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Evidence Based Practice: Authorship

A subject guide to resources on Evidence Based Practice from Queen Margaret University

Citing multiple references from different authors

These should be listed in chronological order, with the oldest first. You separate the sources with a semicolon (;).

Citation examples

Reflective practice is considered an essential element within the caring professions (Palmer, 2014; Brown, 2016; Davidson and Marsh, 2019).

Palmer (2014), Brown (2016) and Davidson and Marsh (2019) all argue that reflective practice is considered an essential element within the caring professions.

Citing multiple references from the same author in different years

When citing more than one source form the same author in the same year, use lower case letters to indicate different sources.

Citation example
The Department of Health said the deaths showed that the hospital had to urgently improve its quality of care (Campbell, 2016a). There is grave doubt on the ability of the Government to increase the number of GPs in England by 5,000 between 2015 and 2020 (Campbell, 2016b).

If you refer to two or more items by the same author, published in different years, the year will distinguish each one in your text.

Citation example
Colbert (2009) suggests that these values can be transmitted during childhood. However, coming from a well-educated background does not necessarily mean being an avid consumer of high art (Colbert, 2003).

Citing multiple references from the same author in the same year

If you refer to two or more items by the same author in the same year, then you should use lower case letters to show the difference.

Citation example
In his series of published articles chronicling the history of British art, Graham-Watson describes how most artists at the beginning of the eighteenth-century were viewed unfavourably by their audiences (2009a), but advance a hundred years, and attitudes towards art and their creators had dramatically changed with the likes of Gainsborough and Reynolds achieving great wealth and public acclaim (2009b).

Where an author’s family name has two parts

When capitalised, the first part of the name should always be treated as part of the last name, e.g. Lloyd Webber. If the first part is not capitalised, this should be treated as a suffix that goes after the first name.

Examples:

  • Lloyd Webber, A.
  • Gogh, V. v .

Secondary referencing (the work of an author cited in another source)

Citing the work of an author you have read within someone else’s work is known as secondary referencing. If at all possible, you should read the original work yourself. However, due to lack of availability, you may sometimes need to use a secondary reference.

Citation examples

In an article of 2011 Wilford also maintains that Columbus’ treatment of native people following his conquests is frequently seen in an ambiguous light (cited in Ransby, 2012, p. 81).

Columbus’ treatment of native people following his conquests is frequently seen in an ambiguous light (Wilford, 2011, cited in Ransby, 2012, p. 81).

Notes:

• You must provide the page number on which Wilford’s ideas appear in Ransby

• Use ‘cited in’ to show that you have not seen the original article by Wilford but only what Ransby says about it. Wilford must not appear in your reference list

• Only include works in your reference list that you have actually read

 

In the reference list the full reference should appear as:

Reference list example
Ransby, B. (2012) Columbus and the making of historical myth. Race and Class. Jan-Mar, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 79-86.

 

Names of organisations

If the name of an organisation usually appears as a group of initials (for example: BBC, NHS), you should cite it using these letters and do not write it out in full (for example: British Broadcasting Corporation, National Health Service).

For other organisations, where they are most commonly referred to with its full name but where doing this throughout your work would increase your wordcount substantially, you should provide the full name of the organisation the first time you cite it, and identify its standard acronym/abbreviated form in square brackets. You can then refer to this abbreviation the next time(s) you need to cite it. Provide the full name of the organization in the reference list.

When you add the works cited to your reference list, you should write the name of the organisation out in full and add the abbreviated form after it.

Citation examples

(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2011, p. 89).

(OECD, 2011, p. 95)

Reference list example
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2011) Better policies for development recommendations for policy coherence. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/pcsd/48110465.pdf (Accessed: 22 June 2021).

The first time you cite an organisation in your work, you should write its name out in full.

If the name appears as a group of initials, the full form, if known, may be added in brackets, unless the body is usually identified by the initials only, for example: UNESCO, NATO.