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 Geography and Environmental Science recommend using the Harvard system of referencing (a couple of examples are shown below). For more information see your Department handbook.
For general information on referencing, including an explanation of different citation systems, and guidance on citing specific types of publication, see our Citing references guide.
For help with citing specific types of publication contact your liaison 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.
The Department of Geography and Environmental Science recommend using the Harvard system of referencing. This is a commonly used author-date in-text citation style, which has a reference list or bibliography at the end, listing the sources in alphabetical order by author's surname.
When you quote, paraphrase or draw on a specific idea, argument or point made by someone else, you must also include page numbers in your in-text citation, e.g. (Maddrell, 2019, p. 16).
A few examples of how to reference some common publication types are below, but you will find many more examples via Cite Them Right online, a link to which is available at the bottom of this box - the key is to be consistent!
Citing a whole book example
In-text citation:
(Barry and Chorley, 2010)
Reference list:
Barry, R.G. and Chorley, R.J. (2010) Atmosphere, weather and climate. 9th edn. London: Routledge.
Citing a book chapter example
In-text citation:
(Dunford and Smith, 1998, p.205)
Reference list:
Dunford, M. and Smith, A. (1998) 'Uneven development in Europe', in D. Pinder (ed.) The New Europe: economy, society and environment. Chichester: Wiley, pp. 203-222.
Citing a journal article example
In-text citation:
(Wasson and Hyde, 1983)
Reference list:
Wasson, R.J. and Hyde, R. (1983) 'Factors determining desert dune type', Nature, 304(5924), pp. 337-339.
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:
