are needed.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references

For further tips and examples, see the MHRA Style Guide on referencing books (11.2.2) and Cite Them Right Online: Printed books (MHRA)

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Firstname Lastname, Book Title, trans. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Footnote examples:

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, ed. by Maurice Hindle, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 2003), pp. 62-63.

Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. by Michael Hofmann (London: Penguin, 2007), p. 33.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Lastname, Firstname, Book Title, trans. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography examples:

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, ed. by Maurice Hindle, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 2003)

Kafka, Franz, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. by Michael Hofmann (London: Penguin, 2007)

__________________________________________

Referencing an edited book

Guidance notes

This guidance applies if you are citing a whole edited book. If you are citing a specific chapter, follow the guidance on How to reference a book chapter.

Footnote reference: Start the footnote reference with the book title, followed by the editor(s). Use the format 'ed. by'. 

Bibliography reference: In the bibliography, the editor’s name goes at the beginning of the reference. Use the format 'ed.' or 'eds.'

Publication details:

  • Include edition if not the first, in the form ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev. edn’ etc, preceded by a comma.
  • If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

Page numbers: In the bibliography you are citing the whole book, so no page numbers are needed.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Footnote examples:

Romanticism: An Anthology, ed. by Duncan Wu, 3rd edn (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), p. 88.

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. B, 1820-1865, ed. by Nina Baym, Arnold Krupat and Robert S. Levine, 7th edn (New York: W.W. Norton, 2007), p.60.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ed., Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography examples:

Wu, Duncan, ed., Romanticism: An Anthology, 3rd edn (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)

Baym, Nina, Arnold Krupat and Robert S. Levine, eds., The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. B, 1820-1865, 7th edn (New York: W.W. Norton, 2007)

__________________________________________

Referencing a Library eBook

Guidance notes

Most eBooks provided by the library can be referenced in the same way as print books. These eBooks look like printed books, with the same publication details and page numbers. In some cases we may have both print and eBook versions or two different eBook versions.

Format and examples

This is a book available from the library as a print and eBook: Technology, Literature and Culture, by Alex Goody

You can reference the print or library eBook in the same way:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Footnote example: Alex Goody, Technology, Literature and Culture (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011), p. 109.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography example: Goody, Alex, Technology, Literature and Culture (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011)

__________________________________________

Referencing an eBook without page numbers

Guidance notes

If you have read a book on a personal device such as a Kindle, or accessed a commercial online textbook provider like Perlego, these often lack page numbers.

If you have read the novel on a personal device, state the format (for example, Kindle).

If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

If there are no page numbers, the main advice is that you should only provide section details if these are fixed and stable:

You could provide the chapter information, e.g. ch. 4.

You can also number the paragraphs and include the paragraph cited in round brackets, e.g. (para. 3 of 24).

If using both chapter and paragraph details, put the chapter details first, e.g. ch. 4 (para. 3 of 24).

Don't use line numbers as these aren't fixed and stable.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook, p. x.

Footnote example: Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. by Michael Hofmann (London: Penguin, 2007), Kindle ebook, p. 33.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook

Bibliography example: Kafka, Franz, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. by Michael Hofmann (London: Penguin, 2007), Kindle ebook

If no page numbers are available:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook, ch. x.

Footnote example: Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower (London: Headline, 2019), Kindle ebook, ch. 4.

__________________________________________

Referencing an eBook that's part of an online collection

Guidance notes

If you have accessed an eBook through a Library database such as Historical Texts, you should include the name of the database, the URL and date accessed. Older texts may not include page numbers.

You can also use this format if you have accessed a book through a freely available website like Project Gutenberg

Put both the title of the book and the name of the database in italics.

If using Historical Texts, click on the 'Details' option on the right to see the bibliographic details for the book.

For links to databases containing dictionaries and historical books, see 'Books, eBooks and dictionaries' in the Resources section of Course resource help for English Literature and Creative Writing.

For further guidance and examples, see Books (11.2.2) and Online Databases (11.2.14) in the MHRA Style Guide and Cite Them Right Online: Electronic books (MHRA). Note that there are several different types of eBooks and the MHRA Style Guide does not give advice on all of them.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), in Title of Collection p. x (if available) <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: Aphra Behn, The Fair Jilt, or, The History of Prince Tarquin and Miranda (London: R. Holt, for Will. Canning, 1688), in Historical Texts <https://data-historicaltexts-jisc-ac-uk.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/view?pubId=eebo-ocm13192465e> [accessed 9 April 2021].

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), in Title of Collection <URL> [accessed day month year]

Bibliography example: Behn, Aphra, The Fair Jilt, or, The History of Prince Tarquin and Miranda (London: R. Holt, for Will. Canning, 1688), in Historical Texts <https://data-historicaltexts-jisc-ac-uk.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/view?pubId=eebo-ocm13192465e> [accessed 9 April 2021]

__________________________________________

Referencing the Bible and other sacred texts

Guidance notes

Although book titles should normally be placed in italics, one exception to this is sacred texts such as The Bible, The Koran and The Talmud. The titles of these sources - and of books within them - should not be placed in italics or quotation marks - see the MHRA Style Guide (7.3).

Roman numerals are used for the numbers of books of The Bible, Arabic numerals (separated by a full stop) for chapters and verses, as in the examples.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

This is how to cite books of The Bible:

Footnote format: Title. Version (Chapter. Verse).

Footnote examples: The Bible. New International Version (Isaiah 22. 17).

The Bible. New International Version (ii Corinthians 5. 13–15)

__________________________________________

Bibliography examples:

If you've only cited one book:

The Bible. New International Version (Isaiah 22. 17)

To cite the whole source:

The Bible. New International Version

__________________________________________

How to reference a book chapter

Find out how to deal with:

Chapter from an edited book

Short story from a collection

Illustration of woman sitting in bookshelves reading

Referencing a chapter from an edited book

Guidance notes

Authors and editors:

  • In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Simon White. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. White, Simon. Subsequent authors should be first name followed by surname.
  • The name of an editor follows the title, using the format 'ed. by', as in the examples (right). 

Titles:

  • Put chapter title in single quotation marks and the book title in italics. Use book title as it appears on the title page.
  • If the title of the chapter includes works of literature, these should be italicized or placed within double quotation marks to differentiate, for example Macbeth or ‘‘Hamlet’’.

Publication details:

  • Include edition if not the first, in the form ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev. edn’ etc, preceded by a comma.
  • If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

Page numbers: Include page range of chapter in the form ‘pp.’ in both footnote and bibliography references. Specify page cited in footnote references only.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

For further tips and examples, see Chapters or Articles in Books (11.2.3) in the MHRA Style Guide.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Chapter Title’, in Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), pp. x-xx (p. x).

Footnote example: Nathaniel Leach, ‘Mary Shelley and the Godwinian Gothic: Matilda and Mandeville’, in Mary Shelley: Her Circle and Her Contemporaries, ed. by L. Adam Mekler and Lucy Morrison (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars, 2010), pp. 63-82 (p. 66).

__________________________________________

In the bibliography reference, reverse the author name and omit the full stop.

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ‘Chapter Title’, in Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), pp. x-xx

Bibliography example: Leach, Nathaniel, ‘Mary Shelley and the Godwinian Gothic: Matilda and Mandeville’, in Mary Shelley: Her Circle and Her Contemporaries, ed. by L. Adam Mekler and Lucy Morrison (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars, 2010), pp. 63-82

__________________________________________

How to reference a journal or newspaper article

Find out how to deal with:

Journal article

Journal article only published online

Newspaper article

Illustration of person typing on laptop

Referencing a journal article

Guidance notes

Most online articles that you access via the Library website will be available as PDFs. These can be referenced in the same way as articles from print journals. You may choose to include online details at the end of the reference but this is optional.

Authors: In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Katharine Craik. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. Craik, Katharine. Subsequent authors should be first name followed by surname.

Titles:

  • Put the article title in single quotation marks and the journal title in italics. 
  • The titles of works of literature occurring within article titles should be italicized or placed within double quotation marks, to differentiate. Quotations from literary works which occur as part of the article title should also be enclosed in double quotation marks, as in the example of Saunders (right).

Page numbers: Include page range of journal article but just use the numbers - don’t use pp. In footnote references, specify the page cited.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

For further tips and examples, see journal articles (11.2.4) in the MHRA Style Guide

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year), x-xx (p. x).

Footnote examples: 

Britta Martens, ‘Dramatic Monologue, Detective Fiction, and the Search for Meaning’, Nineteenth-Century Literature, 66.2 (2011), 195-218 (p. 203).

Graham Saunders, ‘‘‘Out Vile Jelly’’: Sarah Kane's Blasted and Shakespeare's King Lear’, New Theatre Quarterly, 20.1 (2004), 69-78 (p. 71).

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year), x-xx

Bibliography examples:

Martens, Britta, ‘Dramatic Monologue, Detective Fiction, and the Search for Meaning’, Nineteenth-Century Literature, 66.2 (2011), 195-218

Saunders, Graham, ‘‘‘Out Vile Jelly’’: Sarah Kane's Blasted and Shakespeare's King Lear’, New Theatre Quarterly, 20.1 (2004), 69-78

__________________________________________

Guidance on including the online details

If you reference an article as an online source, you'll need to include the URL and date accessed OR the DOI, but not both:

  • Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].
  • Many online articles have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which is similar to a book's ISBN. You can include this instead of a URL. Put the DOI in angle brackets <DOI>. There's no need to include the accessed date, as DOIs are regarded as stable links.

Format and examples for online articles

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year), x-xx (p. x) <URL> [accessed day month year].

OR

Firstname Lastname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year), x-xx (p. x) <DOI>.

Footnote examples:

Britta Martens, ‘Dramatic Monologue, Detective Fiction, and the Search for Meaning’, Nineteenth-Century Literature, 66.2 (2011), 195-218 (p. 203) <http://www.jstor.org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/stable/10.1525/ncl.2011.66.2.195> [accessed 19 July 2017].

Graham Saunders, ‘‘‘Out Vile Jelly’’: Sarah Kane's Blasted and Shakespeare's King Lear’, New Theatre Quarterly, 20.1 (2004), 69-78 (p. 71) <DOI: https://doi-org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/S0266464X03000344>.

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Bibliography format: 

Lastname, Firstname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year), x-xx <URL> [accessed day month year]

OR 

Lastname, Firstname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year), x-xx <DOI>

Bibliography examples:

Martens, Britta, ‘Dramatic Monologue, Detective Fiction, and the Search for Meaning’, Nineteenth-Century Literature, 66.2 (2011), 195-218 <http://www.jstor.org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/stable/10.1525/ncl.2011.66.2.195> [accessed 19 July 2017]

OR

Saunders, Graham, ‘‘‘Out Vile Jelly’’: Sarah Kane's Blasted and Shakespeare's King Lear’, New Theatre Quarterly, 20.1 (2004), 69-78 <DOI: https://doi-org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/S0266464X03000344>

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Referencing a journal article only published online

Guidance notes

Authors: In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Katharine Craik. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. Craik, Katharine. Subsequent authors should be first name followed by surname.

Titles:

  • Put the article title in single quotation marks and the journal title in italics.
  • The titles of works of literature occurring within article titles should be italicized or placed within double quotation marks, to differentiate. Quotations from literary works which occur as part of the article title should also be enclosed in double quotation marks.

Online details: If the journal is only published online, you must include the URL and date accessed, OR the DOI, but not both:

  • Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].
  • Many online articles have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which is similar to a book's ISBN. You can include this instead of a URL. Put the DOI in angle brackets <DOI>. There's no need to include the accessed date, as DOIs are regarded as stable links.

Page numbers: 

  • Include page range of journal article but just use the numbers - don’t use pp. In footnote references, specify the page cited.
  • Where an online journal does not have page numbers and you need to include the location of the passage cited, you can number the paragraphs and include the paragraph cited in round brackets at the end of your reference e.g. (para. 3 of 24). Don't use line numbers as these aren't fixed and stable.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: 

Firstname Lastname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year] (para x. of x).

OR

Firstname Lastname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year) <DOI> (para x. of x).

Footnote example: 

Carole Jones, ‘Coming in from the Cold: Scottish Masculinity in Post-Millennial Fiction’, C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writings, 5.2 (2017) <https://c21.openlibhums.org/articles/10.16995/c21.21/> [accessed 19 July 2017] (para.3 of 24).

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Bibliography format: 

Lastname, Firstname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year]

OR

Lastname, Firstname, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, Volume.Issue (Year) <DOI>

Bibliography example: 

Jones, Carole, ‘Coming in from the Cold: Scottish Masculinity in Post-Millennial Fiction’, C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writings, 5.2 (2017) <https://c21.openlibhums.org/articles/10.16995/c21.21/> [accessed 19 July 2017]

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Referencing a newspaper article

Guidance notes

Use this format when you're referencing a newspaper article whether from a print sources, or found on a library database such as Factiva, Lexis+ or The Times Digital Archive, or found on the newspaper's own website. These articles will usually include the page number(s) of the printed version.

Authors: Note that with some newspaper articles, no individual author is credited. Do not use 'Anon.' Instead start the footnote reference with the title of the article. In the bibliography, list the source by article title, ignoring initial definite or indefinite articles.

Titles:

  • Put the article title in single quotation marks and the newspaper title in italics. 
  • The titles of works of literature occurring within article titles should be italicized or placed within double quotation marks, to differentiate. Quotations from literary works which occur as part of the article title should also be enclosed in double quotation marks.
  • Initial ‘The’ is normally omitted when citing newspapers, with the exception of The Times.

Page numbers and sections:

  • Include the section where relevant (e.g. ‘Reviews section’, ‘section G2’)
  • Print articles and many of those found on library database will include page numbers. If you're using an article that doesn't have page numbers and you need to include the location of the passage cited, you can number the paragraphs and include the paragraph cited in round brackets at the end of your reference, e.g. (para. 2 of 12). Don't use line numbers as these aren't fixed and stable.

Online details:

  • Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].
  • If you're using articles found on the database Factiva, these do not have individual URLs, so use the basic URL for the database <https://global-factiva-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org> as shown in the examples (right).

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

For further tips and examples, see newspaper articles (11.2.5) in the MHRA Style Guide.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Article Title’, Newspaper Title, day month year, section, p. x <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote examples:

Jackie Kay, ‘Poetry…a Beautiful Renaissance: It's a wonderful time for poetry’, Guardian, 29 January 2011, Saturday comment pages, p. 30 <https://global-factiva-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org> [accessed 8 March 2021].

Bryan Hood, ‘Interview: Ursula K Le Guin: ‘I wish we could all live in a big house with unlocked doors’’, Guardian, 18 October 2016, <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/18/ursula-k-le-guin-interview-complete-orsinia> [accessed 8 April 2021].

If there is no author:

Footnote format: ‘Article Title’, Newspaper Title, day month year, section, p. x <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: 'The Life Of Charlotte Bronte', The Times, 25 April 1857, p. 9 <https://go-gale-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/> [accessed 8 April 2021].

The bibliography format is the same, except that you omit the full stop.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ‘Article Title’, Newspaper Title, day month year, p. x <URL> [accessed day month year]

Bibliography examples:

Kay, Jackie, ‘Poetry…a Beautiful Renaissance: It's a wonderful time for poetry’, Guardian, 29 January 2011, Saturday comment pages, p. 30 <https://global-factiva-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org> [accessed 8 March 2021]

Hood, Bryan, ‘Interview: Ursula K Le Guin: ‘I wish we could all live in a big house with unlocked doors’’, Guardian, 18 October 2016 <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/18/ursula-k-le-guin-interview-complete-orsinia> [accessed 8 April 2021]

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How to reference a poem

See also the guidance on dealing with quotations from poems in your text.

Find out how to deal with:

Poem from a collection

Poem found online

Illustration of person writing in notebook

Referencing a poem from a collection

Guidance notes

Use this format when you want to reference a poem from a collection by a single poet, or from an anthology of works by several poets.

The basic guidelines are the same as those applying to book chapters.

Note if you are discussing several poems by the same author from one collection, you may want to just cite the whole book in the bibliography.

Authors and editors: 

  • In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Sylvia Plath. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. Plath, Sylvia.
  • The name of an editor follows the title, using the format 'ed. by', as in the examples (right). 

Titles: Put the poem title in single quotation marks and the collection title in italics.

Publication details: Include edition if not the first, in the form ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev. edn’ etc, preceded by a comma.

Page numbers and lines: Include page number(s) and line numbers (if available) in footnote references only, as you are citing a specific section of the book. Use the form ‘p.’ for ‘page’ or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’ and/or ‘l.’ for ‘line’ or ‘ll.’ for ‘lines’.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of poet, ‘Poem Title’, in Collection Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname of editor (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x OR pp. x-xx (p. x), ll. x-xx.

Footnote examples: Sylvia Plath, ‘Daddy’, in Collected Poems, ed. by Ted Hughes (London: Faber and Faber, 1981), pp. 222-24 (p. 222), ll. 2-4.

Sylvia Plath, ‘Daddy’, in The Norton Anthology of Poetry, ed. by Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy, 5th edn (London: W. W. Norton, 2005), pp. 1840-42 (p.1840), ll. 2-4.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname of poet, ‘Poem Title’, in Collection Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname of editor (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x OR pp. x-xx

Bibliography examples: Plath, Sylvia, ‘Daddy’, in Collected Poems, ed. by Ted Hughes (London: Faber and Faber, 1981), pp. 222-24

Plath, Sylvia, ‘Daddy’, in The Norton Anthology of Poetry, ed. by Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy, 5th edn (London: W. W. Norton, 2005), pp. 1840-42

If you want to reference the whole collection in the bibliography:

Plath, Sylvia, Collected Poems, ed. by Ted Hughes (London: Faber and Faber, 1981)

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Referencing a poem found online

Guidance notes

Authors: In the footnote reference, the poet's name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Sylvia Plath. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the poet in the bibliography reference, e.g. Plath, Sylvia.

Titles: Put the poem title in single quotation marks and the website title in italics.

Date: For the date, give the year the page was last updated if available. If this information is not available, use ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

Page numbers and lines: Use line numbers only if these are fixed and stable, in the form ‘l.’ for ‘line’ or ‘ll.’ for ‘lines’.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of poet, ‘Poem Title’, Website (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: Kei Miller, ‘Place Name: Oracabessa’, The Poetry Society (2015) <https://poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/poets/kei-miller/> [accessed 8 April 2021].

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Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname of poet, ‘Poem Title’, Website (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year]

Bibliography example: Miller, Kei, ‘Place Name: Oracabessa’, The Poetry Society (2015) <https://poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/poets/kei-miller/> [accessed 8 April 2021]

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If you want to reference an audio file:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of poet, ‘Poem Title’, Website, format (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: Kei Miller, ‘Some Definitions for Song’, The Poetry Archive, audio recording (2009) <https://poetryarchive.org/poem/some-definitions-song/> [accessed 8 April 2021].

For the bibliography format, reverse the poet's name and omit the full stop.

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How to reference a play

See also the guidance on dealing with quotations from plays in your text.

Find out how to deal with:

Single play

Play in a collection

Illustration of man and woman with theatrical masks

Referencing a single play

Guidance notes

Use this format when you are referencing a play published individually.

Authors and editors:

  • In the footnote reference, the playwright's name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. William Shakespeare. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the playwright in the bibliography reference, e.g. Shakespeare, William.
  • The name of an editor follows the title, using the format 'ed. by', as in the examples (right). 

Sections of plays:

  • In footnote references, you need to specify the section of the play you are citing or quoting, including act, scene and line numbers if these are available, separated by full stops. For acts of plays, use roman numerals (e.g. VIII or viii) . These can be upper or lower case but be consistent. For scenes and lines, use regular Arabic numerals (e.g. 2). Note that unlike references to poems, you do not include ‘l.’ for ‘line’ or ‘ll.’ for ‘lines’.
  • If the play doesn’t have scenes, or if you’re citing the introduction, use page numbers in the form ‘p.’ for ‘page’ or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’.
  • In the bibliography you are referencing the whole book.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

For further guidance check the MHRA Style Guide on referencing plays and long works (11.2.7)

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Play Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), Act. Scene. Line no. OR p. x.

Footnote example: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. by John Dover Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), III. 4. 139-155.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Play Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography example: Shakespeare, William, Hamlet, ed. by John Dover Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)

__________________________________________

Referencing a play in a collection

Guidance notes

Use this format when you are referencing a play published as part of a collection or anthology.

Authors and editors:

  • In the footnote reference, the playwright's name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. William Shakespeare. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the playwright in the bibliography reference, e.g. Shakespeare, William.
  • The name of an editor follows the title, using the format 'ed. by', as in the examples (right). 

  • If the play is anonymous (as is the case with some older plays), do not use 'Anon.' Instead start the reference with the title of the play.

Titles: Put the play title in single quotation marks and the collection title in italics (as with a book chapter).

Sections of plays:

  • In footnote references, you need to specify the section of the play you are citing or quoting, including act, scene and line numbers if these are available, separated by full stops. For acts of plays, use roman numerals (e.g. VIII or viii) . These can be upper or lower case but be consistent. For scenes and lines, use regular Arabic numerals (e.g. 2). Note that unlike references to poems, you do not include ‘l.’ for ‘line’ or ‘ll.’ for ‘lines’.
  • If the play doesn’t have scenes, or if you’re citing the introduction, use page numbers in the form ‘p.’ for ‘page’ or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’.
  • In the bibliography you are referencing the whole play.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

For further guidance check the MHRA Style Guide on referencing plays and long works (11.2.7)

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Play Title’, in Collection Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), Act. Scene. Line no.

Footnote example: Thomas Heywood, ‘A Woman Killed with Kindness’, in Renaissance Drama: An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments, 2nd edn, ed. by Arthur F. Kinney (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), VIII. 102-104.

If there is no author:

Footnote example: ‘The Tragedy of Master Arden of Faversham’, in Renaissance Drama: An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments, 2nd edn, ed. by Arthur F. Kinney (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), XIV. 223-225.

If the play has pages, rather than Acts and scenes:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Play Title’, in Collection Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), pp. x-xx (p. x).

Footnote example: Sarah Kane, ‘Crave’, in Complete Plays (London: Methuen Drama, 2001), pp. 153-202 (p. 165).

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ‘Play Title’ in Collection Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography example: Heywood, Thomas, ‘A Woman Killed with Kindness’, in Renaissance Drama: An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments, 2nd edn, ed. by Arthur F. Kinney (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)

If there is no author:

Bibliography example: ‘The Tragedy of Master Arden of Faversham’, in Renaissance Drama: An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments, 2nd edn, ed. by Arthur F. Kinney (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)

If the play has pages, rather than Acts and scenes:

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ‘Play Title’, in Collection Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), pp. x-xx.

Bibliography example: Kane, Sarah, ‘Crave’, in Complete Plays (London: Methuen Drama, 2001), pp. 153-202

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How to reference a novel or short story

The basic guidelines are the same as those applying to books. Many scholarly versions of novels will have editors as well as authors.

Find out how to deal with:

Novel

Novel read on a personal device

Short story from a collection

Illustration of woman relaxing with books

Referencing a novel

Guidance notes

Most eBook versions of novels provided by the library can be referenced in the same way as print books. These eBooks look like printed books, with the same publication details and page numbers. 

Authors and editors: 

  • In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname, e.g. Virginia Woolf. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference, e.g. Woolf, Virginia. 
  • The name of an editor or translator follows the title. For editors, use the format 'ed. by'; for translators, use the format 'trans. by'.

Title: Use book title as it appears on the title page.

Publication details: 

  • If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).
  • Include edition if not the first, in the form ‘2nd edn’, ‘rev. edn’ etc, preceded by a comma.

Page numbers:

  • Include page number(s) in footnote references only as you are citing a specific section of the novel, in the form ‘p.’ for ‘page’ or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’.
  • In the bibliography you are citing the whole novel, so no page numbers are needed.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Footnote example: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day (London: Faber and Faber, 1989), p. 245.

If the novel has an editor:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), p. x.

Footnote example: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, ed. by Maurice Hindle, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 2003), pp. 62-63.

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography example: Ishiguro, Kazuo, The Remains of the Day (London: Faber and Faber, 1989)

If the novel has an editor:

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year)

Bibliography example: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, ed. by Maurice Hindle, rev. edn (London: Penguin, 2003)

__________________________________________

Referencing a novel read on a personal device

Guidance notes

If you have read the novel on a personal device, state the format (for example, Kindle).

If any publication details are not given in the source, use: ‘[n.p.]’ (= no place), ‘[n. pub.]’ (= no publisher), ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

If you have read an ebook on a personal device that doesn't include page numbers, you should only provide section details if these are fixed and stable:

  • You could provide the chapter information, e.g. ch. 4.
  • You can also number the paragraphs and include the paragraph cited in round brackets, e.g. (para. 3 of 24).
  • If using both chapter and paragraph details, put the chapter details first, e.g. ch. 4 (para. 3 of 24).

Don't use line numbers as these aren't fixed and stable.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook, p. x.

Footnote example: Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. by Michael Hofmann (London: Penguin, 2007), Kindle ebook, p. 33.

If no page numbers are available:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook, ch. x.

Footnote example: Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower (London: Headline, 2019), Kindle ebook, ch. 4

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook

Bibliography example: Kafka, Franz, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. by Michael Hofmann (London: Penguin, 2007), Kindle ebook

If no page numbers are available:

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, Book Title (Place of publication if available: Publisher, Year), type of ebook

Bibliography example: Butler, Octavia, The Parable of the Sower (London: Headline, 2019), Kindle ebook

__________________________________________

Referencing a short story from a collection

Guidance notes

The basic guidelines are the same as those applying to book chapters. Many scholarly versions of short story collections will have editors. The editor's name follows the title, as in the examples (right).

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname, ‘Story Title’, in Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), pp. x-xx (p. x).

Footnote example: Jean Lorrain, ‘The Spectral Hand’, in Late Victorian Gothic Tales, ed. by Roger Luckhurst (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 177-182 (p. 179).

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: Lastname, Firstname, ‘Story Title’, in Book Title, ed. by Firstname Lastname (Place of publication: Publisher, Year), pp. x-xx

Bibliography example: Lorrain, Jean, ‘The Spectral Hand’, in Late Victorian Gothic Tales, ed. by Roger Luckhurst (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 177-182

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How to reference a web page

Find out how to deal with:

Web page by an individual

Web page by an organisation

Illustration of person using search engine on a tablet

Referencing a web page by an individual

Guidance notes

Authors: 

  • In the footnote reference, the author name should be first name followed by surname. The bibliography needs to be arranged alphabetically by author surname, so always reverse the name of the first author in the bibliography reference.
  • If you can't identify an author, whether an individual or organisation, don't use 'Anon.' Instead start the reference with the title of the web page.

Title: If the web page is part of a larger resource or site, you can put the title of the page in single quotation marks and the title of the site in italics as in the examples (right).

Date: For the date, give the year the page was last updated if available. If this information is not available, use ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

URL: You must include the URL and date accessed. Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].

Sections of web pages: Some web pages may have numbered sections which you can use include at the end of your footnote to help locate a specific part. If there are no numbered sections, you can number the paragraphs and include the paragraph cited in round brackets at the end of your footnote, e.g. (para. 3 of 24). Don't use line numbers as these aren't fixed and stable.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: 

Firstname Lastname, ‘Title of Web page’, Title of Resource (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year].

OR Firstname Lastname, Title of Resource (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: Gary Harrison, ‘Romanticism, Nature, Ecology’, Romantic Circles, (2006) < https://romantic-circles.org/pedagogies/commons/ecology/harrison/harrison.html> [accessed 12 July 2017].

__________________________________________

Bibliography format: 

Lastname, Firstname, ‘Title of Web page’, Title of Resource (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year]

OR Lastname, Firstname, Title of Resource (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year]

Bibliography example: Harrison, Gary, ‘Romanticism, Nature, Ecology’, Romantic Circles, (2006) < https://romantic-circles.org/pedagogies/commons/ecology/harrison/harrison.html> [accessed 12 July 2017] 

__________________________________________

Referencing a web page by an organisation

Guidance notes

Note that the format remains the same for footnote and bibliography references, except that you omit the full stop at the end of the bibliography reference.

Authors:

  • If no individual author is credited, you can use the name of the organisation responsible for the web page e.g. The Poetry Book Society, Office for National Statistics.
  • If you can't identify an author, whether an individual or organisation, don't use 'Anon.' Instead start the reference with the title of the web page.

Title: If the web page is part of a larger resource or site, you can put the title of the page in single quotation marks and the title of the site in italics as in the examples (right).

Date: For the date, give the year the page was last updated if available. If this information is not available, use ‘[n.d.]’ (= no date).

URL: You must include the URL and date accessed. Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].

Sections of web pages: Some web pages may have numbered sections which you can use include at the end of your footnote to help locate a specific part. If there are no numbered sections, you can number the paragraphs and include the paragraph cited in round brackets at the end of your footnote, e.g. (para. 3 of 24). Don't use line numbers as these aren't fixed and stable.

Put a full stop at the end of footnote references, but not at the end of bibliography references.

Format and examples

Footnote format: 

Name of Organisation, Title of Web page (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year].

OR

Name of Organisation, ‘Title of Web page’, Title of Resource (Year) <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: year ending Mar 2016 (2016) <https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/
bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmar2016> [accessed 18 February 2021].

__________________________________________

How to reference other sources

In this section you can find out how to deal with a range of audio-visual and other sources:

Film - viewed on BoB, on a streaming service, on DVD

TV or radio programme - viewed on BoB, on a streaming service

Video viewed on YouTube

Podcast

Live or recorded lecture

Work of art

Photograph found online

Illustration of movie camera

Referencing a film - viewed on BoB, on a streaming service, on DVD

Guidance notes

Note that the format remains the same for footnote and bibliography references, except that you omit the full stop at the end of the bibliography reference.

Start the reference with the film title, followed by the director, using the format 'dir. by', as in the examples (right).

BoB (Box of Broadcasts) is an online collection of films, tv and radio programmes, available through the Brookes Library website.

Format and examples

Film viewed on BoB (Box of Broadcasts)

Footnote format: Film Title, dir. by Firstname Lastname, Channel Name, day month year, time of broadcast.

Footnote example: Pride and Prejudice, dir. by Joe Wright, 3sat, 25 December 2016, 21.10.

__________________________________________

Film viewed on a streaming service

This guidance covers films viewed on services such as Netflix, Amazon or BBC iPlayer.

Footnote format: Film Title, dir. by Firstname Lastname, Name of streaming service, <URL> [accessed date].

Footnote example: The King, dir. by David Michôd, Netflix, <https://www.netflix.com/watch/80182016> [accessed 30 March 2021].

__________________________________________

Film viewed on DVD

Footnote format: Film Title, dir. by Firstname Lastname (Distributor, Year) [on DVD].

Footnote example: Pride and Prejudice, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2006) [on DVD].

__________________________________________

Referencing a TV or radio programme - viewed on BoB, on a streaming service

Guidance notes

Note that the format remains the same for footnote and bibliography references, except that you omit the full stop at the end of the bibliography reference.

Titles: 

  • If you're referencing a single programme, put the title in italics.
  • If you're referencing an episode in a series, put the episode title in single quotation marks and the series title in italics, as shown in the examples.

BoB (Box of Broadcasts) is an online collection of films, tv and radio programmes, available through the Brookes Library website.

Format and examples

Programme viewed on BoB (Box of Broadcasts)

Footnote format: ‘Episode Title’, Programme/Series Title, Channel Name, day month year, time of broadcast.

Footnote example: 'Snacking through Shakespeare', Shakespeare's Restless World, BBC Radio 4, 18 April 2012, 13.45.

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Programme viewed on a streaming service

This guidance covers programmes viewed on services such as Netflix, Amazon or BBC iPlayer.

Footnote format: ‘Episode Title’, Programme/Series Title, series number, episode number, Name of streaming service, <URL> [accessed date].

Footnote example: 'Gloriana', The Crown, season 1, episode 10, Netflix, <http://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80025678> [accessed 1 March 2021].

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Referencing a video viewed on YouTube

Guidance notes

For the bibliography format, reverse the author name and omit the full stop.

You must include the URL and date accessed. Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].

In the footnote reference you may want to include a timestamp in the format minutes:seconds, which would perform the same function as a page number. You would not need to put this in the Bibliography reference.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of person/name of organisation posting video, Video Title, online video recording, YouTube, date of posting, timestamp minutes:seconds (if needed) <URL> [accessed date].

Footnote example: Waterstones, Hilary Mantel: The Waterstones Interview - Wolf Hall Trilogy, online video recording, YouTube, 24 February 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsZrYQ2Ud_c> [accessed 13 March 2020].

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Referencing a podcast

Guidance notes

For the bibliography format, reverse the first person's name and omit the full stop.

If you're referencing an episode in a podcast series, put the episode title in single quotation marks and the series title in italics.

Include the URL and date accessed. Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of person/name of organisation posting, 'Title of episode', Title of Series, podcast, date of posting, <URL> [accessed date].

Footnote example: Marit Higraff and Neil McCarthy, 'The Isdal Woman', Death in Ice Valley, podcast, 16 April 2018, < https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0646dbd> [accessed 12 March 2020].

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Bibliography example: Higraff, Marit and Neil McCarthy, 'The Isdal Woman', Death in Ice Valley, podcast, 16 April 2018, < https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0646dbd> [accessed 12 March 2020]

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Referencing a live or recorded lecture

Guidance notes for a live lecture

For the bibliography format, reverse the first speaker's name and omit the full stop.

If you're referencing a lecture or seminar that's part of a module, put the lecture title in single quotation marks and the module title in italics.



Format and examples

Live lecture (one-off event):

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of speaker(s),Title of lecture, medium (ie lecture); Location/institution, Date.

Footnote example: Philip Pullman and Katherine Rundell, Daemon Voices, lecture, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, UK, 22 February 2018.

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Bibliography example: Pullman, Philip and Katherine Rundell, Daemon Voices, lecture, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, UK, 22 February 2018

Brookes live lecture or seminar as part of a module:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of lecturer, 'Title of Lecture/Seminar', Title of Module, medium (ie lecture/seminar), Location/institution, Date.

Footnote example: James Hawes, ‘Fiction: Voice, Story, Pace’, CWRI7001 The Writing Studio, seminar, Oxford Brookes University, 20 October 2022.

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Guidance notes for a recorded lecture

If you're referencing a lecture or seminar that's part of a module, put the lecture title in single quotation marks and the module title in italics.

If you are referencing a recorded Brookes lecture accessed through Moodle, you can use the URL of the Moodle course, or if there is a specific Panopto URL, you can use that.

Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].

In the footnote reference you may want to include a timestamp in the format minutes:seconds, which would perform the same function as a page number. You would not need to put this in the Bibliography reference.

For the bibliography format, reverse the first speaker's name and omit the full stop.

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of speaker(s), 'Title of Lecture', Title of Module, recorded lecture, Location/institution, Date, minutes:seconds (if needed), <URL> [accessed date].

Footnote example: Andrea Macrae, ‘Introduction to World Literature’, ENGL4004 World Literature, recorded lecture, Oxford Brookes University, 21 September 2020, 19:30, <https://moodle.brookes.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=50006> [accessed 26 October 2020].

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Bibliography example: Macrae, Andrea, ‘Introduction to World Literature’, ENGL4004 World Literature, recorded lecture, Oxford Brookes University, 21 September 2020, <https://moodle.brookes.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=50006> [accessed 26 October 2020]

If the lecture is available on YouTube, you can reference it like this:

Footnote example: Mary Jean Chan and Niall Munro, 'A Conversation with Mary Jean Chan', ENGL4004 World Literature, recorded lecture, Oxford Brookes University, 07 October 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtOGZpQWfdM&feature=youtu.be> [accessed 26 October 2020] 

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Referencing a work of art

Guidance notes

References to works of art should include at least the name of the artist (if known), the title of the work in italics, its date (if known), and the medium of composition. You may also include the dimensions (in cm) and its current physical location.

If you've consulted an online source, include the URL and date accessed. Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year].

For the bibliography format, reverse the artist's name and omit the full stop, as in the examples (right).

Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of artist, Title of Art Work, Year, medium of composition, Current physical location

Footnote example: James Northcote, Othello, The Moor of Venice, 1826, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery, UK.

If you've consulted an online source:

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of artist, Title of Art Work, Year, medium of composition, Current physical location <URL> [accessed day month year].

Footnote example: Joseph Wright of Derby, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, 1768, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London, UK <https://library-artstor-org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/asset/ANGLIG_10313767843> [accessed 7 November 2018].

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Bibliography example: Northcote, James, Othello, The Moor of Venice, 1826, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery, UK

Bibliography example: Wright of Derby, Joseph, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, 1768, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London, UK <https://library-artstor-org.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/asset/ANGLIG_10313767843> [accessed 7 November 2018]

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Referencing a photograph found online

Guidance notes

References to photographs found online should include the name of the photographer (if known), the title of the work in italics, its date (if known), the format (photograph) and the online location details - name of database (if appropriate), image number (if available), URL and date accessed. Put the URL in angle brackets <URL> and the date accessed in square brackets [accessed day month year]

For the bibliography format, reverse the photographer's name and omit the full stop, as in the examples (right).


Format and examples

Footnote format: Firstname Lastname of photographer, Title of Photograph, Year, photograph, location details <URL> [accessed day month year].

This is a photograph found on the image database Bridgeman Education:

Footnote example: Tristam Kenton, Kate Fleetwood (Medea) in 'Medea' by Euripides at Almeida Theatre. Directed by Rupert Goold, 2015, photograph, Bridgeman Education, image no. KNT3814693 <https://www-bridgemaneducation-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/en/asset/3814693/summary> [accessed 27 October 2022].

This is a photograph found on the RSC website:

Footnote example: Kwame Lestrade, Paterson Joseph, Cyril Niri and Theo Ogundipe in 'Julius Caesar' at the RSC, 2012, photograph, image no. 16 of 21 <https://www.rsc.org.uk/julius-caesar/past-productions/gregory-doran-production-2012/production-and-rehearsal-images> [accessed 27 October 2022].

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Bibliography example: Kenton, Tristam, Kate Fleetwood (Medea) in 'Medea' by Euripides at Almeida Theatre. Directed by Rupert Goold, 2015, photograph, Bridgeman Education, image no. KNT3814693 <https://www-bridgemaneducation-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/en/asset/3814693/summary> [accessed 27 October 2022]

Bibliography example: Lestrade, Kwame, Paterson Joseph, Cyril Niri and Theo Ogundipe in 'Julius Caesar' at the RSC, 2012, photograph , image no. 16 of 21 <https://www.rsc.org.uk/julius-caesar/past-productions/gregory-doran-production-2012/production-and-rehearsal-images> [accessed 27 October 2022]