Reference lists

A reference list should include all the information your reader needs to find each source, such as:

• author details
• title and subtitle
• publishing details
• edition or volume number, where relevant.

You should generally separate all these elements with commas, although you don’t need one before the year in the author–date system.

The list should be in alphabetical order by author, using the letter-by-letter system. 

Under the documentary note system, you’ll need to order each reference differently from the corresponding endnote. The first author should appear in the order ‘family name | initials’.

If an author has several works listed:

• alphabetise their solo works by title
• list their solo works before any multi-authored ones.

As for titles, we recommend using title case without italics in both referencing systems. But article titles and subtitles should be in sentence case.

You can then use the following short forms for specific elements:

To cite a published book or ebook, include:

• the book title in title case, without italics
• any subtitle in sentence case after a colon.

Add a page number or range if your reference to a print book is specific. But don’t use page numbers for an ebook.

For the author–date system, use this order: 

author’s family name | author’s first initials | year | title | edition | publisher’s name | publisher’s location | page

For the documentary note system, use this order:

author’s family name | author’s first initials | title | edition | publisher’s name | publisher’s location | year | page

If you have multiple authors, put the first author’s family name before their initials, but keep other authors in the order ‘initials | family name’.

To cite an article in a newspaper, magazine, journal or other periodical, include:

• the article title in sentence case, surrounded by quote marks
• the periodical title in title case, without italics.

For the author–date system, use this order: 

author’s family name | author’s first initials | year | article title | periodical title | volume | page range

For the documentary note system, use this order:

author’s family name | author’s first initials | article title | periodical title | volume | year | page range

If you have multiple authors, put the first author’s family name before their initials, but keep other authors in the order ‘initials | family name’.

For reports and other documents an organisation has produced, generally credit the organisation as both the main author and the publisher. If there is a specific author, give this name after the title. Where a government agency within a broader department is the author, give the department as the publisher.

For the author–date system, use this order:

authoring body’s name | year | title | specific author | publisher’s name | publisher’s location | page

For the documentary note system, use this order:

authoring body’s name | title | specific author | publisher’s name | publisher’s location | year | page

To cite web content and social media posts, you can use a similar approach, although social media references generally require fewer details.

Note that the author might be a writer, an editor or an organisation. If the authoring and publishing organisation are the same, you don’t need to repeat the name.

Where you’re including a web address, only format it as a live hyperlink in onscreen content.

For the author–date system, use this order: 

author | year | title | version | format | publisher’s name | publisher’s location | viewing date | URL

For the documentary note system, use this order: 

author | title | version | format | publisher’s name | publisher’s location | year | viewing date and year | URL

You won’t often need to cite an email in a reference list. If you do, you should ideally give the author’s name and email address. But you must have their permission to include the address.

For the author–date system, use this order: 

author | year | format | date sent | email address

For the documentary note system, use this order: 

author | format | date sent, including year | email address