Note Taking

Textual References

Textual References (or Citations)

When writing an essay, it is sometimes necessary to make a reference within your text to a specific author and work.
This is called a textual reference or citation : it is a specific way of showing at each point where your information or quotation has come from.
Here are some conventions under the Harvard system of citation for linking specific research material to a listed bibliographic entry.
Follow the in-text material with the surname and year of the cited document followed by the page number. Enclose these in brackets.

Examples:

A recent study (Erskine 1997, 23) has revealed that politicians regularly ...

... in a "wild and negligent manner occasioning panic" (Hull 1997,2)

... as many as three thousand geese (Stride 1997, 144) could be seen ...

No author, (the title may be abbreviated):

... throughout this period there was political instability in Australia (World Book, 1995, 3:191) but the Liberal ...

Two authors with the same surname:

... (Wood B. 1989, 12)

... (Wood F. 1972, 56)

Two documents published in the same year by the same author:

... (Stride and others 1997a, 59)

... (Stride and others 1997b, 10)

If you include an author's name in the sentence:

Podgrove has argued this point (1995, 85) ...

This point has already been argued (Podgrove 1995, 85) ...

If the quotation is lengthy, use a block quotation:

Mahon adds insight to our understanding of the War of 1812:

Financing the war was very difficult at the time. Baring Brothers, a banking firm of the enemy country, handled routine accounts for the United States overseas, but the firm would take on no loans. The loans were in the end absorbed by wealthy Americans at great hazard - also, at great profit to them. (1988, 385).