Studying and Student life

How do I reference?

Referencing - providing information about your sources - is needed for language you quote word-for-word from another source, for text you paraphrase (rewrite using your own words), and for works from which you summarize ideas. Always reference your sources in two places:

  1. In the running text at the place where you are incorporating the information
  2. In a reference list, a bibliography, or a footnote

But how, exactly? There are a lot of different systems for citing sources (so-called ‘referencing styles’ or ‘citation styles’). Referencing styles vary from discipline to discipline. Your lecturer will tell you which style to use. Check the web tutorial RefCite: it provides extensive information about:

  • quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
  • citing sources according to referencing styles used at Tilburg University

Looking for concise information about a particular referencing style, a manual, or useful websites? Click on one of the tabs below.

This style is used in Psychology and related disciplines.

apamanual

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., 2010) contains the official guidelines for citing sources in APA style. The library holds copies of this style guide. Check Tilburg University's catalog, WorldCat Discovery, for locations.

Referencing in APA Style

APA is an author-date system. Sources are cited in text with author name(s) and year of publication. A full citation is given in a reference list at the end of the text

aparef

Check the online course RefCite for more referencing examples.

APA Guide

The university library has compiled a concise APA guide that includes 35 examples of common types of references in APA style. The guide is based on the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the 6th edition of the APA Style Guide to Electronic References (2012).

  • RefCite by Tilburg University: online course on using and referencing sources and avoiding plagiarism

Websites

  • APA Style.org: website of the American Psychological Association (APA), containing information about the APA style, a number of tutorials and some sample papers.
  • APA Style Blog: the official American Psychological Association’s blog , containing easy-to-understand information about citing in APA style. You can search the blog and read posts from APA-editors.
  • APA Formatting and Style Guide: online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University.

This style is used in the Humanities.

Chicagomanual The Chicago Manual of Style (16th rev. ed., 2010) contains the guidelines for citing sources in Chicago Style. This style guide is available online. Note that there are two variants of Chicago Style: Chicago NB (Notes-Bibliography) and Chicago AD (Author-Date). At Tilburg University, Chicago NB is used.

Referencing in Chicago NB Style 

According to the Chicago NB style, sources are cited by placing a superscript number in the text, pointing to a note (either a footnote or an endnote) that contains bibliographical information about the source. The full citation is given in an alphabetical bibliography at the end of the text.

Online journal article, referenced in Chicago NB Style

chicagonbref

Check the web tutorial RefCite for more referencing examples.

Websites

This style is widely used in Economics. There are several variants.

harvardcover

The guidelines for the Harvard Style have been published by several institutions such as the British Standards Institutions, the Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS), and the University of Chicago Press. No official style guide exists.

Referencing in Harvard Style

Harvard is an author-date system. Sources are cited in text with surname of the author(s) and year of publication. The full citation is given in a reference list at the end of the text.

Online journal article, referenced in Harvard Style (AGPS)

harvardref

Example in accordance with the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers / Revised by Snooks & Co. (6th ed., 2002), Milton, Qld.: John Wiley & Sons.

Check the web tutorial RefCite for more referencing examples.

Websites

This style is used in the (Bio)medical Sciences.

The Vancouver style was developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). It is also known as Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URM).
The Uniform Requirements citation style is based largely on the style adapted by the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) for its databases.

stijlgids-citing-medicine_citing-medicine

The style guide Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2nd. ed., 2007) contains the NLM guidelines. This publication is available online.

Referencing in Vancouver Style

Vancouver is a numbered system. Sources are consecutively numbered according to the order in which they are mentioned in the text. References are listed in numerical order in a reference list at the end of the text. Journal titles are abbreviated. You can look up these abbreviations in PubMed. Click on the ‘Journals in NCBI Databases’ link.

Online journal article, referenced in Vancouver Style 

vancouverref

Example in accordance with chapter 23 of Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2nd ed.): Journals on the Internet.

Check the web tutorial RefCite for more referencing examples.

Websites


The 'Leidraad' is used in Law.

leidraad-manual_leidraad

The Leidraad voor juridische auteurs: voetnoten, bronvermeldingen, literatuurlijsten en afkortingen in Nederlandstalige publicaties (7th ed., 2013) contains guidelines for citing sources in Dutch legal texts. This publication is available online.

For online sources, chapter 12 of Internet voor Juristen (2013, Van der Wees & Renden) is used.

Note that for English legal texts, OSCOLA is used.

OSCOLA stands for 'The Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities'. The style was developed by the Oxford Law Faculty in consultation with leading academic law publishers. OSCOLA is widely adopted in the United Kingdom and is available online on the website of Oxford Law.

Note that for Dutch legal texts, the Leidraad voor juridische auteurs (Guide for Legal Authors) is used.

Referencing in OSCOLA Style

OSCOLA is a note system. Foot notes are placed in the text, usually at the end of a sentence. At the bottom of the page, full bibliographic information about the sources is provided. Journal titles are abbreviated. Abbreviations can be checked in the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.

Online journal article, referenced in OSCOLA Style 

oscolaref

Check the web tutorial RefCite for more referencing examples.

Websites

Manage your references with EndNote

EndNote is software that can help you create, manage and use a personal database with bibliographical data. Using EndNote, you can easily convert your references to any style you want.

Questions about citing sources?

You can ask your question via the online form or visit our office hours. See appointment information specialist.