Citing and referencing: Key terms

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

Key terms table

Audio/visual sources

Use a counter to identify the start of segments.

For example:
      Melodramatic lines such as 'her soul had heard the call of the death bird' (Murnau 1922, min. 36:50) were calculated to generate poignancy in the face of impending horror.
Author Can be single or multiple authors; or single or multiple editors; or single or multiple organisations as author; or a combination of these; or the title if the source has no designated author.
Bibliography A complete list of all sources consulted, whether cited in-text or not. It records the full publication details of each source in the same way as for a reference list. The Bibliography appears at the end of your work. Use a Bibliography ONLY if specifically requested to do so.
doi

Means ‘digital object identifier’ and is a unique number for an individual article. If the article has a doi, that doi will be on the first page. The term doi is in lower case letters; separate the term doi from the number itself with a colon.

For example:
      Novick, M 2012, 'Allowable interval sequences and separating convex sets in the plane', Discrete Computational Geometry, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 378-392, doi: 10.1007/s00454-011-9365-5
(Emphasis added)
This phrase is used inside the in-text citation to indicate that you have added italics for emphasis.
 
For example:
Language is hedged to avoid alarm; 'the acidification that has occurred so far is probably irreversible' (Kolbert 2011, p. 108, emphasis added).
(Emphasis in original)
This phrase is used inside the in-text citation to indicate that the word/s in italics were emphasised in the source.
 
For example:
Novick (2012, p. 379, emphasis in original) refers to a previous proof 'known as allowable sequences of permutation'.
In-text citation

Refers to the record in brackets (citation) in your sentence (in-text). It is a record of author, date and page number of any sources you use in that sentence (see the notes about page numbers below). NOTE: use surname only (no initials) for in-text citations.

For example:

      The UK experienced polarisation between 'work-rich' and 'work-poor' households (Harkness & Evans 2011, p. 676).

      The in-text citation is the part in brackets at the end of the sentence above.

There are two types of in-text citations. There are examples of both types of in-text citation throughout this guide.

1.    Author prominent in-text citation. This technical term simply means the author is mentioned before the information.

For example:     

      As Brick (2006, p. 14) argues, 'most of the writing at university is likely to involve presenting a position'.
                                    Or
      As Brick argues, 'most of the writing at university is likely to involve presenting a position' (2006, p. 14).
                                    Or
      As Brick (2006) argues, 'most of the writing at university is likely to involve presenting a position' (p. 14).

The first of the three examples above shows the most commonly used form of author prominent in-text citation.


2.    Information prominent in-text citation. This technical term simply means the information is mentioned before the author.

For example:

      Academic autonomy 'involves mastering the specific skills involved in analysis, critical thinking and problem solving' (Brick 2006, p. 52).
Page numbers for electronic sources Page numbers are required for all quotes and for all paraphrasing of information taken from a source (unless referring to the source as a whole)

      - page (p. 23)
      - or page range (pp. 23-24)
      - or non-consecutive pages (p. 23, p. 31)

If the electronic source is unpaginated (‘unpaginated’ means it has no page numbers) you can pinpoint the information by doing one of the following:

      - giving approximate page number (p. 3 of 9; pp. 3-7 of 9; pp. 3, 5, 7 of 9)
      - giving a paragraph number for short text (para. 2)
      - using the relevant heading or subheading from the source
Page numbers for print sources Page numbers are required for all quotes and for all paraphrasing of information (unless referring to the source as a whole)

      - page (p. 23)
      - or page range (pp. 23-24)
      - or non-consecutive pages (p. 23, p. 31)
      - or (n.p.) meaning ‘no page numbers’ if the print source is unpaginated (‘unpaginated’ means it has no page numbers)
Paraphrasing Refers to using information from a source in your own words. It is the most common way to use sources.
Quoting Using word/s exactly as they appear in the source. Quoting should be kept to less than 10% of the total word count of your writing. A page number is always required. Use single quotation marks for quotes. Use double quotation marks for a quote within a quote.

      Short quotes    less than 30 words, incorporated into your sentence. See example in Appendix C and throughout this guide.

      Long quotes    30 or more words. Separated from your writing with a colon, new line, whole quote indented, one size smaller font, single line spacing, brackets outside final punctuation, page number/s required. See example in Appendix C.
Reference List The complete list of all sources cited (and only those sources you have cited in-text) in your work. It records the full publication details of each source. The reference list appears at the end of your work. See Appendix D for a sample reference list. A Bibliography is different from a Reference List.
Source Refers to the place where the information was found.
Source type Refers to whether the source is a book, article, website etc. and whether it is print or electronic. Referencing rules differ for each source type. Do not try to memorise the rules; always check with the Harvard Guide.
Summarising A form of paraphrasing in which you report only the main points (no details or examples) in your own words.