Citing and referencing: Abbreviations used in referencing

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

Abbreviations used in referencing

Notes:

  • Standard abbreviations can be used in your citations.
  • Some of the more commonly used examples of abbreviations are listed below.

 

And others

Format

et al.
This means 'and others'. It is used in in-text citations where there are three or more authors. NOTE: full stop after 'al.' not after 'et'
Example

Three or more authors
Include the name of only the first author in every citation, including the first citation.  For example, for an article written by Ott, Apramian, Lingard, Roth and Cristancho, all citations would be (Ott et al., 2020). 

Ott, M., Apramian, T., Lingard, L., Roth, K., & Cristancho, S. (2020). The embodiment of practice thresholds: From standardization to stabilization in surgical education. Advances in Health Science Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-020-09974-x

 

Edition

Format

ed.
For the edition of a book
Example

Dunning, T. (2014). Care of people with diabetes: A manual of nursing practice (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

 

Editor(s)

Format

Ed. or Eds.
When a book is a collection of chapters by different authors and is edited by one or more editors
Example Greenfield, T., & Greener, S. (Eds.). (2016). Research methods for postgraduates (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

 

No date

Format

n.d.
For sources that do not have a date of publication, substitute ‘n.d.’ (no date) after the name of the author.

In-text example

Reference list

(Southey, n.d.)

Southey, R. (n.d.). The life of Nelson. Blackie.

 

No page numbers

Format

Provide a heading or section name

Provide a paragraph number

Provide a heading or section name and a paragraph number

In-text example

Mathews' use of ... (2019, para. 4).
Format

NOTE: For electronic sources without page numbers use:

  • paragraph number for short text (para. 2); or
  • the heading given in the source for the particular section.
In-text examples The ABS (2004) defines residents as "economic entities (persons, organisations or enterprises) which have a closer association with the territory of Australia than with any other territory" (p. 1).
           OR
Flitton (2012) reports "Australia is about to confront the biting reality of US military decline" (para. 1).

 

Number

Format

No.

Use in your reference list when the resource incorporates a number that represents the accession, order, catalogue, etc number.

In-text example

Reference list

(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020)

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2020 March). Australian national accounts: National income, expenditure and product. (No. 5206.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/5206.0

 

Page(s)

Format

p. or pp.

These are included in the in-text citation but not the reference list. If one page number is being referred to, use the abbreviation p. for page. If there are multiple pages use pp. to represent pages.
In-text examples

(Amoore, 2020, p. 3)

According to Giri (2019, pp. 93–94)

 

Paragraph

Format

para.

For electronic sources that do not provide page numbers, use the paragraph number and, if available, preceded by the abbreviation ‘para.’
In-text example

(Bryant, 2016, para. 11)

 

Revised edition

Format

Rev. ed.

Used in reference list when the item is identified as being a revised edition
Example

Kennedy, P., & Green, A. (2019). Tales from boom town: Western Australian premiers from brand to McGowan (Rev. ed.). UWA Publishing.

 

Translator(s)

Format

Trans.

Name the translator or editor only in the reference list, immediately following the title. In the case of translated works, cite the title in its translated form, not in its original form.

In-text example

Reference list

(Genet, 1966, p. 61)

Genet, J. (1966). The balcony (B. Frechtman, Trans.). Faber.

 

Volume(s)

Format

Vol. or Vols.

Include in the reference list if books include volume information
Example

Robinson, A. (1994). The principles of genetics and heredity. In The new encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 19,

             699–740). Encyclopedia Britannica.