Library and Information Services

Referencing Style

Referencing is a standardized method of acknowledging sources of information and

ideas that you have used in your thesis in a way that uniquely identifies their source.
Direct quotations, facts and figures, as well as ideas and theories, from both
published and unpublished works (e.g. in press, corrected proof) must be referenced.

There are many acceptable forms of referencing. This information sheet provides a
brief guide to the standard format of the UNESCO-IHE house-style for referencing.
The UNESCO-IHE referencing-style is based on the Hydrogeology Journal by Springer
publishers. ISSN print edition 1431-2174, ISSN electronic edition 1435-0157, online
at http://www.springerlink.com

Despite the existence of a referencing-style for UNESCO-IHE publications, some

supervisors and mentors may have specific preferences. Always check with your
supervisor first.
Whichever style you choose to use in your assignment, always check that your
references are correct, and complete, and make sure the formatting is consistent
for every entry.

Why Reference?

Referencing is necessary to avoid plagiarism. Citing information sources serves a

number of purposes:

• It lends credibility to your work.

• It enables others to locate the source you cited.
• It gives credit to the author/creator for their work.

Avoid Plagiarism
Failure to acknowledge sources is plagiarism, and this is regarded as a very
serious offence.

1
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
1 In-text citations

Steps Involved in Referencing

Note down the full bibliographic details of the information source.

In the case of a book, ‘bibliographical details’ refer to: author/editor, year of

publication, title, edition, volume number, place of publication and publisher as found
on the front and back of the title page. (Not all of these details will necessarily be
applicable).

In the case of a journal article, the details required include: author of the article,
year of publication, title of the article, title of the journal, volume and issue number
of the journal, and the pages numbers.

For all the information which is retrieved from the Internet, in addition to the above
you should note the date that you cited the information, and the web address (URL).
Please note that any type of information retrieved from the Internet must be
acknowledged, whether is has an author or not.
Insert the citation at the appropriate place within the text of the document
(see examples below).
Provide an alphabetical reference list at the end of the document. The list
should not be numbered!

In-text citation styles

The most common styles of inserting citations into your text are integral and non-
integral.

Integral: According to Prichard (1963)

Non-integral: An estuary is a semi-enclosed body of water (Pritchard 1963)

The style you choose to implement in your thesis in entirely up to you. For more
information on these styles and additional guidelines on writing please refer to the
reader “Thesis Writing: Guidelines and Advice” by Wendy Sturrock.
As a general rule you should use only the surname of the author(s), followed by the
year of publication when citing references within the text of your work.
Integral: According to Thurow (1989) there is a general perception that large-
scale rangeland development projects have been unsuccessful.
Non-integral: There is a general perception that large-scale rangeland
development projects have been unsuccessful (Thurow 1989).
2
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
Citing works by different authors with the same family name

Where authors of different references have the same family name, include the
author’s initials in the in-text citation i.e. (Hamilton CL 1994).
Integral: According to Hamilton CL (1994) agricultural land has to be leased
from the state
Non-integral: Agricultural land has to be leased from the state (Hamilton CL
1994)

Citing two or more information sources at the same time

If two or more information sources are cited at the same point in the text, they are
included in the same citation. They are presented in the citation alphabetically by
author.
Integral: According to Jansen (2001) and Unruh (1999) the critical factor in a
nomadic livelihood is access to dry season forage.
Non-integral: The critical factor in a nomadic livelihood is access to dry
season forage (Jansen 2001; Unruh 1999).

Citing an organization as author

If the author of a cited document is an organization, enter the abbreviation of the

organization’s name in your text. In the reference list you start with the abbreviation
but further in your reference you will need to enter the full name of the organization.
See example below.
Integral: According to UNEP (2005) by 2002, the population of Somalia was
estimated at 9.5 million.
Non-Integral: By 2002, the population of Somalia was estimated at 9.5 million
(UNEP 2005)
Reference list example:
UNEP (2005) The State of the environment in Somalia: a desk study. United
Nations Environment Programme, February 2005, UNEP, New York, 68 pp

Citing multiple works by the same author from the same publishing year

Add suffixes a, b, c, etc to the date of publication. For example:

Integral: According to Jacobs (1992a) a numerical method can be use to
describe coupled flow and mechanical deformation in fractured rock.
3
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
 Furthermore Jacobs (1992b) has compared modeling results to a simple
interpenetration model.
Reference list examples:
Jacobs MJ (1992a) Numerical methods in hydrogeology. Springer,
Amsterdam, 375 pp
Jacobs MJ (1992b) Numerical modeling of stress-permeability coupling in
rough fractures. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 287 pp

Citing multiple works by the same author

Place separate entries in your list of references in chronological order, starting with
the earlier date. For example:

Philips J (1982)
Philips J (1986)
Philips J (1993)

Dealing with missing bibliographical information

In case you can not find the place of publication of your information source, state np
in the reference list.
Likens GE, Bormann FA (1995) Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem, 2nd
ed. Springer, np, 324 pp

If no date of publication is given, state nd

In text: According to Maden and Hogan (nd)

Reference list example:

Madden L, Hogan DP (nd) Basic principles of water treatment. IWA Publishing
London

4
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
2 Citing information from the Internet

Before citing information found on the Internet it is imperative that you use your
critical thinking skills to decide whether the information you are about to use is
reliable. Search engine results may match the terms you typed into the
search box, but they don't always match your information need. Using
unreliable information will reflect poorly on your thesis.

This quick scan can help you decide if the information from the Internet is reliable
and whether you want to use it or not.

Accuracy: Is the information peer-reviewed or found in other sources? Does

the work have a bibliography, footnotes, credits or quotes? Is there a
sponsor, writer, or copyright holder name?

Objectivity: Does the information show any biases? Is there a sponsor?

What is the purpose of the information? (to inform? to persuade? to
advertise?)

Date: Is the information current, or does it reflect the time period about
which you are concerned? What is the publication date of the information
source? When was the Web page last revised or updated?

Coverage: What topics are covered, and what are the main points and
concepts? Who is the intended audience? (layperson, professional, scientifical)

Some of the challenges you might be facing when using Internet information sources
are:

Parts of, or none of the bibliographic information is available: for example, no

date or no author. Follow the citation style's rules for handling missing
information.

Web documents generally don't have fixed page numbers. Follow the rules for
the UNESCO-IHE citation style or the style recommended by your mentor.

Hyperlinks: It is easy to get lost as you click from site to site and you may
end up inaccurately attributing a source. Pay close attention to the Web site's
address. Your browser's history file can help you keep track of where you've
been on the Web.

Internet sites change constantly. Note the date you retrieved the information
like so: Cited August 2008.

5
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
Referencing documents from the Internet

Below you will find some examples of referencing Internet information sources.
These examples include Internet documents with no known author and images.

When citing a document found on the Internet you must note the following data:

• the author’s name, if no name is provided please state either the title of the
publication or the name of the organization as the heading for your reference
list
• the year of publication, if no year is provide state nd
• the title of the document
• the citation date, this is the date on which you accessed the information and
cited it

Standard format for Internet references

On very few occasions you will retrieve information from the Internet which provides
you with all the bibliographical data needed for the reference list. In this case please
follow these guidelines to write your references.

State the name and initials of the author, followed by the date of publication. Include
the web address and the date, month and year, you cited the information. Please use
the template below for correct punctuation.

Template for reference list:

Family name initials (year) Title. http://www.webaddress.edu. Cited Month
and Year

Example:
Dawson J (2002) Trek 6: referencing, not plagiarism.
http://www.studytrekk.edu.au/. Cited November 2007

Internet source, no publication date

When you are using an information source from Internet which has no publication
date please state the abbreviation nd in the reference.

Template for reference list:

Family name initials (nd) Title. http://www.webaddress.edu. Cited Month and
Year

Example:
Wels C, Loudon S, Fortin S (nd) Factors Influencing Net Infiltration into Mine
Rock. http://www.robertsongeoconsultants.com/papers/welfin.pdf. Cited
July 2008

6
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
Internet source, no author
When no author’s name is available you will need to cite the title of the document. In
case the author of the cited document is an organization, state the name of the
organization in your reference list.

Template for reference list:

Title of document (year) http://www.webaddress.edu. Cited Month and Year

Examples:
About Google Scholar search strategies (2004)
http://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/about.html. Cited July 2008

National Weather Service (2007) Monthly and daily normals (1971-2000) plus
daily extremes (1895-2007) for Tucson Arizona. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/
elp/climat/rain.shtml. Cited October 2007

Images from the Internet

In text example:
The image of the bleached coral (Coral bleaching and mass bleaching events
2006)

Template for the reference list:

Title of the picture [picture] (year) http://www.image.org. Cited Month and
Year

Example:
Coral bleaching and mass bleaching events [image] (2006)
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/info_services/science. Cited
November 2007

7
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
3 Referencing books, journal articles, reports, conference
proceedings and theses

Book, single author

A typical bibliographic entry for a book has three parts:

• the author
• the title
• the publication information. This last part includes the place of publication,
publisher, date of publication and the pages’ number(s) where you found the
cited information.

Template for reference list:

Family name Initials (year) Title. Publisher, Place of publication, specific pages
used

Example:
Pritchard SP (1963) An introduction to estuaries. Springer, Berlin, 155-156 pp

Book, second or subsequent edition: mention after the title

Example:
Likens GE, Bormann FA (1995) Biogeochemistry of a Forested
Ecosystem, 2nd ed. Springer, New York, 322-324 pp

Edited volume: mention after names

Example:
De Boer PL, Smith DG (eds) (1994) Intelligent optimization techniques:
generic algorithms, tabu search, simulated annealing and neural networks.
Springer, New York, 161-162 pp

Book, 2 authors

Template for the reference list:

Family name Initials, Family name Initials (year) Title. Publisher, Place of
publication, specific pages used

Example:
Jansen LM, Paterson MJ (2007) Fracture surface topography. Springer,
Amsterdam, 349-350 pp
8
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
Book, 3 or more authors

Please note that for the in text citation you will have to use the name and
initials of the first author followed by the abbreviation et al. In the
reference list you must state all the names and initials of all the authors. See
example below.

In text citation
Integral: According to Leeder et al. (2006)
Non-integral: CAT users can assess the impact of climate change (Leeder et
al. 2006)

Template for the reference list:

Family name Initials, Family name Initials, Family name Initials, Family name
Initials, Family name Initials (year) Title. Publisher, Place of publication,
specific pages used

Example:
Leeder P, Hugh AB, Jansen LP, van Heuvel DP, Vermeulen KJ (2006) Joint use
of monitoring and modeling. Springer, Berlin, 211-215 pp

Book, unknown author

It is highly unlikely that you will find a printed document which has no author. In this
case you will have to cite the title of the document itself.

In text citation
Integral: This was apparently not the case before 1995 (Advertising in
the Western Cape 1996)
Non-integral: In Advertising in the Western Cape (1996) it was claimed
that...

Template for the reference list:

Title (1996) Publisher, Place of publication, specific pages used

Example:
Advertising in the Western Cape (1996) ABC Publishers, Cape Town, 24-25
pp

9
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
Referencing books written in a foreign (other than English) language

When you are citing a book which was written in a foreign language you will need to
enter the original title in your reference, followed by its English translation in
brackets.

Template for the reference list:

Family name Initials (year) Title in the original language [translation of the
title in English]. Publisher, Place of publication, specific pages used

Example:
Stueber AM, Walter LM (1993) Die wasserversorgung einer Nordseebaden
[Water supply of a few hydrothermal spas in the North Sea]. Elsevier,
Hamburg, 86-89 pp

Referencing a paper in proceedings

When citing a paper in proceedings your reference must contain the following data:

• the name of author of the paper you are citing

• the title of the paper
• the names of the editors of the conference proceedings. Please note that you
are allowed in this case to use the abbreviation et al. in the reference list, if
the conference proceeding has more than 3 editors
• the title of the conference proceedings
• the place where the conference took place and the date
• the pages’ number(s) where you found the cited information

Template for the reference list:

Family name, Initials (year) Title of paper. In: Family Name Initials (eds)
Complete Title of the proceedings, place and the year, specific pages
used

Example:
Acworth RI, Andersen MS (2004) Geochemical evidence of freshwater
discharge patterns and mixing near a tidal creek, Hat Head, Australia. In:
Ortega A et al. (eds) Groundwater flow understanding: from local to
regional scales, Joint Congress XXXIII IAH and 7-ALHSUD, Zacatecas,
Mexico, 11-15 October 2004, 112-114 pp

10
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
Referencing a paper from an edited volume

When citing a paper in an edited volume, your reference must contain the following
data:

• the name of author of the paper you are citing

• the year of publication
• the title of the paper you are citing
• the names of the editors of the edited volume. Please note that you are
allowed in this case to use the abbreviation et al. in the reference list, if the
conference proceeding has more than 3 editors
• the title of the edited volume
• the place of publication,
• the publisher
• the pages’ number(s) where you found the cited information.
Template for the reference list:
Family name, Initials (year) Title of paper. In: Family Name Initials (eds)
Title of the edited volume. Publisher, Place of publication, specific pages
used

Example:
Phillips FM, Hogan J, Mills S, Hendrickx JMH (2003) Environmental tracers
applied to quantifying causes of salinity in arid-region rivers: preliminary
results from the Rio Grande, southwestern USA. In: Alsharhan AS, Wood
WW (eds) Water resources perspectives: evaluation, management and
policy. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 327-334

Referencing articles in journals

When citing a journal article your reference must contain the following details:

• the name of the author(s)

• the year in which the article was published
• the title of the article
• the name of the journal
• the volume and issue(s) numbers
• the pages’ number of the whole article

Template for the reference list:

Family name Initials (year) Title. Journal title volume number(issue number):
pages numbers of the whole article

Example:
11
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
 Hooper RP, Christophersen N, Peters NE (1990) Modeling stream water
chemistry as a mixture of soil water end-members – An application to the
Panola Mountain catchment, Georgia, USA. Journal of Hydrology
116(3):321-343

Referencing Theses and Dissertations

When citing a dissertation or MSc. thesis, your reference must contain the following
data:

• the name of the author

• the year of publication
• the title of the dissertation or thesis
• the type of the dissertation (PhD or MSc thesis)
• the name of the awarding Institution including the city and country
• specific pages used

Template for the reference list:

Family name Initials (year) Title, Type, Awarding Institution, Place, specific pages
used

Example:
Beekman HE (1991) Ion chromatography of fresh- and sea-water intrusion:
Multicomponent dispersive and diffusive transport in groundwater, PhD
Thesis, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, 104 pp

Referencing reports

When citing reports your reference must contain the following data:

• the name of the author(s)

• the year of publication
• the title of the report
• the number of the report (if available)
• the name of the Institution which published the report
• the place of publication
• the pages’ number(s) where you found the cited information

Template reference list:

Family name Initials (year) Title. Report number. Name of the Institution, Place,
specific pages used

Example:

12
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis
 Singh AK, Singh A, Engelhart M (1997) The lognormal distribution in
environmental applications. EPA /600/S-97/006, US Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 121-122 pp

13
Referencing guidelines

Library and InformationServices

January 2009
Compiled by P. Darvis