Different Types Of Referencing Styles

Academic writing is exhausting; but do you know what’s even more tiring?

Citing the sources of external references used in the paper.

As a student, you may have already written numerous essays and assignments. So, it is safe to assume that you have a basic idea about what citation is. Still, let’s jog your memory.
Referencing is a way of acknowledging your source in the body of the work as an in-text citation and linking those citations to the list of work cited – better known as reference list or bibliography.

It means, every time you use any information from an external source, you need to acknowledge the source by citing the source within the text and linking it with the reference list. It should be easy, right?

Well, the problem is – there are different types of referencing styles in practice, each of them with a unique set of guidelines.

What Are the Different Types of Referencing Styles? 

If you try to list down all the different types of referencing styles, you will require a really long piece of paper. To make things easier for you, we will only discuss those types of referencing styles which are used by universities and journals. You can complete your academic career without learning about the rest.
Depending on the way of recording sources, the scholarly referencing styles can be segmented into three major categories:

i. Documentary note styles:

In the documentary note citation systems, you need to provide with the references in footnotes or endnotes. These notes are indicated by digits (also known as superscripts), which then recur with the full reference at the bottom of the page, i.e. the footnote, or at the end of the paper (endnote).

The digits are usually positioned after the full stop ending the sentence to which the reference belongs. Major referencing styles such as the Oxford referencing style and MHRA referencing style fall under this category.

Example:

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle. 7
[From the endnote section of the paper]

7. Gregory Palmer, The Battle of XYZ (New Jersey, 2002)

ii. Parenthetical styles: 

The parenthetical or author-date style, the in-text references are provided within parentheses before the full stop of the sentence containing the reference. A majority of the popular referencing styles such as APA, Harvard and MLA fall under this category of referencing styles.

Example:

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (Palmer, 2002).
The reference entry should be written like this:
Palmer, G. (2002). The Battle of XYZ, p. 173

iii.Numbered styles: 

Major Types of Referencing Used in Academic Field 

As mentioned, there are numerous types of referencing styles that exist. You only need to learn about those which are used for academic writing and journals. So, here are the major ones that you should know about:

MLA referencing style: 

MLA style was created by the Modern Language Association. It is currently in its 8th edition. This style of referencing is used mostly in language and literature studies. This referencing style uses a parenthetical format of citing, containing the author and page number.

Example:

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (Palmer 173).

MLA Works Cited entry:

Palmer, Gregory. The Battle of XYZ. Orange Publishers, 2002.

APA referencing style:

APA Style was designed by the American Psychological Association and was initially used in psychology and social sciences. However, it is used in other disciplines as well. It is currently in its 7th edition which was released in October 2019. This form of referencing style uses an author-date system of parenthetical referencing.

Example

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (Palmer, 2002, p. 173).
APA reference list entry:

Palmer, G. (2002). The Battle of XYZ, New Jersey, USA: Orange Publishers.

Chicago Referencing Style:

Chicago style is developed by the Chicago Manual of Style. Interestingly, there are two variants of this form of referencing:

I. Chicago A: 

In this variation, you need to cite the sources in a footnote or endnote.

Example

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle. 7
Chicago style footnote
7 Gregory Palmer, The Battle of XYZ (New Jersey: Orange Publishers, 2002).
Chicago bibliography entry
Gregory Palmer. The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey: Orange Publishers, 2002.

II. Chicago B: 

In this variation, you should use parenthetical author-date citation in the text.
Example:
Chicago in-text citation
Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (Palmer 2002, 173).

Chicago reference list entry

Palmer, Gregory. 2002. The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey: Orange Publishers.

Turabian Referencing Style: 

Turabian style of referencing was developed based on the Chicago style of referencing. It is specially created for students working on a research paper. Similar to the Chicago style of referencing, Turabian also has two variations of referencing.

I. A documentary note system
II. An author-date system

Turabian note citation example:

Turabian in-text citation

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle. 7
Turabian footnote (first reference to a source)
7 Palmer, The Battle of XYZ (New Jersey: Orange Publishers, 2002), p.173.
Turabian footnote (subsequent references to a source)
7 Palmer, The Battle of XYZ, p.173.
Turabian bibliography entry:
Palmer, Gregory. The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey: Orange Publishers, 2002.
Turabian author-date citation example:
Turabian in-text citation:
. Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (Palmer 2002, 173).
Turabian reference list entry
Palmer, Gregory. 2002. The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey: Orange Publishers.

Harvard Referencing Style: 

Harvard style of referencing is generally used in the field of economics. Interestingly, there is no official style guide. Some organizations have published their own version of Harvard referencing style. Some of the prominent ones are:

British Standards Institution
Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS)
Harvard style also follows an author-date system.

Example:

Harvard in-text citation

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (Palmer, 2002, p.173).
Harvard reference list entry
. Palmer, G. (2002). The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey: Orange Publishers.

Vancouver Style of Referencing:

Vancouver referencing style was created by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). This referencing style is mostly used in medical disciplines. Vancouver style follows a numeric system. In the text, the source is indicated by a number. The complete detail of the source appears next to that particular number in the reference list.

Example:

Vancouver in-text citation

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (7).
Vancouver reference list entry
7. Palmer, G. The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey: Orange Publishers: 2002.

OSCOLA Referencing Style:

The Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, more commonly known as OSCOLA, is a major citation style for legal academic writing in English. This form of referencing style uses a documentary note style, where you mention the full details of the source in the footnote.

Example:

OSCOLA in-text citation:

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle. 7
OSCOLA style footnote
7 Gregory Palmer, The Battle of XYZ (Orange Publishers, 2002).

?OSCOLA reference list entry
Palmer G, The Battle of XYZ (Orange Publishers, 2002)

IEEE Referencing Style: 

IEEE style of referencing is developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Quite obviously, it is primarily used in technical studies, including IT and electrical engineering. Interestingly, the IEEE style complies with a set of guidelines for specific types of sources. If a source type is not covered in IEEE, the user needs to use the Chicago referencing style. IEEE follows a numeric system.

Example:

IEEE in-text citation:

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle (7).
IEEE reference list entry
7. G. Palmer, The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey, USA: Orange Publishers, 2002.

AMA Referencing Style: 

AMA style of referencing is developed by the American Medical Association. It is primarily used in medical science. It follows a numeric system. The numbering in the text is used in the form of superscript. The page number is included in parentheses.

Example:

AMA in-text citation

Her duty was to help the soldiers who were wounded in the battle. 7 (p173)
AMA reference list entry
Palmer G. The Battle of XYZ. New Jersey, USA: Orange Publishers; 2002.

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