cite references in personal statement

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Citing Sources

Although many personal statements will not include any citation of sources, in some cases—particularly if your work is in the sciences and you need to provide a brief literature review—you will need to cite sources at the end of your essay in a “References” section. Chapter 1 discusses the ethical concerns associated with source citation as you write personal essays (see "Student Writing and Ethics" section). To address the more practical problem of citation mechanics, below are ways to address common mechanics challenges:

• In the simplest terms, the two basic citation styles appropriate for personal essays can be referred to as the number system and author-year system. In the number system, a number is provided in the text corresponding to a numbered source cited fully at the essay’s end. In the author-year system, the writer provides the author and year of the source in parentheses after the corresponding text, then cites the source fully at the end of the essay in a references list alphabetized by authors’ last names.
• When you use a references section at the end of an essay, provide full bibliographic information for your sources—e.g., author, article title, book or journal title, relevant page numbers, and website address if relevant. Because the mechanics of citation vary slightly from one journal to the next, most writers model their references page on that of a respected journal in their field.
• For convenience in a personal essay, it is acceptable to cite sources—especially if you use just one or two—in numbered footnote form at the bottom of the page. However, if you have more than a few sources, a separate section entitled “References” at the end of the essay is best.
• Sometimes, rather than a formal footnote or end citation, a contextual narrative citation will be sufficient if you are using a well-known quote or paraphrase (“Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge”) or attributing authorship and context directly (“As stated in a funding proposal authored by our research group, the hypothesis for my thesis research is . . .”).
• If you include figures or tables taken or adapted from a published source, cite the source directly in the figure or table caption, using the same citation style employed throughout the essay.

To see the above tips in action, browse through the sample essays in the later chapters of this manual, where you will find ample evidence of how other writers met their source citation challenges. For further detail about source citation practices, you can also go to Chapter 5 of the manual Style for Students Online .

For discipline-specific examples of citation form, turn to these two URLs:

“Research and Documentation Online” (download) from popular style guide author Diana Hacker

“Write & Cite: Writing Resources: Citing” article from San Antonio College

APA (7th ed.), Citation Style: Citing Personal Communications

• Introduction to APA
• General Guidelines
• Who (Author)
• When (Publication Date)
• What (Title)
• Where (Publication Information)
• Formatting Author Information

Citing Personal Communications

• Citing Indirect Sources (secondary sources)
• Citing Sources with Missing Information (author, date, or page numbers)

Not all of your sources will come from books, journals, newspapers, etc.  Some of them will consist of personal communications, or personal conversations, emails, class lectures, performance art, or research interviews.  Cite personal communications only in the text,  give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide the exact date if possible (see APA, section 8.9, p. 260).

Personal Communication Example

Narrative Citation: According to S. Brown (personal communication, July 22, 2012), the statistics class is full.

Parenthetical Citation: The statistics class is full (S. Brown, personal communication, July 22, 2012).

If the personal communication is recoverable, then the source should be cited as an archived material and be in the reference list.

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/personal-communications

Research Interviews (see Section 8.36, p. 278).

Though most personal communications include the communicators first initial and surname, in the case of research interviewees, the participant's identity must remain anonymous for ethical reasons.  As a result, you should not include any identifying information.  Here are some ways to keep your participants anonymous:

• Do not provide any identifying information:

Observations by one of the students interviews draws more attention to the initial problem: [Insert quote without other attributions]

• Identify the participant by age or some other type of data:

"The experience was different and exhausting (male participant, 43 years of age)."

"In retrospect, I would have spent more time with the research librarian (female psychology student)."

Use letters, nicknames, or roles to identify participants

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• Next: Citing Indirect Sources (secondary sources) >>
• Last Updated: Dec 20, 2021 3:42 PM
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Citations: Personal Communication

Personal communications may include private letters, memos, some electronic communications (like e-mails), personal interviews, and telephone conversations. Participant interviews in a doctoral capstone study, however, are treated differently from personal communication. For more information on citing interview transcript excerpts, see this APA blog post or the dissertation or doctoral study guidebooks on Walden’s student publications site . The defining characteristic of a personal communication is that it does not provide recoverable data. For example, when you are conducting a personal interview, the reader would never be able to access a transcript of that interview.

When you are citing a personal communication in text, APA asks that you always use the source's first initial and full last name, like this: J. Smith, K. Cho, or N. Ramachandran.

Even though this person might be a friend or someone you know personally, APA still requires you to use the person's first initial and full last name. This rule applies to every instance where you use the source's name in your paper.

Citing Your Personal Communication

In a parenthetical citation, use the words "personal communication" and the exact date that the personal communication occurred. Here is an example of a parenthetical citation of a personal communication:

Fruity candy is much better than chocolate (J. Smith, personal communication, October 10, 2010).

When referencing the source of your personal communication in text, however, you do not need to include the source's name in the parenthetical citation. Here is an example of an in text citation:

J. Smith proudly stated that fruity candy is much better than chocolate (personal communication, October 10, 2010).

Although you are required to cite personal communications whenever you are referencing information from that source, personal communications should not be included in your references list. Instead, when you cite a personal communication, the exact date of when this personal communication occurred is sufficient information for the reader.

Personal Communications Video

• Nontraditional Sources: Personal Communications (video transcript)

Related Resource

Knowledge check: personal communication.

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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Personal Communications

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What Is Personal Communications?

Works that cannot be retrieved by readers are cited in the text as personal communications . Personal communications include emails, personal interviews, phone conversations, text messages, online chats, live speeches, class lecture notes, letters, etc.

In-Text Citation or Reference List?

You do not include personal communications in your reference list; instead, parenthetically cite the communicator's name, the phrase "personal communication," and the date of the communication in your main text only.

Sometimes you may find interviews with people in journals, magazines, newspapers, websites etc. In those cases, don't use the "Personal Communications" category. Instead cite them according to how you found the information. For example, an interview in a magazine would be cited like a magazine article. That way anyone reading your assignment could easily track down the interview for themselves by finding the same magazine article.

Personal Communications in the Text

Parenthetically cite the communicator's name, the phrase "personal communication," and the date of the communication in your main text.

Note : Personal communications are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry in the Reference list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content.

"Infections are often contracted while patients are recovering in the hospital" (J. D. Black, personal communication, May 30, 2013).

J.D. Black explained that "infections are often contracted while patients are recovering in the hospital" (personal communication, May 30, 2013).

Note : If the name of the communicator is mentioned in the sentence leading into the quote or paraphrased content, you do not need to repeat it in the in-text citation.

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APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

• Basics of APA Formatting
• In Text Quick View
• Block Quotes

The Generic Reference

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References appear at the end of your document and follow a Who, When, What and Where format.  Only include sources you cited within your research document (*exception for personal communications which are excluded from the reference list).

Who:  Identify the creator of the source.  Who can be: a single author; multiple authors; an organization or corporation; editor/s; or the director and producer.  On some occasions when authorship cannot be attributed then you revert to the title entry formatting. 

When:   Identify when the source was published.  For most source types,  simply provide a year of publication.  Exceptions as follows: year followed by month for papers and posters presented at conferences; year followed by month and date for blogs, social media, newspaper and magazine publications.  When there is no publication date (common for web documents and other content) use the abbreviation n.d. for "no date."

What: Title of the source.  This is the title identified for the individual source, rather than where the source is published.  For articles, you want to identify the title of the article rather than the Journal name.  The same can be said for the title of a newspaper article vs. the newspaper name or the title of a webpage vs. the website name.  (ex.  "Mission statement" is a page title on the APA website).

Where:   Once you identify the Who, When, and What, the rest of the information provided to complete the reference falls under "Where."  This portion of the reference sees variations in information included based on source type.  Essentially, it will provide information as to where the reader can retrieve the source.  Where can fall under 2 broad categories: works part of a great whole and stand-alone sources.

Visit the individual Reference Type pages to see further formatting and examples for your source type.

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• Next: Books & eBooks >>
• Last Updated: Aug 8, 2024 10:42 AM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/APA7th

Basic Principles of Citation

APA Style uses the author–date citation system , in which a brief in-text citation directs readers to a full reference list entry. The in-text citation appears within the body of the paper (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix) and briefly identifies the cited work by its author and date of publication. This enables readers to locate the corresponding entry in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper.

Each work cited must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix).

Both paraphrases and quotations require citations.

The following are guidelines to follow when writing in-text citations:

• Ensure that the spelling of author names and the publication dates in reference list entries match those in the corresponding in-text citations.
• Cite only works that you have read and ideas that you have incorporated into your writing. The works you cite may provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer critical definitions and data.
• Readers may find a long string of citations difficult to understand, especially if they are using assistive technology such as a screen reader; therefore, include only those citations needed to support your immediate point.
• Cite primary sources when possible, and cite secondary sources sparingly.
• Cite sources to document all facts and figures that you mention that are not common knowledge.
• To cite a specific part of a source , provide an author–date citation for the work plus information about the specific part.
• Even when sources cannot be retrieved (e.g., because they are personal communications ), still credit them in the text (however, avoid using online sources that are no longer recoverable).

Basic principles of citation are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.1 to 8.36 and the Concise Guide Sections 8.1 to 8.34

Related handouts

• In-Text Citation Checklist (PDF, 227KB)
• Six Steps to Proper Citation (PDF, 112KB)

From the APA Style blog

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Key takeaways from the Psi Chi webinar So You Need to Write a Literature Review

This blog post describes key tasks in writing an effective literature review and provides strategies for approaching those tasks.

How to cite a work with a nonrecoverable source

In most cases, nonrecoverable sources such as personal emails, nonarchived social media livestreams (or deleted and unarchived social media posts), classroom lectures, unrecorded webinars or presentations, and intranet sources should be cited only in the text as personal communications.

The “outdated sources” myth

The “outdated sources” myth is that sources must have been published recently, such as the last 5 to 10 years. There is no timeliness requirement in APA Style.

From COVID-19 to demands for social justice: Citing contemporary sources for current events

The guidance in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual makes the process of citing contemporary sources found online easier than ever before.

Citing classical and religious works

A classical or religious work is cited as either a book or a webpage, depending on what version of the source you are using. This post includes details and examples.

Academic Writer—APA’s essential teaching resource for higher education instructors

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APA Style webinar on citing works in text

Attend the webinar, “Citing Works in Text Using Seventh Edition APA Style,” on July 14, 2020, to learn the keys to accurately and consistently citing sources in APA Style.

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In-Text Citations: The Basics

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 261-268 of the Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

Note:  On pages 117-118, the Publication Manual suggests that authors of research papers should use the past tense or present perfect tense for signal phrases that occur in the literature review and procedure descriptions (for example, Jones (1998)  found  or Jones (1998)  has found ...). Contexts other than traditionally-structured research writing may permit the simple present tense (for example, Jones (1998)  finds ).

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but  NOT  directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source:  Permanence and Change . Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs:  Writing New Media ,  There Is Nothing Left to Lose .

( Note:  in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized:  Writing new media .)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word:  Natural-Born Cyborgs .
• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's  Vertigo ."
• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text:  The Closing of the American Mind ;  The Wizard of Oz ;  Friends .
• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

Short quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

Formatting example for block quotations in APA 7 style.

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers. APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work. 

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References in statement of purpose

I'm applying to math PhD programs in the US. In my statements of purpose, should I include references to the literature? I haven't done so yet, but I keep thinking I probably should.

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• 1 Do you have a need to cite a paper in your SoP? If so, go for it. I've never heard of such a thing though - a statement of purpose is about YOU, not someone else's work. –  tonysdg Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 18:08
• Possible duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/q/31567/14716 –  ZYX Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 19:24
• @YuxinZhou: Could very well be - I'm just not sure if fourierwho wants to know if (1) they should include citations for references that they've used in their SoP, or (2) they should include references in the first place. –  tonysdg Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 20:09

2 Answers 2

Most mores in academia are idiosyncratic. I wouldn't put references in my personal statement - it's seen as over-doing it (in my department - Psychology, at least). If you want to include literature in your statement, you should try to discuss the literature more generally and only cite specific authors if those research studies actually contribute significantly to your statement.

If you were to include a specific citation, I wouldn't advise that you include a reference list. Keep in mind that committees read through hundreds of applications every year and likely won't look favorably on you adding more paper content to their already large stack of applications.

Many schools also have page limits for their applications, and they may see your reference page as additional material and disqualify your application.

Everyone has different experiences - most mathematicians only see a handful of departments in their life - but I don't believe references to the research literature are very common in mathematics "statement of purpose" documents.

A mathematics statement of purpose is not the same kind of document as a grant proposal. Typically, students applying to math PhD programs are not expected to be familiar with the research literature. A general statement of the areas you are interested in (e.g. "algebraic geometry" or "graph-theoretic compbinatorics") would be fine.

If you happen to have a significantly above-average background with the literature, so that you can cite it in a meaningful way, then I don't think there would be any harm in doing so.

But you should not try to "stretch" to include references that you do not fully understand, because it is usually clear when someone is stretching in this way, and a reviewer might view it as a factor against accepting you to the program. It's better to be realistic about your background.

You should promote yourself and put yourself in the best light that you can, as long as what you give is an honest picture of your background and experience.

• Thanks! I could definitely see the stretching being seen in a bad light. I'm excited about certain fields, but I don't want to be viewed as a "crank." –  user45103 Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 15:30

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Shona Barrie – Director of Admissions, University of Stirling

UCAS asked admissions tutors – the people who read and score your personal statement – for their advice on what you should and shouldn’t do when writing your personal statement. 

The most common piece of advice was not to worry about it – and don’t be tempted to copy anyone else’s.

Read our step-by-step guide to writing your personal statement

Then follow our simple tips below.

• Do talk about why you’re a good candidate – talk about you, your motivations and what brings you to this course.
• Do be enthusiastic – if you show you’re interested in the course, it may help you get a place.
• Do make it relevant . Connect what you’re saying with the course and with your experiences.
• Do outline your ideas clearly .
• Do avoid the negatives – highlight the positives about you, and show you know your strengths.
• Do expect to produce several drafts of your personal statement before being totally happy with it.
• Do ask people you trust for their feedback.
• Don’t be modest or shy . You want your passions to come across. 
• Don’t exaggerate – if you do, you may get caught out in an interview when asked to elaborate on an interesting achievement.
• Don’t use quotes from someone else, or cliches.
• Don’t leave it to the last minute – your statement will seem rushed and important information could be left out.
• Don’t let spelling and grammatical errors spoil your statement , but don't just rely on a spellchecker. Proofread as many times as possible.
• Don’t copy and paste – make yours original.
• Don’t post your personal statement on the internet or on social media or share your personal statement with anyone including your friends and family, unless asking for feedback from people you trust.
• Don’t worry about it – we have all the advice you need to help you stand out in your personal statement. 

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Don’t be tempted to copy or share your statement.

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OK to cite references in personal statement?

• Thread starter KittyRex
• Start date Sep 9, 2008

UC Davis SVM c/o 2013

• Sep 9, 2008

The-OSU CVM c/o 2013

KittyRex said: Hey all, What do you think? Is it ok to cite references in your personal statement? (i.e. outcomes of studies, statistics etc) And if so, what format would one use? Also, in the interest of saving precious personal statement space, could one list references in explanation statement area? Thanks Click to expand...

david594 said: Are the results of the studying really going to help indicate you understanding of the veterinary field or how you came to your adult decision to pursue veterinary medicine? I'm not really seeing how the results of a study could tie into ones personal statement? Click to expand...

VMRCVM c/o 2012

I would not quote a reference. It would make it sound too much like a research paper and less of a personal statement- you can use generalizations. You can do whatever you want on your personal statement but keep in mind that the tone is important.  

Oldie but a wanna be!

They really want your statement to be "personal". I agree with the others, this would make you sound more like a research paper than someone who has a heart and soul.  

Full Member

I would not advise putting statistics, etc. in a personal statement (it's not *personal*).  

I agree. The use of a citation would put the adcomm at a distance and not directly have anything to do with you. If you were involved with a study, you could state that you helped to publish, or worked on a certain study. To cite statistics just to be doing it is off putting.  

• Sep 10, 2008

VMRCVM Class of 2012

• Sep 11, 2008

I think it would be more advantageous to present some facet of the experience that got you excited about vet. med. or peaked your interest in a cetain field. Even writing about your interactions with a certain researcher or Vet. and how you gained a better understanding of your chosen path, would be more appropriate for the tone of the PS. I wish you luck.  

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Postgraduate Advanced Clinical Education (PACE) study support guide: 5. Citing references

• 1. University jargon-buster
• 2. Library resources
• 3. Literature searching
• 4. Plagiarism
• 5.1 Using EndNote
• 6.1 Academic writing
• 6.2 Reflective practice & writing
• 6.3 Understanding feedback
• 6.4 Presentations
• 6.5 Preparing for exams and OSCEs

General guidance on referencing

• Video intro to referencing and plagiarism

Referencing also...

• Provides evidence of the depth and breadth of your reading
• Enables the reader to find the source and read in more detail
• Gives your work academic authority
• Protects intellectual property rights

Which style should I use?

For PACE programmes guidance is provided below for a numbered style (Vancouver) and an author-year style (Harvard).  However you can use a different style as long as your references are clear and consistent.

If you are new to referencing and not familiar with using the more advanced features of word processing software, we advise using the Harvard format for longer assignments as it is easier to keep track of the placement and order of your references, but it will eat into your word count. The numbered Vancouver style is useful for shorter assignments but can become impractical for longer ones (unless using a reference management system like EndNote). 

Further support with writing references

For further help with formatting your references consult your Academic Liaison Librarian, Jackie Skinner - email or make an appointment (contact details below).

This video gives an overview of why and how you should reference materials used in your assignments. You will need to login with your University username and password to view this video.

Quick links to referencing guidance

Vancouver referencing

Guidance on using the numbered Vancouver style of referencing.

Harvard referencing

Guidance on using the name-year Harvard referencing style.

Secondary referencing

Guidance on citing a source you have read about in another source (to be avoided if possible!)

Citing images, tables, diagrams, charts

Referencing visual elements taken from other sources.

Vancouver referencing - click on the tabs for guidance on specific publications

• General guidance
• Video guide to Vancouver
• Chapters in edited books
• Journal articles
• British Pharmacopoeia
• NICE guidelines
• Local guidelines
• SmPCs/PILs on EMC
• Systematic reviews on the Cochrane Library
• Clinical trials
• Materials posted on Blackboard

Vancouver is a numbered style. Each piece of work cited should have a unique number, assigned in order (your first reference is 1, your second is 2 etc.). It is a very plain style with little punctuation and no text formatting such as italics, underlining or bold.

In-text citations

When adding an in-text citation to your document you can write the number in brackets:

Medical systems need to be carefully considered and designed to reduce the likelihood of medication errors (1).

How do I cite multiple sources together?

• When citing two or more sources at once, write a number for each separated by a comma e.g. (1, 2) or (6, 12)
• When citing more than two sources which are numbered consecutively, use a hyphen instead of a comma e.g. (3-5)

For example:

There are many studies that have examined the effect of alcohol on cognitive impairment (1,2, 4-7, 9).

Other citation questions

How should i refer to authors in the text.

You do not have to refer to the authors' names in the text but it may help the flow of your writing to do so.

Two authors: give both author's surnames linked with 'and'. For example:

A recent study by Chen and Lee (4) found that...

Three or more authors: use the first author's surname followed by "et al.". For example:

A recent study by Rang et al. (2) found that...

An organisation: give the full name with any recognised abbreviation in brackets afterwards e.g. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Thereafter you can refer to it using the abbreviation. Give the full name and abbreviation in the full reference. For example:

A survey by Asthma UK found that one in 20 people suffer from severe asthma (6).

How do I include a quote from a source?

If directly quoting from a work, you need to use single quotation marks. Include a page number in the in-text citation. For example:

More recently, a paper by Walker et al. (3) stated that 'student pharmacists are valuable and important to practice model transformation' (p. 47).

A paper by Walker et al.stated that 'student pharmacists are valuable and important to practice model transformation' (3, p. 47).

How do I refer to a source referenced in another work?

This type of referencing is known as secondary referencing and should be avoided wherever possible, as the author citing the work may have their own bias or misinterpretation. It is better to seek out the original reference (in this example, Ahmed’s) and cite it directly if it is useful.

You need to include both authors' names in the body of your text to show that you have not read the original article. In the final reference list, you should only include the reference you have read yourself (Jones in this example):

According to Ahmed as cited in Jones (5)...

Reference list

References must be listed at the end of your document in numerical order based on the order of citation.  If you use the same source more than once, the original citation number should be used. 

Author names

Cited by Surname Initials - there is no comma between the surname and initials, nor any full stop or space between initials.

Multiple authors

Authors should be listed in the order they appear on the publication. Only list the first six authors followed by et al. 

Monzer NL, Hartmann M, Buckert M, Wolff K, Nawroth P, Kopf S et al. 

Additional guidance

See the tabs in this box for additional guidance and relevant examples. Our Vancouver guidance is closely aligned with that given in the 'Cite them right' book and website (below). You can find extra publication types and examples via this website. Note that we deviate from this guide in some case to make references simpler. For instance you should put journal names in full not abbreviated.

• Vancouver referencing guidance in Cite Them Right

Find an overview of the essentials of Vancouver referencing in this video (8 mins). You will need to login with your University username and password to view this video.

Citing books and e-books

Most books and e-books can be cited in the same way. If you are viewing the PDF of a printed book there is no need to include the web address in your reference if you have the place published and publisher.

Include the following in your reference:

• Author(s) or editors in the format Surname Initials (no full stops or spaces between initials). For books with more than six authors list the first six followed by 'et al.'
• Title of book (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Edition (if not the first)
• Place of publication: Publisher; Year. You can usually find this information on the title page or following page.

Copy the format and punctuation of these examples:

• Ritter JM, Flower RJ, Henderson G, Loke YK, MacEwan D, Robinson E, Fullerton J. Rang & Dale's pharmacology. 10th ed. London: Elsevier; 2024.
• Ashley C, Dunleavy A, editors. The renal drug handbook: the ultimate prescribing guide for renal practitioners. 5th ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2019.

Citing online only books

Some books are born digital and are not published in a traditional format. If the book does not have a Place published and Publisher then you will need to follow this guidance. Include the following in your reference:

• Author(s) or editors in the format Surname Initials (no full stops or spaces between initials) For books with more than six authors list the first six followed by 'et al.'
• Year. 
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2022 Jun 18] You can usually find this information on the title page or following page.
• Available from: https://doi.org... or web address

Note: if you are unable to find a place published and publisher you will need to cite the item following the web page guidance.

• UK Health Security Agency. Immunisation against infectious disease (The Green Book) [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Jan 26]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immunisation-against-infectious-disease-the-green-book.
• Grabrucker AM, editor. Autism spectrum disorders [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Feb 10]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK573612/.

Note: Using StatPearls? Follow the guidance on citing an online only book chapter .

EndNote tips

• Use the Reference Type 'Book'
• Author: in the format surname, initials, each author on a separate line
• Place published:
• Edition: if not the first - just add the number e.g. 2nd, 3rd
• Use the Reference Type  'Edited book'
• Same as above but instead of the Author field fill in the Editor field 
• Use the Reference Type 'Electronic Book'
• Type of Medium: Internet
• Year Cited: in the format 2024
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Jan 23
• URL: paste in the web link
• Note that even with the information entered as above EndNote will not quite format the reference correctly - the edition will not appear and for edited e-books 'editors' will not be added after the editor names. To correct this, as a final step before submission, create a plain text version of your document. Go to the EndNote toolbar in Word and select 'Convert citations and bibliography' to 'Plain text' (this will be under 'Tools' on the Mac version of the toolbar). This will create a copy of your document which is divorced from EndNote so that you can make final tweaks to the references to match the guidance above.

Citing chapters in printed books and e-books with publication details

Follow this guidance to cite a printed book or an e-book which has the publisher and place published information. Include the following in your reference:

• Chapter author(s) in the format Surname Initials (no full stops or spaces between initials)
• Title of chapter. (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Editor(s) of the book followed by , editors
• Title of book. (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Place of publication: Publisher; Year.
• Page numbers of the chapter preceded by p. Abbreviate where appropriate e.g. 110-128 would be 110-28, 450-455 would be 450-5.

Copy the format and punctuation of this example

• Singh H, Khurana LK, Singh R. Pharmaceutical development. In: Vohora D, Singh G, editors. Pharmaceutical medicine and translational clinical research. London: Academic Press; 2018. p. 33-46.
• Davies J, Nuttall D. Prescribing for specific groups. In: Nuttall D, Rutt-Howard J, editors. The textbook of non-medical prescribing. 3rd ed. Hoboken: Wiley; 2020. p. 238-73.

Citing chapters in online only books

Some books are born digital and are not published in a traditional format. When citing chapters in these include the following in your reference:

• Chapter author(s) in the format Surname Initials  (no full stops or spaces between initials)
• Title of chapter. (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2022 Jun 18]
• Page numbers of the chapter if available preceded by p. Abbreviate where appropriate e.g. 110-128 would be 110-28, 450-455 would be 450-5.
• UK Health Security Agency. Immunisation by nurses and other healthcare professionals. In: Immunisation against infectious disease (The Green Book) [Internet]. 2013. p. 35-9 [cited 2024 Feb 3]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immunisation-by-nurses-and-other-health-professionals-the-green-book-chapter-5.
• Kawakami S, Otsuka S. Multisensory processing in autism spectrum disorders. In: Grabrucker AM, editor. Autism spectrum disorders [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Jan 7]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK573612/.
• Squadrito FJ, del Portal D. Nitrofurantoin. In: StatPearls [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2024 Feb 1]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470526/.

Endnote tips

• Use the Reference Type 'Book Section'
• Author(s): in the format surname, initials. Each author on a separate line.
• Title: title of chapter 
• Editor(s): in the format surname, initials. Each editor on a separate line.
• Book title: capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns
• Pages: page numbers for the chapter
• Use the Reference Type 'Electronic Book Section'
• Title: chapter title
• Editor: (if there is one)
• Book Title:
• Type of Work: Internet
• Access Date: in the format year, month (abbreviated to three letters) day e.g. 2024 Jan 21
• Note that even with all the required information entered in EndNote it will not format the reference correctly - the Edition and Type of Work will not be in the correct place. For edited e-books 'editors' will not be added after the editor names. The Access Date will be repeated at the end. To correct this, as a final step before submission, create a plain text version of your document. Go to the EndNote toolbar in Word and select 'Convert citations and bibliography' to 'Plain text' (this will be under 'Tools' on the Mac version of the toolbar). This will create a copy of your document which is divorced from EndNote so that you can make final tweaks to the references to match the guidance above.

Note that the way you enter a chapter on EndNote for the Vancouver style is different from the way you enter it for the Harvard style. It is not possible to reuse one entry in both styles.

Citing journal articles which have page numbers or article reference numbers

• Article author(s) in the format Surname Initials (no full stops or spaces between initials). For articles with more than six authors list the first six followed by 'et al.'
• Title of article. (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Journal title in full (use a capital letter at the start of each significant word in the title) Note: we are not following the 'Cite them right' guidance to abbreviate journal names.
• Volume number
• Issue number in brackets (where present)
• Page numbers or article reference number. Abbreviate page ranges where appropriate e.g. 110-128 would be 110-28, 450-455 would be 450-5.

Copy the format and punctuation of this example:

Rana MN, Neeland IJ. Adipose tissue inflammation and cardiovascular disease: an update. Current Diabetes Reports.   2022; 22(1):27-37. 

Monzer NL, Hartmann M, Buckert M, Wolff K, Nawroth P, Kopf S et al. The cardiac autonomic response to acute psychological stress in type 2 diabetes. PloS One. 2022;   17(3):e0265234.

Citing online journal articles without page numbers or article reference numbers

• Article author(s) in the format Surname Initials (no full stops or spaces between initials). For articles with more than six authors list the first six followed by 'et al.'
• Available from: https://doi.org/... or web address if no DOI. When including a web address make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 

Azpiroz F, Dubray C, Bernalier-Donadille A, Cardot JM, Accarino A, Serra J, Wagner A, Respondek F, Dapoigny M. Effects of scFOS on the composition of fecal microbiota and anxiety in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study. Neurogastroenterology & Motility [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2024 Jan 24] ;29(2). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.12911.

Note: if an article is in press and doesn't yet have a volume number treat like as above but add 'Forthcoming' before the year:

Vaghari-Tabari M, Jafari-Gharabaghlou D, Mohammadi M, Hashemzadeh MS. Zinc oxide nanoparticles and cancer chemotherapy: helpful tools for enhancing chemo-sensitivity and reducing side effects? Biological Trace Element Research [Internet]. Forthcoming 2024 [cited 2024 Jan 28]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03803-z

You should be able to download details for most articles from databases such as Summon, Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed. If you need to type one in from scratch this is the information to include.

For most articles

• Use the Reference Type 'Journal Article'
• Author: in the format surname, initials - each author on a separate line
• Title: title of the article - in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns
• Journal: name of the journal - give the journal name in full, not abbreviated. Use initial capital letters on all significant words.
• Issue: (if present)
• Pages: page numbers or article reference number

For online only articles without page numbers or an article reference number and 'In press' articles:

• Use Reference Type 'Electronic Article'
• Periodical Title: name of the journal - give the journal name in full, not abbreviated. Use initial capital letters on all significant words.
• Volume: (if the article doesn't yet have a volume number add 'Forthcoming ' before the year - as in the above example)
• Issue: (put in press here for articles currently being published).
• Date Cited in the format month day e.g. Feb 5.
• URL: paste in the web link for the article or move the DOI from the DOI field and add https://doi.org/ in front of it e.g. https://doi.org/10.1136/ejhpharm-2021-003215 If there is already a URL in the box check that it goes to the article, not back to the reference on the database you downloaded it from. Replace any database links with the DOI with https://doi.org/ in front of it or add the direct link to the article. When including a web address make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 

Citing websites or webpages

You should avoid citing webpages unless you are clear of their quality and suitability for inclusion in academic work. See the 'Websites' tab within this guide for more information on evaluating webpages.

Only follow this guidance if the item you want to reference is not a book, a book chapter or a journal article.  When you search the internet you will find many different types of content. The first step to referencing correctly is to recognise what you are looking at.

• Could it be a book? Is it a PDF? Does it have a title page giving the title and the authors/editors? Does it have a place published and publisher on the following page? If 'Yes' it is probably a book - follow the guidance on citing a book.
• Could it be a book chapter? Does it say 'Chapter' on it? Does it have page numbers? If 'Yes' it could be a book chapter - follow the guidance on citing a book chapter.
• Could it be journal article? Does it have an abstract or summary? Does it mention the name of a journal and have a volume number? If 'Yes' it could be a journal article - follow the guidance on citing a journal article.

For guidance on citing specific, commonly used pharmacy-related sources see the other tabs in this box.

Citing reputable websites and webpages

• Author(s)/Organisation name
• Title of page/document (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• [Internet].
• Year created/updated (for webpages with no date omit this element - see the final example)
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2022 Feb 18]
• Available from: web link. When including a web address make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 

Use the format and punctuation shown in these examples:

• Reynolds M. How the team monitoring new and emerging infectious diseases could help prevent the next pandemic [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2024 Feb 2]. Available from: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2023/08/08/how-the-team-monitoring-new-and-emerging-infectious-diseases-could-help-prevent-the-next-pandemic/.
• DrugBank. Ranitidine [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Feb 8]. Available from: https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00863.
• IUPHAR/BPS. Ibuprofen [Internet]. [cited 2024 Feb 6]. Available from:  https://www.guidetopharmacology.org/GRAC/LigandDisplayForward?ligandId=2713. (this example is for a webpage without a date)
• Use the Reference Type 'Web Page'
• Author: in the format surname, initials - each author on a separate line Organisation as the author? Put a comma after the name to ensure it formats correctly e.g. British Nutrition Foundation,
• Year: use the updated date for the page, if there isn't a date use 'no date'
• Title: (in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Type of Medium: Internet
• URL: paste in the web link. When including a web address make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 
• Organisation as the author? Put a comma after the name to ensure it formats correctly e.g. British Nutrition Foundation,

Citing the BNF

When citing the BNF you only need one generic reference, not specific references for each drug or piece of information you have used. Just make it clear in your text which drug/section you are referring to. 

Print version

• Author - Joint Formulary Committee.
• Title - British National Formulary (BNF).
• Place of publication - London:
• Publisher -  BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press;

Use the format and punctuation shown in this example - update the edition and year to the one you are using:

• Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary (BNF). 87. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press; 2024.

Online versions (NICE and MedicinesComplete)

• Author - Joint Formulary Committee
• For the NICE website version take this from the 'Last updated' date on the BNF homepage.
• For the MedicinesComplete take this from the 'Publication last updated' date from the top of the page.
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 Jul 29]
• Available from: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/  OR Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com

Copy the format and punctuation of these examples:

Full reference (NICE version): Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary (BNF). 27 June 2024 [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Jul 4]. Available from: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/.

Full reference (MedicinesComplete version): Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary (BNF). 9 July 2024 [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Jul 29]. Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com.

Access MedicinesComplete

Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.

Please note, due to licensing restrictions students and staff must access the BNF and BNF for Children on the MedicinesComplete platform. Use of the NICE BNF platform is only permitted for those working for, or on placement with, the NHS.

• Title - British National Formulary (BNF) app followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary (BNF) app. June 2024.
• Format: [Mobile app].
• Year of publication - use the year given on the homepage of the app
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 Jul 13]
• Available from: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf  OR Available from: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bnf-publications/id1045514038

Copy the format and punctuation of this example:

Full reference: Joint Formulary Committee. British National Formulary (BNF) app. June 2024 [Mobile app]. 2024 [cited 2024 Jul 13]. Available from: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf 

For the print version

• Author: Joint Formulary Committee, (make sure you put the comma after the name to make it format correctly)
• Title: British National Formulary (BNF) followed by Version number e.g. British National Formulary (BNF) 87

For the online versions:

• Use the Reference Type 'Web Page'
• Year: 
• Title: followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary (BNF). 9 July 2024
• Year Cited: in the format 2024
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Jul 13
• URL: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/ OR https://www.medicinescomplete.com (depending on which version you are using)

For the app:

• Title: followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary (BNF) app. June 2024
• Type of medium: Mobile app
• URL: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf OR https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bnf-publications/id1045514038 (depending on which version you are using)

Citing the BNF for children

When citing the BNFC you only need one generic reference, not specific references for each drug or piece of information you have used. Just make it clear in your text which drug/section you are referring to. 

• Author - Pediatric Formulary Committee
• Title - BNF for children
• Publisher -  BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press and RCPCH Publications;

Use the format and punctuation shown in this example:

• Pediatric Formulary Committee. BNF for children. 2022-2023 ed. London: BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press and RCPCH Publications; 2022. 

Online versions (NICE and MedicinesComplete)

• Title - British National Formulary for children (BNFC)
• Update date For the NICE website version take this from the 'Last updated' date on the BNF homepage. For the MedicinesComplete take this from the 'Publication last updated' date from the top of the page.
• Year published For the NICE website version take this from the 'Last updated' date on the BNF homepage. For the MedicinesComplete take this from the 'Publication last updated' date from the top of the page.
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 July 29]
• Available from: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/  OR Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com

Copy the format and punctuation shown of these examples:

Full reference (NICE version): Pediatric Formulary Committee. British National Formulary for children (BNFC). 27 June 2024 [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Jul 29]. Available from: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/.

Full reference (MedicinesComplete version): Pediatric Formulary Committee. British National Formulary for children (BNFC) . 9 July 2024 [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Jul 29]. Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com.

• Title - British National Formulary for children (BNFC) app followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary for children (BNFC) app. June 2024.
• Year of publication - use the year given on the homepage of the BNFC section of the app
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 Jul 29]

Full reference: Pediatric Formulary Committee. British National Formulary for children (BNFC) app. July 2024 [Mobile app]. 2024 [cited 2024 Jul 29]. Available from: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf 

• Author: Pediatric Formulary Committee, (make sure you put the comma after the name to make it format correctly)
• Title: followed by version e.g. BNF for children 2022-2023
• Place published: London
• Publisher:  BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press and RCPCH Publications
• Author: Pediatric Formulary Committee, (make sure you put the comma after the name to make it format correctly)
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Jul 29
• Title: followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary for children (BNFC) app. June 2024 

Citing the British Pharmacopoeia

When citing the British Pharmacopoeia you only need one generic reference, not specific references for each drug or section you have used. Just make it clear in your text which drug/section you are referring to. 

• Author - British Pharmacopoeia Commission
• Title - British Pharmacopoeia
• Version e.g. Ph. Eur. 11.4
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 Feb 8]
• Available from: https://www.pharmacopoeia.com

Use the format and punctuation shown in this example (make sure you change the Version and dates to match the ones you use):

• British Pharmacopoeia Commission. British Pharmacopoeia. Ph. Eur. 11.4 update [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Feb 8]. Available from: https://www.pharmacopoeia.com.
• Author: British Pharmacopoeia Commission, (make sure you put the comma after the name to make it format correctly)
• Title: followed by the update date e.g. British Pharmacopoeia. Ph. Eur. 11.4 update
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Feb 8
• URL: https://www.pharmacopoeia.com

Access the British Pharmacopoeia

Access to the latest edition of The British Pharmacopoeia (BP), the leading collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances.

Help and guidance How to use the BP

Citing NICE guidelines

• Author - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
• Title of page/document including reference number in round brackets (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Year created/updated 
• Available from: web link (For a shorter reference use the link for the webpage instead of the longer PDF link)
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Vaccine uptake in the general population (NG218) [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2024 Feb 9]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng218.
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Acute heart failure: diagnosis and management (CG187) [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Jan 10]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg187.
• Author: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), - make sure you put a comma after the name so it formats correctly Organisation as the author? Put a comma after the name to ensure it formats correctly e.g. British Nutrition Foundation,
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Jan 13
• URL: paste in the web link

Citing local guidelines

Local guidelines, although authored by individuals, should be ratified by a designated committee therefore are the work of the organisation.

Print guidelines

• Author - organisation name
• Title of policy (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns) and Version
• Place of publication
• Publisher (usually the same as the author)

Use the format and punctuation shown in this example:

• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Non-medical prescribing policy: Version 3. London: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; 2016.

Online guidelines

• Title of page/document (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns) and Version
• Year created/updated (for guidelines with no date just use the cited date)
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2022 June 18]
• Available from: web link
• North East London Health & Care Partnership. North East London (NEL) management of infection guidance for primary care. August 2023 [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2024 Feb 8]. Available from: https://gp-website-cdn-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/prescribing-guideline-downloads/1697724608-4663d459fc894709f71ce7beaa8662db.pdf

For print guidelines

• Use the Reference Type 'Book'
• Author: in the format surname, initials, each author on a separate line. If the author is an organisation put a comma after the name to make sure it formats correctly e.g. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust,
• Title: (in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns) include the Version after the title e.g. Non-medical prescribing policy. Version 5

For online guidelines

• Author: in the format surname, initials, each author on a separate line. Organisation as the author? Put a comma after the name to ensure it formats correctly e.g. e.g. North East London Health & Care Partnership,
• Year Cited: in the format 2022
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Dec 20

Citing Summaries of Product Characteristics (SmPCs) or Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) on the Electronic Medicines Compendium

• Author - drug company who wrote the SmPC
• Title (capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns) followed by Electronic Medicines Compendium 
• Year created/updated
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. 2024 Jan 29
• Available from: web link 

Use the format and punctuation shown in these examples.

• Wokhardt UK Ltd. Aciclovir 400mg tablets summary of product characteristics. Electronic Medicines Compendium [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2024 Jan 29]. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/2352/smpc.
• Dermal Laboratories Limited. Ibugel patient information leaflet. Electronic Medicines Compendium [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Feb 9]. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3759/pil.
• Use the Reference Type 'Web Page'
• Author: company name. Put a comma after the company name to ensure it formats correctly e.g. Accord-UK Ltd.,
• Title: (in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns). Add ': Electronic Medicines Compendium' after the title.
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Jan 20

Citing systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library

• Author(s) in the format Surname, Initials
• Title of review
• Year month day of review
• Title of database: The Cochrane Library
• Issue number
• Article number
• Available from: web address or DOI
• Crowe L, Chang A, Wallace K. Instruments for assessing readiness to commence suck feeds in preterm infants: effects on time to establish full oral feeding and duration of hospitalisation. 2016 August 23. In: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [Internet]. Issue 8.  Art. No.: CD005586. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005586.pub3.
• Use the Reference Type 'Electronic Book Section'
• Title: title of the review - in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns. Add the year month day of review after the title e.g. Instruments for assessing readiness to commence suck feeds in preterm infants: effects on time to establish full oral feeding and duration of hospitalisation. 2016 August 23.
• Book title: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• Edition: Issue 8. Article no.: CD005586
• Type of Work: Internet

Note that the way you enter a Cochrane Review on EndNote for the Vancouver style is very different from the way you enter it for the Harvard style. It is not possible to reuse one entry in both styles.

Access The Cochrane Library

Systematic reviews, protocols and trials on the effects of interventions in health care. Free to UK residents

Includes: -The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews) -The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) -The Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (Methodology Reviews) Help and guidance You can find training materials and videos by registering with the Cochrane Library Training Hub (requires an e-mail address).

Citing clinical trials

If a trial is still ongoing you may need to refer to it directly instead of to a published paper. 

• Author - primary contact for the trial
• Trial title
• Database/registry name
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 Jan 18]
• Available from: DOI or web address

Use the format and punctuation shown in these examples:

• Crooks M. An investigation into how adding an inhaled steroid to COPD treatment may potentially protect against heart disease. In: ISRCTN Registry [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2024 Jan 18]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN29148209.
• Lingor P. Safety, tolerability and symptomatic efficacy of the ROCK-inhibitor Fasudil in patients with Parkinson's disease. In:  ClinicalTrials.gov [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2024 Feb 9]. Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05931575.
• Title (in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns) followed by . In: [name of Database/Registry] e.g. Implementing improved asthma self-management as routine. In: ISRCTN Registry

Note that the way you enter a Clinical Trial on EndNote for the Vancouver style is very different from the way you enter it for the Harvard style. It is not possible to reuse one entry in both styles.

Citing materials posted on Blackboard

Always check with the academic who set the assignment if you are allowed to refer to course materials in your own work. It is preferable to do your own research and use published sources, such as articles and books, instead of referring to lecture materials.

• Author's name in the format Surname Initials
• Title of document/presentation as given on Blackboard
• Format in square brackets e.g. [PowerPoint presentation, Lecture notes, Recorded lecture, Handout]
• Place of publication:
• Institution;
• Course details, date
• [cited year month day] - the date you looked at it e.g. [cited 2024 Jan 18]
• Available from: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk Note that you do not need to give the specific web address for the material you are citing. The address for Blackboard is sufficient.

Copy the format and punctuation of these examples.

Example 1: PowerPoint slides

Cottrell G. The molecules of life: proteins [PowerPoint presentation]. Reading: University of Reading; PM1PY2: Fundamentals of Cell Biology; 2023 [cited 2023 Dec 2]. Available from: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk.

Example 2: Handout with no date

University of Reading. Direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) assessment form [Handout] Reading: University of Reading; PM2PY1: Professional Practice 2. [cited 2023 Nov 30]. Available from: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk.

• Use the 'Web Page' Reference Type
• Place published: Reading
• Publisher: University of Reading
• Type of Medium: add the Format here e.g. PowerPoint presentation, Lecture notes, Recorded lecture, Handout
• Contents: module code and title e.g. PM2PY1: Professional Practice 2
• Date Cited: in the format month day e.g. Jan 20
• URL: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk

Note that even with the information entered as above EndNote will not quite format the reference correctly - the module details will be in the wrong place. To correct this, as a final step before submission, create a plain text version of your document. Go to the EndNote toolbar in Word and select 'Convert citations and bibliography' to 'Plain text' (this will be under 'Tools' on the Mac version of the toolbar). This will create a copy of your document which is divorced from EndNote so that you can make final tweaks to the references.

Harvard referencing - click on the tabs for guidance on specific publications

• Video guide to Harvard
• Systematic reviews on The Cochrane Library

The 'Cite Them Right' Harvard style is an author-date system. In-text citations include the author and year of the reference. Full references are listed at the end in alphabetical order by the author's surname. See the other tabs in this box for guidance on citing specific types of publication in this style.

For the Harvard style, your in-text citation should include:

• The author of the cited work
• The year of publication of the cited work.

There are two ways of including an in-text citation and you can use both depending on how you want to structure each sentence. You can include the citation with the author’s surname and date in brackets at the end of the sentence:

Medical systems need to be carefully considered and designed to reduce the likelihood of medication errors (Ferner, 2020).

Or, you can include the author’s surname as part of your sentence, in which case only the date is in brackets:

More recently, a paper by Ferner (2020) has suggested that...

You can use a mix of these approaches in your assignment.

How many authors do I need to include in the in-text citation?

If the citation has two authors.

List both authors with 'and' or '&' in between (but be consistent in your use of 'and' or '&').

A recent study by Morbey and Smith (2021) found that...

... (Morbey and Smith, 2021) .

If the citation has three authors

List all three authors with a comma after the first author, '&' or 'and' before the last author (but be consistent in your use of 'and' or '&').

A recent study by Chen, Savana and Patel (2022) found that...

... (Chen, Savana and Patel, 2022) .

If the citation has four or more authors

Use the first author's name followed by " et al. " in italics.

A recent study by Rang et al. (2020) found that...

It has been shown previously (Rang et al. , 2020) that....

Note: you will need to include ALL authors in the full reference at the end of your document.

How do I cite more than one source for a sentence?

List the sources chronologically, separated by semi-colons.

There are many studies that have examined the effect of alcohol on cognitive impairment (Chen and Xi, 2012; Patel, 2020; Hussein et al ., 202 2) .

How do I differentiate references by the same author in the same year?

Differentiate them using letters after the year - both in the in-text citation and the full reference.

Chen and Hussein (2021a) ... and Chen and Hussein (2021b) ...

Can I cite a work by a company or organisation?

Many works by organisations do not have individually named authors. In this case, you can use the name of the organisation or company, such as Cancer Research UK or National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), as the author. This is known as a corporate author. 

Asthma UK (2015) studies have shown...    ...  (Asthma UK, 2015) .

What if I have multiple references by the same author in a sentence?

If you need to refer to two or more sources by the same author in different years, you do not need to keep repeating the author's surname in the citation. Include the surname and the oldest year first, then separate the other years by semicolons (;). The sources should be ordered by year of publication, with the oldest first.

NHS (2016; 2019; 2021) studies have consistently shown    ... (NHS, 2016; 2019; 2021)

You must include all of the sources separately in your reference list.

Do I need to include page numbers in my citation?

You only need to include a page number if directly quoting from a work. Enclose the quote in single quotation marks and include a page number in the in-text citation. For example:

More recently, a paper by Walker et al. (2020) stated that 'student pharmacists are valuable and important to practice model transformation' (p. 47) .

A recent paper stated that 'student pharmacists are valuable and important to practice model transformation' (Walker et al.,  2020, p. 47) .

This type of referencing is known as secondary referencing and should be avoided wherever possible , as the author citing the work may bring their own bias or misinterpretation. It is better to seek out the original reference and cite it directly if it is useful.

See further guidance on secondary referencing .

References must be listed at the end of your document in  alphabetical order by author surname/organisation name.  If you use the same source more than once, just use the same in-text citation as previously to refer to the same full reference. 

Cited using Surname, Initials - place a comma and a space between the surname and initials. Full stops between initials e.g.:

List all of the authors in the full reference in the order they appear on the publication.

See the tabs in this box for additional guidance and relevant examples. Our Harvard guidance is closely aligned with that given in the 'Cite them right' book and website (below). You can find extra publication types and examples via this website. Note that we deviate from this guide in some case to make references simpler e.g. only requiring DOI or web address for articles which do not have page numbers or an article reference number.

• Harvard referencing guidance in Cite Them Right

Find an overview of the essentials of Harvard referencing in this video (10 mins). You will need to login with your University username and password to view this video.

• Author/Editor name(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials'
• Year of publication (in round brackets)
• Book title (in italics or underlined) followed by a full stop.
• Edition (if 2nd edn or later)
• Place of publication followed by a colon e.g. London:

Copy the format and punctuation of these examples.

Example: book with a single author/editor

Citation in the text:      (Houghton, 2020)

Full reference:      Houghton, A.R. (2020) Making sense of the ECG: a hands-on guide.  5th edn. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Example: book with two authors/editors

Citation in the text:   (Jeukendrup and Gleeson, 2019)

Full reference: Jeukendrup, A. and Gleeson, M. (2019) Sport nutrition . 3rd edn. Champaign: Human Kinetics.

Example: book with four or more authors/editors

Citation in the text:    (Ritter  et al. , 2023)

Full reference: Ritter, J.M., Flower, R.J., Henderson, G., Loke, Y.K., MacEwan, D., Robinson, E. and Fullerton, J. (2024)  Rang & Dale's pharmacology.  10 th edn. London: Elsevier.

Note that all authors are included in the full reference.

Where an e-book looks like a printed book (usually PDFs) and you can find all the publication information (including place published and publisher) - cite it in the same way as a printed book (above). You do not need to include the web address. 

Some books are born digital and are not published in a traditional format. Where it is not possible to find the publication information include the web address and date accessed instead, as in the examples below:

Citation in the text:    (UK Health Security Agency, 2020)

Full reference: UK Health Security Agency (2020) Immunisation against infectious disease (The Green Book) . Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immunisation-against-infectious-disease-the-green-book (Accessed: 21 January 2024).

Citation in the text:    (Grabrucker, 2021)

Full reference: Grabrucker, A.M. (ed.) (2021)  Autism spectrum disorders.  Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK573612/ (Accessed: 25 January 2024).

Note: Using StatPearls? Follow the guidance on  citing an online only book chapter .

• Editor: in the format surname, initials, each editor on a separate line
• Other fields the same as above
• Date Accessed: the date you looked looked at the book in the format day month year e.g. 17 January 2024

Citing book chapters

• Chapter author name(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials'
• Chapter title in single quotation marks
• in followed by book editor(s) name(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials' followed by (ed.) or (eds)
• Book title (in italics)
• Edition (if second edition or later)
• Publisher's name
• Chapter pagination preceeded by pp.

Include the page extent of the whole chapter when writing your full citation. Put just the pages you have referred to in the in-text citation.

Example: book chapter with three authors

Citation in the text:      (Singh, Khurana and Singh, 2018, p. 38)

Full reference:     Singh, H., Khurana, L.K. and Singh, R. (2018) 'Pharmaceutical development', in Vohora, D. and Singh, G. (eds) Pharmaceutical medicine and translational clinical research . London: Academic Press, pp.33-46.

Example: book chapter with four or more authors

Citation in the text:      (Hosznyak  et al ., 2012, p. 199)

Full reference: Hosznyak, R., Hosznyak, E., Westaway, A. and Graveson, J. (2017) 'Eye, ear, nose and throat assessment', in Ranson, M. and Abbott, H. (eds)  Clinical examination skills for healthcare professional . 2nd edn. Keswick: M & K Publishing, pp. 126-137.

Where an e-book chapter looks like a printed book chapter (usually PDFs) and you can find all the publication information (including place published and publisher) - cite it in the same way as a printed book (above). You do not need to include the web address.

Where it is not possible to find the publication information include the web address and date accessed instead:

• Chapter author(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials' 
• Chapter title in single quotation marks. Capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns.
• 'in' followed by book editor(s) name(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials' followed by (ed.) or (eds)
• Book title (in italics). Capitalise only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns.
• Edition (if 2nd or later)
• Available at: https://doi.org... or web address
• Accessed: date in round brackets (date in this format 25 January 2022)

UK Health Security Agency (2013) 'Immunisation by nurses and other healthcare professionals', in  Immunisation against infectious disease (The Green Book) . Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immunisation-by-nurses-and-other-health-professionals-the-green-book-chapter-5 (Accessed: 3 February 2024)

Kawakami, S and Otsuka, S. (2021) 'Multisensory processing in autism spectrum disorders', in Grabrucker, A.M. (ed.)  Autism spectrum disorders . Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK573612/ (Accessed: 7 January 2024)

Squadrito, F.J. and del Portal, D. (2022) 'Nitrofurantoin', in  StatPearls . Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470526/ (Accessed: 1 February 2024).

• Use the Reference Type  'Book Section'
• Author: in the format surname, initials. Each author on a separate line.
• Editor: (include all the editors in the format surname, initials. Each editor on a separate line)
• Book title:
• Pages: page numbers for the chapter e.g. 301-335
• Complete the details above (as much as possible)
• Add URL: paste in the web link
• Add Access Date: the date you looked looked at the book in the format day month year e.g. 3 February 2024

Note that the way you enter an online only chapter on EndNote for the Harvard style is different from the way you enter it for the Vancouver style. It is not possible to reuse one entry in both styles.

Note that the default 'Cite Them Right Harvard' style in EndNote does not handle e-book sections very well. Download and use our amended style which corrects these issues:

• Reading Cite Them Right Harvard style Once downloaded open the style and go to 'File' and 'Save as' and 'Save'. This should save it into a location where EndNote can find it and use it. You will then need to select the 'Reading Cite Them Right-Harvard' style from the list of styles in Word (click on 'Select another style' to find it).

Alternatively as a final step before submission, create a plain text version of your document. Go to the EndNote toolbar in Word and select 'Convert citations and bibliography' to 'Plain text' (this will be under 'Tools' on the Mac version of the toolbar). This will create a copy of your document which is divorced from EndNote so that you can make final tweaks to the reference to match the guidance above.

• ALL Author name(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials'
• Year of publication (in brackets)
• Article title - in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns
• Journal title (in italics) - give the journal name in full, not abbreviated. Use initial capital letters on all significant words.
• Issue number (if present, in round brackets)
• Page numbers or reference number (Include the page numbers of the whole article when writing your full citation, not just the pages you have referred to)

Example: journal article with a single author

Citation in the text:    (Rhee, 2022)

Full reference:    Rhee, E. (2022) 'The influence of obesity and metabolic health on vascular health',  Endocrinology and Metabolism,  37(1), pp. 1-8.

Example: journal article with two authors

Citation in the text:    (Rana and Neeland, 2022)

Full reference:     Rana, M.N. and Neeland, I.J. (2022) 'Adipose tissue inflammation and cardiovascular disease: an update',  Current Diabetes Reports,  22(1), pp. 27-37.

Example: journal article with four or more authors and an article reference number

Citation in the text:    (Zheng  et al ., 2021)

Full reference: Zheng, Y., Phillips, C.L., Sivam, S., Wong, K., Grunstein, R.R., Piper, A.J. and Yee, B.J. (2021) 'Cardiovascular disease in obesity hypoventilation syndrome – a review of potential mechanisms and effects of therapy',  Sleep Medicine Reviews,  60, pp. 101530.

You must include all authors in the full reference.

• Available at: DOI (preceded by https://doi.org/) or Web link If including a weblink make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 
• Accessed: date you looked at the article in the format day month year e.g. 12 January 2024.

Copy the format and punctuation of these examples:

Article with no page numbers or reference number:

Citation in the text:    (Azpiroz  et al ., 2017)

Full reference: Azpiroz, F., Dubray, C., Bernalier-Donadille, A., Cardot, J.M., Accarino, A., Serra, J., Wagner, A., Respondek, F., Dapoigny, M. (2017) 'Effects of scFOS on the composition of fecal microbiota and anxiety in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study'. Neurogastroenterology & Motility , 29(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.12911 (Accessed: 29 January 2024)

In Press article

Articles are often made available before they receive their official publication details (volume and issue number). If an article is shown as 'In press' or 'Online ahead of print' and doesn't yet have these details, just use (in press) after the journal name and add the DOI web address and date accessed.

Citation in the text: (Vaghari-Tabari  et al ., 2023)

Full reference: Vaghari-Tabari, M., Jafari-Gharabaghlou, D., Mohammadi, M., & Hashemzadeh, M.S. (2023). Zinc oxide nanoparticles and cancer chemotherapy: helpful tools for enhancing chemo-sensitivity and reducing side effects?  Biological Trace Element Research  (in press). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03803-z (Accessed: 25 January 2024)

For online only articles without page numbers or an article reference number and 'In press' articles

• Use the reference Type 'Electronic Article'
• Issue: (put in press here for articles currently being published)
• Date Accessed: the date you looked at the article in the format day month year e.g. 25 January 2024.
• URL: If there isn't a DOI add the web address for the article in the URL field. If there is already a URL in the box check that it goes to the article, not back to the reference on the database you downloaded it from. When including a web address make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 

Citing web pages or web sites

• Author name(s) in the format 'Surname, Initials', or organisation that created the page
• Year information was created or last edited (in brackets). You might need to scroll to the bottom of the page to find it. If there is no date put (no date)
• Page title (in italics and in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns)
• Available at: followed by the web address. Make sure the address is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 
• Accessed: date in round brackets

Example: webpage with a named author

Citation in the text:    (Reynolds, 2023)

Full reference:  Reynolds, M. (2023) How the team monitoring new and emerging infectious diseases could help prevent the next pandemic . Available at: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2023/08/08/how-the-team-monitoring-new-and-emerging-infectious-diseases-could-help-prevent-the-next-pandemic/ (Accessed: 2 February 2024) 

Examples: webpages with an organisation as the author

Citation in the text:      (DrugBank, 2024)

Full reference:  DrugBank (2024)  Ranitidine . Available at: https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00863 (Accessed: 8 February 2024).

Citation in the text:     (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 2024)

Full reference: Office for Health Improvement & Disparities  (2024)  Cardiovascular disease . Available at: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/cardiovascular (Accessed: 31 January 2024).

Example: webpage without a date

If there isn't a date on the website, even at the bottom of the page, use 'no date'. 

Citation in the text:     (IUPHAR/BPS, no date)

Full reference: IUPHAR/BPS (no date)  Ibuprofen . Available at: https://www.guidetopharmacology.org/GRAC/LigandDisplayForward?ligandId=2713 (Accessed: 6 February 2024).

• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 17 January 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 17 January 2024)
• URL: paste in the web link. Make sure it is as short as possible and doesn't include intermediate websites or your search string. 

You can also download our amended 'Cite Them Right-Harvard' style to correct the issue with the missing closing bracket:

When citing the BNF you only need one generic reference, not specific references for each drug or piece of information you have used. Just make it clear in your text which drug/section you are referring to. 

• Title - British National Formulary (BNF) in italics
• Place of publication: London
• Publisher: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press

Citation in the text:       (Joint Formulary Committee, 2024)

Full reference: Joint Formulary Committee (2024)  British National Formulary (BNF)   87 . London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press.

• For the NICE website version take the year from the 'Last updated' date on the BNF homepage.
• For the MedicinesComplete version use the year from the 'Publication last updated' date from the top of the page instead of the date the individual drug was updated
• Available at: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/ (Accessed: date) OR Available at: https://www.medicinescomplete.com (Accessed: date) Note that you just use the site web address, not the page address for the specific drug you are using. The accessed date is the date you looked at the information in the format day month year e.g. 29 July 2024.

Citation in the text:       (Joint Formulary Committee, 2024)

Full reference (NICE version): Joint Formulary Committee (2024)  British National Formulary (BNF). 27 June 2024  . Available at: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/ (Accessed: 29 July 2024)

Full reference (MedicinesComplete version): Joint Formulary Committee (2024)  British National Formulary (BNF). 29 July 2024 . Available at: https://www.medicinescomplete.com (Accessed: 29 July  2024 )

• Year of publication (in round brackets) - use the year given on the homepage of the app
• Title - British National Formulary (BNF) app in italics
• BNF update date - use the month and year from given on the homepage of the app
• Available at (use the Google Android or Apple Mac link depending on which you are using) followed by (Accessed: date): Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf (Accessed: date) Available at: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bnf-publications/id1045514038 (Accessed: date) The accessed date is the date you looked at the information in the format day month year e.g. 9 July 2024.

Full reference: Joint Formulary Committee (2024)  British National Formulary (BNF) app. June 2024 . [Mobile app]. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf (Accessed: 9 July 2024).

• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 29 July 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 29 July 2024 )
• Note that if you have added Type of Medium 'Internet' to comply with the Vancouver style, you will need to remove it to create a correct Harvard reference. 
• Title: followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary (BNF). June 2024 

Citing the British National Formulary for children (BNFC)

• Author(s): Pediatric Formulary Committee
• Title: British National Formulary for children (in italics) and version
• Publisher: BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press and RCPCH Publications

Copy the format and punctuation of this example.  Make sure you check the date and edition of the version you are using.

Citation in the text:      (Pediatric Formulary Committee, 2022)

Full reference: Pediatric Formulary Committee (2022)  British National Formulary for children   2022-2023 . London: BMJ Group, Pharmaceutical Press and RCPCH Publications.

• Year of publication (in round brackets) For the NICE website version take the year from the 'Last updated' date on the BNFC homepage. For the MedicinesComplete version use the year from the 'Publication last updated' date from the top of the page you are viewing.
• Title: British National Formulary for children (BNFC)  (in italics)
• BNFC update date For the NICE website version take this from the 'Last updated' date on the BNFC homepage. For the MedicinesComplete take this from the 'Publication last updated' date from the top of the page.
• Available at: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/ (Accessed: date) OR Available at: https://www.medicinescomplete.com (Accessed: date) Note that you just use the site web address, not the page address for the specific drug you are using. The accessed date is the date you looked at the information in the format day month year e.g.29 July 2024.

Copy the format and punctuation of this example.  Make sure you check the date and edition (month and year) of the version you are using.

Citation in the text:      (Pediatric Formulary Committee, 2024)

Full reference (NICE version): Pediatric Formulary Committee (2024)  British National Formulary for children (BNFC) . 27 June 2024. Available at: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/ (Accessed: 4 July 2024)

Full reference (MedicinesComplete version): Pediatric Formulary Committee (2023)  British National Formulary for children (BNFC) . 9 July 2024 . Available at: http://www.medicinescomplete.com (Accessed: 24 July 2024)

• Title - British National Formulary for children (BNFC) app in italics
• BNFC update date - use the month and year from given on the homepage of the app
• Available at (use the Google Android or Apple Mac link depending on which you are using) followed by (Accessed: date): Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf (Accessed: date) Available at: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bnf-publications/id1045514038 (Accessed: date) The accessed date is the date you looked at the information in the format day month year e.g. 1 July 2024.

Citation in the text:       (Pediatric Formulary Committee, 2024)

Full reference: Pediatric Formulary Committee (2024)  British National Formulary for children (BNFC) app. June 2024 . [Mobile app]. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pharmpress.bnf (Accessed: 14 July 2024)

• Title: followed by version e.g. British National Formulary for children 2022-2023
• Title: followed by the latest update date (see above for where to find this date) e.g. British National Formulary for children (BNFC). 9 July 2024
• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 24 July 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 24 July 2024 )
• URL: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/ OR https://www.medicinescomplete.com (depending on which version you are using)
• Title: followed by the update date e.g. British National Formulary for children (BNFC). June 2024 
• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 23 July 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 23 July 2024 )
• Author: British Pharmacopoeia Commission
• Title: British Pharmacopoeia. Version. (in italics)
• Available at: https://www.pharmacopoeia.com (Accessed: date)

Copy the format and punctuation of this example (make sure you change the Version and dates to match the ones you use):

Citation in the text:      (British Pharmacopoeia Commission, 2024)

Reference list: British Pharmacopoeia Commission. (2024).  British Pharmacopoeia . Ph. Eur. 11.4 update. Available at: https://www.pharmacopoeia.com (Accessed: 8 February 2024)

• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 8 February 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 8 February 2024)
• Author: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
• Year created/updated (use the most recent date) in round brackets
• Title of document/page  (in italics) followed by the guideline reference number in round brackets
• Available at: followed by the web address

Copy the format and punctuation of this example.

In-text citation:   (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2021)

Full reference: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2021)  Acute heart failure: diagnosis and management (CG187).  Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg187 (Accessed: 28 January 2024)

• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 28 January 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 28 January 2024)
• URL: paste in the web link (For a shorter reference use the link for the webpage instead of the longer PDF link)
• Year of publication in round brackets
• Title of policy and Version (in italics)
• Publisher (often the same as the author)

Use the text formatting and punctuation shown in this example.

Citation in the text:     (Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, 2023)

Full reference: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (2023)  Non-medical prescribing policy .  Version 5. London: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

• Title of policy and Version  (in italics)

Citation in the text:     (North East London Health & Care Partnership, 2023)

Full reference: North East London Health & Care Partnership  (2023)  North East London (NEL) management of infection guidance for primary care . August 2023 . Available at: https://gp-website-cdn-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/prescribing-guideline-downloads/1697724608-4663d459fc894709f71ce7beaa8662db.pdf (Accessed: 8 February 2024)

• Use the Reference Type 'Web Page' 

Citing SmPCs (Summaries of Product Characteristics) OR PILs (Patient Information Leaflets) on the Electronic Medicines Compendium

• Author - drug company who wrote the SmPC
• Year updated on EMC
• Title followed by Electronic Medicines Compendium.  (in italics)

Citation in the text:     (Wockhardt UK Ltd, 2017)

Full reference: Wokhardt UK Ltd (2017)  Aciclovir 400mg tablets summary of product characteristics . Electronic Medicines Compendium . Available at: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/2352/smpc (Accessed: 25 January 2024).

Citation in the text:      (Dermal Laboratories Limited, 2024)

Full reference: Dermal Laboratories Limited (2024)  Ibugel patient information leaflet . Electronic Medicines Compendium . Available at: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3759/pil (Accessed: 7 February 2024).

• Author: company name. Put a comma after the company name to ensure it formats correctly e.g. Wockhardt UK Ltd,
• Access Date: the date you looked at the site in the format day month year e.g. 7 February 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 7 February 2024)

Citing systematic reviews on The Cochrane Library database

• Title of review (in single quotation marks)
• Database name (in italics)
• Article number (CD ...)
• DOI or Available at: web address (Accessed: date)

Citation in the text:     (Crowe, Chang and Wallace, 2016)

Reference list: Crowe, L., Chang, A., and Wallace, K. (2016) 'Instruments for assessing readiness to commence suck feeds in preterm infants: effects on time to establish full oral feeding and duration of hospitalisation',  Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,  8, CD005586, DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005586.pub3

• Use the Reference Type 'Electronic article'
• Title: title of the review - in lower case apart from the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns
• Periodical Title: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• Volume: Issue number, Article number e.g. 8, CD005586

Note that the way you enter a Cochrane Review on EndNote for the Harvard style is very different from the way you enter it for the Vancouver style. It is not possible to reuse one entry in both styles.

Although most references refer to the published paper as this details the results of the clinical trial, depending on the context of what you write you may need to reference the clinical trial itself.

• Author(s) in the format Surname, Initials (this will be the primary contact for the trial)
• Title of trial (in single quotation marks)
• Database/registry name (in italics)
• Trial reference number

Example 1: with a DOI

Citation in the text:     (Crooks, 2023)

Full reference: Crooks, M. (2023) 'An investigation into how adding an inhaled steroid to COPD treatment may potentially protect against heart disease',  ISRCTN , ISRCTN29148209. DOI: 10.1186/ISRCTN29148209 .

Example 2: without a DOI

Citation in the text:     (Lingor, 2023)

Full reference: Lingor, P. (2023) 'Safety, tolerability and symptomatic efficacy of the ROCK-inhibitor Fasudil in patients with Parkinson's disease',  ClinicalTrials.gov,  NCT05931575. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05931575 (Accessed: 9 January 2024).

• Periodical Title: Database/Registry name
• Volume: Trial number
• Date Accessed: date you looked at it in the format day month year e.g. 9 January 2024 Note there is a fault in the Cite Them Right Harvard style which omits the closing bracket after the date. Just type the closing bracket after the year in EndNote for it to appear e.g. 9 January 2024)
• DOI: add DOI if it has one
• URL: the web link if no DOI
• Note that the way you enter a Clinical Trial on EndNote for the Harvard style is very different from the way you enter it for the Vancouver style. It is not possible to reuse one entry in both styles.

Always check with your tutor if you are allowed to refer to course materials in your own work. It is preferable to use published sources where possible, such as articles and books. 

• Author's name in the format Surname, Initials
• Year in round brackets
• Title of document/presentation as given on Blackboard (in single quotation marks)
• Medium in square brackets e.g. [PowerPoint presentation, Lecture, Recorded lecture)
• Module code: module title (in italics)
• Institution
• Available at: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk (Accessed: date)  Note that you do not need to give the specific web address for the material you are citing. The address for Blackboard is sufficient.

Citation in the text:     (Cottrell, 2023)

Full reference: Cottrell, G. (2023) 'The molecules of life: proteins' [Presentation slides]. PM1PY2: Fundamentals of Cell Biology . University of Reading. Available at: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk (Accessed: 2 December 2023).

Example 2: Handout

Citation in the text:     (University of Reading, no date)

Full reference: University of Reading (no date)  'Direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) assessment form' [Handout]   PM2PY1: Professional Practice 2 . University of Reading. Available at: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk (Accessed: 20 November 2023).

For guidance on citing other types of materials posted on Blackboard see Section G7 of the following book:

• Use the Reference Type  'Web Page' 
• Series title: module code and title
• Access Date: date you looked at it in the format day month year e.g. 25 January 2024
• Type of Medium: add the Format here e.g. Presentation slides, Lecture notes, Recorded lecture, Handout
• URL: https://www.bb.reading.ac.uk 

Note that even with the information entered as above the default 'Cite Them Right-Harvard' style in EndNote will not quite format the reference correctly - the title of the document should be enclosed in single quotes and be in plain text; the module details should be in italics; there should be closing bracket after the access date; the Type of Medium should be after the document title. To correct this, as a final step before submission, create a plain text version of your document. Go to the EndNote toolbar in Word and select 'Convert citations and bibliography' to 'Plain text' (this will be under 'Tools' on the Mac version of the toolbar). This will create a copy of your document which is divorced from EndNote so that you can make final tweaks to the references.

Secondary referencing (citing a source you have read about in a different source)

A secondary reference is used when you are referring to a source which you have not read yourself, but have read about in another source.  Where possible, you should always try to read the original of anything you wish to refer to ; otherwise you are relying on the author who cited the reference to have interpreted it correctly and not taken it out of context. Use the reference list at the end of the source you are reading to find details of the reference and search for it using the search boxes below.

Find books using the Enterprise catalogue

Just type in the first author's surname and a few words from the title.

Find journal articles using Summon

Just type in the first author's surname and first part of the article title.

If you can't get hold of the original source you'll need to do a secondary reference and you should make clear that you are not using the original source. Only include the source you have used in your list of references following the guidance above on citing that type of publication. Indicate in your in-text citation that it is a secondary reference by preceeding the citation with 'as cited in' or 'as quoted in'.

Vancouver example

In-text citation:

According to France as cited in Weingart et al. (4) , hospitals use internal reporting procedures to identify...

4. Weingart, SN, Zhang L, Sweeney M, Hassett M. Chemotherapy medication errors. The Lancet Oncology, 2018; 19(4): e191-e199.

Harvard example

According to France (2003, as cited in Weingart et al. , 2018), hospitals use internal reporting procedures to identify...

Reference: 

Weingart, S.N., Zhang, L., Sweeney, M, & Hassett, M. (2018) 'Chemotherapy medication errors',  The Lancet Oncology , 19(4), pp. e191-e199.

Vancouver - just edit your text as in the example above and insert the reference for the paper you have read in the usual way.

• Insert the in-text citation for the paper you have read in the usual way.
• Right-click on the in-text citation and select ' Edit Citation(s) ' and ' More... '. 
• In the prefix box type the year of the paper you haven't read followed by a comma and space and 'as cited in ' (as in the example above). Click OK.
• In front to the in-text citation type in the author name(s) for the paper you haven't read (as in the example above), including the correct number of authors.

Citing tables, figures & images

Images, graphs, charts, diagrams and tables that you have used from books, websites and other texts should be referenced in the same way that you would any other material.

The captions for both tables and figures should include a citation if taken from or based on another source (name-year or number depending on the style you are using). When you refer to it in your writing, use the figure/table number. Give a full citation in the reference list for the source of the image.

Citing tables

Tables should be sequentially numbered with the title/legend above the table - as in this example which uses the Harvard referencing style:

Example of referring to a table in a sentence:

The macronutrient content of the diets used in the study is shown in Table 2. 

Full details for reference list (Harvard style):

Mitchell, N.S. and Ard, J.D. (2021) 'Weight loss, lifestyle, and dietary factors in cardiovascular diseases in African Americans and Hispanics', in Ferdinand, K.C., Taylor, H.A. and Rodriguez, C.J. (eds)  Cardiovascular disease in racial and ethnic minority populations . Cham: Humana Press, pp. 167-182.

Citing figures (images, graphs and diagrams)

Images, graphs and diagrams should be labelled as 'Figure' and sequentially numbered with the caption below - as in this example which uses the Harvard referencing style:

Example of referring to a figure in a sentence:

The prebiotics can induce direct or indirect effect on the gut-associated epithelial and immune cells (Figure 3).

Pujari, R. and Banerjee, G. (2021) 'Impact of prebiotics on immune response: from the bench to the clinic',  Immunology and Cell Biology , 99(3), pp. 255-273.

Decorative images

If the image is purely decorative you should still acknowledge the creator and source but there is no need to include a full reference.

See the example on the right which includes the caption: 'Image: [creator] via [website image captured from]'.

If it is a picture you have taken use this format:

'Image by author'.

Compiling your own table from multiple sources

If you are taking information from multiple sources and compiling your own table you still need to acknowledge those sources. 

The following link shows two ways of doing this. Although this is a guide to using the APA style the approaches can be adapted for use with Harvard and Vancouver.

• How to cite sources in a table (APA)

Quotes and copying information

• Copying information
• Example 1 (prose)
• Example 2 (standards)
• When taking information from a reference source which you are not putting into your own words i.e. copying and pasting you need to put quotes around the words to indicate that it is not your own work
• Students are expected to put the majority of information into their own words to demonstrate their understanding and independent thought - the amount of information in quotes should therefore be minimal
• Quotes should be reserved for situations where no alternative wording is possible and/or where it is not appropriate (e.g. quoting a standard or particular statement which supports your argument)
• Wenger (1, p. 181) argues that 'Engagement, imagination and alignment each create relations of belonging'.
• The focus of Wenger's discussion is on the way that different aspects come together to build notions of identity (1).
• Theorists have considered the impact of a variety of circumstances on the creation and expansion of identity (1-3).

Avoid quoting large blocks of text:

The NICE guidance for hypertension (1) states the following:

'Beta-blockers are not a preferred initial therapy for hypertension. However, beta-blockers may be considered in younger people, particularly:

• those with an intolerance or contraindication to ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor antagonists or
• women of child-bearing potential or
• people with evidence of increased sympathetic drive'

Instead this could be paraphrased as:

NICE no longer recommend beta-blockers to be used as initial therapy for hypertension, although it is recognised that there may be circumstances in which younger patients may benefit from beta-blockers (1).  In my practice I may review younger patients, therefore I will consider the recommendations from NICE on appropriate prescribing of beta-blockers, for example women of child-bearing age, patients with increased sympathetic drive or unable to take ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor antagonists.

Consider using a reference management system such as EndNote to help you reference correctly. This bibliographic management package can be used to store references, and then insert the citation in your Word document, automatically building the reference list for you in the correct style (''Vancouver' or Cite Them Right-Harvard').

Go to the EndNote page in this guide to download the software and learn how to use it:

• Using EndNote for PACE students

For information on other options for electronic management of your references see our guide to Managing references:

• Managing references

Referencing help from your librarian

• Reading School of Pharmacy referencing guide A summary and printable version of the School's referencing guidance (note this does not include as much detail as the information on this page).

Video guides to referencing

See also our short videos on referencing and avoiding plagiarism:

• Videos on avoiding plagiarism, Turnitin, using quotes and paraphrasing
• Video on Harvard referencing for Pharmacy
• Video on Vancouver referencing for Pharmacy
• << Previous: 4. Plagiarism
• Next: 5.1 Using EndNote >>
• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 2:32 PM
• URL: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/pace

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Mariah Carey Confirms Her Mom Patricia and Sister Alison Both Died on Same Day: 'My Heart Is Broken' (Exclusive)

"I appreciate everyone's love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time," says Mariah

Julie Jordan is an Editor at Large for PEOPLE. She has been with the brand for 25 years, writing cover stories and features and managing special issues including the Beautiful Issue and Sexiest Man Alive. 

Mariah Carey 's mom Patricia and sister Alison died on the same day over the weekend, PEOPLE can confirm.

"My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day," the Grammy-winning singer, 55, said in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE.

"I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed," adds Mariah. "I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time."

No other details, including Patricia and Alison's causes of death, are known at this time.

Patricia, who was previously married to Alfred Roy Carey, was a Juilliard-trained opera singer and vocal coach before the couple welcomed Alison, Mariah and son Morgan. The parents later divorced when the "Hero" singer was 3 years old.

Mariah's relationship with her mother — from whom her vocal talents were inherited — was complicated throughout her life.

Rob Latour/Shutterstock

"Like many aspects of my life, my journey with my mother has been full of contradictions and competing realities. It's never been only black-and-white — it's been a whole rainbow of emotions," she wrote in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey .

"Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment," continued Mariah in the book. "A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother's."

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Despite their ups and downs, Mariah maintained a relationship with her mother. In 2010, they came together for ABC's  Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You special and performed a festive mother-daughter duet of " O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus ."

Mariah also dedicated her memoir in part to Patricia. "And to Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I do believe actually did the best she could," she wrote. "I will love you the best I can, always."

Mariah's relationship with Alison was also quite complex. The star wrote in the memoir that it was, at least at the time, "emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact" with her or Morgan.

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• Introduction
• Parenthetical vs. narrative
• Multiple authors

Missing information

• Sources to include

Tools and resources

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How to create APA citations

APA Style is widely used by students, researchers, and professionals in the social and behavioral sciences. Scribbr’s free citation generator automatically generates accurate references and in-text citations.

This citation guide outlines the most important citation guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020).

• Cite a webpage
• Cite a book
• Cite a journal article
• Cite a YouTube video

APA in-text citations

APA in-text citations include the author’s last name, publication date, and, if relevant, a locator such as a page number or timestamp. For example, (Smith, 2021, p. 170) . See it as a shorter version of the entry in the reference list .

You should include in-text citations every time you’re quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas or words. In doing so, you give credit to the original author and avoid plagiarism .

Parenthetical vs. narrative citation

The in-text citation can take two forms: parenthetical and narrative. Both types are generated automatically when citing a source with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator.

• Parenthetical citation: According to new research … (Smith, 2020) .
• Narrative citation: Smith (2020) notes that …

Multiple authors and corporate authors

The in-text citation changes slightly when a source has multiple authors or an organization as an author. Pay attention to punctuation and the use of the ampersand (&) symbol.

When the author, publication date or locator is unknown, take the steps outlined below.

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APA references

APA references generally include information about the author , publication date , title , and source . Depending on the type of source, you may have to include extra information that helps your reader locate the source.

It is not uncommon for certain information to be unknown or missing, especially with sources found online. In these cases, the reference is slightly adjusted.

Formatting the APA reference page

On the first line of the page, write the section label “References” (in bold and centered). On the second line, start listing your references in alphabetical order .

Apply these formatting guidelines to the APA reference page:

• Double spacing (within and between references)
• Hanging indent of ½ inch
• Legible font (e.g. Times New Roman 12 or Arial 11)
• Page number in the top right header

Which sources to include

On the reference page, you only include sources that you have cited in the text (with an in-text citation ). You should not include references to personal communications that your reader can’t access (e.g. emails, phone conversations or private online material).

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