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History: Citing & Referencing

Citing and referencing in History

Demonstrating that you have read the major writers and acknowledging their ideas is a fundamental skill of academic work.

There are two common methods of referencing in history. These are:

In-text referencing: where the Author and Year of publication are identified in the essay and a list of References which have been cited are placed at the end of the essay. Examples of this style are Monash Harvard; APA; MHRA; Chicago and MLA.

Footnote referencing: where a number is allocated to each reference which is usually listed in full at the bottom of the page or section.  A bibliography is usually added at the end of the work which includes all the works read rather than just those cited. Examples of this style are MHRA; Chicago and MLA.

Traditionally the footnote style has been preferred in the humanities as it is less disruptive to the flow of writing.

In History it is recommended that students use the Essay writing guide for citing and referencing where examples of the 2 methods are described.  For more detailed information and plenty of referencing examples refer to the relevant tab of the Citing and Referencing library guide.

EndNote: How to keep tabs on your references

Keeping track of what you have read for the different subjects, from a variety of sources can be time-consuming.

There are bibliographic software packages available which help with these tasks.

The University supports the EndNote software package which can be downloaded and used freely by students and staff at Monash.

The programme is a sophisticated system aimed at postgraduate and research needs, however undergraduate students are welcome to use it if they wish. The Library offers classes throughout the year on EndNote which can be booked online. If you have a group of at least 5 students it is also possible to request a class directly from the History librarian.

Online tutorials are available to help you get started.