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REF 101: THE NITTY-GRITTY OF REFERENCING IN RESEARCH

December 13, By Austine Archibong

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Introduction
I once stumbled upon a sentence that greatly inspired me. The saying goes thus: Every writer is a thief! Certainly you'd be quick to dispute that. The thing is, we were born without the knowledge we have now garnered overtime, it is the work of others that we have digested to become this informed.

In research, it is usual that there would  be an in-depth digging of past and similar work. It is required that due credit is given to the author of what-so-ever sentence, experimental work, or excerpt adapted into your work. This is to acknowledge their efforts, sponsor hard-work and discourage theft of any form. This also helps the readers/reviewers of your work  locate the past work and go over.

Plagiarism - claiming someone else's work as yours is a terrible offence and a laugh-off of creativity. This is strongly discouraged in all climes. Hence, the need for this guide.

Referencing styles/methods
There are numerous methods of acknowledging past work in your writing, but there are three major revered styles (citation guide, 2008). The key, however, is consistency in application.

Print Sources - Book
In the text, it is required that the author and year of publication is used. In parenthesis or only the year of publication in parenthesis, e.g.: (Archibong, 2014) or according to Archibong (2014) ...

At the citation page/list of references/bibliography, it is written out in full:
The author(s) surname is written, then a comma and initials. The year of publication in parenthesis. The title of the work in italics, with edition and particular pages in parenthesis. Then the publisher's details.

E.g.: Archibong, A. (2014). Referencing basics (2nd ed.) (Pg. 66). Lagos State: Research clue publishers.

NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one author, '&' is used.

Print sources - Journal
Same in-text citation, but in the list of references, the article title is not italicized. The journal title is italicized. The journal volume and page number could be added.
E.g.: Archibong, A., & Michael P. (2014). Referencing basics. Journal of research, Vol 2, 400-403.

Print sources - Magazine, newspaper and encyclopaedia
Same in-text citation, but the publication date is in full. The newspaper/magazine/encyclopaedia article title is not italicized, the newspaper/magazine title and volume is italicized. The page is then added.
E.g.: Archibong, A. (2014, December 1). Referencing basics. Research clue magazine, Vol 2, 400-403.

Online sources
For articles in Journals, newspapers, encyclopaedias and magazines, it is referenced as above (exact principles) but the URL and date retrieved online is added.
E.g. for Journal: Archibong, A., & Michael P. (2014). Referencing basics. Journal of research, Vol 2, 400-403. Retrieved November 1, 2014 from http://researchclue.com/referencing

For DVD/CD source
The article title is not italicized but the title of the referenced work. Then the publisher.
E.g.: Archibong, A. (2014). Referencing basics. Research clue compilation (DVD).Lagos: Research clue publishers.
If there is no Author, the article title is used first, then the year of publication in parenthesis. Then the publication title in italics (Journal, magazine, encyclopaedia or online), before the publication source.
E.g. for Journal online source: Referencing basics. (2014). Journal of research, Vol 2. Retrieved November 1, 2014 from http://researchclue.com/referencing

Similarly, in the text, it is required that the author and year of publication is used. Page number can be added though. In parenthesis or only the year of publication in parenthesis, e.g.: (Archibong, 2014, 29) or according to Archibong (2014), referencing can be difficult (29) ...

Print Sources - Book
At the citation page/list of references/bibliography, it is written out in full:
The author(s) surname is written, then the first name in full. The year of publication without parenthesis. The title of the work in italics, the edition and with particular pages without parenthesis as well. Then the publication source.

E.g.: Archibong, Austine. 2014. Referencing basics. 2nd ed. Lagos State: Research clue publishers.

NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one Author, 'and' is used.

Print sources - Journal
Same in-text citation, but in the list of references, the article title is not italicized. The journal title is italicized. The journal volume and page number could be added.
NB: No parenthesis in the dates and page numbers.
E.g.: Archibong, Austine U., and Michael Peter G. 2014. Referencing basics. Journal of research: 400-403.

Print sources - Magazine
The article title is not italicized, the title and volume is italicized. The page is then added.
E.g.: Archibong, Austine U. 2014. Referencing basics. Research clue magazine, Vol 2, 400-403.

Print sources - Newspaper and Encyclopaedia
Newspaper articles are not listed as bibliography, it is cited as a running part of the text. It is not in parenthesis.
E.g.: In the Research clue Magazine on December 1, 2014, Archibong put out that ...

Online sources
For articles in Journals and magazines ONLY, it is referenced as above (exact principles) but the URL and date accessed online is added (in parenthesis).
E.g. for Journal: Archibong, Austine. 2014. Referencing basics. Journal of research, Vol 2, 400-403. http://researchclue.com/referencing (accessed November 1, 2014)
For online encyclopaedias and Newspaper, it is not added to the bibliography. Referenced as above.

DVD/CD ROM encyclopaedia source
It is not listed in the bibliography, but as a running part of the text.
E.g.: In the article on Referencing guide by Austine in Research clue [DVD],....

In the text, it is required that the author and year of publication is used. In parenthesis, no comma then page number. e.g.: (Archibong Pg 12) or according to (Archibong). NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one Author, 'and' is used.

Print Sources - Book
At the citation page/list of references/bibliography, it is written out in full:
The author(s) surname is written, then the first and middle name in full. The title of the work is underlined with the edition in aparenthesis, then the publisher and year of publication without parenthesis.

E.g.: Archibong, Austine Ubong. Referencing basics (2nd ed.). Lagos State: Research clue publishers, 2014.

NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one Author, 'and' is used.

Print sources - Journal
Same in-text citation, but in the list of references, the article and journal title are not italicized. The article title is put in quotation mark. The journal volume and page number could be added.
NB: No parenthesis in the dates and page numbers.
E.g.: Archibong, Austine Ubong, and Michael Peter Gabriel. "Referencing basics." Journal of research, Vol 2 (2014): 400-403.

Print sources - Magazine, encyclopaedia  and newspaper
The article title is not italicized, it is put in quotation mark. The magazine title is underlined. The page of publication and page numbers are then added.
E.g. for magazine: Archibong, Austine U. "Referencing basics." Research clue magazine, Vol 2, 2014: 400-403.

Online sources
For articles in journals, magazines, encyclopaedias, it is referenced as above (exact principles) but the URL source is added. '<' and '>' is added at the beginning and end of the URL link.
E.g. for Journal: Archibong, Austine. "Referencing basics." Journal of research, Vol 2: 400-403. <http://researchclue.com/referencing>

DVD/CD ROM encyclopaedia source (no author)
E.g.: "Reference guidelines." Research clue [DVD]. Lagos: Research clue publication, 2014.
If there is no Author, it is the article title in quotation. The publication title is underlined. The date of publication, then the source (if internet, '<' and '>' is added).

E.g.: "Referencing basics." Journal of Research. November 1, 2014. <http://researchclue.com/referencing>

Bibliography
Citation guide. (2008). Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.

 

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