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Unpublished Sources

Contents

Lecture notes

  • Lecturer
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Module Number and Name.
  • Department / Faculty,
  • Institution,
  • Day and Month
  • [lecture notes taken by Notetaker].

Example:

Good, R. (2018) Visual communication of design ideas. LAN6110 Designed Ecologies. BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture, Birmingham City University, 10 December [lecture notes taken by Jessica Chandler].

As this material is usually uploaded to Moodle, you are now far more likely to want to reference lecture sections or lecture slides from a Moodle site (see below).

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Virtual Learning Environments (e.g. Moodle)

1. Course/modules

  • Lecturer
  • (Year)
  • Module Number and Name.
  • Department / Faculty,
  • Institution.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Gadsby, J. (2023) NUR6067 & NUR7010 Nursing Care: Mental Health SEP S1 2023/4. Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University. Available through: https://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=91929 [Accessed 20 August 2024].

2. Handout/notes of a lecture session

  • Lecturer
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Module Number and Name.
  • Department / Faculty,
  • Institution.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Gadsby, J. (2023) Map of biopsychosocial worked document with notes. NUR6067 & NUR7010 Nursing Care: Mental Health SEP S1 2023/4. Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University. Available through: https://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=91929 [Accessed 20 August 2024].

3. Slides of a lecture/meeting recordings

  • Lecturer
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [media type]
  • Module Number and Name.
  • Department / Faculty,
  • Institution.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Gadsby, J. (2023) A discussion about decolonisation. [PowerPoint presentation] NUR6067 & NUR7010 Nursing Care: Mental Health SEP S1 2023/4. Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University. Available through: https://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=91929 [Accessed 20 August 2024].

Morley, P. (2021) Solution focused practice. [Sway presentation] NUR6067 & NUR7010 Nursing Care: Mental Health SEP S1 2023/4. Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University. Available through: https://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=91929 [Accessed 20 August 2024].

4. Forum postings and discussion boards

  • Author
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Module Number and Name.
  • Department / Faculty,
  • Institution.
  • Day and Month.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Moseley, A. (2015) Obtaining absorption coefficients for modelling. CEBE DMT Sound Forum: Acoustics, acoustic fundamentals, acoustic applications, acoustics and psychoacoustics, acoustic engineering. Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, 6 November. Available through: https://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=23468 [Accessed 7 August 2019].

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Student Assignments

At BCU, self-plagiarism is an example of academic misconduct. It is defined as “any attempt to gain academic credit for work which you have previously submitted and which has already gained academic credit. Self-plagiarism means reproducing in any submitted work a substantial amount of material you have previously used in other assessed work without acknowledging that such work has been so submitted” (BCU, 2023: 2). This guidance shows how to acknowledge your previously used work.

It would be sensible to check with your tutor whether it is acceptable to cite your own or other students’ assignments for a specific module. As your work is submitted online, others will not be able to view it unless they contact you. You may therefore find it helpful to include the ideas that you submitted in the assignment in a different format such as a blog or a document on LinkedIn so that others can view these and so that you can cite these in future work.

  • Student surname, initial.
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Assignment for
  • Module Number and Name.
  • Award,
  • Institution.
  • Unpublished.

Example:

Kehoe, S. (2023) Development of pedagogical knowledge of variation theory and its application to my teaching and vision. Assignment for EDU7380 Collaborative Learning and Development. Postgraduate Diploma in Education - Leadership in Learning Secondary, Birmingham City University. Unpublished.

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Personal communications

You may wish to refer to the ideas of another with whom you have had verbal or written communication in whatever format. Make sure that the author is the surname of the person or the organization that is the source of the idea or information. You may need to obtain permission to include the reference in your work and you may wish to include any written communication as an Appendix.

  • Author
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [medium] (Optional)
  • (Personal communication,
  • Day and Month).

Example:

Lacey, H. (2021) Breakdown of Special Group Coaching Psychology membership, British Psychological Society. [email] (Personal communication, 17 March).

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. (2016) Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland's Active Register. (Personal communication, 17 March).

Skone, T. (2013) Life-cycle Assessment of Coal-fired Power Plants. (Personal communication, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 5 March).

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Internal reports and presentations

You may wish to reference slides from a presentation that you attended or has been supplied to you where the presentation or report is not available online. An example is a presentation from the organisation where you were on placement. Please check first with the organisation that they give you permission to use the material in your work. In a health context you will need to follow the guidance in maintaining confidentiality.

  • Author
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [media type] (for presentation)
  • Internal name of organisation report/presentation.
  • Unpublished

Examples:

Ireson, G. (1996) Improving the Links Between the Teaching of Physics and Mathematics in the 16-19 Age Range. Internal Institute of Physics report. Unpublished.

Smith, I. and Emmerson, P. (2009) Travel Plans: The potential is realised. Evidence from the Highways Agency’s ITB programme. [PowerPoint slides] Internal TRICS presentation. Unpublished.

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Forthcoming publications

1. Books

  • Authorship
  • (Year, in press)
  • Title.
  • Edition (if not first).
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Example:

Lawson, R. (2025, in press) The Linguistic Construction of Contemporary Masculinities: Cultures, contexts, constraints. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2. Book chapters

  • Authorship
  • (Year, in press)
  • Chapter title.
  • In: Editorship, ed./eds.
  • Book Title.
  • Edition (if not first).
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher,
  • pp. pages / c. chapter (optional).

Example:

Roberts, D. (2025, in press) True Comedy? Etherege, Wycherley, Shadwell. In: M. C. Augustine and S. N. Zwicker, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Restoration Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Chapter 20.

3. Journal articles

See guidance in referencing journal articles for pre-published journal articles.

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Preprints

Preprint servers enable researchers to post early versions of their papers online thereby making new research available as soon as possible. arXiv was one of the first preprint servers in the field of mathematics, physics and other subjects established at Cornell University in 1991 but there are now preprint servers for many subjects. The process also allows other researchers to give feedback which may then help to improve the paper. These versions have yet to go through a formal peer review process. These servers make it clear that these papers should not be regarded as conclusive, should not guide clinical practice or health-related behaviour nor should they be reported in news media as established information. Include the article identifier and the DOI in the reference in the format:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Article title.
  • Preprint server,
  • Article identifier.
  • DOI.

Example:

Mohammad, R., Favell, O., Shah, S., Cooper, E. and Vakaj, E. (2023) Utilisation of open intent recognition models for customer support intent detection. arXiv, 2307.16544. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2307.16544.

Kossen, T., Madai, V. I., Lohrke, F., Aydin, O. U., Behland, J., Hilbert, A., Mutke, M. A., Bendszus, M., Sobesky, J. and Frey, D. (2023) Redefining hemodynamic imaging in stroke: perfusion parameter map generation from TOF-MRA using artificial intelligence. medRxiv, 2023.08.22.23294405. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.22.23294405.

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Archive material

  • Authorship
  • (Year(s))
  • Title.
  • [format]
  • Collection,
  • Document number.
  • Location:
  • Archive.

Example:

Birmingham Municipal School of Art (1885-1888) School of Art Management Sub-Committee Minutes, Vol. 1. [manuscript] Birmingham City University Art and Design Archives, SA/AD/2/1. Birmingham: Birmingham City University Art and Design Archives.

In-text:

(Birmingham Municipal School of Art, 1885-1888)

Unpublished material that is held in an archive or private collection examples:

Grist, J. (2004) The Century before Yesterday: John Grist's BBC and other broadcasting tales. Volume 2 [unpublished memoir] Private collection.

Strong, R. (1895) Education in Nursing. King’s College London Archives, KCL/RBNA 2/9. London: King's College London Archive Services.

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Pamphlets and Leaflets

A pamphlet is an unpublished item which nonetheless may contain relevant material which you would like to include in your work, especially if it is of a historical nature. Use the same format as a book but you may not have all the bibliographic details required for this format. You may therefore need to include some of the abbreviations shown in the "what if some details are missing?" section.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Edition. (if not first)
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Unpublished pamphlet held at.

Example:

Cinema Theatre Association (2002) Films Return to the Avenue Theatre. Teddington: Cinema Theatre Association. Unpublished pamphlet held at the Local History Centre, West Ealing Library.

Llwchwr Urban District Council (195?) Official Guide to Lougher, Pontardulais, Gorseinon, Gowerton, Llangyfelach & District, Glamorganshire. 3rd edn. Croydon: s.n. Unpublished pamphlet held at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, G.A. Glam. 8° 72 (v. ).

With the advent of the internet, pamphlets or leaflets are now available online, usually from the organisation’s website but remain unpublished i.e. there is no ISBN, no publisher and they are not available for sale to the public.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date]

Examples:

Smith, A. and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Community Dietitians (2020) Food First: Guide to fortifying food. Version 2.0. Revised by S. Creighton, Buckinghamshire CCG Dietetic Department and Jan Knight. Available at: https://www.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Food-first_guide-to-fortifying-food.pdf [Accessed 6 October 2023].

Blake, R. (n.d.) Top Six Rules for Good Leaflets. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/cte/pintra/schooldirect/sd-marketing/writing_good_leaflets.pdf [Accessed 6 October 2023].

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