Home » Studying » Referencing » Glossary
- access date
- The date when you most recently looked at an online source, such as a web page or video. For example: (Accessed: 4 August 2022).
- author
- The person or organization responsible for creating the book, article, web page, video, etc. For example: William Shakespeare or University of East Anglia.
- author-prominent citation
- A type of in-text citation used when the author is important for some reason. Their name is included in the normal flow of text. The year goes in brackets. Sometimes called a narrative or integral citation. Example: “However, this claim is disputed by Watson (2013), who argues that...”
- bibliography
- A list of all the sources (books, journal articles, etc.) that you have read for your essay, not just the sources that you have cited. Not usually necessary.
- chapter
- One of the parts into which a book is divided. Sometimes these are numbered (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.) and sometimes they have titles. In an edited book the chapters are written by different people.
- DOI
- Digital Object Identifier = numbers and letters used to identify an online journal article, etc. Usually shown as a link. For example: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2009.07.052.
- edition
- The version of a book, etc. that was printed at a particular time. Usually described by a number: Second edition, Third edition, etc. Abbreviated as: 2nd edn., 3rd edn.
- editor (of a book)
- Someone who prepares a book whose chapters have been written by different authors. Abbreviated as (ed.) or (eds), if there is more than one editor.
- et al.
- Et alii/aliae/alia (Latin) = and others. If there are four or more authors, use only the first author’s name and et al.
- Harvard
- A referencing style with in-text citations (author’s names and years) and a reference list (sources listed alphabetically by author). Other referencing styles include APA, Chicago, MLA and OSCOLA.
- information-prominent citation
- A type of in-text citation used when the the information is more important than the source. Both the author’s name and the year go in brackets. Sometimes called a parenthetical or non-integral citation. Example: “The annual inflation rate exceeded 24% for the first time (Holmes, 2014).”
- initial
- The first letter of someone’s given name. William Shakespeare’s initial is W. Many people have two or three initials.
- in-text citation
- A brief reference in your text to a source (book, journal article, etc.), giving the author and year and perhaps page number.
- OSCOLA
- Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities, a referencing style for legal sources, such as cases, statutes and law books.
- place of publication
- The city or town where the book was published. For example: Abingdon; Oxford; San Francisco.
- primary source
- The original book, article, etc. which is cited in another, later document (the secondary source).
- publisher
- The company or organization that arranged for a book, etc. to be written, printed and sold. For example: Routledge; Macmillan Education; Pearson.
- reference list
- A list at the end of your essay of all the sources (books, journal articles, etc.) that you cited in the text, with full details for each source.
- secondary referencing
- Referencing a book, etc. that you have not read (the primary source) which is mentioned in another book, which you have read (the secondary source). See Secondary referencing.
- secondary source
- A book, article, etc. which cites an earlier document (the primary source).
- surname
- Family name. In English-speaking countries it is the last name. William Shakespeare’s surname is Shakespeare.
- title
- The name of a book, journal, article, website, video, etc. For example: Academic writing: a handbook for international students.
- URL
- Uniform resource locator: the address of a website or web page. For example: https://econ.economicshelp.org/2007/09/economic-systems-free-market.html.
- volume/issue/number/part
- Journals and magazines are often published in volumes and issues/numbers/parts. For example, National Geographic, Volume 222, Number 2.
- year of publication
- The year when a book, etc. was published or a web page was last updated.