Reference Techniques - Library - University of Pretoria

Academic Writing
Vancouver and Harvard
Referencing Techniques
&
RefWorks
7 April 2009

What is Plagiarism
• To o steal or pass off as one's own (the idea or words of
another);
• use (a created production) without crediting the source;
• to commit literary theft;
• present as new and original an idea or product derived
from an existing source
(Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language
uage, , Unabridged, p. 1728).

Other types of Plagiarism
• Cyber-Plagiarism
Plagiarism: copying or downloading in part,
or in their entirety, articles or research papers found
on the Internet or copying ideas found on the Web
and not giving proper recognition.
• Deliberate Plagiarism: the wholesale copying of
another's paper with the intention of representing it
as one's own. In addition, the definition of deliberate
or intentional plagiarism includes the theft of another
person's ideas.

Some reasons why Students
Plagiarize
• Lack of research skills -- many undergraduate students do
not know how to search the library catalogue, search
databases for journal articles, or use other reference
sources.
• Problems evaluating Internet sources -- many students do
not know how to critically evaluate Internet sources and this
can impact on the research process and the student's
writing.
• Careless notetaking -- many students inadvertently
plagiarize while doing preliminary research. During the
notetaking phase paraphrased material and directly quoted
material can easily be mixed up if students aren't careful.
• Confusion about how to properly cite sources

Vancouver
Referencing Style

What is the Vancouver Referencing Style
‣ It is a uniform set of requirements for bibliographic
references.
‣ It is a "numbered" style.
‣ It follows rules established by the International Committee
of Medical Journal Editors.
‣ It is also known as: Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts
submitted to Biomedical Journals.

To access Reference guidelines : Click on
either of the 2 links below

To see examples
click on link

How to do in-text citations
‣ A number is assigned to each reference as it is cited
- in brackets [ ] ( ) or superscript. 1
‣ If the source is referred to again, the same number is used.
Example:...as one author has put it "the darkest days were still
ahead" [1]: which is well documented in the literature. [2-5] This
proves that "the darkest days were still ahead". [1]

How to create a Reference List
‣ Reference list should appear at the end of the assignment / report.
‣ Entries are listed numerically and in the same order that they were
cited in the text.
Example:
1. Baker PN, editor. Obstetrics by ten teachers. 18th ed. London:
Hodder Arnold; 2006.
2. Delbridge ML, Harry JL, Toder R. A human candidate
spermatogenesis gene, RBM1, is conserved and amplified on the
marsupial Y chromosome. Nat Genet. 1997; 15: 131-136.

Book citations
Main Elements of a book citation:
• Author/Editor/Compiler's surname initials.
• Title of the book.
• # ed. (if not the 1st)
• Place of publication:
• Publisher's name;
• Year of publication.
Example:
1. Author/Editor/Compiler's surname initials. Title of the book.
# ed. (if not the 1st) Place of publication: Publisher's name;
Year of publication.

Book citations
Main Elements of a book citation:
• Author/Editor/Compiler's surname initials.
• Title of the book.
• # ed. (if not the 1st)
• Place of publication:
• Publisher's name;
• Year of publication.
Example:
1. Author/Editor/Compiler's surname initials. Title of the book.
# ed. (if not the 1st) Place of publication: Publisher's name;
Year of publication.

Examples
Single/Personal author
Carlson BM. Human embryology and developmental biology. 3rd ed. St. Louis:
Mosby; 2004.
Editor(s) or compiler(s) as author
Add the word "editor" or "editors" after the name/s.
Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd
ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
Chapter in a book (or part of a book to which a number of authors have contributed)
Elements of the citation:
Author's (of the chapter) surname initials. Title of chapter. In: Editor's surname initials, editor. Title
of the book. # ed. [if not 1st] Place of publication: Publisher's name; Year of publication. p. #.
[page numbers of chapter]
Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors.
In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York:
McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
Thesis/Dissertation:
Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans
[thesis]. Mount Pleasant, MI: Central Michigan University; 2002.

Journal citations
Main Elements of a journal citation:
• Author's surname Initials,
• Author's surname Initials.
• Title of article.
• Title of Journal. [abbreviated]
• Year of publication Month date;
• Volume number
• (issue number):
• page numbers.
Example:
1. Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of
article. Title of Journal. [abbreviated] Year of publication
Month date; Volume number (issue number): page numbers.

Examples
Standard article
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected
patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7.
More than 6 authors
Give the first six names in full and add "et al". The authors are listed in
the order in which they appear.
Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al.
Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical
contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.
Organisation as author
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin and
proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension.
2002; 40(5):679-86.

Electronic Material
DVD:
Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson’s s electronic atlas of hematology [DVD].
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008
Website:
Cancer-Pain.org
[homepage on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer
Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Aug
12]. AMA Office of Group Practice Liaison. Available from: http://
://www.ama-
assn. org/ama/pub/category/1736.html

How to find Journal abbreviations
Click on
“Journals”

Click on the
binoculars to
search

Click on
Search
Type in the title of
the journal

HARVARD
Reference Technique

Text referencing
• The author, year of publication and
page number/s are stated.
• The detailed reference is found in the
Bibliography at the end of the text.

Examples : Books
(Surname year: page no.)
• (Malta 1977:3)
• (Behrens 2008: 74; Gates 1994:84)
• (Allen, Bartlett & Colegrove 1967: 15-21)
• (Esterhuyse
et al 1987)
• According to Gagiano (1981:156), the….

Examples: Journal articles
(surname year:page no.)
• (Teitelbaum
1992/93:63)
• (Gills & Rocamora 1992:506-508)
508)

Other Publications
Government publications:
• (Suid-Afrika
1978, art.38A0
• (SA Parlement: Volksraad 1986)
• (White Paper 1990)
Dictionaries & Encyclopaedias
• (Kotze
& Van Wyk 1986, s.v. ‘public opinion’
Newspapers:
• (Meyer 1993:51)
Author for a website:
• Thomas (1997) summarises…..

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• A list of publications and other information
sources referred to in the text.
• Harvard uses the first element of
description (e.g. Author) and arranges the
references strictly alphabetically.

Book citations
Main Elements of a book citation:
• Author/Editor. (surname and initials, separated by a comma, with a
full stop after each initial)
• Year of publication.
• Title of the book.
• Edition. (if not the 1st)
• Place of publication:
• Publisher's name.
Example:
Author/Editor/Compiler's surname initials. Year of
publication. Title of the book. Edition (if not the 1st). Place
of publication: Publisher's name/

Examples
Books with authors:
• Bogdan, , R. 2003. Qualitative research for education, , 4 th ed.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
• Taylor, J., Marais, D. & Kaplan, A. 1997. Action-learning for
development. . Cape Town: Juta.
Instead of using 3 or more names, , use first author and et
al:
• Taylor, J. et al. 1997. Action-learning for development.
Cape Town: Juta.

Other types of book publications
Books with Editors:
• Evolutionary biology. . 1992. Edited by E.F. Keller.
Harvard: University Press.
• Rowland, J.F.B. 1975. Chemical structure retrieval. In
Handbook of special librarianship and information work.
Edited by W.E. Batten. 4 th ed. London: Aslib, , p.376-387.
387.
Theses/Dissertations:
• Smithers, , R.H.N. 1970. The mammals of Botswana. DSc
thesis. University of Pretoria.

Encyclopaedia articles
• Author(s). Year of Publication. Title of the article. Name
of the encyclopaedia (in italics, bold or underlined),
Edition (except 1 st ), Volume, Page(s) ) on which the article
appears.
Example:
• Varley, , D.H. & Immelman, , R.F.M. 1972. Libraries.
Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, , vol.6, p.618-
619.

Journal citations
Main Elements of a journal citation:
• Author's surname Initials.
• Year of publication.
• Title of article.
• Title of Journal.
• Volume number
• (issue number):
• page numbers.
Example:
Author's surname Initials. Year of Publication. Title of article. Title of
Journal, Volume number (issue number): page numbers.

Example
• Hamilton, J.B. & Hoch, D. 1997. Ethical
standards for business lobbying.
Business ethics quarterly, , 30(4):
p.617-649.
649.

THE INTERNET
• Information retrieved from the internet must also be referred to
according to certain rules – including e-mail. e
The following elements in sequence must be considered:
• Author (if known)
• Date of publication/last updated
• Title of article or document on website
• Type of medium [Online]
• Available from:
• Access date in brackets [Accessed 25 November 2004]

Examples of Internet References
• Harris, P. 2005. Reaching the top of the mountain.
[Online]. Oxford University Press: Oxford. Available:
http://www.netLibrary.com/openbook/093456/html
[Accessed 8 January 2008]
• Useful tips for referencing. [Online]. Available:
http://www.referencetips.org.za [Accessed 5 November
2008].
• Lawrence, J.J. 2005. Cholera epidemics in central Africa.
The Times, , 26 June 2005. [Online]. Available:
> [Accessed 27 June 2005].

E-mail
• NB: E-mail addresses should never be cited
without permission of the owner of the address.
Example:
• Thomson, Barry. “Virtual Reality.” personal e-mail e
(25
Nov, 2008).

RefWorks
• RefWorks -- is an online research
management, writing and collaboration
tool -- is designed to help researchers
easily gather, manage, store and share all
types of information, as well as generate
citations and bibliographies.

“RefWorks”
Go to Medical Library Home Page – Click on
“Referencing Guidelines” to get this page
Click on RefWorks

If you get this page click on
“Continue….”

From home you will be
prompted to use a
Group Code : RWUnivPretoria

Create your personal account

Two options
1 Format paper and bibliography
2 Format bibliography from a list of
references

Eliminate duplicate
references
Before starting with
your paper you need to
install Write-N-Cite
This will allow you to
import your references
into your word document
while you are working on
your assignment

After you have clicked on
Write-N-Cite
this screen will open choose

Write-N-Cite in your
Word document

HOW TO GET REFERENCES INTO
REFWORKS:
• Export references directly into RefWorks
from an online database, eg
• Medline,
• EbscoHost
• Science Direct
OR
• Import references from PubMed
OR
• Enter references manually
The first time you login to RefWorks, your database is
empty

Adding references to Refworks
• Export from a database (Medline) to
Refworks

Choose references, select Complete
References Click on direct
export, click on save

Folders in Refworks

More on Folders
• Create new folders - multiple
• View existing folders with contents
• Organise folders – clear references ,
delete contents / folders or share folders
with others

Add references to folder

View folders
• Use “View" tab
• View folders
• View All references
• Once references are imported, you can
search Refworks –use
“Search” tab

Adding references to Refworks
• Export from a database (Medline) to
Refworks
• Add new reference – Manual e.g.

• Creating a Bibliography for your document

Remember to
load word on
Write ’n Cite
After
downloading
Write ’n Cite it
will appear on
the toolbar of
Microsoft
Word

For “Help” – use the Online
Tutorials

Tutorials available in Video / PDF downloadable
Video’s
Downloadable
PDF

Sort and file your references to avoid problems when
you get to referencing an article or thesis then
referencing can be a pleasure!
In case of problems, Contact your Information
Specialist!
• Searching is relaxing and fun!
Maureen Brassel :
2009