Department of Performing Arts & English
Referencing Guidelines for Students and Staff
Contents
What is Referencing?
How do I know what resources I should reference?
List of specific resources that you are likely to use in your assignments.
1Books
1.1Books with an editor or chapter in an edited book
1.2Books with more than three authors
1.3.Electronic books
2Journals
2.1Print journals
2.2Electronic editions of print journals (e.g. from databases such as International Index to Performing Arts)
3Newspaper articles (print and electronic)
4Lecture materials from BREO
5Organisational or personal Internet sites
6Audio visual materials – videos & DVDs
7Live performances – Dance and Theatre
8Secondary referencing
How do I find out more about referencing?
Reference list
What is Referencing?
It is a way of…
- … acknowledging that you have used the ideas and written material belonging to another author. You should use reference in all your assignments:
- essays
- portfolios
- posters
- presentations
- dissertations
- … avoiding plagiarism [literary theft – a serious academic offence]
How do I know what resources I should reference?
- You will be expected to reference what you have
- watched
- listened to
- looked at
Note: this includes electronic sources such as websites.
List of specific resources that you are likely to use in your assignments.
On the following pages are the actual examples of how to reference the resources that you are most likely to use to when researching your assignments or your dissertation during your degree. This list is not exhaustive.
- Look at each carefully and check your own references alongside the examples.
- It is up to you to check and double check that you have referenced correctly.
- The more you do this the easier it will become as there is a format for each type of reference.
1Books
Always use the title page and the ‘copyright’ page, rather than the book’s cover to find these details.
(i)Author(s) (surname followed by initial)
(ii)Year of publication in round () brackets
(iii)Book title (in italics, in sentence case): Subtitle separated by colon
(iv)Edition of book (abbreviate to ‘edn.’ ; don’t include the edition number if it is the 1st edition)
(v)Place of publication: (the first named if there is more than one place)
(vi)Publisher
In text:Cottrell (2003, p.133) recommends that you ‘use your own words, even if you don’t think you write well – they count for more than copied text’.
Performances originate from a variety of sources, such as written texts or works of visual art(Schechner, 2006, p.226).
Reference list:
Cottrell, S. (2003) The study skills handbook. 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schechner, R. (2006) Performance studies: an introduction. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.
1.1Books with an editor or chapter in an edited book
(i)Author(s) of chapter
(ii)(Year of publication)
(iii)‘Title of chapter’,followed by ‘in’
(iv)Name of editor(s) (abbreviated to ‘ed.’ or ‘eds.’ if more than one)
(v)Book title(in italics, in sentence case): Subtitle separated by colon
(vi)Edition of book (abbreviate to ‘edn.’ ; don’t include the edition number if it is the 1st edition)
(vii)Place of publication: (the first named if there is more than one place)
(viii)Publisher
(ix)Chapter page numbers
In text:Begam (2007, p.186) argues that Joyce’s political engagement operates at the aesthetic level.
Reference list:
Begam, R. (2007) ‘Joyce’s Trojan Horse: Ulysses and the aesthetics of decolonization’, in Begam, R. and Valdez Moses, M. (eds.) Modernism and colonialism: British and Irish literature, 1899-1939. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, pp. 185-208.
1.2Books with more than three authors
For publications with more than three authors or editors the first name listed should be cited followed by et al.
In text:New research on health awareness (Tipton et al., 2008, p.124)...
Reference list:
All authors’/editors’ names would be given in your reference list (no matter how many there are) so that each author or editor can receive credit for their research and published work.
1.3.Electronic books
(i)Author(s)
(ii)(Year of publication)
(iii)Book title(in italics, in sentence case): Subtitle separated by colon
(iv)E-book supplier (e.g. Netlibrary, Taylor & Francis)
(v)[Online]
(vi)Available at: URL
(vii)(Accessed: date month year)
In text:‘Since the early 1960s women have been involved in performance art and have worked to “liberate” the body marked female from the confines of patriarchal delimitation’ (Schneider, 1997, p. 11).
Reference list:
Schneider, R. (1997) The explicit body in performance. Netlibrary [Online]. Available at: (Accessed: 14 November 2007).
2Journals
2.1Print journals
(i)Author(s) (surname followed by initial)
(ii)(Year of publication)
(iii)‘Title of article’
(iv)Title of the journal (in italics, in Title Case)
(v)Volume number (issue number), page numbers (pp. …)
In text:Hawkins (2006) argues that Dante’s contribution to theology ….
Reference list:
Hawkins, P. (2006) ‘All smiles: poetry and theology in Dante’, PMLA, 121 (2), pp. 371-387.
2.2Electronic editions of print journals (e.g. from databases such as International Index to Performing Arts)
(i)Author(s) (surname followed by initial)
(ii)(Year of publication)
(iii)‘Title of article’
(iv)Title of the journal (in italics, in Title Case)
(v)Volume number (issue number), page numbers (pp. …)
(vi)Name of database / electronic journal supplier (see ‘Note’ field on Catalogue page)
(vii)[Online]
(viii)Available at: URL of collection
(ix)(Accessed: date month year)
(x)
In text:Price (1990, p. 324) argues that Bausch’s Tanztheatre explores the construction of gender from the standpoint of both radical and materialist feminism.
Reference list:
Price, D. (1990) ‘Womenand/in drama: the politics of the body: Pina Bausch’s “Tanztheater”’,Theatre Journal, 42 (3), pp. 322-331. International Index to Performing Arts [Online]. Available at: (Accessed: 14 November 2007).
3Newspaper articles (print and electronic)
(i)Author(s)
(ii)(Year of publication)
(iii)Title of article
(iv)Name of newspaper(in italics, in Sentence case)
(v)Date and month of publication
(vi)Page number(s) (p. or pp. ; only include page numbers for print articles)
If using an electronic version of an article, add the following to the above information:
(vii)[Online]
(viii)Available at: URL
(ix)(Accessed: date month year)
In text:The preponderance of reality TV shows featuring competitors vying for a place in West Endmusicals has led to a rise in theatre attendance (Byrne, 2008).
Reference list:
Byrne, C. (2008) ‘Reality TV shows create boom in theatre attendance’, The Independent, 18 January, p. 22.
OR, IF USING ELECTRONIC VERSION:
Byrne, C. (2008) ‘Reality TV shows create boom in theatre attendance’, The Independent, 18 January [Online]. Available at:
home.do?rand=0.2525892476402214 (Accessed: 7 February 2008).
4Lecture materials from BREO
(i)Lecturer or Author(s)
(ii)(Year of publication)
(iii)‘Title of lecture’ (in quotation marks)
(iv)Name of unit/module (in italics, in Sentence case)
(v)[Online]
(vi)Available at: URL of BREO
(vii)(Accessed: date month year)
In text:The aim of ‘politically correct’ language is to create a more inclusive vocabulary (Walsh, 2008).
Reference list:
Walsh, C. (2008) ‘Week 16: Free speech and political correctness’. Language, ideology and power[Online]. Available at: 2 May 2008).
5Organisational or personal Internet sites
If you cannot identify the originator or date of a webpage, you should reconsider whether the information is of reliable quality.
(i)Author(s)
(ii)(Year of publication)[1]
(iii)Name of webpage (in italics, in Sentence case)
(iv)Available at: URL (include the web page’s full address, not just the generic website)
(v)(Accessed: date month year)
In text:Many graduates from creative disciplines such as dance are self-employed, in part because of the creative freedom this offers (Burns, 2007, p. 6).
DV8’s artistic policy emphasises the company’s attempts to ‘break down the barriers between dance, theatre and personal politics’ (DV8 Physical Theatre, 2008).
Reference list:
Burns, S. (2007) Mapping dance: entrepreneurship and professional practice in dance higher education. Available at: (Accessed: 27 March 2008).
DV8 Physical Theatre (2008) About DV8: artistic policy. Available at: co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html (Accessed: 27 November 2007).
6Audio visual materials – videos & DVDs
(i)Title of film/programme (in italics)
(ii)(Year of distribution)
(iii)Director
(iv)[DVD] or [videocassette]
(v)Place of distribution: Distribution Company.
In text:In Michael Hoffman’s recent adaptation of Shakespeare’s play (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2002)…
Reference list:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2002) Directed by Michael Hoffman [DVD]. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
For DVD copies of television programmes (in reference list):
Dance for the camera: the snowball effect (1998) Directed by Brett Turnball [DVD] BBC 2, 15 January.
7Live performances – Dance and Theatre
Dance performances:
(i)Composer or choreographer
(ii)(Year of Premier)
(iii)Title (in italics)
(iv)Location.Date seen in square [ ] brackets.
In text:The production updates Bizet’s opera Carmen to 1960s America (Bourne, 2000).
Reference list:
Bourne, M. (2000) The Car Man. [Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London. 11 July 2007].
Theatre performances:
(i)Title (in italics)
(ii)‘by’ Author name
(iii)(Year of performance)
(iv)Directed by
(v)Location. Date seen in square [ ] brackets.
In text:The production used video screens on stage to display both pre-recorded and live images (Richard II, 2005).
Reference list:
Richard II by William Shakespeare (2005) Directed by Trevor Nunn. [The OldVicTheatre, London. 15 September].
8Secondary referencing
Please note that secondary referencing is a useful technique, but should only be used infrequently. It is good practice to consult the original text whenever possible. It is acceptable to use secondary referencing when an author refers to another author’s work and the primary source is not available (for example, because the primary source is very old).
In text:‘Let it be first of all by their presence that objects and gestures establish themselves…’ (Alain Robbe-Grillet, quoted in Banes, 1987, p.43)
Barish, cited by Poole (1995), remarks that ‘Puritan’ can often be used as a shorthand term for much anti-theatrical writing.
Reference list:
Banes, S. (1987)Terpsichore in sneakers: post-modern dance. Hanover, N.H.: WesleyanUniversity Press.
Poole, K. (1995) ‘Saints alive! Falstaff, Martin Marprelate, and the staging of Puritanism’, Shakespeare Quarterly,46 (1), pp. 47-75.
How do I find out more about referencing?
If you are confused about referencing in an assignment, talk to your lecturer or contact your subject librarian for help.
Alternatively, consult Cite them right (Pears & Shields, 2005),a useful guide to Harvard Referencing.There are copies of this guide in Polhill Library.
Reference list
Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: the essential guide to referencing and plagiarism.8th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stubbings, R. & Brine, A. (2003) ‘Plagiarism and the role of the library’, CILIP Update, 2(12) pp.42-44.
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Acknowledgement: Based on the referencing guide for the University of Bedfordshire Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, created by Hilary Johnson (Health Studies Librarian), Dawn Haysom (Academic Liaison Librarian) and Susan Malherbe (Lecturer) (June 2006, updated June 2007).
Updated by Jacqueline Belanger (Academic Liaison Librarian), April-May 2008. Further updated by Sandra Weir (Academic Liaison Librarian) Oct 2010.
[1] Use the date the page was updated (preferably), created or copyrighted. If no publication date is given, write (No date).