How to Reference Books & Articles in a Research Paper

In a research paper, essay, thesis or dissertation for a college course, your school expects you to document every publication you use for information. Using the Harvard Referencing System, you can reference in-text, using parentheses. Alternatively, use footnotes or endnotes, referencing sources according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Both styles require a bibliography, which lists full details of every publication you reference or use in research.

Things You'll Need

  • Chicago Manual of Style
  • M.L.A. Handbook
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Instructions

  1. In-Text References

    • 1

      Write the year of the publication, followed by page numbers, after the name of the author and in parentheses. For example: Dickinson (2008, pp. 53-55)

    • 2

      Add the author's name in the parentheses if you haven't mentioned the author in the text. For example: (Dickinson, 2008, pp.53-55).

    • 3

      Letter the dates if an author has more than one publication for a single year. For example: (Dickinson, 2008a, pp.53-55), or (Dickinson, 2008b, pp.53-55).

    Footnotes and Endnotes

    • 4

      Insert a footnote at the end of the relevant sentence or phrase, after any punctuation, such as commas and periods.

    • 5

      Write the author's name, followed by the full title in italics, followed in parentheses by the city of publication, name of publisher and date of publication, then the page numbers, separating elements with commas, like so: James Dickinson, Handy Guide to Referencing (New York: Penguin, 2010), p297.

    • 6

      Shorten references to the same publication in subsequent footnotes. For example: Dickinson, Handy Guide, p.100. The title stays in italics.

    Bibliography

    • 7

      Write the last name of the author first, followed by first name and/or initials, followed by a comma, followed by the year of publication, followed by a period. For example: Dickinson, J., 2010.

    • 8

      Add letters to the date to match in-text citations, if necessary. For example: Dickinson, J., 2010a.

    • 9

      Add the full title of the publication in italics, followed by a period.

    • 10

      Add the place of publication and the name of the publisher, separated by a colon and followed by a period. The entire entry should look something like this: Dickinson, J., 2010. Handy Guide to Referencing. New York: Penguin.

    • 11

      Add each new publication on a separate line, ordering them alphabetically, according to the author's last name.

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