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Elements for referencing a book

Author: Surname with capital letter, followed by comma.
Initials: In capitals with full-stop after each.
Year: Publication year (not printing or impression) in parentheses, followed by full stop.
Title: Full title in italics. Only the first word and proper nouns should be capitalized. Follow with a full stop (unless there is a subtitle).
Sub-title: Follows a colon at the end of the full title. Only proper nouns should be capitalized. Followed by a full stop.
Edition: Only include if it is not a first edition. Use the number followed by “edn.”
Place of publication: Give town or city, and country if there is possible confusion with the UK. Follow with a colon
Publisher: Publisher name followed by full stop.

In-text citation:

A recent sudy (Elder 1995) found that rock samples…
or
Elder (1995, p.14) claims that “….”

 

Reference list:

Elder, B. (1995). The magic of Australia. Sydney: Beaut Books.
Note: When an author has two or more initials, the entry would look like this:
 

Scwartz, H.J. (1985). Interactive writing: composing with a word processor. Austin: Hold, Reinhardt & Winston.

 

Related examples

  • Two authors
  • Three authors
  • Four or more authors
  • No author
  • Multiple works – same author
  • Works by different authors – same family name
  • Works by different authors – same family name – same year
  • Second or later edition with an author
  • Several sources are cited at once
  • Author(s) sponsored by institution, corporation or other organisation
  • No author(s) name appears (but there is a sponsoring body or title)
  • Edited work – role of editor is significant
  • One volume of multivolume work
  • One issue in a series
  • No date can be established
  • The date can be established but only approximately
  • Referring to an author (secondary source) read about in another publication (primary source)
  • Referring to two secondary sources within a primary source
  • Author is also the publisher