Writing citations, bibliographies and reference lists
There are two basic systems for citing references in text. The system defines how you cite sources in your text and how these citations are cross-referenced with your bibliography, or 'reference list'.
The many different citation styles , based on these systems, prescribe which order you list the elements of your bibliographic reference in, and the formatting, punctuation and capitalisation that you should use.
- Name and date system
APA, MLA and Harvard styles are based on the 'name and date' system . You put the author's name and date in parentheses in your text like this (BSI, 1990), and provide a separate reference list of works cited in name order to accompany your essay or thesis.
- Numeric (also called running numbered footnote) system
Chicago style and what the British Standard calls 'Running numbered footnote' style are based on 'numeric' systems: You put numbers in your text which link to footnotes or endnotes in your text. You usually provide a bibliography as well.
Bibliographic management software, such as EndNote and RefWorks store bibliographic references for you as a generic set of elements and can be used to format these references, automatically, into different styles. This is particularly useful if you are building up a set of references that you are likely to re-use, over time, in different works.
Choosing a style
If you are a student or PhD candidate, ask your tutor or subject librarian whether a particular style is required in your department. The University of London does not specify the style to be used for PhD theses.
If writing for publication, your publisher will specify the style required.
Most styles are often based on specific academic publisher's guidelines, and different styles reflect the emphasis put on elements of a citation in different disciplines.
Finding a guide
We have written the following series of short guides. These should help you to begin using a certain style.
For further reference, see British Standards Institution (1990) BS5605: 1990: Recommendations for citing and referencing published material.. Milton Keynes, BSI. This is available in the library at Oversize 808.02 BRI (Note that the 'standard' actually describes two systems: running-numbered footnotes as well as name-date systems. This allows for choice, appropriate to your discipline, but be careful not to mix the two).
Additional references to comprehensive, published guides are given in our pdf guides. We strongly recommend that you consult the appropriate one of these, if you are producing an extensive bibliography or are citing material in a variety of formats.
Goldsmiths Research Methodologies Handbook: Bibliographic methodologies section
Please contact Jacqueline Cooke (e-mail j.cooke@gold.ac.uk) or your subject librarian for more help.