Referencing is an important part of academic writing because it shows where you got your information from. When you use someone else’s work or ideas, you have to acknowledge their effort by placing a reference in the text and in the reference list at the end. If you do not, you may be accused of plagiarism. The system you use in each case will be different but you must always use the same one: that is to say, you must use the same referencing style.
There are many different referencing styles (MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Vancouver, Harvard, etc.) but the one that is most commonly used in the social sciences is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(APA). It stipulates the information you must include, the order it must be in and how it must be punctuated. It also stipulates the differences between referencing in the text and in the reference list, and how to reference different text types.
In the APA style for in-text references, you must include the name of the author or authors and the year of publication, and you may decide to include the page number. The in-text reference itself may be a paraphrase or a quotation.
The APA style for referencing a work in the list of references at the end of the text depends on whether the work is a book or journal article. In the case of a book, the style is as follows: Author, A. (Year of publication). Title of book. Publisher.
In the case of an article, the style is as follows: Author, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of journal, volume, issue, pages.
For further information on the complexities of the APA referencing style, see this resource by Victoria University Melbourne.
There are many different referencing styles (MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Vancouver, Harvard, etc.) but the one that is most commonly used in the social sciences is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(APA). It stipulates the information you must include, the order it must be in and how it must be punctuated. It also stipulates the differences between referencing in the text and in the reference list, and how to reference different text types.
In the APA style for in-text references, you must include the name of the author or authors and the year of publication, and you may decide to include the page number. The in-text reference itself may be a paraphrase or a quotation.
 | Women are increasingly deciding not to work in the home in favour of finding remunerated work, although the extent to which this is happening varies considerably between countries (López Puig, 2008). |
| “The employment rate of women in Europe is generally showing an upward trend, although there are major differences between countries in the European Union” (López Puig, 2008, p. 21). |
The APA style for referencing a work in the list of references at the end of the text depends on whether the work is a book or journal article. In the case of a book, the style is as follows: Author, A. (Year of publication). Title of book. Publisher.
| Guinovart Garcia, A. (2018). Effect of historical memory on contemporary European politics. Routledge. |
In the case of an article, the style is as follows: Author, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of journal, volume, issue, pages.
| Guinovart Garcia, A., & Smitherson, J. (2019). Berlin, Barcelona and Brussels: How historical memory has shaped the cities and their people. Memory Studies, 37(2), 17–32. |
For further information on the complexities of the APA referencing style, see this resource by Victoria University Melbourne.
Recommended citation:
«Referencing styles» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=3344> [consulta: 18 maig 2024].