Writing referencing styles

The two main reference systems used in business writing are the author-date system and the documentary-note system. The Vancouver system, which is similar to the documentary-note system, is used in scientific writing. Many organisations develop their own referencing style based on either the author-date or documentary-note system.

Referencing within text

The author-date system, also known as the Harvard system, identifies in brackets the author’s name and date of publication.

     This study (Brown, 2008) demonstrates...

The documentary-note system uses endnotes or footnotes for references and comments.

     The study¹demonstrates...

Reference lists and bibliographies

People use the terms ‘reference list’ and ‘bibliography’ interchangeably. Both appear at the end of a document and are written in a similar manner, but a reference list documents all the works that were specifically referred to in the text, while a bibliography includes other works that were consulted as the document was being compiled.

The author-date and documentary-note system have several features in common:

• Books and periodical titles are italicised.
• Single quotation marks are used for article names and for chapters within books.
• Items within a reference are separated by commas (though there is no comma between the author and date in the author-date system).
• No full stops are used after authors’ initials.

The difference between the author-date and documentary-note systems lies in how the author’s name is written and in the position of the date of publication.

• In the author-date system, the author's first name or initials follows the family name, and is followed by the date.
• In the documentary-note system, the author's initials precede the family name, and the date is placed at the end of the citation.
• In the author-date system, the author’s first name or initials follows the family name, and is followed by the date.
• In the documentary-note system, the author’s initials precede the family name, and the date is placed at the end of the citation.

Examples of author-date references
Book: Flann, E, Hill, B 2004, The Australian Editing Handbook, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton.
Article: Tadros, E February 2009, ‘Shoppers log on for a bargain’, The Sun-Herald.

Examples of documentary-note references
Book: E Flann, B Hill, The Australian Editing Handbook, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, 2004.
Article: Tadros, E, ‘Shoppers log on for a bargain’, The Sun-Herald, February 2009.

Page number references

When referring to page numbers in the body of a document, use page or pages. In references, abbreviate to p. for page or pp. for pages. Have a space between the abbreviation and the page number.

     There is more information on company fraud on page 98.
     Fraud (pp. 98–103) is a major contributor to the company’s losses.

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