References demystified. Sara Peacock. SfEP conference 13-15 September 2014.

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If you are involved in editing or proofreading almost any kind of academic material, or, indeed, any serious non-fiction, bibliographical references are an inescapable fact of life. They exist as an aid to the reader, but they are an endless source of confusion for authors, editors and publishers, who have to juggle with several different overlapping systems. How can we ensure that the references in the books we edit are fit for purpose? The main focus of this slide deck is the efficient editing of texts containing bibliographical references and assumes a basic familiarity with at least one of the main reference systems currently in use.

Transcript of References demystified. Sara Peacock. SfEP conference 13-15 September 2014.

References DemystifiedSfEP Conference, Royal Holloway,

15 September 2014

Why do authors use references?

What bibliographical information do we need?

Books

Turner, Victor W. and Edward M. Bruner, eds., The Anthropology of Experience. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Turner, VW & EM Bruner (eds), The Anthropology of Experience. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Turner, Victor W. and Bruner, Edward M. (eds.) The Anthropology of Experience (Urbana: University of Illinois Press).

Turner, V.W. and E.M. Bruner, eds, The Anthropology of Experience. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.

Journal articles

Bauman, Richard. 1975. “Verbal Art as Performance.” American Anthropologist 77(2): 290–311.

Bauman, R (1975) Verbal Art as Performance, American Anthropologist 77, no. 2, 290–311.

Bauman, R. ‘Verbal Art as Performance’, American Anthropologist 77/2 (1975): 290–311.

Chapter in a book

Abrahams, Roger D. 1977. “Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore”. In Frontiers of Folklore, ed. William Bascom, 79–120. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Abrahams, RD (1977) Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore, in W Bascom (ed.), Frontiers of Folklore, 79–120. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Abrahams, R.D. ‘Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore’. In W. Bascom, ed., Frontiers of Folklore. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 79–120.

Web page

Strogatz, Steven. 2008. “Steven Strogatz on Sync.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Accessed March 7, 2009. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_strogatz_on_sync.html.

Strogatz, S. (2008) Steven Strogatz on Sync. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_strogatz_on_sync.html (accessed on 7 March 2009).

ebooks

Buchanan, Donna A. (ed.) Balkan Popular Culture and the Ottoman Ecumene. Kindle file. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007.

Buchanan, DA, ed.(2007) Balkan Popular Culture and the Ottoman Ecumene (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press). Kindle file.

Bibliographies and reference lists

Bibliographies

A bibliography is an alphabetical list of works, which can also contain works other than those cited by the author

A select bibliography is an alphabetical list of works, which may not contain all those cited by the author.

References

A references list contains all publications cited in the text, but only those publications.

A list of further reading is not the same as a select bibliography – it might also contain explanatory paragraphs.

What do we need to check?

• Consistency

• House style

• Punctuation

• Italicization

Standardizing names of authors

Transliterated names: make consistent?

Mixture of names and initials?

More than one initial (e.g. Th. for Théophile)?

Punctuation?

Space between initials?

Order of second and subsequent authors’ names?

Standardizing names of publishers

Include Inc., & Co., & Sons, Ltd, etc.?

Include state with US/Canadian places of publication?

Be wary: some publishers’ names and places of publication have changed over time.

Standardizing other elements

Journal names: abbreviations?

Place(s) of publication

Ordering of lists

Alphabetical order by author’s surname. Then:

•Multiple works by the same single author?•Multiple works by that author and one other?•Multiple works by that author and two or more others?

Naming conventions

Alphabetical order for:

•Spanish names (in two parts)?•Traditional Chinese names?•Surnames with prefixes (e.g. de Beauvoir)?•Mac/Mc?•Saint/St?•Other foreign names?

Short-title system

• Used in footnotes or endnotes.

• Author’s surname and short version of the title given in note.

• The full reference is usually given at first mention in the book (or chapter?), with the short version used thereafter. (If there is a bibliography, the short version can be used throughout.)

• Ibid. can be used, but must be consistent.

Author–date (Harvard) system

• Parenthetical reference in the body of the text of the author’s name, year of publication and (if needed) page no.: (Smith 1993: 48).

• Full reference given in References list.

• Many different variations in citation style are acceptable; consistency is the most important thing.

• Consistency also important for ordering multiple citations in the text: alphabetical or chronological; punctuation?

Other popular systems 1

Numbered systems (e.g. Vancouver)

• Indexed in text with superscript numbers (often in parentheses).

• Publications listed in references list in order they first appear in the text.

• There should be a complete sequence of numbers in the text corresponding to the numbered references.

Other popular systems 2

Author–number system

• Similar to the author–date system.

• Each author’s publications are numbered rather than dated.

MLA

• Author’s name in text is enough (unless there is more than work by that author, in which case title is mentioned). Accompanied by ‘Works cited’ list.

Other editorial tasks

You might be asked to convert short-title references in notes to author–date, or vice versa.

This is not easily automated, so might be better done by the author. Sometimes in multi-author books publishers prefer to leave each chapter internally consistent.