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Books

Contents

Books

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

In a book, the referencing details will normally be found on the title page or back of the title page or equivalent. Use the title page, not the book cover, for the reference details. Only include the edition where it is not the first. A book with no edition statement is most commonly a first edition.

Examples of first/second edition:

Bradshaw, P. (2017) The Online Journalism Handbook: Skills to survive and thrive in the digital age. 2nd edn. Abingdon: Routledge.

Cox, S. A. (2014) Managing Information in Organizations: A practical guide to implementing an information management strategy. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

Issa, I. (2023) Alexandria: The city that changed the world. London: Sceptre.

Samuels, P. (2023) Proposal Writing for Business Research Projects. London: Routledge.

Examples of multiple authors:

Abbott, H. and Booth, H. (2024) Foundations for Operating Department Practice: Essential theory for professional practice. 2nd edn. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.

Carter, C. and Notter, J. (2022) COVID-19: A critical care textbook. London: Elsevier.

Harrison, E. and Rentzelas, P. (2021) Your Psychology Dissertation. London: Sage.

Lynes, A., Treadwell, J. and Bavin, K. (2024) Crimes of the Powerful and the Contemporary Condition: The Democratic republic of capitalism. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

Examples with corporate authors:

Landscape Institute (2003) Guide to Procedure for Competitive Tendering. London: Landscape Institute.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) (2005) Building Surveys and Inspections of Commercial and Industrial Property. 3rd edn. Coventry: RICS Business Services.

Ebooks are referenced in the same way as printed books unless they are only available online.

Ebooks only available online

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [e-book]
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Example:

Kafka, F. (2005) The Trial. [e-book] Translated by David Wyllie. Project Gutenberg.  Available through: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7849 [Accessed 26 June 2013].

Lindley, C. (2012) JQuery Succinctly. [e-book] Morrisville, NC: Syncfusion Inc. Available through: http://www.syncfusion.com/resources/techportal/ebooks/jquery [Accessed 26 June 2013].

Ebooks for specific readers

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [e-reader edition]
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Example:

Freire, P. (2018) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. [Kindle edition] 50th anniversary edition. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. With an introduction by Donald Macedo and an afterword by Ira Shor. London: Bloomsbury.

Occasionally you may not be able to find out the place of publication in which case use s.l. (sine loco: without place). This is increasingly the case where authors have chosen to self-publish their work, for example:

Gill, R. C. (2016) DBT Peer Connections: Dialectical behavior therapy skills training workbook. [Kindle edition] s.l.: CreateSpace.

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Edited books

  • Editorship, ed./eds.
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

For books which are edited, give the editor(s) surname(s) and initials, followed by ed. (for one editor) or eds. (for several editors). Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Examples of edited books:

Bestley, R., Dines, M., Grimes, M. and Guerra, P., eds. (2021) Punk Identities, Punk Utopias: Global punk and media. Bristol: Intellect.

Clapson, M. and Larkham, P. J., eds. (2013) The Blitz and Its Legacy: Wartime destruction to post-war reconstruction. Farnham: Ashgate.

Cooper, S. L., ed. (2014) Controversies in Innocence Cases in America. Farnham: Ashgate.

Denny, E. and Earle, S., eds. (2009) Sociology for Nurses. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity.

Peel, E. and Goudkamp, J., eds. (2015) Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort. 19th edn. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Examples of classical works which are edited:

Classic works of literature will be edited and you will need to acknowledge the edition that you are using for quotations. Where a particular edition is crucial to the argument, although the author remains the same, the contribution of the editor needs to be acknowledged. The requirement to use the date of publication of the edited work leads to anachronisms in the list of references.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Edited by First name Surname.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Joyce, J. (1990) Occasional, Critical and Political Writing. Edited by Kevin Barry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Joyce, J. (1984) Ulysses: A critical and synoptic edition. Prepared by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. 3 vols. New York: Garland Publishing.

Shakespeare, W. (2004) The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Edited by William C. Carroll. London: Arden Shakespeare.

Shakespeare, W. (2005) The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Edited by Norman J. Sanders and Stanley W. Wells. New edn. London: Penguin.

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Chapters of edited books

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Chapter title.
  • In: Editorship, ed./eds.
  • Book Title.
  • Volume. (if part of title)
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher,
  • pp. pages.

Examples:

Aubrey, C., Blackburn, C., Jones, C. and Lowe, R. (2017) The regulated child. In: A. Owen, ed. Childhood Today. London: Sage, pp. 61-73.

Lewis, D., O'Boyle-Duggan, M. and Poultney, S. (2017) Communication skills education and training in pre-registration BSc Nursing. In: D. W. Kissane, B. D. Bultz, P. N. Butow, C. L. Bylund, S. Noble and S. Wilkinson, eds. Oxford Textbook of Communication in Oncology and Palliative Care. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 149-154.

Mogra, I. (2024) From teacher training to school leadership. In: K. Iqbal and T. Abbas, eds. Ethnicity, Religion, and Muslim Education in a Changing World: Navigating contemporary perspectives on multicultural schooling in the UK. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 46-63.

Smallwood, P. (2012) The classical critics. In: D. Hopkins and C. Martindale, eds. The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature. Volume 3: 1660-1790. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 361-400.

Vaughan, S. (2019) Art and sonic mining in the archives: methods for investigating the wartime history of Birmingham School of Art. In: J. Crutchley, S. Parker and S. Roberts, eds. Sight, Sound and Text in the History of Education. London: Routledge, pp. 75-90.

An in-text reference for these would only provide the author's name, not the editor’s. Only include an edition where it is not the first.

For chapters of edited books which are only available online, use the format:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Chapter title.
  • In: Editorship, ed/eds.
  • Book Title.
  • Volume. (If part of title)
  • Edition. (if not first)
  • DOI.

Example:

McArthur, A., Klugarova, J., Yan, H. and Florescu, S. (2020) Chapter 4: Systematic reviews of text and opinion. In: E. Aromataris and Z. Munn, eds. JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-20-05.

Xantus, G. and Zavori, L. (2021) Learning from errors. In: M. S. Firstenberg and S. P. Stawicki, eds. Teamwork in Healthcare. London: IntechOpen Ltd. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94126.

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Plays and poetry

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Classic plays are available in edited editions and the editor's name should be included with your reference.

Example:

Miller, A. (1968) The Crucible: A play in four acts. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Shakespeare, W. (1995) Twelfth Night or What You Will. Edited by Roger Warren and Stanley Wells. New edn. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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Religious texts

  • Title
  • (Year)
  • Edited by First name Surname (optional).
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

You need to specify the specific translation or version of the text that you are using for your citation.

Examples:

The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deutero-canonical Books: New revised standard version (1989) Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Mishnah, Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes (1933) Edited and translated by Herbert Danby. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Holy Qur’an (1994) Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust.

You are increasingly likely to cite religious verses from sacred texts which are available online through a web page or via a mobile app. Use these formats for your references, making sure that you specify the specific translation or version of the text that you are using.

  • Title,
  • (Year)
  • Edited by editorship (optional)
  • Available at:
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

The Holy Bible, New International Version (2021) Available at: https://www.biblestudytools.com/niv/ [Accessed 4 March 2021].

Life.Church (2020) The Holy Bible, YouVersion (8.23.1). [app, Apple iOS] Available at: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible/id282935706 [Accessed 11 August 2017].

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Dictionaries and encyclopaedias (including Grove Dictionary, Wikipedia and BNF)

1. Edited dictionaries and encylopaedias

Where there is no named author or obvious editor, then you would not normally put the dictionary in the reference list, and any reference to it in your text would be by the title of the work and date of publication (the page number is optional). For example, you might describe something as defined by The Chambers Dictionary (1998: 225).

Where there is a(are) named editor(s) and you feel it appropriate to quote from a general dictionary or encyclopaedia use the format:

  • Editorship, ed./eds.
  • (Year)
  • Title of Dictionary.
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Example:

Kennedy, M., ed. (1980) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 3rd edn. London: Oxford University Press.

If a dictionary or encyclopaedia is available online, there are two options for the reference. If there is no named editorship, use the name of the work as the institutional author. 

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title of Dictionary.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Encyclopaedia Britannica (2014) Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: http://www.britannica.com/ [Accessed 17 October 2014].

Alternatively, use the name(s) of the editor(s) as the authorship:

Soegard, M and Dam, R. F., eds. (2013) Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. 2nd edn. Aarhus, Denmark: Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/books/hci.html [Accessed 31 July 2015].

Include the page numbers of the entry and the volume number if multi-volume.

  • Editorship
  • (Year)
  • Entry title.
  • In: Title of Dictionary.
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher,
  • Vol. number, (if > 1)
  • pp. pages.

Example:

Tortora, P. and Johnson, I., eds. (2014) Damask. In: The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles. 8th edn. New York: Fairchild Books, pp. 170-171.

2. Dictionary and encyclopaedia entries available online (e.g. Wikipedia and BNF)

The web pages of the British National Formulary (BNF) and the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) provide advice on how to cite these publications which are digests for rapid reference, both of which are online. Wikipedia and similar user-edited sites should not be considered as reliable sources for research material although they can be a useful starting point if you explore the sources for each article and consider their credibility. Nonetheless, references to Wikipedia articles continue to appear in academic journal articles. Both are cited in the same format:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title of Entry.
  • Place of publication: (if given)
  • Publisher. (if given)
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Joint Formulary Committee (2021) British National Formulary (BNF). Co-codamol. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available at: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/co-codamol.html [Accessed 19 April 2021].

Paediatric Formulary Committee (2021) British National Formulary for Children (BNFC). Co-codamol. London: BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press, and RCPCH Publications. Available at: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/drug/co-codamol.html [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Wikipedia (2015) Local Interconnect Network. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker [Accessed 31 July 2015].

3. Articles in edited dictionaries and encyclopaedias (e.g. Grove Dictionary)

Articles in larger dictionaries which are edited or in dictionaries which are multi-volume should be treated as chapters in edited books and include the volume number and the chapter title in the format:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Entry title.
  • In: Editorship, ed./eds. (if stated)
  • Dictionary Title.
  • Edition. (if not first)
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher,
  • Vol. number (if > 1),
  • pp. pages.

Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Examples:

Anderson, N. and Thompson, S. (2001) Duplessis. In: S. Sadie, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edn. London: Macmillan, Vol. 7, pp. 721-722.

Sperling, C. and Cooper, S. L. (2013) When science changes, how does law respond? In: J.A. Siegel and P.J. Saukko, eds. Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences. 2nd edn. London: Academic Press, Vol. 2, pp. 476-480.

Where the article is in an online edited dictionary or encyclopaedia:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Entry title.
  • In: Editorship ed./eds. (if stated)
  • Title of Dictionary.
  • Edition. (if not first)
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Or:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Entry title.
  • In: Editorship ed./eds. (if stated)
  • Title of Dictionary.
  • Edition. (if not first)
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • DOI.

Example:

Hook, K. (2013) Affective computing. In: M. Soegard and R. F. Dam, eds. Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. 2nd edn. Aarhus, Denmark: Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/affective-computing [Accessed 29 June 2016].

Larkham, P. (2019) Fidler, Alwyn Gwilym Sheppard (1909-1990). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.109736.

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Directories

Online

  • Authorship or Editorship, ed./eds.
  • (Year)
  • Title of directory.
  • Edition. (if stated)
  • Available at:
  • [Accessed date].

Printed

  • Authorship or Editorship, ed./eds.
  • (Year)
  • Title of directory.
  • Edition. (if stated)
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Examples:

British Psychological Society (2023) Directory of Chartered Psychologists. Available at: https://portal.bps.org.uk/Psychologist-Search/Directory-of-Chartered-Psychologists [Accessed 30 August 2023].

Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (2023) Directory of Editorial Services. Available at: https://www.ciep.uk/directory [Accessed 30 August 2023].

Threlfall, J. (2023) Directory of Grant Making Trusts 2024/25. 28th edn. London: Directory of Social Change.

Trott, L., ed. (2019) Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook: Essential contacts for stage, screen and radio. 15th edn. London: Methuen Drama.

However, there are many current and historical directories for which there is no editor. In these cases reference these in your work by the directory title and date of publication, place them in italics and do not include them in your reference list.

In text:

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