Citing and referencing: Abbreviations and symbols used in referencing

A guide to the styles recommended by Monash schools and departments for students and researchers

Abbreviations and symbols

&

Use an ampersand (&) between two authors or before the final author in your reference list, or within the parenthesis in an in-text citation. Do not use for author prominent citing in-text.

bar or bars

bar or bars of music in a score. See Appendix A for musical notation. Note that American publications may use m or mm (measure or measures) instead of bar or bars. When paraphrasing or quoting you should convert 'm' or 'mm' to 'bar' or 'bars' unless otherwise instructed.

chor.
choreographer
For the choreographer of a dance performance. For example:
Page (chor. 2009) demonstrated sophisticated fluidity of choreography.
dir.

director
For director of live or recorded performances. For example:

The performance by Max Gillies was energetic (Bell dir. 2011).

ed. or eds editor or editors
edn edition
This is used only for a second or later edition of a source, not for a first edition.
Editions contain major revisions, but reprints do not, so do not include a reprint number.
...
ellipsis.
Three dots is called an 'ellipsis'. An ellipsis is used to show that one or more words have been omitted. For example:
Kolbert (2011, p. 112) describes outcomes for a generalist reader; 'natural processes that could counter acidification… operate far too slowly to make a difference on a human time scale'.
et al.
This means 'and others'
This is used in in-text citations (including the first in-text citation) when there are four or more authors. However, all authors are listed in full in the reference list.
NOTE: stop only after 'al.', not after 'et'. For example:

Czinkota et al. (2008) address theoretical issues in the Asia Pacific market.
Jr include titles such as Jr (Junior), Sr (Senior) or III (Third) in the reference list but not in in-text citations
min.
minute
NOTE: used for audiovisual sources. Use the counter in your player (e.g. windows media player, RealTime player) to indicate the start of the information. For example:

Miller and Stapleton (2012, 1:33 mins) chose from among 'almost 400 pieces' to produce the program.
n.d.
no date
This is uncommon, particularly for academic sources. For example:

Complex structures and themes interweave through the concerto (van Beethoven n.d.).
n.p.
no page numbers
For example:

Mathews' use of dialogue shifts to the lyrical: 'I would like to see the beginning of the rest of the world' (2010, n. p.).
 
NOTE: Instructions for electronic sources without page numbers
If page numbers are not given use approximate page number (p. 3 of 9); or paragraph number for short text (para. 2); or the heading given in the source for the particular section. For example:

The ABS (2004, p. 1 of 4) defines residents as 'economic entities (persons, organisations or enterprises) which have a closer association with the territory of Australia than with any other territory'.
           Or
Flitton (2012, para. 1) reports 'Australia is about to confront the biting reality of US military decline'.
p. or pp. single page (p.) or multiple pages (pp.)
rev.
revised
NOTE: 1. In the reference list the initial is before the surname (reverse the usual order).
         2. rev. follows trans. (see below). For example:

González Sánchez, CA 2011, New world literacy: writing and culture across the Atlantic, 1500-1700, trans. T Platt, rev. B Aram, Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg.
sec.

second
NOTE: used for audiovisual sources. Use the counter in your player (e.g. windows media player, RealTime player) to indicate the start of the information. For example:

Stephen Fry stated that 'the people I know that swear the most tend to have the widest vocabularies' (gsmokeyjoe 2007, sec. 00:36).

(sic)
so called
Use (sic) immediately after an error in the source (e.g. spelling or grammar error). For example:

The United Nations (2010 cited in Shirazi 2012, p. 49) estimates that '7% of tenured university faculty position (sic) are held by women'.
[Square brackets]
indicate a change or addition made for clarity. For example:

Schulhofer, Tyler and Huq (2011, p. 337) claim that polarisation rests on 'conspicuous racial disparities in [America's] prison populations'.
Sr
*include titles such as Jr (Junior), Sr (Senior) or III (Third) in the reference list but not in in-text citations
trans.
translated
NOTE: In the reference list the initial is before the surname (reverse the usual order). For example:

González Sánchez, CA 2011, New world literacy: writing and culture across the Atlantic, 1500-1700, trans. T Platt, rev. B Aram, Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg.