Bibliographic referencing

Accuracy in referencing every piece of literature you use during the course of your research is essential.

There are major two systems of referencing: Numeric, where citations in the body of your text are indicated by numbers; and Author-Date (also known as parenthetical or Harvard), where the in-text citations are in the form of the author & date of the article enclosed in parentheses. Within these two main systems there are many different styles.

• A PhD thesis is a peer-reviewed document, and therefore you must use the referencing style that is appropriate for your discipline. Your supervisor will be able to advise you which style you should use.
• Academic journals often have their own referencing style, so before you submit an article for publication you should check which style is required. You can find out what this is by looking at the journal's 'instructions for authors' page, which you will find either within the journal or on the publisher's website.

For more advice about avoiding plagiarism and referencing, see:

• Bibliographic Citations: using the APA (Harvard) system [pdf]
• EndNote (this will allow you to create references in any style you want).

Legal Citations

Students in the Salford Law School should use the Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities style:

• OSCOLA 4th edition
• EndNote users: download the OSCOLA style.

For help, please see the Subject Support page for Law.