Whenever you refer to another person's work in your own essay, dissertation or article you must acknowledge them and give full details of your source. You risk being accused of plagiarism if you fail to do so.
The Department of English Literature have provided a referencing style guide, based on the MHRA Style Guide, 4th ed. You can download a copy from Blackboard at the link below;
Details of the books, articles, websites and other formats of information you want to reference are entered using a footnote system. A note system has three elements;
* the only exception to this is when you are referring frequently to a literary work like a novel, play or poem - see the box below on Frequent references to literary works eg novels, plays, poems etc
Whenever you want to refer to an idea or quote something, insert a superscript number at the end of your sentence, after the full stop.1 Start at 1 then number each new reference consecutively - use a new number each time you reference something (even if you've previously referenced the same source.)
In Word, you can do this in the References ribbon >> Insert Footnote, and Word will create a corresponding numbered note either in the footer of the page.
In the corresponding footnote, you write the full reference for the item you want to refer to, with the specific page number, or page range, at the end.
1 Elleke Boehmer, Postcolonial Poetics: 21st-Century Critical Readings (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), p. 42.
If you refer to the same source later in your writing, you should use an abbreviated version of the citation in your footnote or endnote - the short version usually includes only the author's surname, the first few words of the title and a page number or page range;
2 Boehmer, Postcolonial Poetics, pp. 142–143.
At the end of your work, insert a Bibliography listing all your sources in alphabetical order of the author / creator's surname. In the Bibliography, reverse the order of the first author's name so that it appear Surname, Firstname - if there is more than one author, keep the subsequent authors' names in their usual order.
Bibliography
Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid's Tale (Virago, 1987)
Boehmer, Elleke, Postcolonial Poetics: 21st-Century Critical Readings (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
Furniss, Tom and Michael Bath, Reading Poetry: An Introduction (Prentice Hall / Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1996)
Wu, Duncan, Romanticism: An Anthology, 4th edn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
—— Wordsworth: An Inner Life (Blackwell, 2002)
This is written as a brief introductory guide - for full rules and guidance of the MHRA referencing style, please see chapters 7 and 8 of the
MHRA style guide Fourth Edition, below;
MHRA Style Guide 4th ed by Footnote - first time
1 Author Firstname Author Surname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year), p. page number.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Author Surname, Shortened Title, p. page number.
Bibliography
Author Surname, Author Firstname, Title of Book, (Publisher Name, Year)
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Kinitra D. Brooks, Searching for Sycorax: Black Women's Hauntings of Contemporary Horror (Rutgers University Press, 2018), p. 79.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Brooks, Searching for Sycorax, pp. 42–43.
Bibliography
Brooks, Kinitra D., Searching for Sycorax: Black Women's Hauntings of Contemporary Horror (Rutgers University Press, 2018)
Footnote - first time
1 Title of Book, ed. by Editor Firstname Editor Lastname (Publisher Name, Year), p. page.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Title, p. page.
Bibliography
Editor Surname, Editor Firstname, (ed.) Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year)
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Literature, Learning and Social Hierarchy in Early Modern Europe, ed. by Neil Kenny (Oxford University Press, 2022), p. 63.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Literature, Learning ed. by Kenny, pp. 89–90.
Bibliography
Kenny, Neil, (ed.), Literature, Learning and Social Hierarchy in Early Modern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2022)
The title of the chapter goes in single quotation marks in plain text - follow this with a comma and the word 'in' before the book title in italics. Include the start and end page numbers for the chapter after the publisher and year, then include your specific page number for this reference in brackets after that.
Footnote - first time
1 Chapter Author Firstname Chapter Author Surname, 'Title of Chapter', in Title of Book, ed. by Editor Firstname Editor Surname (Publisher Name, Year), pp. page number – page number (p. page number), doi:doi number
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Chapter Author Surname, 'Shortened Title', p. page.
Bibliography
Chapter Author Surname, Chapter Author Firstname, 'Title of Chapter', in Title of Book, ed. by Editor Firstname Editor Surname (Publisher Name, Year), pp. page number – page number, doi:doi number
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Melissa E. Sanchez, 'Was Sexuality Racialized for Shakespeare?: Anthony and Cleopatra', in The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race, ed. by Ayanna Thompson (Cambridge University Press, 2021), pp. 123–38 (pp. 125-26), doi:10.1017/9781108684750.009.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Sanchez, 'Was Sexuality Racialized', p. 136.
Bibliography
Sanchez, Melissa E., 'Was Sexuality Racialized for Shakespeare?: Anthony and Cleopatra', in The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race, ed. by Ayanna Thompson (Cambridge University Press, 2021), pp. 123–38, doi:10.1017/9781108684750.009
The title of the article is given in single quotation marks before the Journal title. Instead of a publisher and city of publication, (as for books,) the Volume and Part number of the journal are given with a DOI wherever one is available.
Footnote - first time
1 Author Firstname Author Surname, 'Title of Article', Title of Journal, volume number.part number (Year), pp. page number–page number (p. page number), doi:doi number.
In Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Author Surname, 'Shortened Title of Article', p. page number.
In Bibliography
Author Surname, Author Firstname, 'Title of Article', Title of Journal, volume number.part number (Year), pp. page number–page number, doi:doi number
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Janice A. Thompson, '"O That my Words Were Written Down!": Contested Bodies and Unwelcome Words in the Book of Job and Modern Poetry of Disability', Horizons, 49.2 (2022), pp. 277–304 (p. 289), doi:10.1017/hor.2022.50.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Thompson, '"Oh That my Words"', pp. 283–84.
Bibliography
Thompson, Janice A., '"O That my Words Were Written Down!": Contested Bodies and Unwelcome Words in the Book of Job and Modern Poetry of Disability', Horizons, 49.2 (2022), pp. 277–304, doi:10.1017/hor.2022.50
Separate authors' / editors' names with the word 'and' - only invert the first name listed in the Bibliography entry. If they are editors, use the abbreviation 'eds' in brackets after their names eg. (eds),
Footnote - first time
1 Author Firstname Author Surname, and Author Firstname Author Surname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year), p. page number.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Author Surname and Author Surname, Shortened Title, p. page number.
Bibliography
Author Surname, Author Firstname, and Author Firstname Author Surname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year)
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Martin Munro, and Celia Britton, American Creoles: The Francophone Caribbean and the American South (Liverpool University Press, (2012), p. 42.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Munro and Britton, American Creoles, p. 142–143.
Bibliography
Munro, Martin, and Celia Britton, American Creoles: The Francophone Caribbean and the American South (Liverpool University Press, (2012)
Separate authors' / editors' names with a comma then the word 'and' - only invert the first name listed in the Bibliography entry. If they are editors, in the bibliography after listing their names use the abbreviation 'eds' in brackets eg. (eds),
Footnote - first time
1 Title of Book, ed. by Editor Firstname Editor Surname, Editor Firstname Editor Surname and Editor Firstname Editor Surname (Publisher Name, Year), p. page.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Title, ed. by Editor Surname, Editor Surname, and Editor Surname, p. page.
Bibliography
Editor Surname, Editor Firstname, Editor Firstname Editor Surname, and Editor Firstname Editor Surname (eds), Title of Book, (Publisher Name, Year)
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Contemporary Publishing and the Culture of Books, ed. by Alison Baverstock, Richard Bradford, and Madelena Gonzalez (Routledge, 2020), p. 242.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Contemporary Publishing, ed. by Baverstock, Bradford, and Gonzalez, pp. 89–90.
Bibliography
Baverstock, Alison, Richard Bradford, and Madelena Gonzalez (eds), Contemporary Publishing and the Culture of Books, (Routledge, 2020)
List only the first author's name, followed by 'and others'. If they are editors, in the bibliography after listing their names use the abbreviation 'eds' in brackets eg. (eds).
Footnote - first time
1 Title of Book, ed. by Editor Firstname Editor Surname and others (Publisher Name, Year), p. page.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Title, ed. by Editor Surname and others, p. page.
Bibliography
Editor Surname, Editor Firstname, and others (eds), Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year)
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Desire in Dante and the Middle Ages, ed. by Manuele Gragnolati and others (Legenda, 2012), p. 179.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Desire in Dante, ed. by Gragnolati and others, p. 156–157.
Bibliography
Gragnolati, Manuele, and others (eds), Desire in Dante and the Middle Ages (Legenda, 2012)
E-books which are essentially digitised versions of the print book made available online can be referenced in the same way as print books.
If the e-book you are using is ONLY available online, or has significantly different layout / page numbers to the print you can include a DOI. If there is no DOI available, you can include a URL instead - for URLs make sure to include an Accessed Date.
Example of e-book with DOI:
Footnote - first time
1 Author Firstname Author Surname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year), p. page number, doi:doi.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Author Surname, Shortened Title, p. page number, doi:doi.
Bibliography
Author Surname, Author Firstname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year) doi:doi
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 David McInnis, Shakespeare and Lost Plays: Reimagining Drama in Early Modern England (Cambridge University Press, 2021), p. 142, doi:10.1017/9781108915250.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 McInnis, Shakespeare and Lost Plays, p. 56.
Bibliography
McInnis, David, Shakespeare and Lost Plays: Reimagining Drama in Early Modern England (Cambridge University Press, 2021), doi:10.1017/9781108915250
Example of e-book with URL
Footnote - first time
1 Author Firstname Author Surname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year), p. page number, <URL> [accessed DD Month YYYY].
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Author Surname, Shortened Title, p. page number.
Bibliography
Author Surname, Author Firstname, Title of Book (Publisher Name, Year) <URL> [accessed DD Month YYYY]
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Livingstone Online, ed. by Adrian S. Wisnicki and Megan Ward (2004–21) <https://livingstoneonline.org/> [accessed 11 October 2023].
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Livingstone Online
Bibliography
Livingstone Online, ed. by Adrian S. Wisnicki and Megan Ward (2004–21) <https://livingstoneonline.org/> [accessed 11 October 2023]
Put the URL of the website in angle brackets eg. <URL>, and include both the date the website was published and the date you accessed it.
Websites - named author
Footnote
Author Firstname Author Surname, ‘Title of page or article’, Title of internet site, DD Month Year site was published <URL> [accessed DD Month YYYY].
Footnote - subsequent short version
Author Surname, ‘Title'.
Bibliography
Author Surname, Author Firstname, ‘Title of page or article’, Title of internet site, DD Month Year site was published <URL> [accessed DD Month YYYY]
Example
Footnote
Shola Lee, ‘Holly Jackson: "Obviously, I Love Murder - Fictional Murder"’, BBC News, 7 July 2024 <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgk41ylmgeo> [accessed 11 July 2024].
Footnote - subsequent short version
Lee, ‘Holly Jackson'.
Bibliography
Lee, Shola, , ‘Holly Jackson: "Obviously, I Love Murder - Fictional Murder"’, BBC News, 7 July 2024 <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgk41ylmgeo> [accessed 11 July 2024]
Websites - no named author
Footnote / Endnote - first time
1 ‘Title of page or article’, Title of internet site, DD Month Year site was published <URL> [accessed DD Month YYYY].
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
2 'Title'.
In Bibliography
‘Title of page or article’, Title of internet site, DD Month Year site was published <URL> [accessed DD Month YYYY]
Example:
Footnote
‘Amy Levy’, Orlando, 2022 <https://orlando-cambridge-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/profiles/levyam> [accessed 11 July 2024].
Footnote - subsequent short version
‘Amy Levy'.
Bibliography
‘Amy Levy’, Orlando, 2022 <https://orlando-cambridge-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/profiles/levyam> [accessed 11 July 2024]
Footnote - first time
1 Title of Film, dir. by Director First Name Director Surname (Country, Year).
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Film Title, dir. by Director Surname.
Bibliography
Title of Film, dir. by Director First Name Director Surname (Country, Year).
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Shakespeare in Love, dir. by John Madden (USA, 1998).
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shakespeare in Love, dir. by Madden.
Bibliography
Shakespeare in Love, dir. by John Madden (USA, 1998)
There is no guidance in the MHRA guide for play performances. Below is a suggestion of how to reference a live performance, and an online video of a performance, in a consistent way that blends with MHRA footnote style. In some cases, the theatre name and the theatre company are effectively the same, in which case you only need it once.
Footnote - first time
1 Play Title, dir. by Director Firstname Director Surname (Theatre company: Theatre name, Day Month Year–Day Month Year performance ran)
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Play Title, dir. by Director Surname.
Bibliography
Play Title, dir. by Director Firstname Director Surname (Theatre company: Theatre name, Day Month Year–Day Month Year performance ran)
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Julius Caesar, dir. by Phyllida Lloyd (Donmar Warehouse: Donmar King's Cross, 4 December 2012–9 February 2013)
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Play Title, dir. by Director Surname.
Bibliography
Julius Caesar, dir. by Phyllida Lloyd (Donmar Warehouse: Donmar King's Cross, 4 December 2012–9 February 2013)
If your source is an online video of a play performance, you should also include a DOI, or URL and accessed date depending on what is available. Videos of performances often only have a year, so just miss out the day and month of the performance if you don't have it.
Footnote - first time
1 Play Title, dir. by Director Firstname Director Surname (Theatre company: Theatre name, Year), doi:doi.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Play Title, dir. by Director Surname.
Bibliography
Play Title, dir. by Director Firstname Director Surname (Theatre company: Theatre name, Year), doi:doi
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Much Ado About Nothing, dir. by Jeremy Herrin (Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen, 2011), doi: 10.5040/9781350997158.
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Much Ado, dir. by Herrin.
Bibliography
Much Ado About Nothing, dir. by Jeremy Herrin (Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen, 2011), doi: 10.5040/9781350997158
If you don't have a DOI, use a URL and accessed date instead;
Footnote - first time
1 Play Title, dir. by Director Firstname Director Surname (Theatre company: Theatre name, Year) <url> [accessed DD Month Year]
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Shortened Play Title, dir. by Director Surname.
Bibliography
Play Title, dir. by Director Firstname Director Surname (Theatre company: Theatre name, Year) <url> [accessed DD Month Year]
Example:
Footnote - first time
1 Rage, dir. by Dawn Walton (Eclipse Theatre, 2012) <https://edu.digitaltheatreplus.com/content/productions/rage> [accessed 29 April 2025]
Footnote - subsequent short version
2 Rage, dir. by Walton.
Bibliography
Rage, dir. by Dawn Walton (Eclipse Theatre, 2012) <https://edu.digitaltheatreplus.com/content/productions/rage> [accessed 29 April 2025]
For examples and guidance on how to format footnote and bibliography references for all other formats - videos, films, podcasts, social media posts, art installations and literally anything you can think of - take a look at the Cite them right guidance;
You can use EndNote to automatically format your references in MHRA 4th ed style. The supplied MHRA style in EndNote has some problems with it currently, so I have created the edited version available to download below which is corrected for MHRA 4th ed guidance. [Updated 06/12/2024]
Using Endnote for Footnote style references requires a two step process;
You must also make sure to enter an abbreviated title for second and subsequent footnotes in the Short Title field for each reference in your EndNote Library.
Download and save our edited version of the MHRA style which has been checked for the Book, Edited Book, Book Chapter, Journal Article, Website, Film and Manuscript reference types. Please check all the references in your Word document carefully. You can make any final edits when you are finished writing by converting all your references to plain text.
Download our edited MHRA Footnote style here
Once your selected style has been downloaded click on it to open. Go to 'File' and 'Save as' and 'Save'. This should save it into a location where EndNote can find it and use it. If you have any issues using the style make sure it is saved in one of the following locations.
On your own computer
Save the file into the Styles folder in the EndNote program folder on your computer.
On a Windows computer browse to your Local Disk (C:), open the 'Program Files (x86)' folder, then the 'EndNote' folder and then the 'Styles' folder and save it there.
On an Apple Mac computer go to the Applications area and open the 'EndNote' folder and then the 'Styles' folder and save it there.
For University computers you don’t have admin rights on
Save the file to your personal folders on your computer. This is in Documents\EndNote\Styles (you might need to create the EndNote\Styles folders if they don't already exist).
This online guide has examples of how to reference books, articles, conferences, archives, all different types of art works, performances and exhibitions, digital and social media - literally anything you can think of!
For help with citing specific types of publication contact your subject librarian.
For advice on using references in your work, and how to use them to support your arguments, consult the guidance on the Study Advice website or make an appointment with them.
When you do your dissertation you could consider using EndNote to manage your references. This bibliographic management package can be used to store references, and then insert the citation in your Word document, automatically building the bibliography for you in the correct style.
Find out more on our EndNote webpages:
For information on other options for electronic management of your references see our guide to Managing references:
MHRA Style Guide. a Handbook for Authors and Editors. 3rd Edition by