Writing References Introduction CMS

Academic Writing

Writing a list of references – CMS

In all pieces of academic writing, you need a list of materials that you have used or referred to. This usually has a heading: references but may be bibliography or works cited depending on the conventions of the system you use.

The object of your writing is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other people’s ideas, rather than reproducing their words. The ideas and people that you refer to need to be made explicit by a system of referencing. This consists of a list of materials that you have used at the end of the piece of writing and references to this list at various points throughout the text. The purpose of this is to supply the information needed to allow a user to find a source.

Therefore, at the end of your assignment you need a list of the materials you have used – a bibliography or a list of works cited.

There are many ways of writing this list – check with your department for specific information.

  • The most common system is the author-date system, usually called the Harvard system. There is no definitive version of the Harvard system and most universities and publishers have their own. But the one used here – the Chicago Manual of Style system – is well known and often used in many subjects. In fact the Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic systems: (A) an author-date system and (B) a notes (numerical) system. Choosing between the two depends on your subject and institution. See University of Chicago Press (2010) or Chicago Manual of Style.
  • A very common system especially in social sciences and business, is the American Psychological Association style(American Psychological Association, 1983, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2010). Click here  for more information.
  • Click here or see Gibaldi (2003) and Modern Languages Association (1998, 2009, 2016) for another way.
  • Many scientists use a numerical system, often called the Vancouver style or BS 1629. Click here, see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (1991, US National Library of Medicine or Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2nd edition) for more information.

A. Author-Date System

Example

Works Cited/References

David Abercrombie. 1968. “Paralanguage.” British Journal of Disorders of Communication 3: 55-59.

Pauline Barr, John Clegg, and Catherine Wallace. 1983.  Advanced Reading Skills. London: Longman.

Chomsky, Noam. 1973. “Linguistic Theory,” In Focus on the Learner. edited by John W. Oller and Jack. C. Richards, 29-35. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

———. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Fromkin, Victoria, and Robert Rodman. 1983. An Introduction to Language. London: Holt-Saunders.

Guiora, Alexander Z., Marco Paluszny, Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, John C. Catford, Roger E. Cooley, and Christine Y. Dull. 1975. “Language and Person: Studies in Language Behaviour.” Language Learning 25: 43-61.

Kinsella, Valerie, ed. 1978. Language Teaching and Linguistics: Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Oller, John W. and Jack C. Richards, eds. 1973 Focus on the Learner. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.

NOTES

Use heading: Works Cited or References.

Page numbers should be included for all articles in journals and in collections.

Use italics (or underlining in handwriting) for titles of books, periodicals, newspapers etc.

Use alphabetical order. Alphabetise works with no author by the first significant word in the title.

All co-authors should be listed.

You can either indent second etc. lines, or the first line. Check with your department.

If the author of a document is not given, begin the reference with the title of the document.

To cite two or more books by the same author, give the name in the first entry only. In the following entries, replace the name with a 3-em dash (———) followed by a full-stop and the date,

1. Books

a. One author:

Smith, Frank 1978 Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

b. Two authors:

Fromkin, Victoria, and Robert Rodman. 1983 An Introduction to Language. London: Holt-Saunders.

c. More than two authors:

Barr, Pauline, John Clegg, and Catherine Wallace. 1983 Advanced Reading Skills. London: Longman.

d. Edited collections:

Kinsella, Valerie, ed.. 1978. Language Teaching and Linguistics: Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Oller, John W. and Jack C. Richards, eds. 1973. Focus on the Learner. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.

e. Book, corporate author:

British Council Teaching Information Centre. 1978. Pre-sessional Courses for Overseas Students. London: British Council.

f. Book, no author, or editor:

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. 1978. London: Longman.

The Times Atlas of the World (5th ed.). 1975. New York: New York Times.

g. Book, third edition:

Fromkin, Victoria, and Robert Rodman. 1983. An introduction to language. 3rd ed. London: Holt-Saunders.

h. Book, revised edition:

Cohen, Jacob. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences. 1977. Rev. ed. New York: Plenum Press.

i. Non-English book:

Piaget, Jean, and Barbel Inhelder. 1951. La Genése de l’Idée de Hasard chez l’Enfant (The origin of the idea of danger in the child). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Huang, Gaocai, and Huiqin Liu. 2008. Xinbian Yingyongxiezuo Jiaocheng (A new course on practical writing). Beijing: Higher Education Press.

j. English translation of a book:

Luria, Alexander. R. 1969. The Mind of a Mnemonist. Translated by  L. Solotaroff. New York: Avon Books.

2. Periodical articles

a. One author:

Abercrombie, David. 1968. ” Paralanguage.” British Journal of Disorders of Communication 3: 55-59.

b. Two authors:

Lipinsky, Edward, and Robert Bender. 1980. “Critical Voices on the Economy.” Survey 25: 38-42.

c. More than two authors:

Guiora, Alexander Z., Marco Paluszny, Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, John C. Catford, Roger E. Cooley, and Christine Y. Dull. 1975. “Language and Person: Studies in Language Behaviour.” Language Learning 25: 43-61.

d. Review of a book:

Carmody, Tim P. “A New Look at Medicine from a Social Perspective.” Rev. of Social Contexts of Health, Illness and Patient Care, by Elliot G. Mishler. Contemporary Psychology 27 (1982): 208-209. Print.

e. Review of a book, no title:

Maley, Alan. 1994. Review of Critical Language Awareness, by Norman Fairclough. Applied Linguistics 15: 348-350.

f. Magazine article:

Gardner, Howard. 1981. Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today, December 70-76.

g. Newspaper article:

James, Robert. 1991. Obesity affects economic social status. The Guardian, 15 December, p. 18.

h. Newspaper/Magazine article, no author:

“Acid attack ‘scarred girl for life’.” 1986. The Guardian 21 October, p. 4.

3. Selections from edited collections

a. One author:

Chomsky, Noam. 1973. “Linguistic Theory,” In Focus on the Learner. edited by John W. Oller and Jack. C. Richards, 29-35. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

b. Two authors:

Stern, Hans. H. and Alice Weinrib. 1978. “Foreign Languages for Younger Children: Trends and Assessment. In  Language Teaching and Linguistics: Surveys, edited by Valerie Kinsella, 152-172. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4. CD ROMs etc

a. Newspaper or magazine on CD-ROM:

Gardner, Howard.1981. Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today. December: 70-76. [CD-ROM].

b. Abstract on CD-ROM

Krach, Peg. 1998. “Myth and Facts about Alcohol Abuse in the Elderly.” Nursing February: 25+.  Periodical Abstracts Ondisc.[CD-ROM]. UMI-ProQuest.

c. Article from CD-ROM Encyclopedia:

“Crime.” 1996. Microsoft Encarta 1996 Encyclopedia. [CD-ROM]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.

d. Dictionary on CD-ROM:

Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed 1992. [CD-ROM] Oxford: Oxford University Press.

5. Documents obtained from the Internet

All references begin with the same information that would be provided for a printed source (or as much of that information as possible). The latest version of the CMS Handbook (University of Chicago Press, 2010) states that enough information should be given to enable a reader to clearly identify and access the source. This means adding information such as URL or DOI.

It is important to give the date of retrieval because documents on the Web may change in content, move, or be removed from a site altogether. This comes directly before the <URL>. The object of this is the same as all referencing – to supply the information needed to allow a user to find a source. If you do not know the author or the date and it does not have a clear title, think carefully before using it. See Evaluating Sources.

a. A journal article

Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J. A. Schwartz, A. A. 1995. A history of facilitated communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on facilitated communication. American Psychologist, 50, 750-765. Accessed July 19. http://www.apa.org/journals/jacobson.html

b. A newspaper article:

Sleek, S. 1996. Psychologists build a culture of peace. The New York Times, January 25, pp. 1, 33 Accessed August 10, 2008..http://www.nytimes.com

c. WWW Document:

Li, X. & Crane, N. 1996. Bibliographic formats for citing electronic information. Accessed September 15, 2005. http://www.uvm.edu/~xli/reference/estyles.html

d. WWW Document – corporate author:

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). 1995. About the World Wide Web. Accessed march 14, 2009. http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/

e. WWW Document – corporate author:

American Psychological Association 1996. How to cite information from the world wide web. Accessed February 15, 2008. http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html

f. WWW Document – no author:

A field guide to sources on, about and on the Internet: Citation formats. 1995. Accessed August 10, 2009. http://www.cc.emory.edu/WHSCL/citation.formats.html

g. An abstract:

Rosenthal, R. 1995. State of New Jersey v. Margaret Kelly Michaels: An overview [Abstract]. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1: 247–271. Accessed January 15, htttp://www.apa.org/journals/ab1.html

h. A web page:

Gillett, Andy. 2015. “Academic Writing: References,” Using English for Academic Purposes, last modified  June 12,  2017, https://www.uefap.org/writing/writing-references/writing-references-internet.

i. A blog post:

Gillett, Andy. 2015. “EAP and student motivation,” Using English for Academic Purposes (blog), Feb. 23, 2015,   https://www.uefap.org/blog/?p=176.

6. Others

a. Government report:

National Institute of Mental Health. 1982. Television and Behaviour: Ten Years of Scientific Progress and Implications for the Eighties (DHHS Publication No. ADM82-1195). Washington DC: US Government Printing Office.

b. Unpublished dissertation or thesis:

Sakala, Carol.1993.  “Maternity Care Policy in the United States: Toward a More Rational and Effective System.” Diss. Boston U.

d. Unpublished conference paper:

Howarth, Peter. 1995. “Phraseological standards in EAP.” Academic Standards and expectations. British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes Conference. University of Nottingham, Nottingham. 15 March.

e. Film or video:

It’s a Wonderful Life. 1946.San Francisco: RKO.

The Hunger Games 2012. Directed by Gary Ross. New York: Lionsgate Films, DVD.

B. Notes System

The notes system provides citation information in either footnotes or endnotes. Citations in the text are indicated by a superscripted number. The bibliographical details are given in the footnote/endnote, along with relevant page numbers.

Examples of citations in footnotes/endnotes

1David Abercrombie. ” Paralanguage,” British Journal of Disorders of Communication 3 (1968): 55-59.

2Pauline Barr, John Clegg, and Catherine Wallace,  Advanced Reading Skills (London: Longman, 1983), 24.

3Noam Chomsky, “Linguistic Theory,” in Focus on the Learner. ed. John W. Oller and Jack. C. Richards (Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1973), 29-35.

4Andy Gillett, “EAP and student motivation,” Using English for Academic Purposes (blog), Feb. 23, 2015,   https://www.uefap.org/blog/?p=176.

References