Citation and Referencing

Referencing

It is essential that your assignments show academic integrity and are a result of
your own hard work. This does not mean that they must be limited to just your views
and opinions but should be developed by thinking about ideas put forward by others. It
is very important to be honest about anyone else's ideas that you have used or
mentioned in your work and you must acknowledge these sources accordingly. This
practice is referred to as citing or referencing and is crucial to maintaining academic
integrity.

What is referencing?

It is a method used to demonstrate to your readers that you have conducted a

thorough and appropriate literature search, and reading. Equally, referencing is an
acknowledgement that you have used the ideas and written material belonging to other
authors in your own work. As with all referencing styles, there are two parts: citing,
and the reference list.

Why is referencing important?

Accurate referencing is a key component of good academic practice and

enhances the presentation of your work: it shows that your writing is based on
knowledge and informed by appropriate academic reading.

Whenever you directly copy the words of another author (quoting) or put their
ideas into your own words (paraphrasing) you must acknowledge that you have done
so. This is to:

 Substantiate the knowledge and theories that you present in your work.
 Show that you have researched your material, and that the ideas you present have
been considered in the light of documented material on the subject.
 Demonstrate that you have read a range of sources.

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Citation and Referencing

 Ensure that anyone reading your work can trace the sources you have used in
the development of your work, and give you credit for your research efforts and
quality.
 Avoid plagiarism. If you do not acknowledge another person’s work or ideas, you
could be accused of plagiarism.

What should I reference?

You should include a reference for all the sources of information that you use
when writing or creating a piece of your own work.

What is a citation?

When you use another person’s work in your own work, either by referring to
their ideas, or by including a direct quotation, you must acknowledge this in the text
of your work. This acknowledgement is called a citation.

What is the difference between a reference and a citation?

 Citation is the 'link' in the text, whether a number or author and date, that
connects the data/information/ideas being discussed with the more detailed
information in the reference list or bibliography.
 Example of citation using the Harvard referencing system:
(Fletcher 2007, p.27)
 In the numeric system, citations are just numbers like this (1) or this 1.

The citation points the reader in the right direction, but it does not include much
information. Every citation should have a relevant reference later in the text.

 The reference list or bibliography provides the full details of the source cited.
It enables the reader to further investigate ideas or validate the writer's
comments.
 Example of a reference using the Harvard referencing system:

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Citation and Referencing

Fletcher, L. (2007) 'Turning interahamwe: individual and community

choices in the Rwandan genocide', Journal of Genocide Research, 9:1,
pp25-48.

A reference should include full details of the source.

What information should I include in a reference?

 When you begin your research for any piece of work, it is important that you
record the details of all the information you find. You will need these details to
provide accurate references, and to enable you to locate the information again
at a later date, should it be necessary to do so.

 The ideas you reference may come from books, journal articles, newspaper
reports, web pages, videos, lecture notes, module teaching materials or any
other source. You need to include certain details about the text you are referring
to, to enable your reader to find the original text easily.

 There are several different referencing systems. Although they all require you
to include the same information, they ask you to present that information in
different ways.

 Whichever referencing system you are instructed to use, you should take note
of the following information for each text: the name of the author (s), date of
publication, the title and the publication details.

What is a referencing style?

A referencing style is a set of rules telling you how to acknowledge the thoughts,
ideas and works of others in a particular way. There are literally hundreds of different
referencing styles from which to choose when you are citing the sources of your
research material. Different academic disciplines have differing priorities of what is
important to the subsequent reader of an academic paper, and different publishing
houses have differing rules about the citation of sources.

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Citation and Referencing

Common referencing styles:

Different standard formats for citing references are used in different scientific
disciplines. These formats include: MLA Style established by the Modern Language
Association; APA Style, governed by the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association; CMS Footnote Style, conforming to the Chicago Manual of
Style; and CBE Number Style established by the Council of Biology Editors.

In biomedical sciences, there are two major styles for citing the references: the
Harvard system and the Vancouver system.

 Harvard came originally from "The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation"

published by the Harvard Law Review Association. The Harvard style and its many
variations are used in law, natural sciences, social and behavioural sciences, and
medicine.

 Vancouver originally came from The International Committee of Medical Journal

Editors which produced the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journals" following a meeting that was held in Vancouver in 1978.
The Vancouver style is used mainly in the medical sciences.

 In the Harvard system, the order of references at the end of the report is strictly
alphabetical, regardless of the chronology. In the text of the paper, references
are cited by giving in parentheses the name of the author and the year of
publication.

 According to the Vancouver style, references should be numbered consecutively

in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. References in text,
tables and legends should be identified by Arabic numerals in parentheses.

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Citation and Referencing

Vancouver Style

Citations using the Vancouver style:

General guidelines:
 For Vancouver reference style, the only indication required in the text of a paper
is a number.
 Each piece of work which is cited in your text should have a unique number,
assigned in the order of citation (allocated in ascending sequence).
 It could be presented in the text either in brackets or in superscript.
o Recent research indicates that the number of duplicate papers being
published is increasing. (1) or
o Recent research indicates that the number of duplicate papers being
published is increasing. 1

 The original number assigned to the reference is reused each time the reference
is cited in the text, regardless of the previous location in the text.
To cite two references at the same time, include both reference numbers.
Example:
....there is strong evidence of benefit in neonates, (12,13)...
For citing more than two references at the same time, a hyphen should be used to
link numbers which are inclusive, and a comma used where numbers are not
consecutive.
Example:
....there is strong evidence of benefit in neonates, (12-15) ...
....there is strong evidence of benefit in neonates, (5,9,12,15) ...
For citing a mixture of consecutive and non-consecutive references, then indicate
specific references and ranges as appropriate, in numerical order.
Example:
....there is strong evidence of benefit in neonates, (10,12-14) ...

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Citation and Referencing

Citing quotes and ideas:

o When quoting directly from a source word for word, quotation marks ("-")
must be used if they are relatively short. Longer quotes should be put in
a separate paragraph, and indented.
o If you are using your own words to describe someone else's ideas
(paraphrasing), you still need to give a reference to their work.
Secondary referencing:
o Secondary references are when an author refers to another author’s work
and the primary source is not available.
o Secondary referencing should be avoided wherever possible and you
should always try to find the original work. In most cases you should cite
material you have actually read.
o When citing such work, the author of the primary source and the author
of the work it was cited in should be used, but you reference the
secondary source not the primary source. Only reference the source that
you have used.
Examples:
Jones and Holder, cited by Rogers (8) noted that....
According to Colluzzi and Pappagallo as cited by Holding et al., (7) most
patients given opiates do not become addicted to such drugs.
Include only Rogers and Holding et al in your reference list.
Reference list:
 This is a list of all the sources that have been cited in the text of your work.
 The list is inclusive showing books, journals etc. listed in one list, not in separate
lists according to source type.
 The reference list should be in numerical order and each number matches and
refers to the one in the text.
 The list should be at the end of your work.
 Books, paper or electronic journal articles, etc., are written in a particular
format that must be followed.

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Citation and Referencing

Referencing in Vancouver style:

Information needed [‘bibliographic’ information]:

To write your own references you need different bits of information about each
item that you read when you are researching a piece of work. These bits of information
are called ‘bibliographic’ information.

For all types of references the key bits of information you need to start with are:

1. Author or editor: This means the primary (main) person who produced the item
you are using.

 Surname comes first and then any initials and any title (i.e. Sir or Lord,
but not academic or other titles).
 Initials follow the family names of authors or editors, with no space or
full stops between the initials of an author.
 Commas are used to separate each author’s name.
 ‘and’ is not used to separate the last two names.
 If the work you need to reference has more than six authors, you should
list the first six authors, followed by ‘et al.’

Example: Petrie KJ, Muller JT, Schirmbeck F, Donkin L, Broadbent E, Ellis

CJ, et al. ………..

2. Date of publication: This means the date the item was produced. It is usually a
year. This usually appears on the fly-leaf of a book.
3. Title of the item: This means the primary (main) title of the item you are using.
4. Depending on the type of material you want to reference you will also need
other bits of information:

 For books, this will include the place of publication and the name of the
publishers. You will find this information on the fly-leaf.

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Citation and Referencing

 In the case of periodicals, you should include the name of the periodical,
the volume, issue or part number and the page references.
 For websites, you should note the web URL/address and the date you
access the site.

Writing references for the reference list using Vancouver style:

Journal article:

 Author(s). Title of journal article. Name of journal (abbreviated). Year of

publication; Volume number (Issue number): Page numbers of the article.

 Example:
 Chhibber PK, Majumdar SK. Foreign ownership and profitability: Property
rights, control, and the performance of firms in Indian industry. Journal
of Law & Economics. 1999;42(1): 209–38.
 Meydani SN, Leka LS, Fine BC, Dallal GE, Keusch GT, Singh MF, et al.
Vitamin E and Respiratory Tract Infections in Elderly Nursing Home
Residents: a Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA. 2004; 292(7): 828-36.

Book

 Author(s)/Editor(s) (Give all authors/editors, regardless of the number. If it is an

editor always put (editor) after the name). Title. Series title and number (if part
of a series). Edition (if not the first edition). Place of publication (if there is more

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Citation and Referencing

than one place listed, use the first named): Publisher; Year of publication.
Pagination.

 Examples:
 Simons NE, Menzies B, Matthews M. A Short Course in Soil and Rock Slope
Engineering. London: Thomas Telford Publishing; 2001. 920 p.
 Ford MJ, Munro JF. Introduction to Clinical Examination. 7th ed. Edinburgh:
Churchill Livingstone; 2000. 570 p.

Contributed Chapter in a book

 Author(s) of the chapter. Title of chapter. (followed by, In:) Editor (always put
(editor) after the name). Title of book. Edition (if not 1st). Place of publication
(if there is more than one place listed, use the first named): Publisher; Year of
publication. Page numbers of the chapter (use ‘p.’ before the page numbers).
 Examples:
 Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human
solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The Genetic Basis of
Human Cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
 Partridge H, Hallam G. Evidence-based practice and information literacy.
In: Lipu S, Williamson K, Lloyd A, editors. Exploring methods in
information literacy research. 3rd ed. Wagga Wagga: Centre for
Information Studies; 2007. p.149–70.

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Citation and Referencing

Book with Organization as author or editor

 Name of Organization (remove “The” if present). Title. Edition (if not 1st). Place
of publication: Publisher; year of publication. Number of pages.
 Example:
 NHS Executive. Clinical governance: quality in the new NHS. London:
Department of Health; 1999. 23 p.
 Advanced Life Support Group. Acute medical emergencies: the practical
approach. London: BMJ Books; 2001. 454 p.
 Swiss Pharmaceutical Society, editor. Index nominum: international drug
directory. 18th ed. Stuttgart (Germany): Medpharm Scientific
Publications; 2004. 1823 p.

Book with organization as author which is also the publisher

 Virginia Law Foundation, Committee on Continuing Legal Education. The

medical and legal implications of AIDS. Charlottesville (VA): The
Foundation; 1987. 148 p.

as an option, the full publisher’s name may be given

 Virginia Law Foundation, Committee on Continuing Legal Education. The

medical and legal implications of AIDS. Charlottesville (VA): Virginia Law
Foundation; 1987. 148 p.

Entire Book or Monograph on the internet:

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Citation and Referencing

 Example:
 Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer
[Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9].
Available from: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.
 Richardson ML. Approaches to differential diagnosis in musculoskeletal
imaging [Internet]. Version 2.0. Seattle (WA): University of Washington
School of Medicine; c2000 [revised 2001 Oct 1; cited 2006 Nov 1].
Available from: http://www.rad.washington.edu/mskbook/index.html
 Collins SR, Kriss JL, Davis K, Doty MM, Holmgren AL. Squeezed: why rising
exposure to health care costs threatens the health and financial well-
being of American families [Internet]. New York: Commonwealth Fund;
2006 Sep [cited 2006 Nov 2]. 34 p. Available from:
http://www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/Collins_squeezedrisinghltcarecosts_953.
pdf

Home page or Website

 Example:
 Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online
Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9].
Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.
 eatright.org [Internet]. Chicago: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics;
c2016 [cited 2016 Dec 27]. Available from: http://www.eatright.org/.

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Citation and Referencing

 Complementary/Integrative Medicine [Internet]. Houston: University of

Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; c2007 [cited 2007 Feb 21].
Available from: http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/CIMER/.
 AMA: helping doctors help patients [Internet]. Chicago: American Medical
Association; c1995-2007 [cited 2007 Feb 22]. Available from:
http://www.ama-assn.org/.
with optional content type
 AMA: helping doctors help patients [homepage on the Internet]. Chicago:
American Medical Association; c1995-2007 [cited 2007 Feb 22]. Available
from: http://www.ama-assn.org/.

Part of Website

 Example:
 U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and
Research. Index to drug-specific information [Internet]. Silver Spring
(MD): U.S. Food and Drug Administration; [updated 2009 Jun 4]. Sleep
disorder (sedative-hypnotic) drug information; [updated 2009 May 21;
cited 2009 Jun 10]; [about 2 screens]. Available from:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformatio
nforPatientsandProviders/ucm101557.htm
 Chlamy Center: an Online Informatics Resource
for Chlamydomonas [Internet]. Durham (NC): Duke University,

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Citation and Referencing

Department of Biology; [modified 2007 Mar 8]. Core collections;

[modified 2006 Jan 25; cited 2007 Mar 27]; [about 3 screens]. Available
from: http://jupiter.biology.duke.edu/strains.html

Exercise:

Spot the wrong elements in the following references written according to the
Vancouver style:

1. Darani A, Mendoza- Sagaon M, Reinberg O: Gastric volvulus in children. J Pediatr

Surg 2005; 40(5)855-58.
2. Haggstrom AN, Drolet BA, Baselga E, Chamlin SL et al. Study of infantile
hemangiomas: clinical characteristics predicting complications and treatment
Pediatrics 2006, 118 :882-887
3. C Zimmer (2011). A planet of viruses. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. p109.

Important websites for Vancouver Referencing style full details:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

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