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Harvard - electronic sources

Click below to discover how to reference a wide range of electronic sources.

Ebooks

If the book is available in print, you do not need to reference it as an ebook. Follow the print book guidelines. Scroll down for guidance about ebooks that are only available online, or made for specific readers (e.g. Kindle).

Referencing a print book:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

 

1. Ebooks only available online

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [e-book]
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Example:

Kafka, F. (2005) The Trial. [e-book] Translated by David Wyllie. Project Gutenberg.  Available through: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7849 [Accessed 26 June 2013].

Lindley, C. (2012) JQuery Succinctly. [e-book] Morrisville, NC: Syncfusion Inc. Available through: http://www.syncfusion.com/resources/techportal/ebooks/jquery [Accessed 26 June 2013].

   

2. A chapter in an edited book online

Increasingly, publishers have moved edited content online rather than print so you may need to cite chapters from edited books which are only available online. Use the format:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Chapter title.
  • In: Editorship, ed/eds.
  • Book Title.
  • Volume. (If part of title)
  • Edition. (if not first)
  • Available at: DOI.

Example:

McArthur, A., Klugarova, J., Yan, H. and Florescu, S. (2020) Chapter 4: Systematic reviews of text and opinion. In: E. Aromataris and Z. Munn, eds. JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. Available at https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-20-05.

   

3. Ebooks for specific readers

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [e-reader edition]
  • Edition.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.

Only include an edition where it is not the first.

Example:

Freire, P. (2018) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. [Kindle edition] 50th anniversary edition. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. With an introduction by Donald Macedo and an afterword by Ira Shor. London: Bloomsbury.

Occasionally you may not be able to find out the place of publication in which case use s.l. (sine loco: without place). This is increasingly the case where authors have chosen to self-publish their work, for example:

Gill, R. C. (2016) DBT Peer Connections: Dialectical behavior therapy skills training workbook. [Kindle edition] s.l.: CreateSpace.

  

Journal articles

Some peer-reviewed academic journals, newsletters and magazines are only available as online journals and have no print equivalents. The online versions usually show you how to cite the articles. The articles vary in the issue numbers that they have – some have issue numbers, some only have article numbers. Use 'Available through:' when an article is not directly available from the given URL.

1. Articles with a DOI link

For online-only journal articles, include the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), if supplied. This is the equivalent of a barcode on a physical item providing a persistent link to a journal article. The DOI will always take you to the correct location of the work. Crossref’s DOI display guidelines give the format of the DOI as 'https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx', preferring the use of https and not using dx in the domain name. Systematic Reviews found in the Cochrane database are referenced this way.

Many open access articles do not include page numbers as they are entirely online. Do not include pp. in your reference. However, these articles do include article numbers or article identifiers. Make sure you include these in your reference.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Article title.
  • Journal Title,
  • Volume(Issue),
  • Article identifier.
  • Available at: DOI.

   

Examples:

Cadoni, S., Ishaq, S., Hassan, C., Bhandari, P., Neumann, H., Kuwai, T., Uedo, N., Parra-Blanco, A., Mulder, C.J.J., Binmoeller, K.F. et al. (2020) Covid-19 pandemic impact on colonoscopy service and suggestions for managing recovery. Endoscopy International Open, 08(07), E985-E989. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1196-1711.

Cowdell, F., Jadotte, Y.T., Ersser, S., Danby, S., Lawton, S., Roberts, A. and Dyson, J. (2020) Hygiene and emollient interventions for maintaining skin integrity in older people in hospital and residential care settings. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011377.pub2.

Jahangiri, L. and Hurst, T. (2019) Assessing the concordance of genomic alterations between circulating-free DNA and tumour tissue in cancer patients. Cancers, 11(12), 1938. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11121938.

Nawaz, R., Sun, Q., Shardlow, M., Kontonatsios, G., Aljohani, N. R., Visvizi, A. and Hassan, S. (2022) Leveraging AI and machine learning for National Student Survey: actionable insights from textual feedback to enhance quality of teaching and learning in UK’s higher education. Applied Sciences, 12(1), 514. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010514.

Rosewilliam, S., Indramohan, V., Breakwell, R., Liew, B. X. W. and Skelton, J. (2019) Patient-centred orientation of students from different healthcare disciplines, their understanding of the concept and factors influencing their development as patient-centred professionals: a mixed methods study. BMC Medical Education, 19, 347. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1787-4.

Wang, L., Zhao, D., Wang, M., Vreugdenhil, M., Lin, J. and Lu, C. (2020) Modulation of hippocampal gamma oscillations by dopamine in heterozygous Reeler mice in vitro. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 11 February 2020, Article 586. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2019.00586.

  

2. Articles without a DOI link

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Article title.
  • Journal Title,
  • Volume(Issue).
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Churnside, C. (2017) “Guerra, guerra, all’armi o guerrieri!”: depictions of the Ottoman conflict in Bolognese cantatas. Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, 20(1). Available at: https://sscm-jscm.org/jscm-issues/volume-20-no-1/guerra-guerra-allarmi-o-guerrieri-depictions-of-the-ottoman-conflict-in-bolognese-cantatas/ [Accessed 8 August 2017].

Davies, F. (2012) Fighting, beers and the queered: class, hyper-masculinity and reality TV. Flow TV, 15(12). Available at: http://flowtv.org/2012/05/fighting-beers-and-the-queere/ [Accessed 31 July 2015].

  

3. Forthcoming articles

You may have access to a document, usually an article that is published online before it is published in an issue of a journal, for which you may not be able to provide the full bibliographic details. In your reference list use the DOI for articles and include the words in press.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Article title.
  • Title,
  • in press.
  • Available at: DOI.

   

Example:

Jiménez, S. L., Bustamante-Sánchez, A., Kelly, A. L., Pareja-Galeano, H. and Lago-Penas, C. (2022) Influence of the situational variables on the performance of the teams competing in the Chinese Super League. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, in press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2022.2078095.

 

In-text:

Reports (including PDFs and NICE Guidelines)

1. Electronic reports in PDF format

Omit the place of publication and publisher details if these are not supplied in the pdf itself. Only include an edition where it is not the first.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [pdf]
  • Edition.
  • Place of Publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

   

Examples:

Fautley, M. and Whittaker, A. (2017) Key Data on Music Education Hubs 2016. [pdf] Report for Arts Council England. Birmingham: Birmingham City University. Available at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/key_data_music_report.pdf [Accessed 30 August 2018].

Marsden, S., Rogers, J., Ryder, M and Obia, V. (2022) Beyond Black to Front: Accessing Channel 4’s Black to Front project and new diversity and inclusion challenges. [pdf] Birmingham: Birmingham City University, Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity. Available at: https://bcuassets.blob.core.windows.net/docs/beyond-black-to-front-report-133003778635110536.pdf [Accessed 12 September 2022].

Nursing and Midwifery Council (2018) Future Nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses. [pdf] Available at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/education-standards/future-nurse-proficiencies.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2018].

 

You may wish to cite reports in pdf which form part of a series, in which case add the series number after the publisher in the format:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [pdf]
  • Edition.
  • Place of Publication:
  • Publisher
  • (Reference number).
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Allen, G., Kirk-Wade, E. and Arthur, R. (2020) Police Service Strength. [pdf] (House of Commons Library Briefing Paper SN-00634, 14 October). Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00634/SN00634.pdf [Accessed 20 January 2021].

Ministry of Defence (2015) Defence Engagement. [pdf] Swindon: Development, Concept and Doctrine Centre (Joint Doctrine Note 1/15). Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/570579/20160104-Defence_engagement_jdn_1_15.pdf [Accessed 21 November 2017].

Murphy, A., Weir, B., Waddell, M. and Khokhar, R. (2019) 5G for Broadcasters – New opportunities for distribution and content. [pdf] (BBC Research & Development Department White Paper WHP 360). Available at: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP360.pdf [Accessed 30 January 2020].

 

2.Electronic reports not in PDF format

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

   

Examples:

Office for National Statistics (2018) Cancer Survival in England – Childhood. Patients followed up to 2017. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/cancersurvivalinengland/patientsfollowedupto2017 [Accessed 20 May 2020].

O'Reilly, T. (2005) What is Web 2.0? Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. Available at: http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html [Accessed 28 July 2016].

   

3. Online market research reports

Where reports are accessed through a password-protected site and they are not available in pdf, include the following elements:

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Croner-i Navigate (2022) Fashion Retail: Business sector update, January 2022. Available through: https://library.croneri.co.uk/cobweb-sec/cobweb-SEC-13025 [Accessed 28 August 2022].

Mintel (2022) The Connected Home - UK, July 2022. Available through: https://reports.mintel.com/display/1103057 [Accessed 28 August 2022].

Passport (2022) Footwear in China: Euromonitor International, January 2022. Available through: https://www.portal.euromonitor.com [Accessed 28 August 2022].

   

If a report is available in a pdf format, use the same elements as for an electronic report.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [pdf]
  • Edition.
  • Place of Publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available through: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

MarketLine (2021) Real Estate in the United Kingdom, June 2021. [pdf] London: MarketLine. Available through: http://advantage.marketline.com [Accessed 28 August 2021].

 

4. NICE Guidelines

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title
  • (NICE reference number).
  • Date updated (if applicable).
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2018) Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (NICE Guideline 116). Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116 [Accessed 16 August 2019].

For some NICE guidelines there is a difference between the published date and the date the guidance was last updated. In this case, use the below format.

Example:

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016) Sepsis: Recognition, diagnosis and early management (NICE Guideline 51). Updated September 2017. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng51 [Accessed 16 March 2020].

 

Conference papers

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Paper title.
  • In: Conference Title.
  • Location,
  • Date(s).
  • Place of Publication (optional):
  • Publisher (optional).
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Hockman, J., Southall, C. and Stables, R. (2017) Automatic drum transcription for polyphonic recordings using soft attention mechanisms and convolutional neural networks. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR2016) Conference. New York, 7-11 August 2016, pp. 591-597. Available at: https://wp.nyu.edu/ismir2016/wp-content/uploads/sites/2294/2016/07/217_Paper.pdf [Accessed 8 August 2017].

Javidroozi, V., Shah, H. and Feldman, G. (2019) Smart city development: a business process-centric conceptualisation. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems (ICORES). Volume 1. Prague, 19-21 February 2019, pp. 346-353. Available at: https://www.scitepress.org/PublicationsDetail.aspx?ID=GNGWILplhEg%3d&t=1 [Accessed 16 August 2019].

 

Conference proceedings

  • Editorship, ed./eds.
  • (Year)
  • Title of Conference.
  • Location
  • Conference date(s).
  • Place of Publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Boultwood, A. and Hindle, S., eds. (2018) Culture, Costume and Dress: Proceedings of the 1st international conference. Birmingham City University, 10-12 May 2017. Birmingham: Gold Word Publishing. Available at: http://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/5701/1/Costume%20Conference%20Proceedings.pdf [Accessed date 15 August 2018]

 

Conference posters

Poster presentations are a common form of presenting information at conferences. There can be hundreds of posters displayed, often organized by topic, with opportunities for presenters to discuss their work with interested participants provided by designated poster sessions in the conference schedule. These may be made available online after the event. Follow the same style for conference papers and proceedings but include poster as the medium.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title. [Poster]
  • Presented at Conference Title.
  • Location,
  • Date(s).
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Brooks, I. (2013) Paper chains and octopuses: an activities based information skills session. [Poster] Presented at LILAC (Librarians' Information Literacy Annual Conference) 2013. The University of Manchester Library, Manchester, 25-27 March. Available at:https://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/brooks-paper-chains-and-octopuses-poster-abstract [Accessed 10 February 2023].

Dadzie, E., Perra, O., Noble, H. and McKenna, J. (2021) Association between mindfulness and anxiety in postnatal mothers during the covid-19 pandemic. [Poster] Presented at Research and Scholarly Activity Showcase 2021. Queen’s University Belfast School of Nursing and Midwifery. Available at: https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofNursingandMidwifery/FileStore/Filetoupload,1087363,en.pdf [Accessed 10 February 2023].

 

Clinical trials

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the regulatory authority responsible for clinical trial approvals, oversight, and inspections in the UK. Their guidance on clinical trials for medicines, updated in November 2022, advises that the summary results of the clinical trial should be published within one year in the public register (or registers) where the clinical trial was registered. The guidance on applying for authorisation of clinical trials advises that, from 1 January 2022, the Health Research Authority (HRA) will automatically register clinical trials with ISRCTN Registry as one of the steps to ensure research transparency. For any submissions submitted up to 31 December 2021, clinical trials should be registered on an established international register such as ISRCTN Registry or ClinicalTrials.gov. There is a full list of the primary registries (currently 18) on the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). None of these pages give advice on citing clinical trials nor does the Cochrane Training web page which gives advice to systematic reviewers on searching clinical trials registers.

Based on advice from specific journals, for example, the advice to authors in Trends in Molecular Medicine which states: “Please indicate where the trial is registered; e.g. WHO’s International Clinical Trial Registry Platform or in ClinicalTrials.gov, etc. Please add the identifier number”, use the format:

  • Author
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Clinical trial registry
  • (Identifer number).
  • Available at: URL (Accessed date)
  • Or Available at: DOI.

Examples:

McIntyre, H. (2019) Facilitating skin-to-skin contact in the postnatal period. Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02998463). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02998463 [Accessed 2 March 2023].

MolecuLight Inc. (2020) Presence of fluorescence signature to predict graft failure using MolecuLight i:X. Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04185636). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04185636 [Accessed 2 March 2023].

Morel, J. (2022) Efficacy of a sequential treatment strategy in rheumatoid arthritis. A randomized controlled trial with an independent efficacy assessor. EU Clinical Trials (EUCT 2022-500234-29-00). Available at https://euclinicaltrials.eu/app/#/view/2022-500234-29-00 [Accessed 2 March 2023].

Soundy, A. A. (2021) The feasibility of student physiotherapists delivering a brief psychological intervention to stroke patients. ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN14244302). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN14244302.

 

News articles

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Article title.
  • News Source Title.
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Andrews, K. (2020) Roy Hackett: the civil rights hero who stood in front of a bus – and changed Britain for ever. The Guardian, 6 August. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/06/roy-hackett-the-civil-rights-hero-who-stood-in-front-of-a-bus-and-changed-britain-for-ever [Accessed 27 August 2020].

Hamourtziadou, L. (2022) Ukraine war: how Russian denial of civilian casualties follows tactics used in Syria. The Conversation, 21 March. Available at: https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-how-russian-denial-of-civilian-casualties-follows-tactics-used-in-syria-179583 [Accessed 12 September 2022].

 

Where no author is given, use the title of the newspaper in the text of your work.

The Telegraph (2012) Telegraph Media Group: frequently asked questions, syndication services, 14 January. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/syndication-services/4272574/Telegraph-Media-Group-Frequently-Asked-Questions.html [Accessed 31 July 2015].

 

Websites

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Conflict Memory Displacement (2016) Conflict Memory Displacement: Responding to the refugee crisis in the UK and Italy. Available at: http://conflictmemorydisplacement.com/ [Accessed 28 July 2016].

National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (2013) Birthplace in England Research Programme (Birthplace). Available at: https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/birthplace [Accessed 25 July 2013].

 

Social media

As social networking websites require registration and acceptance by other members, use the website name as the source and place this in italics as shown in the examples below. Include the date of the publication or post so that the item can be found. Include the post creator or the image creator as the author. You will need to include any discussion or any images to which you are referring in an appendix to your work so that it can be viewed. 

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Post title.
  • Social Networking Site,
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Goldberg, M. (2018) Researchers find pathogens in hospital ice machines. LinkedIn, 7 February. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/researchers-find-pathogens-hospital-ice-machines-martin-goldberg?trk=portfolio_article-card_title [Accessed 8 August 2019].

Music of the Unseen (2022) Charles Stepney and David Axelrod. Facebook, 18 August. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/mvvat8tc [Accessed 12 September 2022].

Psychogios, A. (2020) Are your facial expressions important in motivating people? Does your face communicate emotions? Leaders should not ignore the fact that their ability to lead does not only relate to the things that they do and say, but also to their facial features!! Twitter, 4 December. Available at: https://twitter.com/AlexandrosPsyc1/status/1334862532482314242 [Accessed 21 August 2021].

 

For videos and reels, use the account name as the creator that sponsored or generated the content. Include the medium - photograph or video, for example, in the reference.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Post title.
  • [Medium]
  • Social Networking Site,
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

ElenaHowardPhotography (2017) Flowers at Bermondsey Square. [photograph] Instagram, 30 June. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/BV-uNjeFnry/ [Accessed 23 November 2022].

myBCU (2022) Green spaces in Birmingham. [video] Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkY28Q6jmvk/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= [Accessed 23 November 2022].

Birmingham City University (2022) The glow up of @Steamhouse. [video] TikTok. Available at: https://www.tiktok.com/@birminghamcityuni/video/7150662437493067013?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7169243202619344389. [Accessed 23 November 2022].

 

Blog posts and comments

1. Blog posts

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Blog entry.
  • Blog Title.
  • [blog]
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Clancy, J. (2020) No Covid-19 deaths or cases; the safest neighbourhoods in England – what makes them so special? Birmingham City University Centre for Brexit Studies Blog. [blog] 11 August. Available at: https://centreforbrexitstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/no-covid-19-deaths-or-cases-the-safest-neighbourhoods-in-england-what-makes-them-so-special/ [Accessed 27 August 2020].

Wall of Sound (2007) Rocking around the clock: teenage dance fads 1955 to 1965. Wall of Sound. [blog] 19 September. Available at: https://wallofsound.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/rocking-around-the-clock-teenage-dance-fads-1955-to-1965/ [Accessed 11 May 2016].

 

2. Blog comments

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Blog entry: comment.
  • Blog Title.
  • [blog]
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Allen, J. (2015) What is this political space we call ‘immigration’?: comment. openDemocracyUK. [blog] 23 March. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/steve-garner/what-is-this-political-space-we-call-%27immigration%27 [Accessed 28 July 2016].

 

Email discussion lists

For personal email correspondence, see other sources.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Message title.
  • Discussion List Title,
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Ashford, G. (2020) An accurate way to see which 4g mast you're connecting to. ISP Review, 28 April. Available at: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/an-accurate-way-to-see-which-4g-mast-youre-connecting-to.36119/ [Accessed 28 August 2021].

Harris, C. (2012) Are journal rankings damaging logistics as an academic discipline? Logistics Research Network JISCMail List, 18 October. Available through: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=ind1210&L=logistics-research-network&F=&S=&P=71 [Accessed 26 August 2015].

 

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias (including Wikipedia and BNF)

If a dictionary or encyclopaedia is available online, there are two options for the reference. If there is no named editorship, use the name of the work as the institutional author. 

1. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title of Dictionary.
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Encyclopaedia Britannica (2014) Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: http://www.britannica.com/ [Accessed 17 October 2014].

Soegard, M and Dam, R. F., eds. (2013) Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. 2nd edn. Aarhus, Denmark: Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/books/hci.html [Accessed 31 July 2015].

 

2. Dictionary and encyclopaedia entries available online e.g. Wikipedia and BNF

Remember to carefully evaluate Wikipedia entries by reviewing the sources used, before using them in an academic piece of work.

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title of Entry.
  • Place of publication (optional):
  • Publisher. (optional)
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Joint Formulary Committee (2021) British National Formulary (BNF). Co-codamol. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available at: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/co-codamol.html [Accessed: 19 April 2021].

Paediatric Formulary Committee (2021) British National Formulary for Children (BNFC). Co-codamol. London: BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press, and RCPCH Publications. Available at: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/drug/co-codamol.html [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Wikipedia (2015) Local Interconnect Network. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker [Accessed 31 July 2015].

 

3. Articles in edited dictionaries and encyclopaedias

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Entry title.
  • In: Editorship ed./eds. 
  • Title of Dictionary.
  • Edition (if not first).
  • Place of publication:
  • Publisher.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Hook, K. (2013) Affective computing. In: M. Soegard and R. F. Dam, eds. Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. 2nd edn. Aarhus, Denmark: Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/affective-computing [Accessed 29 June 2016].

Larkham, P. (2019) Fidler, Alwyn Gwilym Sheppard (1909-1990). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Dissertations and theses

Dissertations and theses are treated in a similar way to printed books but instead of giving information about the publisher you need to give the name of the institution where the dissertation was undertaken and the type of degree for which it was written. If the thesis is available online, the URL and accessed date should also be provided.

  • Authorship
  • (Year) 
  • Title.
  • Level.
  • University.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Zhao, T. (2018) Contemporary Fashion Illustration in China and Its Application in the Chinese Fashion Market with Special Reference to Chinese Elements. Ph.D. Thesis. Birmingham City University. Available at: http://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/7279/ [Accessed 8 August 2019].

 

Working papers or briefing papers

Working papers are now all available online and are published as part of a series. The paper may be a prelude to a journal article or conference paper as the author seeks to obtain feedback on their ideas before publication in a peer-reviewed source. They are available on the websites of organizations or universities. Some working papers are published as part of research networks such as SSRN and these can be cited as preprint servers (see preprints under "legal and governmental sources").

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • Place of Publication:
  • Publisher
  • (Reference number).
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Example:

Ganguly, A. and Spinola, D. (2022) Growth and Distribution Regimes Under Global Value Chains: Diversification, integration and uneven development. Birmingham: Birmingham City University (Birmingham City Business School, Centre for Applied Finance and Economics (CAFE) Working Paper No. 17). Available at: http://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/12775/ [Accessed 12 September 2022].

 

Press releases

  • Authorship
  • (Year)
  • Title.
  • [press release]
  • Day and Month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Birmingham City University (2022) New Second Series of Hit BBC Show Puts University’s School of Jewellery Centre Stage. [press release] 17 August. Available at: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/news-events/news/new-second-series-of-hit-bbc-show-puts-universitys-school-of-jewellery-centre-stage [Accessed 12 September 2022].

Prime Minister’s Office, H.M. Treasury and Department for Communities and Local Government (2015) PM and Chancellor Announce 'One Nation' Plans to Spread Homeownership Across the Country. [press release] 4 July. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-and-chancellor-announce-one-nation-plans-to-spread-homeownership-across-the-country [Accessed 31 July 2015].

 

Speech transcripts

  • Speaker
  • (Year)
  • Title,
  • Location,
  • Day and month.
  • Available at: URL
  • [Accessed date].

Examples:

Cameron, D. (2015) PM on Plans for a Seven-day NHS, London, 18 May. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-on-plans-for-a-seven-day-nhs [Accessed 31 July 2015].

Lawton, R. (2014) Impact: Lots of Questions Some Answers, Birmingham, 2 April. Keynote address at the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Enhancing holistic healthcare employability for successful student transition seminar series. Available at: http://www.bcu.ac.uk/Download/Asset/318b1f55-3000-e411-83a8-0025b3ab12a4 [Accessed 11 August 2017].

Religious texts online

  • Title,
  • (Year)
  • Edited by editorship (optional)
  • Available at:
  • [Accessed date].

You are increasingly likely to cite religious verses from sacred texts which are available online through a web page or via a mobile app. Use these formats for your references, making sure that you specify the specific translation or version of the text that you are using.

Examples:

The Holy Bible, New International Version (2021) Available at: https://www.biblestudytools.com/niv/ [Accessed 4 March 2021].

Life.Church (2020) The Holy Bible, YouVersion (8.23.1). [app, Apple iOS] Available at: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible/id282935706 [Accessed 11 August 2017].