Referencing Styles

A guide to the reference styles used at the University of St Andrews

What you need to include and types of books

Book references include:

  • Author(s) / Editor(s)
  • Year
  • Title
  • Editor / Translator
  • Edition Statement
  • Volume
  • Place
  • Publisher

Ebook references include:

  • Author(s) / Editor(s)
  • Year
  • Title
  • Editor / Translator
  • Edition Statement
  • Volume
  • Place
  • Publisher
  • DOI or URL

 

Fields marked in blue are only included where the source contains that information.

Where the reference takes up multiple lines, indent the reference from the second line. The reference list should have double-line spacing.

The basic in-text citation format is:

(Author surname, year, p.)

The basic reference format is:

Author, A.A. (Year). Title of book. Edition. Publication data.

In-text citation:

(Esgate, Groome, & Baker, 2005, p. 42)

Reference list entry:

Esgate, A., Groome, D., & Baker, K. (2005). An introduction to applied cognitive psychology. Hove: Psychology  Press.

In-text citation:

(Boutang, & De Lara, 2016, p. 68)

Reference list entry:

Boutang, J., & De Lara, M. (2016).  The biased mind: how evolution shaped our psychology including anecdotes and tips for making sound decisions.  [PDF version]. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-16519-6

 

  • In-text citations are within parenthesis, and contain the author(s) surname(s) and year of publication. The page number is given if you are referring to a specific page/section, always give page numbers if you are quoting. If you refer to the authors within your text, only the date is needed in your in-text citation. If you refer to the year in your text, only the author(s) is needed in your in-text citation.
  • Ensure you include all the punctuation required in your reference.
  • For multiple authors follow the advice in the Author Rules tab, paying attention to the use of commas, ampersand, and ellipses.  Surname is followed with a comma, a space, then the initials.  No space is given between initials when more than one is needed for an author's forename.
  • (Date) is always within parenthesis, and followed with a "."
  • Title is always italicised, and followed with a "."
  • Location is always followed with a ":"  
  • For print resources a full-stop is given at the end of the reference
  • For e-books provide details of the format, and either the doi or URL.  No full-stop is used when you enter a DOI or a URL.
  • The second and subsequent lines of each reference should be indented.  
  • The reference list should be double line spaced.