Deakin guide to referencing

The APA style of referencing consists of:

1. In-text citations in the body of the paper that include the author, the date and often a page number.
2. References at the end of the paper, giving full bibliographic details of all in-text citations.

This guide to APA7 referencing provides a number of examples of print, electronic and media sources. If you cannot find the exact source you wish to reference here, use elements from different parts of this guide to create an appropriate reference. The important thing is to be consistent – and if in doubt, provide more detail rather than less.

If you still require clarification, consult the APA resources below, or email Study Support.

• Most APA in-text citations consist of the family name of the author and year of publication.
• The author can also be a group, such as an organisation or a  government department.
• The author, year and page number within parentheses are separated by commas.
• In addition, page numbers should be included when quoting directly from a source.
• An in-text citation can go at the beginning, within, or at the end of a sentence.

Paraphrasing, summarising and quoting sources

Summary or general reference

When you are summarising or making a general reference to an idea or information contained in a work, provide the author and year.

Paraphrase

When paraphrasing information, provide the author and date.

You can also provide a page number for a paraphrase if you think it will help the reader locate the source of information.

Quote

To quote means to reproduce the exact words from a source. Details of the source and the page number(s) must be provided in text.

Short quotes (fewer than 40 words) should be incorporated into the text within double quotation marks.

Longer quotes, known as “block quotes” (40 words or more):

• start on a new line
• are indented about 1.27cm from the left-hand margin
• are double spaced
• do not have quotation marks
• begin with a colon
• do not end with a full stop.

There are two ways to include your in-text citation

You can emphasise the author:

Or you can emphasise the information:

References enable readers to locate your sources. Each in-text citation and the related reference list entry should be identical in spelling and year. A work is listed only once in the reference list, regardless of how many times it is cited in-text. All citations should be listed in the reference list (with the exception of Personal communications and classical works).

The four basic elements of a reference list entry in APA style are:

• author (who is responsible?)
• date of publication (when was it published?)
• title (what is it called?)
• publication details (where can I find it?)

These elements are set out in the following order:

Author, Initials. (Date). Title. Publication details.

The reference list should:

• begin on a new page with the heading 'References' centred and bold.
• have entries arranged alphabetically by family name of the first-listed author or name of organisation (or by title if authorship is unknown)
• use the hanging indent (0.5 in. = 1.27 cm) paragraph style for each new reference.
• use double spacing.

In text citation

References

In text citation

References

In-text citation

• For three or more authors, use only the first-listed author, followed by et al. (meaning 'and others').

References

• Include all authors for sources with up to 20 authors.
• Where there are over 20 authors, list the first 19 authors followed by an ellipsis (…) and then include the last author’s name.
• Do not include an ampersand (&) in a reference of 20 or more authors.

In-text citation

Sometimes the author is an organisation, government agency, association or corporate body.

• Cite the full name of the group author the first time you mention it in the text.
• Use an abbreviation of the group author name in later citations, if it is a well-known abbreviation, or if it will help avoid repeating a very long name.

If your first citation does not have the group author’s name in a parenthetical in-text citation, then provide the abbreviated name form before the year of publication:

However, if your first citation does have the name of the group author in a parenthetical in-text citation, then provide the abbreviated name in square brackets after the full name:

In subsequent citations, use the abbreviated form of the group author’s name:

References

• Use the full name of group author.
• See also: Government and Legal > Government Publications

Note that for many sources with no designated author, the author can often be listed as a group author.

See also: APA7 Explained > Group Author.

In-text citation

• Consider first if the author is a Group Author.
• If no author can be identified, cite the title of the work and the year of publication in text.
• If the title is very long, use the first few words of the title only.
• Use italics for the titles of books, reports or webpages.
• Use double quotation marks for the titles of articles or chapters.

Only use “Anonymous” in a citation if the author’s name is given as “Anonymous”.

References

• If no author can be identified, the title is placed in the author position. Do not italicize, nor place in quotation marks.
• Order the reference list entry by title.

Works in which the author’s name is given as anonymous are listed in the reference list under “Anonymous”.

When citing more than one source at the same point in the text:

• list the sources alphabetically
• separate each source with a semicolon within the same parentheses.

If you would like to highlight the works most relevant to your paper:

• list the most relevant works first
• follow this list with any further works, preceded by “see also”.

When the author names are in the narrative of your text, you can place them in your preferred order:

When citing two or more sources by the same author at the same point:

• provide the author and then the dates, each source separated by semicolons
• place the dates in chronological order.

See also: APA explained > Same author

In-text citation

Same author, same year

If an author (or authors listed in the same order) have published two or more works in the same year, use the lower-case letters a, b, c… after the year to distinguish between the works. Letters are assigned according to the alphabetical order of the title.

References

Same author, same year

Same author, different year

• Order the sources chronologically.

Same author in single-author and multiple-author publications

• Order sources alphabetically.

Sometimes a longer paraphrase will continue for several sentences.

• It is not always necessary to repeat the citation as long as it is made clear that the same work continues to be paraphrased.
• Always check your sentences carefully to ensure that you have paraphrased appropriately.
• See an example of a long paraphrase on the APA style blog.

If it proves difficult to make clear that your paraphrase continues throughout a paragraph, then cite the same source again where you think it might be required in order to avoid any ambiguity.

When beginning a new paragraph, always include a citation, even if you have cited in the previous paragraph.

Sometimes you read one author (secondary) who cites another (primary). A good habit of academic research and writing is to find the primary source, read it, and cite it directly. However, in some cases you will need to cite the secondary source.

In the example that follows, you have read Savage who refers to a publication by Lupton, but you have not read Lupton yourself.

• Use the phrase “as cited in”.

In-text citation

If the year is known for the primary source:

If the year is not known for the primary source:

References

Reference only the source that you have read.

In-text citation

If no year of publication is provided for a source, use ‘n.d.’ (meaning 'no date') in parentheses after the author's name.

References

DOIs

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) provides a persistent link to the location of a source on the internet; however, note that some print sources also have DOIs. Most academic journal articles and e-books have DOIs. You can usually find the DOI on the first page of an article in the header or footer. They also appear in library records.

• Where a DOI exists, cite a DOI instead of a URL.
• Do not provide a date of retrieval.
• Do not place a full stop at the end of a DOI
• Present DOIs as hyperlinks, where possible.

Depending on the date of the source, DOIs may appear in different formats:

• https://doi.org
• http://dx.doi.org
• DOI:

Where possible, use most recent format: https://doi.org

Here is an example of journal article with a DOI provided:

For further examples, see Journal Articles and Books.

URLs

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) can be found in the address bar of your internet browser. URLs are provided for webpages, blogs, online videos, podcasts and social media sources.

• Usually the full URL is provided, although in for some cases, you will notice that the homepage URL may be provided instead.
• Do not provide URLs of Deakin Library searches.
• A date of retrieval is not usually provided. For sources that are designed to be updated regularly, a date of retrieval can be provided. (For example, see: Other > Database).
• Do not place a full stop at the end of a URL.
• Present the URL as a hyperlink.
• Where a DOI exists, cite a DOI instead of a URL.

Here is an example of webpage with a URL provided:

For further examples of URLs, see the APA7 topics in Web and Video.

Sources accessed via a Library database

• In most cases, if you have found a source via a Library database (e.g. EBSCOhost, E-book Central or Google Scholar), you do not provide a URL related to the Library database search.
• If the source has a DOI, cite the DOI.
• If the source has no DOI, format the source as you would a print source.

For advice on how to cite databases with original, proprietary works only available in that database or archive, see Other > Database.

When quoting or paraphrasing, a page number may be required in the citation. However, with sources that do not have page numbers.(e.g. web pages, websites and some e-books), you have three options:

• Provide heading or section name

• Provide a paragraph number

• Provide both

When writing an annotated bibliography:

• Always follow your task instructions regarding expected content and formatting of assignments.
• Format and order references in an annotated bibliography in alphabetical order (as with reference lists).
• Each annotation should be a new paragraph below the reference entry with a 1.27cm Indent from the left margin (the first line of the annotation should not be indented).
• If annotation spans multiple paragraphs, indent the first line of the second and any subsequent paragraphs 1.27cm.

In-text citation

References

For book sources:

• Italicise book titles.
• Capitalise only the first letter of the first word of the book title (as well as any proper nouns, acronyms or initialisms).
• If there is a subtitle following a colon, capitalise the first letter of the first word.
• Include book edition numbers for all editions except the first.
• Include all publishers listed.
• If the publisher is also the author, do not repeat the publisher’s name.
• Provide a DOI, where available.

For e-books, note that:

• The format, platform and device type are not included in the reference.
• The same details are provided for print and e-books.

Book with DOI

Book without DOI

• Include book edition numbers for all editions except the first.
• Place the edition in brackets after the title.
• Only cite the edition of the book that you have read.

Use the following abbreviations:

• Second edition = (2nd ed.)
• Third edition = (3rd ed.)
• Fourth edition = (4th ed.)
• Revised edition = (Rev. ed.)
• Abridged edition = (Abr. ed.)

In-text citation

If citing from a chapter in a book by a single author or single group of authors:

• you do not need to cite the chapter
• cite the whole book.

If citing from a particular chapter in an edited book (a collection of articles/chapters written by different authors)

• cite the author(s) of that chapter.

References

If citing a chapter from an edited book:

• provide the reference list entry under the name of the authors of the chapter.
• include the names of the editors between the title of the chapter and the title of the book, preceded by “In”.
• include the page range of the chapter.
• include any book edition information in the same brackets as the page range of the chapter, separated with a comma.
• include the book chapter DOI, if available. Otherwise include the DOI of the whole book, if available.

With DOI

Without DOI

Note that in some units, citing dictionaries, encyclopedias, or sites such as Wikipedia, may not be acceptable. Consult your unit guide for details.

In-text citation

Where the author is identified for entries in print or online encyclopedias or other reference works, provide the author and year as for other authored sources.

Where the author is not identified, provide the title of the entry.

References

Online dictionary encyclopedia with author identified

Online dictionary or encyclopedia – no author identified

In-text citation

References

For both online and print articles in journals:

• Capitalise only the first letter of the first word in the title of an article (as well as the subtitle). Proper nouns, initialisms and acronyms are also capitalised.
• Capitalise the first letter of every main word in the journal title.
• Format the journal title and also the volume number in italics.
• Include the volume number, issue number and page range, if available.
• Include a DOI if the article has one.
• Some articles may have a URL instead of a DOI, and they may be included; however, DO NOT include a link to a library database. See DOIs and URLs for more information.

Article with a DOI

Article without a DOI

Article with a URL

• Note: Only provide a URL if no DOI.
• Never use a Library database URL.

Article with no DOI or URL

Article with an number / eLocator

• If the journal article has an article number or eLocator, include the word “Article” and then the article number instead of the page range.

Advance online publication can refer to a work that has not yet been assigned a volume, issue or page numbers. It can also refer to a work that has been peer reviewed but not yet copyedited or formatted for final production.

In-text citation

References

Use the term in press to refer to a peer-reviewed article accepted for publication in a future issue of a journal.

In-text citation

References

Reference the review author, but include details of the material under review in square brackets.

In-text citation

Spell out the full name of the Australian Bureau of Statistics the first time you use it, as follows; then use the shortened form ABS from then on.

References

Provide:

• the name Australian Bureau of Statistics in full
• the ABS catalogue number, where relevant
• each ABS article or report as a unique reference list entry.

In-text citation

• Cite individual authors if they are listed; however, in most cases the author will be a department or agency.
• When multiple layers of government agencies are listed as the author, cite the most specific agency as the author.
• Only include the parent agency/government in the author position when it helps to avoid confusion between two similar names
  (e.g. Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services vs. U.S Department of Health and Human Services).

In subsequent citations, you can use the abbreviated form:

References

• When multiple layers of government agencies are listed as the author, cite the most specific agency as the author.
• Only include the parent agency in the author position when necessary to avoid confusion between two similar names (e.g. Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services vs. U.S Department of Health and Human Services).
• The name of a parent agency can be provided as the publisher. Multiple agencies are separated by commas.

Government web document

Government report with series or catalogue number

• If a report number, series number or catalogue number is available, place in brackets after the title.

Other government source types

Provide a description of the source format in square brackets after the title, but only where it might assist the reader in identifying less typical source types. For example: [Fact sheet], [Press release] or [White paper].

Please read this before citing legal sources in APA7

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association does not provide advice on how to provide references for Australian legislation or cases. This guide is based on the limited advice provided on US legal sources.

Examples of reference list entries for Australian cases and legislation in this guide are based on the Melbourne University Law Review Association’s Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed.).

For further examples of how to include Australian legal sources in a reference list, follow the advice in the Deakin Guide to Referencing: AGLC.

For further advice around citing legal sources in APA7, see:

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-00

In-text citation

• Include the title of the Act and the year.
• Italicise the title of the Act.

References

For Australian legislation, provide:

• The title of an Act including the year, both italicised.
• The jurisdiction, e.g. “Cth” = Commonwealth, “Vic” = Victoria.
• A pinpoint, which is a specific section in the Act – provide where relevant, e.g. “pt” = part, “sch” = schedule, “div” = division).  See Deakin’s AGLC for further examples of pinpoints.

In-text citation

• Include the case name and year.
• Italicise the case name.

References

• Case name
  Provide the full name of the case in italics.
• Year 
  Note that for cases both round and square brackets are used around the year. Copy the reference details as they appear in your source.  
  - Use square brackets if case has a unique court identifier or if law report volume is organised by year.  
  - Use round brackets if law report is organised by continuous volume numbers.
• Unique court identifier OR Law report series
  See Rule 2.3.1 and Appendix B of the AGLC for a list of unique court identifiers. 
  See Appendix A of the AGLC for abbreviations for law reports.
• Judgment number
  Include only if the case has a unique identifier and is not reported in a law report.
• Pinpoint
  If required, refer to the paragraph number if there is a unique court identifier; and refer to page number from a law report.

Case with a unique court identifier

Case without a unique court identifier (from a law report series) 

• Note: where a case does not use a unique court identifier in the citation, it has come from a law report series.

Note that for most web sources:

• a date of retrieval is not usually included (unless a source is designed to be updated regularly, for example, a Twitter profile, Facebook page, Google Maps or an OER)
• URLs should be hyperlinked
• There is no full stop after a URL or a DOI.

Note too:

• URLS are not usually provided for books and journal articles accessed online – these usually have a DOI.  See also the APA7 sections on Books and Articles.

See also: APA7 Explained > URLs and DOIs

In-text citation

Webpages should be cited according to the name of the author, which is often a group author, for example a government department or an organisation.

If no author or group author is provided for a webpage, cite by title.

See also the topics:

• APA7 Explained > Group author
• Government and legal > Government publications

For source where no page numbers are provided, you may cite the chapter number, section heading and/or paragraph number.

See also: APA7 explained > No page numbers

References

• The author might be an individual, but more often than not it will be a group author (e.g. organisation, government department).
• Provide a day and month of publication, if available.
• If a Date last updated is given for a webpage, use this as the date of publication (if it is clear that this date refers to the specific page/section and not the whole website).
• Do not include a Date of last review as the content has not necessarily been updated.
• Italicize the title of the webpage or web document.
• Do not italicize the title of the website.
• Do not repeat the website title, if this is also the webpage title or the author’s name.
• When citing multiple webpages from the same website, create a reference entry for each webpage.

Webpage with named author

• When individual author(s) are credited on the webpage, list them as the author in the reference.

Webpage with group author

• Note: the website title is not repeated in these examples because it is the same as the author name.
• See also: Government and Legal > Government publications

General information from a website

• When referring to a website more generally, i.e. without referencing specific information or a specific page from that site, do not include a reference entry or in-text citation.
• Instead, provide the name of the website and the URL in parentheses.

Document from a website

• When referencing a document from a webpage, follow the guidelines for citing a webpage and include a link to the document if available

Web documents are cited in a similar way to webpages.

We recommend first reading these related topics:

• APA explained > Group author
• Web and Video > Webpage
• Government and Legal > Government publications
• Other > Reports

In-text citations

• Cite page numbers where provided.
• Where no page numbers are provided, you may cite the chapter number, section heading and/or paragraph number.
  See: APA7 explained > No page numbers.

References

For web documents, follow the same advice as for webpages, and in addition:

• The source type can be provided in square brackets, for example [Fact sheet] or [Press release], if not already evident from the title.
• Provide a direct link to the web document, or if this is not accessible provide a link to the webpage where the document is available.

Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of web document. [document type]. Website/Owner of website. URL of document or landing page that links to document

Department of Health. (2019). Commonwealth Home Support Programme interaction with home care packages [Fact sheet]. Australian Government.  https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/commonwealth-home-support-programme-interaction-with-home-care-packages-fact-sheet

National Health and Medical Research Council. (2018, August). Report: Survey on the replacement, reduction and refinement of the use of animals for scientific purposes in Australia. Australian Government. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/research-policy/ethics/animal-ethics/3rs

• In all cases you need to consider whether social media sources are appropriate and acceptable to include in your assignment. If you are uncertain, check your unit guide or with your unit chair or lecturer.
• Cite only original content from social media, not merely content that has been discovered via a social media link.
• Cite content that is available to the public.  For private accounts and communications, see also: Other > Personal communications.
• Use the following advice for all social media sources.

In-text citation

• Include the author and year of the post.

References

Only public social media accounts should be included in the reference list. The author’s real name is provided first, followed by the username/screen name in square brackets. If only the screen name is known, provide without brackets.

• Provide a date of retrieval (day, month and year) you accessed the social media source if you believe that the source is designed to be regularly updated.

Facebook

• Provide the page title, e.g. “Home,” “About,” “Reviews” or up to the first 20 words of a post.
• Include a description in square brackets, e.g.[Facebook page], [Status update]. If a post includes images, videos or content from another post also provide a description in square brackets, e.g. [Video].

Twitter

• If the tweet includes an image, a video, a poll, or a thumbnail image with a link, indicate that in brackets after the title, e.g. [Image attached], [Video attached], [Thumbnail with link attached].
• Include the description, e.g. [Tweet]  [Moment] or [Twitter profile] in square brackets after the title.
• Provide Twitter as the website name and then provide the URL of the tweet.

Instagram

• Include a description of the post in square brackets after the title, e.g. [Photo], [Video], [Instagram profile], [Instagram highlight].
• Provide Instagram as the site name and then provide the URL of the image/video.

In-text citation

References

Posts

• Cite the author(s) of the blog post (be aware that this is not always the owner of blog).
• Blog posts follow the same format as webpages.

Comments on a post

• Cite the person who left the comment as the author using the format that appears with the comment (i.e., a real name or a username). The example here shows a username.
• Provide the comment title or up to the first 20 words of the comment, then write “Comment on the blog post” and the full title of post on which the comment appeared (in quotation marks and enclosed within square brackets).
• Link to the comment itself, if possible. Otherwise, link to the blog post.

Online videos may be available from a number of different sources on the web and in different formats – downloadable video files, streaming videos, or video casts.

• The format below can also be used for sites that host user-generated videos, such as YouTube and Vimeo.
• Always cite the source that you have accessed.

In-text citation

Include the name of the publisher (uploader of content), or the speaker.

References

• For YouTube, and other video-sharing platforms, the owner of the account is the author.
• For videos published on other websites, for example the TED website, the main speaker/presenter may be the author.
• Your source may be available in more than one place. Only cite the source that you have accessed.
• Indicate the medium in brackets, e.g. [Video].
• If the video is from a URL that is highly likely to change over time, you may provide the homepage URL rather than the full URL.
• Include the date that the video was uploaded.

See also: Film and Television

YouTube channel

• YouTube channel pages begin on the “Home” tab by default. If you want to cite one of the other tabs (e.g., “Videos,” “Playlists”), use the name of that tab rather than “Home” in the title element of the reference.
• Italicize the title of the channel.
• Include the description “[YouTube channel]” in square brackets after the title.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time.

Note that for other videos, the director or producer is listed as the author.

See: Film and Television Episode

Podcasts and audio files may be available from a number of different online sources. Only cite the source that you have accessed.

In-text citation

List the host of the podcast as the author, or alternatively the executive producer.

References

• Provide the role of the host or producer in brackets.
• Indicate the medium in brackets, e.g. [Audio podcast episode].
• Provide the podcast episode number if there is one.
• If the podcast URL is unknown, omit the URL.

Providing the homepage URL

If the podcast is from a URL that is highly likely to change over time, it is best to provide just the homepage URL rather than the full URL.

In-text citation

• Cite films with the following information, regardless of where or how they were viewed (e.g. DVD, streamed, cinema viewing).

References

Cite television episodes with the following information, regardless of where or how they were viewed (e.g. live or streamed).

In-text citation

• Provide the title of the episode in-text in italics.
• Provide the writer, director and/or executive in the citation.

References

• Provide the names of the writer, director or executive producer.

For a quick guide to various other source types, see this APA list of reference examples:

https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-examples.pdf

References

Album

• You may provide a URL for an album or song if that location is the only means of retrieval.

Single song or track

When using generative artificial intelligence, you need to ensure that your final submitted assessment is your own work, creation, and analysis.

Where you have used generative AI in developing your assessment (for example, in the development of ideas, problem solving, data analysis, significant writing feedback) you should acknowledge your use of it.

It is also essential that you provide details about where and how you have used it.

• First, read assessment instructions in your unit site or check with your Unit Chair whether you are allowed to use generative AI and how you are allowed to use it.
• Understand the limitations and the risks.
• Critically evaluate any output.
• Document how you used the tool and acknowledge this in your final submission.

Your acknowledgement should include:

• the name of the generative AI tool (you can also include the version, if known)
• the month and year you accessed it
• (where relevant) details of your prompts, the output, and precisely where in your assessment you have used generative AI. Discuss unit requirements with your Unit Chair.

This can go in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section and further details can be provided in an Appendix.

Examples adapted from: Bozkurt, A. (2024). GenAI et al.: Cocreation, authorship, ownership, academic ethics and integrity in a time of generative AI. Open Praxis, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55982/ openpraxis.16.1.654

Can I cite generative AI?

In most cases, citing AI-generated content as a primary source of information for an assessment is not acceptable. You will need to discuss unit rules and requirements with your Unit Chair.

All sources of information for assessment need to be evaluated for credibility. Cite recommended journal articles, books, websites and other reliable and credible sources.

If you have concluded that generative AI is an appropriate source to cite for your task, then it needs to be cited appropriately.

In all cases, you must acknowledge the use of generative AI as outlined above. In addition, you can cite as follows.

When acknowledging or citing the use of generative AI, do not humanise the tool. ChatGPT does not “discuss”, “report”, or “allege” as a human author does. Instead, simply acknowledge your use of the tool, when you used it and details of how you used it.

The sample citation is based on an example from the APA style blog.

In-text citation

• Provide details of the owner/publisher of the generative AI tool and the year of publication.
• You can also provide a cross-reference to an appendix with further details of how you used generative AI.

References

Note: the following advice is for citing artwork in an exhibition or in an online gallery.

To learn how to include and cite images in your work, see: Other > Figures and Tables.

When citing artwork in a gallery, museum or on a website, include the:

• name of artist
• year(s) the artwork was produced
• medium of the artwork, e.g painting, sculpture, video, installation
• details of the institution.

Artwork in a gallery

Artwork on a gallery website

See also:

• Other > Images
• Other > Figures and Tables
• Web and Video > Social Media

• Brochures, pamphlets, or flyers follow the same format as report references.
• Include the description “[Brochure]” in square brackets after the title of the brochure.

In-text citation

References

Online brochure

Print brochure

In-text citation

References

Published proceedings in a journal

Paper presentation

You should always check with unit staff to determine if citing course materials, e.g. lecture notes, is appropriate and acceptable in your unit. Some units advise that it is not acceptable to cite from course materials.

• Cite only if you have been given permission to do so by your Unit Chair or Lecturer.
• If you have permission, provide enough detail for your marker to locate the source.
• A direct URL to a Deakin unit site may be provided, as long as you know that your audience (your marker) has access.

In-text citation

References

Note that in most cases, you will not need to cite a database name, nor a database URL.

In most cases, if content has been sourced via a Library database (e.g. EBSCOhost, E-book Central), you do not cite the name or the database, nor do you provide the Library database search URL. You simply cite the publication details of that source (e.g. a journal article or an e-book) – not where you accessed it.

The reason for this is that the Library database is often only one of many available providers of that publication (for example, you might find a particular article on various databases at different Libraries or even bookstores). In addition, many databases require a login and these inaccessible URLs are not suitable to include in a reference list.

So, when do I cite a database?

• You do cite a database when it is necessary for a reader to retrieve the cited work from unique database that is not available anywhere else. Only provide details of the database name and URL is if it is original, proprietary content that cannot be found elsewhere.
  For example, the Australian medicines handbook or works found in a University archive.
• If you are not sure, please consult the Deakin Library or Study Support who will assist you in determining your source type and how it should be referenced.

Database not available to the public (requires login)

In-text citation

• Cite the title if there is no listed author.

References

• Look for the date last updated/reviewed, to find the year of publication of the entry (which may differ from the date provided for the whole database).
• If the entry does not have a DOI, provide the “date of retrieval”, that is, the day you accessed the entry.
• Provide only the homepage URL of the database.
• Do not provide a Deakin Library search URL.

Database available to the public

• If a database if open to the public, cite according to the source type (e.g. webpage or article) and provide all relevant details.
• Do not provide a Deakin Library search URL.

• When you have retrieved data from publicly available archives, and have analysed data (secondary analysis), provide an in-text citation and a reference list entry with the archive name as author e.g. Australian Bureau of Statistics
• If you are referring to data that has been published in a journal article, report, webpage etc., cite the source and author of the published work, rather than the data itself.
• Use the bracketed description [Data set].

You will need to consider the following when including a figure (e.g. image, illustration, graph or map) or a table in your work:

• Above the figure/table, provide a Figure/Table number in bold.
• Below the number, provide a figure/table Title in italics.
• Provide the figure or table itself.
• Below the figure/table, provide any relevant Notes. If the figure/table is not your own or you have adapted it from another source, you will need to provide a Copyright statement in these notes.
• If the figure/table is not your own or you have adapted it from another source, you will also need to provide the source in your reference list.

For further advice on using Tables and Figures, and for further examples see this APA guide to figures and tables, or see Chapter 7 of the Publication Manual of the APA (7^th ed).

Copying or adapting a figure/table from another source

In the “Note” below the figure/table, provide a Copyright statement about the source of the figure/table.

• Begin the copyright statement with “From...” or “Adapted from...”
• If a work is “creative commons”, “copyright-free” or “in the public domain”, you should still provide a statement. See below for further information on copyright and attribution.
• Take note that the copyright year is sometimes different to the year of publication.

Example 1: Image from a journal article

In-text

See in the example below that the copyright statement includes the following information about the source of the image:

From “Title of article,” by A. A. Author and B. B. Author, Year, Journal Title, issue(number), p. x (DOI/URL). Copyright year by Publisher.

References

The source of the image (in this case, a journal article) would also require a corresponding reference list entry:

Example 2: Table adapted from a web document (with CC licence)

In-text

See in the example below that the copyright statement includes the following information about the source of the table:

Adapted from “Title of Web Document,” by Authors, year, p. x, (URL). Copyright year by Name of Copyright Holder (Creative Commons licence).

References

The source of the table (in this case, a web document) also requires a corresponding reference list entry:

Example 3: Image in the public domain

In-text

For images in the public domain, provide the following in the copyright statement:

From Title of image, by Author, Year (URL). In the public domain.

References

The source of the image (in this case, a webpage) would also require a corresponding reference list entry:

Further advice on copyright

Some content will require copyright information when being reproduced or adapted in student work, while others may be “copyright-free”. Even when images are “in the public domain” or “creative commons”, it is still useful to include this information (see examples above).

If you plan to publish your work (not just submit it for assessment), you may need to seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

For further information about copyright and student assessments, see the Copyright modules for students 3: Copyright for your studies.

See also these Deakin Library guides:

• using Creative Commons
• finding copyright-free images
• finding image resources in the Library.

Note: the following advice is for citing images only.

For advice on how to include images in your work, see Other > Figures and Tables.

Image from a website

• If the photographer is not listed, provide the website or organization as the author.
• If there is no image title, add a description or beginning of image caption in square brackets.
• If the image is from a database, provide the date you accessed the image. Provide the URL of the image itself or the homepage URL of the database. Do not provide a library search URL.

See also:

• Other > Artwork
• Other > Figures and Tables
• Web and Video > Social Media

• The author is the organisation or media group that published the press release.
• Include the description “[Press release]” in square brackets after the title.
• Omit publisher name if same as the author.

In-text citation

References

• Provide the full date (year, month day)
• Include page numbers from print newspapers
• Italicise the title of the newspaper
• If accessed via a Library database, do not include database name nor URL. Provide only the URL of the news site.

News website without daily or weekly edition

• Cite the source as a webpage.

Open Education Resources (OERs) are educational materials available for free use and adaption under an open sharing licence (eg. Creative Commons) or are free from copyright restrictions (i.e. the public domain).

OERs can be textbooks, teaching and learning materials, images, videos, games, lesson plans, worksheets and assessments.

• Cite OERs in the same way as webpages.
• A date of retrieval can be included for sources that may be updated regularly.

Remember: citing a source and providing an attribution for a source that you have reproduced in your own work are two different things.

Find out more about OERs, including how to attribute when reproducing an OER in your work.

In-text citation

Personal communications refer to material that cannot be retrieved by the readers, and can include letters, emails, personal interviews, telephone conversations, private Facebook messages or online chats not available to the public.

• It is important to get the permission of the person referred to in your assignment.
• It might be appropriate to indicate the role of the person.
• Use the initials and surname of the speaker, and provide an exact date of the communication.

References

Personal communications are not included in the reference list.

In-text citation

References

Format corporate, government, research or technical reports as you would books or web documents, with the addition of a report number (if available).

• A description of the report may also be given if the report’s title does not adequately describe the document.
• If provided, include a report number as well as the publisher.
• If the author and the publisher are the same, omit the publisher

Individual authors within organisations or government

• Include the organisation responsible for the report as the publisher.

Report by organisations / governments

• The organisation or working group responsible for the report appears as the author. The names of parent agencies appear in the source element as the publisher.
• See also: Government and Legal > Government Publications

Company annual report

• When quoting research participants, follow the guidelines for quoting in this guide.
• As this content forms part of your own research, do not include an entry in the References. State within the text that the quotations have come from research participants.
• See APA Explained > In-text citations and Other > Personal Communications

If a standard number is not available, provide alternative identifying information including editions or volume numbers

In-text citation

References

• If the thesis is unpublished, provide the description “[Unpublished doctoral dissertation]” or “[Unpublished master’s thesis]” in square brackets, followed by the name of the institution.
• If the thesis is published, include the name of the awarding institution within the square brackets.
• You may include the name of a database/archive if this is the only place it is available, or else the URL. See Other > Database

In-text citation

References

Unpublished

Published

In-text citation

References

Use this format for transcripts of audio or video files (podcasts, interviews, speeches). Note that files that are not retrievable by the general public (e.g. interviews and speeches that have not been published or are published on private or closed-group channels) should be cited as personal communication.

• You may begin the citation with the details of a producer, interviewee or speech giver.
• Provide the medium, e.g. [Interview transcript], [Audio Podcast transcript], [Speech transcript] etc.

Another option for interviews is to begin the citation with the interviewee’s name and provide the interviewer’s name after the title.

In-text citation

• Include both the date of the original work and the date of translation
• Separate the years with a slash, including the earlier year first

References

• Follow the formatting for the source type. In addition, include the translator details and the year the translated work was published.
• Include the date of the original work in parentheses at the end of the reference list entry.

Vancouver is a numbered citation style of referencing:

1. A number in parentheses is assigned to a source and that same number is used for that source throughout a paper. The number follows the relevant section of the text.
2. A numerically ordered reference list at the end of the paper giving full details of each source cited in text. There is only one reference list entry for each individual work.

The Vancouver style of referencing was developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). ICMJE produces the guidelines for publication, which are known as the ICMJE Recommendations (formerly known as the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts). The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) has further developed these citation standards.

• For all sources cited in the body of the paper, provide a reference number in parentheses (round brackets).
• Note that numbers in square brackets and superscript numbers are also acceptable formats used in biomedical journals
• Reference numbers are usually placed outside full stops and commas, but journals vary in their practice.
• The same number is used for a source throughout a paper. This number is determined by the first citation of the source, e.g. if a work is the fourth source cited in a paper, it will be referred to as (4) throughout the paper.

It is important to be consistent in the style you adopt. You may need to consult your unit guide or unit staff to determine the preferred style.

Citing multiple sources

When two or more sources are referred to at the same point in the text, the relevant numbers are separated by commas:

Three or more consecutive citations are joined by a hyphen:

Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting

You must reference all material you use from sources each time you use a fact, a conclusion, an idea or a finding from someone's work. It is necessary to cite a source each time you:

• summarise (explain or discuss someone's idea in your own words)
• paraphrase (closely re-word what someone has said)
• quote (reproduce an author's exact words).

No quotation marks are required if you are summarising or paraphrasing. Place direct quotes within double quote marks.

The reference list includes only the works cited in text. It appears at the end of the paper and provides the full bibliographic information of the sources cited. Only one reference list entry should be provided for each work cited. The reference list is ordered numerically.

If an article appears in both print and electronic form, it is important to cite the source type that you have read.

• Reference list entries are ordered numerically and reference numbers are followed by a full stop.
• Authors' family names are followed by their two-letter initials with no space or full stops between initials, e.g. Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL.
• Commas are used to separate each author's name. Note that 'and' is not used to separate the last two names.
• Journal titles are abbreviated unless the title is a single word or very short.

Sample reference list

When citing two or more sources at the same point in the text, the relevant numbers are separated by commas:

Three or more consecutive citations are joined by a hyphen:

• The same number is used for a source throughout a paper and only one entry in the reference list should be provided for each work cited.
• This number is determined by the first citation of the source, e.g. if a work is the fourth source cited in a paper, it will be referred to as (4) throughout the paper and in the reference list.

For works with one to six authors, provide the names of all of the authors.

For works with more than six authors, provide the names of the first six authors followed by "et al."

For works that list an organisation, corporation or agency as the author, provide the name of the group in the author position.

If a person or organisation cannot be identified as the author but there are editors, revisers or translators named in the publication, begin the reference with the names of the editors/revisers/translators followed by their role.

If no author, authoring organisation, editor, reviser or translator is given, begin the reference with the title of the book.

When citing a source that you have not read directly but which has been quoted within a source that you have read, provide the name of the original author in text.

In this example, the student has read Rennie and Gunsalus, who cite Charrow, but the student has not directly read Charrow.

In the reference list provide details of the source you have read (e.g. Rennie and Gunsalus), as well as the author being cited (e.g. Charrow), using the phrase “cited in”.

• If no date is provided, enter [date unknown] in place of the date.
• If no date is provided, but can be reliably estimated, place the estimated year with a question mark in square brackets.

If no page numbers are provided, which is often the case with online sources, you may provide the total number of paragraphs, or estimated number of printed pages or screens. Provide in square brackets before the URL, e.g. [3 paragraphs], [about 3p.], [about 4 screens].

Number of paragraphs

Estimated number of printed pages

Estimated number of screens

Authors

• For one to six authors, list all authors.
• If there are more than six authors, list the first six authors followed by "et al."
• Authors' family names are followed by their two-letter initials with no space or full stops between initials, e.g. Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL.
• Commas are used to separate each author's name. Note that "and" is not used to separate the last two names.
• If there are no author names provided, but an editor/reviser/translator's name is provided, begin the entry with the name of the editor/reviser/translator followed by their role, e.g. Court FG, editor.
• If relevant, in addition to authors, place the names of editors, revisers, translators or illustrators after the title of the book, followed by their role.

Titles

• Titles of books and book chapters should only have the letter of the first word is capitalised, other than words that would normally be capitalised, such as proper nouns, acronyms and initialisms.

Editions

• Include the edition number after the book title for all editions except the first edition.

Other publication details

• A relatively unknown city/place of publication is followed by an abbreviation of the state or country in parentheses, e.g. White Plains (NY).
• Provide the year of publication, e.g. 2005. If the year of publication cannot be found, use the year of copyright with “c” as a prefix, e.g. c2005.
• For e-books, provide the medium as [Internet], the date cited, and the URL or DOI. Do not add an additional full stop after the URL or DOI.

e-books

When citing an e-book, include the details as for a print book and in addition provide:

• date last updated
• date cited
• URL and/or DOI.

If citing a chapter from a book with collected chapters by different authors, see the topic Edited Collection.

When citing a chapter in a book with a single author or single set of authors:

• provide the chapter number, title and page range at the end of the citation
• do not repeat digits unnecessarily in the page range,  e.g. 124–7 not 124–127
• place a "p." before the page range of the chapter (Note that the "p." is not used for page numbers of periodicals).

When citing a chapter in an e-book, add:

• medium as [Internet]
• date last updated
• date cited
• URL and DOI, if available.

For a chapter in an edited book collection (a book with chapters written by different authors), provide the details as for a book source and in addition:

• place the title of the chapter after the author(s), followed by the word 'In' and a colon, then the editor's name and then the book title
• do not repeat digits unnecessarily in the page range, e.g. 124–7 not 124–127
• place a "p." before the page range of the chapter. (Note that the "p." is not used for page numbers of periodicals).

When citing a chapter in an edited e-book collection, add:

• medium as [Internet]
• date last updated
• date cited
• URL and DOI, if available.

For online dictionaries or encyclopedias, include:

• medium as [Internet]
• the title of the entry (topic)
• date last updated
• date cited
• estimated length of entry if not paginated
• URL.

For print dictionaries or encyclopedias, cite as you would other books with the addition of the entry title:

If a dictionary or encyclopedia entry has no named author, begin the reference with the title of the publication.

Provide all relevant elements according to the format you have read, e.g. online, print, via a  database.

• Provide the DOI where available.
• If the article has been accessed online but no DOI is available, provide the date cited and the URL.
• A database identifier such as a PubMed identifier may be provided instead of a DOI or URL.

"Forthcoming" journal articles refer to articles that have been accepted for publication but are not yet published.

• Include the date, volume and issue number of journal, if known.
• Include that the article is "forthcoming" and in which year.

For websites, provide the:

• author, if available
• medium as [Internet]
• name of the website
• publisher and place of publication, if known
• copyright date, if known
• date last updated/revised, if known
• date cited
• URL (note: no additional full stop after URL).

Website with author

Website with no identified author

For web pages, provide the:

• author, if available
• medium as [Internet]
• name of the website and web page
• publisher and place of publication, if known
• copyright date
• date last updated/revised, if known
• date cited
• URL (note: no additional full stop after URL).

Web page with author

Web page with no identified author

For a blog or blog post, provide the:

• author of the post and/or blog
• medium as [Internet]
• title of the post and the blog
• publisher and place of publication, if known
• date the blog began
• date of the last revision/update
• date the material was cited
• URL (Note: no additional full stop after URL).

For blog posts where the author is also the owner of the blog, provide the author of the post.

Where the blog post is written by a contributor other than the blog owner, provide the author of the post and the owner/editor of the blog. In some cases this may be the same as the publisher.

For podcasts, provide the:

• author, if known
• title of the individual podcast
• medium as [podcast on the Internet]
• place of production and the producer
• full date of production or date of copyright
• date cited
• URL (note: no additional full stop after URL).

For a video published online, provide:

• author, if known
• title of the video
• medium as [video on the Internet]
• place of production and the producer
• full date of production or date of copyright
• date cited
• URL (note: no additional full stop after URL).

Cite government publications according to the source type (e.g. book, website) and also provide:

• the name of the author or if not identified the name of all relevant authoring agencies/departments and the jurisdiction, if not evident from other publication details
• titles should appear as they occur in the publication and capital letters in all titles are maintained.

For Australian Bureau of Statistics releases accessed online, cite as you would other web pages, with the addition of the ABS catalogue number.

No specific information is provided by NLM on how to cite legal sources in the Vancouver style. The following examples are based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC). For more information on referencing legal sources, including legal abbreviations, see the Deakin referencing guide to AGLC.

Note that:

• titles of Acts and cases are in italics
• there are no full stops at the end of reference list entries.

Act of Parliament

Case (law report series organised by year)

Case (law report series organised by volume)

Case (unreported judgement)

To cite a government report published online, provide the:

• government agency/department
• medium as [Internet]
• year of publication
• date cited
• catalogue number
• place of publication and publisher
• URL. No additional full stop after the URL.

When using generative artificial intelligence, you need to ensure that your final submitted assessment is your own work, creation, and analysis.

Where you have used generative AI in developing your assessment (for example, in the development of ideas, problem solving, data analysis, significant writing feedback) you should acknowledge your use of it.

It is also essential that you provide details about where and how you have used it.

• First, read assessment instructions in your unit site or check with your Unit Chair whether you are allowed to use generative AI and how you are allowed to use it.
• Understand the limitations and the risks.
• Critically evaluate any output.
• Document how you used the tool and acknowledge this in your final submission.

Your acknowledgement should include:

• the name of the generative AI tool (you can also include the version, if known)
• the month and year you accessed it
• (where relevant) details of your prompts, the output, and precisely where in your assessment you have used generative AI. Discuss unit requirements with your Unit Chair.

This can go in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section and further details can be provided in an Appendix.

Examples adapted from: Bozkurt, A. (2024). GenAI et al.: Cocreation, authorship, ownership, academic ethics and integrity in a time of generative AI. Open Praxis, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55982/ openpraxis.16.1.654

Can I cite generative AI?

In most cases, citing AI-generated content as a primary source of information for an assessment is not acceptable. You will need to discuss unit rules and requirements with your Unit Chair.

All sources of information for assessment need to be evaluated for credibility. Cite recommended journal articles, books, websites and other reliable and credible sources.

If you have concluded that generative AI is an appropriate source to cite for your task, then it needs to be cited appropriately.

In all cases, you must acknowledge the use of generative AI as outlined above. In addition, you can cite as follows.

When acknowledging or citing the use of generative AI, do not humanise the tool. ChatGPT does not “discuss”, “report”, or “allege” as a human author does. Instead, simply acknowledge your use of the tool, when you used it and details of how you used it.

In-text citation

• There is no official guidance yet on how to cite AI-generated content in Vancouver. Until we have that advice, cite in the same way as personal communications.
• You can provide further details of the prompts and output in an appendix.

References

Do not provide a reference list entry.

Conference paper published in proceedings

Conference proceedings published online

Unpublished conference paper

For hardcopy audiovisual material, such as DVDs, CD-ROMs, audiotapes, videocassettes, slides or films, provide:

• author
• title
• medium in square brackets
• place of publication and the publisher
• year of copyright.

When citing a figure, table or appendix from a source, include:

• a descriptor e.g. Table/Figure/Appendix
• the number
• the title
• the page number, if the source is paginated.

Where there is no number or title, place the descriptor Table/Figure/Appendix and a descriptive title in square brackets.

For web sources, place the relevant details after the date of publication, followed by the date cited, the page number and the URL.

For news articles:

• all major words are capitalised in news publication titles (but not article titles)
• the name of newspaper section can be included, if applicable.

For news articles in print, provide:

• the first page number of the article
• the column number (col.), if applicable.

For online news articles, include the:

• medium as [Internet]
• date last updated, if applicable
• date cited
• estimated length of the article in terms of print pages, screens, or paragraphs (if no pagination)
• URL.

Personal communications include letters, emails, private social media posts, personal interviews and telephone conversations. It is always important to get the permission of the person concerned before referring to them in an assignment. No entry in the reference list is required. Provide all relevant information in text. Written permission should always be obtained from the person being cited. Such information can also be included in an acknowledgements section.

The Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) is a legal citation style used in Australia. It consists of:

1. A superscript (raised) number in the body of the text that refers to a footnote at the bottom of the page.
2. Footnotes provide the bibliographic details of a source and are numbered consecutively throughout a paper or chapter.
3. A bibliography is a full list of sources cited and sources consulted in preparing a paper. The list is divided into sections by source type, and then ordered alphabetically according to the family name of the first-listed author.

All sources must be acknowledged in footnotes. Footnotes should be used whenever ideas are discussed or when sources are summarised, paraphrased or quoted, unless the full source is already provided in text.

The superscript number should be placed at the end of the portion of text to which the corresponding footnote refers. The number should appear after any relevant punctuation, such as a full stop or a comma.

The first time a source is cited, the footnote must provide full bibliographic details. Footnotes for subsequent references to the same source do not repeat all the details but use a shortened form – see the section below on repeat citations for further details.

In footnotes:

• authors’ names should be exactly as they appear in the source
• an author's given name should be provided before the family name
• where there are two or three authors, the names of all the authors are included and the word 'and' separates the names of the last two authors
• where there are more than three authors, include the family name of the first-listed author only, followed by 'et al'
• authors’ initials are not spaced and there are no full stops after initials
• all titles have the first letter of significant words capitalised
• titles of journals, books, cases and Acts are formatted in italics
• each footnote ends with a full stop. (Note that this is not the case with bibliography entries).

Aside from referencing, footnotes are also used to provide tangential or extraneous information outside the body of the text. They can be used to back up an argument or to acknowledge a source that has contributed to an argument: See AGLC rule 1.1.5.

Use single quote marks for short quotes of less than three lines. Punctuation marks such as commas and full stops at the end of direct quotes should not be included within quote marks unless they form an important part of that sentence.

For quotes longer than three lines, do not use quotation marks. Start the quote on a new line, in a smaller font size and indent the quote about 1 cm from the left-hand margin of the page.

For quotations within quotations, use:

• double quote marks for short quotes
• single quote marks within indented long quotes.

Check with your unit chair, lecturer or tutor to determine if you are required to compile a bibliography for your assignment.

In a bibliography, list all the works referred to both in footnotes and in the body of your assignment, as well as all works consulted in writing your assignment.

Sources should be presented under the following sections, where applicable:

A Articles/Books/Reports

B Cases

C Legislation

D Treaties

E Other

Sources under Other might include:

• government documents, such as parliamentary debates, parliamentary committee reports or Royal Commission reports
• newspaper articles
• television or radio transcripts
• press releases
• legal encyclopedias
• loose-leaf (or legal commentary) services
• internet sources.

Note that details provided in the bibliography are almost identical to details provided in the footnotes, with the following exceptions:

• List entries alphabetically under each section of the bibliography, disregarding 'A', 'An or 'The'.
• Do not use a full stop at the end of bibliography entries (unlike footnotes which always end with a full stop).

The formatting of authors' names in bibliographic entries also differs from footnotes:

• Order works alphabetically according to the family name of the first-listed author.
• For works by a single author, begin with the author's family name first, followed by a comma and the given name or initials. (Note that in footnotes, the given name or initials appear first, followed by the family name.)
• For works by two or three authors, begin with the first-listed author's family name, followed by a comma and the given name or initials. Second and third authors' names are provided in the correct order. Separate the last two authors with 'and'.
• For works by four or more authors, begin with the first-listed author's family name, followed by a comma and the given name or initials, and then 'et al'.

Note:  the only examples of bibliography entries provided are in the following sample bibliography. All other examples in this guide are footnotes.

When a particular source is cited more than once in a paper, the full bibliographic details should only be provided in the first instance.

The terms 'Ibid' and 'n' are used for repeat citations of the same work.

Using 'Ibid'

Use 'Ibid' in a footnote where the immediately preceding footnote refers to the same work. The exception to this rule is if a footnote lists more than one source (in this case use 'n').

If a footnote is to the same work and to the same pinpoint reference, simply use 'Ibid'. The pinpoint reference does not need to be repeated in this instance.

If a footnote is to the same work but to a different pinpoint reference, use 'Ibid' followed by the pinpoint reference.

Using 'n'

Use 'n' to refer to a source that has been cited in a previous footnote other than the immediately preceding footnote. (However, 'n' is required when referring to an immediately preceding footnote that lists more than one source.)

Include 'n' and its number in a round bracket.

When multiple works by the same author are being referred to, a shortened form of the title can be used in subsequent footnotes.

Volumes of law report series use either square or round brackets around the year.

Square brackets are used where law report series are organised by year.

If the law report series is organised by volume number, the year in which the decision was handed down (or often the year in which the case was reported) is provided in round brackets.

For further information on the use of brackets in reported decisions, see  AGLC rule 2.2.1.

Note that square brackets are also used for:

• additions and alterations to quotes in text
• pinpoint references of paragraphs
• distinguishing cases where there is more than one hearing of the same matter (see AGLC rule 2.1.13).

For sources authored by a body (for example a non-government organisation or a government department), place the name of the body in the author position.

If a government department is the author and the jurisdiction is not evident by the name, the abbreviated jurisdiction should be included in parentheses.

See AGLC rule 3.1.3 for a list of abbreviations.

If an individual on behalf of the body is the author, both the individual and the body should be included.

A pinpoint reference within a footnote directs the reader to a particular place in the cited work. For sources such as cases, books or journal articles, a pinpoint reference might refer the reader to a particular chapter, page or paragraph. For legislative materials, pinpoint references can also refer to parts, sections, clauses or divisions. A pinpoint reference can be provided at the end of both footnotes and bibliography entries.

See AGLC Appendix C for a full list of abbreviations used in pinpoint references for legislative materials.

Pages

Pages are indicated by the page number only (do not use 'p.' or 'pp.').

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are indicated by the paragraph number in square brackets.

Sections

Sections are indicated by an 's' followed by a space and the section number. A sub-section is indicated by 'sub-s'.

Chapters

Chapters are indicated by 'ch' followed by a space and the chapter number.

Multiple pinpoint references are separated by commas. Consecutive pinpoint references are separated by a dash.

For further information on pinpoint references see AGLC rules 1.1.6–1.1.7; 3.1.4

Legal abbreviations provide a short-hand way to cite and identify legal publications and courts.

In the AGLC see the following rules on abbreviations used in citations:

• Law report abbreviations – 2.2.3 and Appendix A
• Unique court identifiers (for medium neutral citations) – 2.3.1 and Appendix B
• Jurisdictions – 3.1.3
• Abbreviations used in pinpoint references – 3.1.4 and Appendix C.

This Deakin Library guide to legal abbreviations provides a list of the most commonly used abbreviations for law reports, journal titles and medium neutral citations.

For reported cases, include the:

• Case name: Full name of case in italics.
• Year: Volumes of law report series are organised either by year or by volume number. For volumes of law report series organised by year, square brackets are used around the year. If the law report series is organised by volume number, the year in which the decision was handed down (or often the year in which the case was reported) is provided in round brackets.
• Volume number
• Abbreviation of report series: Report series have abbreviations that are used in citations. For instance, Commonwealth Law Reports will always appear as CLR in a citation.
• First page of the case
• Pinpoint: If required, refer to the page or paragraph number.

Medium neutral citation is a citation system that does not depend on the publisher or the medium of the source. This style is allocated by the court.

Cite unreported cases only if no reported version is available.

• Case name: Full name of case in italics.
• Year: Place in square brackets.
• Unique court identifier: See AGLC rule 2.3.1 and Appendix B for a list of unique court identifiers.
• Judgement number
• Pinpoint: If required, refer to the paragraph number.

For more information about decisions with medium neutral citations, see AGLC rule 2.3.1.

For information about unreported cases without a medium neutral citation, see AGLC rule 2.3.2.

• The year of the Act appears in italics following the title.
• The jurisdiction abbreviation is included in brackets. See AGLC rule 3.1.3 for jurisdiction abbreviations.
• For more information on abbreviations used in pinpoint references, see AGLC rule 3.1.4.

Citing individual parts of legislative materials

• A short title may be given for a portion of an Act, piece of delegated legislation or Bill.
• The short title is provided in brackets at the end of the first citation. This short title is then used in subsequent references.
• Pinpoints following the short title in subsequent references refer only to items within that portion of the Act.

For further information, see AGLC rule 3.1.7.

• Bills are cited in similar way to Acts, but the title is not italicised.
• For information on how to refer to a portion of a Bill, see advice in this guide under ‘Acts’.
• Pinpoints are often to clauses or subclauses.

For more information on abbreviations used in pinpoint references see AGLC rule 3.1.4.

Explanatory memoranda are also known as explanatory statements or explanatory notes in different jurisdictions and should be cited appropriately for each jurisdiction.

Pinpoints are usually to pages, or pages and paragraphs.

For book sources:

• Author names should be provided as they appear in the publication.
• Author Initials are not spaced and there are no full stops after initials.
• Capitalise the first letter of each word in titles except articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and) and prepositions (by, for, with).
• Italicise book titles and place chapter titles within single quote marks.
• Provide the publisher, the edition number (other than the first edition) and the year together in round brackets.
• Pinpoints are usually to chapters, pages or paragraphs.
• If an e-book is also available in print, cite as a print book source. If an e-book is not available in print, then cite as you would other internet sources.

One to three authors

Four or more authors

• Provide the name of the first-listed author only, then 'et al'.

For a chapter in a book by a single author or group of authors, cite as you would a whole book. There is no need to cite an individual chapter.

For a chapter in an edited book, a book of collected works by different authors:

• Begin the footnote with the author of the chapter.
• Also provide the name of the editor(s) of the book.

Online

Print publication

For encyclopedias, provide paragraph pinpoints.

Online

• Provide the date of retrieval.

Print

• Include date of chapter update, if provided.

For journal articles:

• Author names should be provided as they appear in the publication.
• Initials are not spaced and there are no full stops after initials.
• Capitalise the first letter of each word in titles except articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and) and prepositions (by, for, with).
• Italicise journal titles, and place titles of articles within single quote marks.
• Both the volume and issue number should be included.
• Issue number is in round brackets immediately after the volume number.
• Provide the first page of the article.
• Pinpoint references are usually to pages.
• If an article is available in both print and online formats, cite the print version. If citing the online version, the date of retrieval is not given.

One to three authors

Four or more authors

Cite the first-listed author only, followed by 'et al'.

Articles appearing in journals that are only available online should, to the extent possible, be cited the same way as hard copy journal articles.

Note that:

• A date of retrieval is not required.
• A URL is not required.

Where it not possible to include a volume number, issue number or starting page, another identifier (such as an article number) may be used.

If the article is only online and in PDF or similar format, include the page range of the article after any article number/identifier.

• The type of publication (‘Report’, ‘Issues Paper’ etc.) should be included, where appropriate, as the document type.
• Where reports contain multiple volumes, include the volume number in the pinpoint reference.
• Pinpoint references should be to page numbers where available. Paragraph numbers may be referred to in addition to page numbers or where page numbers are not available.

• Where a committee is from one chamber and this is not evident, then the name of the chamber is added before the committee name, as in the addition of 'Senate' in the example below.
• Pinpoint references should be to page numbers where available.
• Paragraph numbers may be referred to in addition to page numbers or where page numbers are not available.

For parliamentary debates (or 'Hansard'), speakers' titles such as 'Senator' need not be included; however, if the position of the speaker within the ministry or shadow ministry is relevant, it may be included.

• No jurisdiction is included in the citation.
• Where reports contain multiple volumes, include the volume number in the pinpoint reference.
• Pinpoint references should be to page numbers where available. Paragraph numbers may be referred to in addition to page numbers or where page numbers are not available.

When using generative artificial intelligence, you need to ensure that your final submitted assessment is your own work, creation, and analysis.

Where you have used generative AI in developing your assessment (for example, in the development of ideas, problem solving, data analysis, significant writing feedback) you should acknowledge your use of it.

It is also essential that you provide details about where and how you have used it.

• First, read assessment instructions in your unit site or check with your Unit Chair whether you are allowed to use generative AI and how you are allowed to use it.
• Understand the limitations and the risks.
• Critically evaluate any output.
• Document how you used the tool and acknowledge this in your final submission.

Your acknowledgement should include:

• the name of the generative AI tool (you can also include the version, if known)
• the month and year you accessed it
• (where relevant) details of your prompts, the output, and precisely where in your assessment you have used generative AI. Discuss unit requirements with your Unit Chair.

This can go in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section and further details can be provided in an Appendix.

Examples adapted from: Bozkurt, A. (2024). GenAI et al.: Cocreation, authorship, ownership, academic ethics and integrity in a time of generative AI. Open Praxis, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55982/ openpraxis.16.1.654

Can I cite generative AI?

In most cases, citing AI-generated content as a primary source of information for an assessment is not acceptable. You will need to discuss unit rules and requirements with your Unit Chair.

All sources of information for assessment need to be evaluated for credibility. Cite recommended journal articles, books, websites and other reliable and credible sources.

If you have concluded that generative AI is an appropriate source to cite for your task, then it needs to be cited appropriately.

In all cases, you must acknowledge the use of generative AI as outlined above. In addition, you can cite as follows.

When acknowledging or citing the use of generative AI, do not humanise the tool. ChatGPT does not “discuss”, “report”, or “allege” as a human author does. Instead, simply acknowledge your use of the tool, when you used it and details of how you used it.

Footnotes

The following is interim guidance from the AGLC4 editors on citing AI tools:

• Use the AGLC4 rule 7.12 ‘Written correspondence’.
• Discursive text may be used in the footnote to provide information about the prompts used to generate the output, in accordance with AGLC rule 1.1.5.

An appendix may be used in order to provide comprehensive information about the series of prompts and outputs used to generate the final output.

Bibliography

"Written correspondence" sources are included in the bibliography (See AGLC4 rule 1.13), generally under the heading 'Other'.

In the case of AI tools, provide the creator's name and the recipient's name first.

For example:

• A source should be cited as an internet source only if it does not exist in print form.
• An author should only be cited if indicated on the webpage being cited, such as on a blog post. Where the author and web page are identical, the author should not be included.
• Include the document type: ‘Blog Post’, ‘Forum Post’ etc. Where the type is not clear, use ‘Web Page’.
• Where available, the full date of the last update of the webpage should be included. Where the full date is not provided, include as much of the full date as available.
• The date of retrieval is not included in the citation.
• Where the full URL is very long, and as long as the document can be easily located, you may provide the URL of the home page

• The author and body releasing the document should be identified. Where the author is the same as the body, the body should be omitted.
• Release type should be as on the document (e.g. Media Release, Press Statement). If there is no release type on the document, use ‘Media Release’.
• Only include a document number if it appears on the release. It may be abbreviated, but without full stops.

A URL may be included where it assists with retrieval.

• If an article appears in a named section of a newspaper and the section is independently paginated, the name of the section should be included in italics before the title of the newspaper.
• Where there is no listed author, begin with the title of the article.

Articles accessed online

• Electronic newspaper articles should only be cited where an identical print edition of the newspaper or the article cited does not exist.
• A date of retrieval is not required.

Television, radio and podcasts

• The full date should be included based on the time zone from which the podcast or radio segment originates. See AGLC rule 7.14.4.
• A URL may be added to aid retrieval.
• Pinpoint may be used, specifying the hour/minute/second of the episode.

Social media posts

• For Twitter accounts, ‘@’ should be included in the username.
• Where the social media post does not have a title, it should be omitted.

The Oxford style of referencing consists of:

1. A superscript (raised) number in the body of the text that refers to a footnote at the bottom of the page.
2. Footnotes provide the bibliographic details of a source and are numbered consecutively throughout a paper or chapter.
   Endnotes are an alternative to footnotes. They appear at the end of a paper or chapter.
3. A bibliography is a full list of sources cited, sources consulted in preparing a paper, and other sources thought to be of interest to the reader. The list is ordered alphabetically according to the family name of the first author.

Sources need to be cited wherever ideas from those sources are discussed, summarised, paraphrased or quoted.

Footnotes

The first time a source is cited in a paper or chapter, the footnote should provide the full bibliographic details of the source, including the author, title, year of publication and other publication details.

• For quotes and paraphrases, provide a page number or alternative marker (e.g. section, paragraph), where possible, in the footnote.
• For summaries or general references to works, you do not have to provide a page number, but you may wish to provide one in order to direct the reader to a specific passage in the text.

In all footnotes, regardless of the source type:

• Two or three authors
  – use an ampersand ‘&’ between the last two authors.
• More than three authors
  – include the family name of the first-listed author only, followed by ‘et al.’
• All titles
  – all main words begin with a capital letter.
• Titles of publications
  – e.g. books, journals and websites – are formatted in italics
• Titles of works within publication
  – e.g. articles, chapters, web pages – are placed within single quote marks

Here is an example of a first citation from a book:

Here is an example of a first citation from a journal article:

Bibliography

Sources cited in footnotes require corresponding entries in the bibliography:

How do bibliography entries differ from footnotes?

In a bibliography:

• The entry begins with the family name of the first author
• Entries are arranged alphabetically according to the family names of authors.
• A hanging indent style of paragraph is used.
• Specific page numbers or sections of text cited is not given.
• The full page range of book chapters and journal articles is included.

Footnotes

When sources are referred to more than once in a paper or chapter, full bibliographic details do not need to be given after the initial footnote.

For subsequent citations of the same work, provide the:

• family name only
• shortened (but accurate) title of the article, book or other source
• relevant page numbers specific to each citation.

Where you need to cite the same source multiple times in a single paragraph, cite using only a single footnote. However, if it cannot be made clear which text in your work is being cited, then you may need to use multiple footnotes to the same source in a single paragraph.

Bibliography

Each source cited requires a corresponding entry in the bibliography:

A bibliography is an alphabetically ordered list at the end of paper or chapter that includes:

• all the sources cited in the paper
• other sources consulted in preparing the paper
• other sources that might be of interest to the reader.

Sample Bibliography

How do entries in the bibliography differ from footnotes?

In a bibliography:

• The entry begins with the family name of the first author
• Entries are arranged alphabetically according to the family names of authors.
• A hanging indent style of paragraph is used.
• Specific page numbers or sections of text cited is not given.
• The full page range of book chapters and journal articles is included.

Otherwise, the same rules apply to both footnotes and the bibliography:

• Two or three authors – use an ampersand ‘&’ between the last two authors.
• More than three authors – include the family name of the first-listed author only, followed by ‘et al.’
• All titles – all main words begin with a capital letter.
• Titles of publications – e.g. books, journals and websites – are formatted in italics
• Titles of works within publication – e.g. articles, chapters, web pages – are placed within single quote marks.

Note: There is no need to divide a bibliography into subsections unless you have been instructed to do so (e.g. into sections for primary and secondary sources).

Footnotes

• Authors’ names should be in the order they appear in the publication
• An author can be an organisation.

One author

Two to three authors

• Separate the final two authors with an ampersand ‘&’.

Four or more authors

• Include only the family name of the first-listed author, followed by ‘et al.’ (meaning 'and others').

Bibliography

Sometimes the author is an organisation, government agency, association or corporate body.

• Cite the full name of the organisation.
• If the publisher is identical to the author, there is no need to repeat the publisher’s name.

Footnotes

Bibliography

The entry is listed alphabetically under the name of the organisation (excluding ‘The’).

• For works that do not provide the name of an author, the citation should begin with the title of the work.

For example, here is an online encyclopaedia entry with no author:

Footnotes

Bibliography

• If a source has no publication date, use the latest copyright date.
• If no date can be found, use ‘n.d.’ in place of a date.
• If there is no date because the source is a forthcoming journal article, see the topic in this guide: In-press.

Footnotes

Bibliography

If your source has no page numbers (for example, some e-books and online articles are not paginated) then cite another locator within the source, such as a chapter, sub-heading or paragraph number.

For example, here is a citation of an online journal article with no page numbers where a sub-heading has been used as a locator.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Footnote

When citing an author (who you have not read) who has been cited by another author (who you have read):

• provide the full bibliographic details of both works in the footnote.
• use the phrase ‘cited in’
• include the page number of the work that you have read.

In the example below, the student has read a book by Brown, in which is cited a book by Smith, but the student has not read Smith.

Bibliography

• Provide only the details of the source you have read.

Before quoting your source, first consider whether it would be more appropriate to paraphrase your source. We recommend using quotes sparingly.

Whether you are summarising, paraphrasing or quoting sources, include a citation.

In addition, quotes and paraphrases should always be accompanied by your commentary and analysis – and clearly support your response to the assessment task.

Use single quotation marks for short quotes.

For longer quotes:

• do not use quotation marks
• start the quote on a new line
• indent the quote on the both the left and the right
• use a font one size smaller.

• In most cases, e-books are cited the same way as print books. There usually is no need to include a URL, database name or date of access. Learn more in the topic: e-books.
• Include the following elements for book sources, where available and relevant.

Footnotes

Author

Authors’ names should be in the order they appear in the publication

An author can be an organisation. If this organisation is also the publisher, do not include twice in the footnote.

Place of publication, publisher and year

After the title, the place of publication, publisher and year is placed in brackets

If the publisher is also the author, or the publisher’s name is in the book title, there is no need to include twice.

Edition

• Include the edition number of a book before the place of publication and inside the brackets.
• This is not necessary for a first edition.

Volumes

• Use roman numerals for volume numbers (e.g. i, ii, iii, iv).
• Include the volume title if there is one.

Translators, revisers and editors

• Other contributors to the publication are placed after the title.
• Use tr., rev., ed. and eds. before the name of the translator, reviser, editor or editors.

Bibliography

Footnotes

In most cases, e-books citations:

• are the same as forprint books (with the addition of a DOI, if available)
• do not require a URL, database name, or date of access.

For example, here is a footnote that refers to an e-book accessed via a Deakin database. Note how this citation has the same elements as citation for a print book.

e-reader editions

However, for special e-reader editions that have differing page numbers, it may sometimes be useful to provide further information about the edition.

For e-books editions that do not have page numbers, you may cite a chapter or section in the footnote.

Digitised books

For digitised print books, you may want include further information to direct your reader to the source, such as the: URL and the date you accessed the website.

Bibliography

If citing a chapter in a book by a single author or single set of authors, there is no need to cite a specific chapter. Cite the whole book. See the Oxford Book topics: Overview and e-books.

However, if the chapter is from an edited collection, a book of collected works by different authors, then also include the:

• author of the chapter
• title of the chapter
• editor of the book.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Include the page range of the chapter.

For academic journal articles:

• Include the volume number and issue number.
• Some journals use the month in addition to, or instead of, a volume and issue number.
• Some online journals use an article number instead of a volume and issue number.
• Most journal articles sourced online or from a Library database are cited the same way as print articles – in most cases you do not need to include a URL nor a date accessed.
• Include a DOI if the article has one.
• Note that news articles are cited differently to journal articles. See Other sources.

Footnotes

Online article – no DOI and no page numbers

• If an online article is available on a web page only and there is no DOI, provide the URL and date accessed.
• If an online article has no page numbers, provide paragraph references.

Bibliography

Provide the page range of the article.

• Use the term “in press” to refer to a peer-reviewed article accepted for publication in a future issue of a journal.
• Use the term “advance online publication” to refer to a peer-reviewed article that has not yet gone to print.
• If a DOI not yet is available, provide the URL of the journal home page.
• If the issue, volume or page number is not confirmed, do not guess. Simply leave out this information.

Footnote

Bibliography

• Include the title of the review only if it has a title different from the name of the book being reviewed.
• In addition to details of the review and the journal, include the publication details of the book being reviewed.

Footnote

Bibliography

Include the page range of the review.

There are endless sources of information to be found on the internet, but not all of it is appropriate to contribute to your academic writing.

1. What is the purpose of your writing task? Which sources will support your response to the task?
2. Use the Deakin Library databases and Resource Guides to find further sources.
3. Always ask yourself: Is this a credible and reliable source of information?
4. Seek advice from teaching staff in your unit.
5. You can also get help from the Deakin Library and Study Support.

Do I always need to include a URL and date of access?

In the Oxford style of referencing, online sources that can be updated by the publisher require the full URL and the date you accessed, for example:

• Websites
• Documents published online
• Online news reports
• Blog posts
• Online videos e.g. YouTube
• Podcasts.

However, note that most e-books and online journal articles, including those sourced from Library databases, are mostly cited the same way as print books and articles. In general, these sources do not require the name of the database, nor a URL, nor a date of access.

Likewise, citations of Films or TV episodes accessed via a digital streaming platform do not require the name of the platform e.g. Netflix, nor a URL.

Ask yourself: Is this source available to the general public?

Sources that are not available to the general public, such as private social media posts, wikis and email messages, should be treated as Personal communications. If you are not sure whether it is appropriate to cite social media or personal communications in your assessment, seek clarification from your teachers in your unit.

When citing a web page:

• do not cite an entire website in general – always cite a specific webpage and include the full URL
• provide all available details of the date of publication or last date updated e.g. Day Month Year
• include the date that you accessed the source
• if there are no page numbers, and the text is very long, provide the paragraph number or section.

Footnotes

Citing multiple sections from a single web page

In the first footnote, provide the full publication details.

In subsequent footnotes, provide only the:

• author
• web page title
• section number/title or paragraph number.

Bibliography

When citing a document (e.g. a PDF) from a website:

• if the author is the same as the website title, include the author name only
• provide all available details of the date of publication (e.g. Day Month Year) and place of publication, if available
• include the full URL of the document – if this not accessible, provide the URL where the document is hosted
• include the date you accessed the source.

Footnotes

if there are no page numbers, and the text is very long, provide the paragraph number or section.

Bibliography

• Note that an author of a blog post is sometimes different to the author/publisher of a blog.
• If the blog has no named author, begin with the title.
• Include the medium as [blog post], unless obvious from the title of the blog.

Footnotes

If the post is lengthy, you may provide details about the paragraph or section heading.

Bibliography

Before citing a social media source, ask yourself:

• Is this a credible and reliable source of information?
• Is it acceptable to cite social media for an assessment in this unit?
• Is the social media account/post public or private? Posts from private social media accounts should be treated as Personal communications. All the following examples are public social media posts.

Provide the:

• author name (which may be a username)
• text from the beginning of the post
• full date of the post
• full URL and the date accessed.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Depending on who you are citing, you can begin the citation of a podcast with the:

• main interviewee
• presenter or producer
• or the title of the episode if there is no named speaker/producer.

Include the medium in square brackets [podcast], if this is not obvious from the title of the podcast series.

Note: you can use elements of this format if you need to cite broadcast radio.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Depending on who you are citing, you can begin the citation of a video with the:

• interviewee/speaker/presenter
• producer/director (which in some cases may be the user who uploaded the video)
• or the title of the video if there is no named speaker, producer or director.

Include the medium in square brackets [video].

Footnotes

Video on social media platform (e.g. YouTube)

The date of publication refers to the date uploaded.

The producer of the video can also be provided in brackets before the date.

For clips of previously released videos, films or episodes that may only be available now in an online platform, include the original date in addition to the date uploaded.

See also the topics in this guide: TV episodes and Film.

Video on producer website

Bibliography

• Begin the citation with the director. If it not relevant/available, begin the citation with the title of the episode.
• Include the medium in square brackets [video].
• Whether a TV episode has been accessed via a TV broadcast, Netflix, via a Deakin Library database, or on DVD is irrelevant. Therefore, do not include information about the platform or distributor i.e. how you accessed the episode.
• Include the name of the producer/broadcaster (this is different to a distributor or platform provider or format, but note that in some cases this may be the same organisation).
• Include numbers of the episode and season, if relevant.
• Note: IMDb (the International Movie Database) is a reliable source of information on TV series and episodes.

Footnotes

There is no need to provide a URL if you have all of the other relevant production/broadcast details:

However, you may choose to include a URL to a publicly available site if you think it would assist your reader to locate your source. Here is the same footnote as above, but with a URL provided:

Here is an example of an episode produced by Netflix – but remember, Netflix is only listed here as the producer of the TV series, not as the platform it was accessed on.

Bibliography

• The citation can begin with the director, where relevant. If not available, begin the citation with the title of the film.
• Whether a film has been accessed via Netflix, the Deakin Library or on DVD is irrelevant. Therefore, do not include information about the platform/distributor or format.
• Include the name of the producer (this is different to a distributor / platform provider, but note that in some cases this may be the same organisation).
• IMDb (the International Movie Database) is a reliable source of information on films.

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) web pages, reports and publications are cited much the same way as other web pages or documents, but with the addition of an ABS catalogue number, where available.
• Always cite the full URL.

Footnotes

Bibliography

When using generative artificial intelligence, you need to ensure that your final submitted assessment is your own work, creation, and analysis.

Where you have used generative AI in developing your assessment (for example, in the development of ideas, problem solving, data analysis, significant writing feedback) you should acknowledge your use of it.

It is also essential that you provide details about where and how you have used it.

• First, read assessment instructions in your unit site or check with your Unit Chair whether you are allowed to use generative AI and how you are allowed to use it.
• Understand the limitations and the risks.
• Critically evaluate any output.
• Document how you used the tool and acknowledge this in your final submission.

Your acknowledgement should include:

• the name of the generative AI tool (you can also include the version, if known)
• the month and year you accessed it
• (where relevant) details of your prompts, the output, and precisely where in your assessment you have used generative AI. Discuss unit requirements with your Unit Chair.

This can go in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section and further details can be provided in an Appendix.

Examples adapted from: Bozkurt, A. (2024). GenAI et al.: Cocreation, authorship, ownership, academic ethics and integrity in a time of generative AI. Open Praxis, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55982/ openpraxis.16.1.654

Can I cite generative AI?

In most cases, citing AI-generated content as a primary source of information for an assessment is not acceptable. You will need to discuss unit rules and requirements with your Unit Chair.

All sources of information for assessment need to be evaluated for credibility. Cite recommended journal articles, books, websites and other reliable and credible sources.

If you have concluded that generative AI is an appropriate source to cite for your task, then it needs to be cited appropriately.

In all cases, you must acknowledge the use of generative AI as outlined above. In addition, you can cite as follows.

When acknowledging or citing the use of generative AI, do not humanise the tool. ChatGPT does not “discuss”, “report”, or “allege” as a human author does. Instead, simply acknowledge your use of the tool, when you used it and details of how you used it.

Footnotes

There is no official guidance yet on how to cite AI-generated content in Oxford style so until we have that advice, cite in the same way as personal communications.

You can provide further details of the prompts and output in an appendix.

Bibliography

• Do not provide a bibliography entry.

Cite conference papers according to the format in which they are published, e.g. book chapter, web page or web document.

Here is an example of a conference paper published as a web document (note: URL is to a landing page where document can be accessed):

Footnotes

Bibliography

Please note: in some units it is not acceptable to cite course materials (e.g. class presentations and slides). Cite only if you have been given permission to do so.

Cite in a footnote only; do not provide an entry in the bibliography.

Discuss with your unit staff whether is acceptable to cite a dictionary or encyclopaedia, and which sources they would recommend.

Please note: while Wikipedia can be a good starting point for gleaning general information before you begin your research, a site such as Wikipedia can be updated at any point and by multiple authors, so it cannot be relied on as a source for an academic assignment.

• Consider whether your source is a book, e-book or website, and cite accordingly.
• If there is no named author, begin with the title of the entry.

Here is an example of an online encyclopaedia entry with no named author:

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Consider whether your source is a book, website or web document and cite accordingly.
• Include the jurisdiction (e.g. Commonwealth or State) after the name of the government department/ministry/commission, if this is not clear from other bibliographic details provided.
• See also the topic Media release.

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Include the jurisdiction (e.g. Commonwealth or State) after the name of a government department/ministry/commission, if this is not clear from other bibliographic details provided.
• Include the medium as [media release] after the title.

Footnotes

Bibliography

• If the author is not known, begin with the title.
• Include the publication day, month and year.

Footnotes

Online news article

Provide paragraph references for long articles with no page numbers.

Archived newspaper article

For archived sources, include the name of the repository and any further details that will help your reader locate the source.

Bibliography

Personal communications include interviews or discussions that you have conducted in your research.

• Details about personal communications are included in-text, but are not included in the bibliography.
• It is important to first obtain permission from the person you will be citing.
• You might also provide further details of the communication in an appendix. A reference to the appendix can be provided in text or in a footnote.

Footnotes

Include a URL if the thesis is available online.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Before using the Chicago style of referencing you should first consult your unit guide, which may specify variations on this style. If you are still unsure, please check with your unit chair, lecturer or tutor.

Quick guide

The Chicago style citation quick guide is freely available online.

Comprehensive guide

To access the full 17th Chicago Manual of Style Online via the Deakin Library, you will need to enter your student username and password.

• See section 14 for the guide to the Chicago Notes and Bibliography system of referencing.

• See section 15 for the guide to the Chicago Author-Date system of referencing.
  Note: if using the Author-Date system, you will still need to refer to section 14 for information on how to format sources in a bibliography.

The IEEE style consists of:

1. In-text citations in the form of numbers in square brackets, e.g. [9]. Citations are numbered according to the order of their first appearance in the body of the paper. The same number is used for each work throughout a paper.
2. A reference list at the end of the paper. This provides full bibliographic details of all in-text citations. The references are ordered numerically.

Works are cited in the body of the text, in square brackets and inside punctuation marks.

One to five authors

Six or more authors

Where there are six or more authors, provide the names of the first-listed author followed by "et. al."

They can also be included in the narrative, where the citation acts like a noun.

When repeating an in-text citation, use the original number as first cited. In the example below, Salzmann et al. [1] is cited in the first and last sentence.

• List only the works that contributed directly to your research.
• Reference numbers are enclosed in square brackets. They are set flush left and the reference list entries.
• Do not combine two sources into one reference. There must be only one source per reference number.
• Use the required abbreviations as summarised below.
• In all references, the given name of the author or editor is abbreviated to the initial and precedes the last name. Use commas around Jr., Sr., and III in names.
• List the names of all authors up to the first five authors. If there are six or more names listed, use "et al." after the first-listed author.
• Format book and journal titles in italics; article titles are in double quotation marks.
• When citing IEEE Transactions, if the issue number or month is not available, research IEEEXplore to update the information.
• When referencing a patent, include the day and month.

In some referencing styles, it is common to cite a source that has been cited in another source (a secondary source). However, the IEEE style requires you to cite the primary source.

For example, if you have read about Einstein's theory of special relativity (1905) in a book by Eric Badwin (2010), you must consult and cite the original (primary) source – Einstein's 1905 article. You do not cite Badwin.

Abbreviations must be used for:

• Months: e.g. Jan., Feb., Mar., etc
• Standard IEEE terminology: e.g. statist. automat.
• Journal titles: e.g. IEEE Journal on Technology in Computer Aided Design = TCAD
• Conference proceedings: e.g. Proceedings of the IEEE = Proc. IEEE

For further details see:

IEEE. (2018). IEEE Abbreviations for Transactions, Journals, Letters, and Magazines [Online]. Available: http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/Magazine-Titles-and-Abbreviations.pdf

If the name of the author is not provided, begin the reference list entry with the title of the work.

If no date is provided, place "n.d." in place of the date.

• If a DOI is available, provide the DOI.
• If no DOI is available, provide the full URL or homepage URL.

If there is no DOI and no URL available, provide only the following detail.

Use the following format for books where there is single author or single set of authors.

Use the following format where a book contains chapters written by various authors.

Format the dictionary or encyclopedia according to the source type (e.g. book, e-book, website) and provide the relevant details.

Whole publication

Chapter or entry in a publication

• If a DOI is available, provide the DOI.
• If no DOI is available, provide the full URL or homepage URL.

Titles of journals are often abbreviated in IEEE style. For further details see:

IEEE. (2018). IEEE Journal Titles and Reference Abbreviations [Online]. Available: http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/Journal-Titles-and-Abbreviations.pdf

Print article

Online article with DOI

It is preferable to use this format for online articles and include the DOI.

Online article with no DOI

• Only use this format where no DOI is available.
• Note that this format differs in use of punctuation, placement of date, absence of quotation marks around the title, and the formatting of the journal number and issue.
• Provide the full date, if available.

When using generative artificial intelligence, you need to ensure that your final submitted assessment is your own work, creation, and analysis.

Where you have used generative AI in developing your assessment (for example, in the development of ideas, problem solving, data analysis, significant writing feedback) you should acknowledge your use of it.

It is also essential that you provide details about where and how you have used it.

• First, read assessment instructions in your unit site or check with your Unit Chair whether you are allowed to use generative AI and how you are allowed to use it.
• Understand the limitations and the risks.
• Critically evaluate any output.
• Document how you used the tool and acknowledge this in your final submission.

Your acknowledgement should include:

• the name of the generative AI tool (you can also include the version, if known)
• the month and year you accessed it
• (where relevant) details of your prompts, the output, and precisely where in your assessment you have used generative AI. Discuss unit requirements with your Unit Chair.

This can go in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section and further details can be provided in an Appendix.

Examples of acknowledging the use of generative AI

Examples adapted from: Bozkurt, A. (2024). GenAI et al.: Cocreation, authorship, ownership, academic ethics and integrity in a time of generative AI. Open Praxis, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55982/ openpraxis.16.1.654

Can I cite generative AI?

In most cases, citing AI-generated content as a primary source of information for an assessment is not acceptable. You will need to discuss unit rules and requirements with your Unit Chair.

All sources of information for assessment need to be evaluated for credibility. Cite recommended journal articles, books, websites and other reliable and credible sources.

If you have concluded that generative AI is an appropriate source to cite for your task, then it needs to be cited appropriately.

In all cases, you must acknowledge the use of generative AI as outlined above. In addition, you can cite as follows.

When acknowledging or citing the use of generative AI, do not humanise the tool. ChatGPT does not “discuss”, “report”, or “allege” as a human author does

References

• There is no official guidance yet on how to cite AI-generated content in IEEE style so until we have that advice, cite in the same way as an unpublished source or personal communications.
• You can provide further details of the prompts and output in an appendix.

• If the year is given in the conference title, it may be omitted from the end of the reference.
• For some common abbreviations in references, see  the IEEE Reference guide

Paper presented at a conference

Published conference proceedings

• Providing the city of the conference is optional.

If the year of the standard is included in the Standard reference number, then you do not have to add the year again. For an example of this, see the AS/NZS citation below.

Provide the full date, if available.

The numbered citation style used by the Royal Society of Chemistry consists of the following elements:

1. In-text references in the form of consecutive superscript numbers that follow the relevant section of the text. The same number is used throughout a paper for a single work.
2. A numerically ordered reference list at the end of the paper giving full details of each source cited in text.

You must reference all material you use from sources each time you use a fact, a conclusion, an idea or a finding from someone's work.

It is necessary to cite a source each time you:

• summarise, explain or discuss another writer's ideas or findings in your own words
• paraphrase (closely re-word what someone has said)
• quote (reproduce an author's exact words).

No quotation marks are required if you are summarising or paraphrasing. Place direct quotes within quote marks.

For all sources cited in the body of the paper, provide a superscript number (with no space) after the relevant text. The superscript number is placed after a full stop or other punctuation marks at the end of a sentence.

These numbers refer to a numerically ordered reference list at the end of the paper.

The same number is used for a source throughout a paper. This number is determined by the first citation of the source. For example, if a work is the fourth source cited in a paper, it will be referred to by the superscript number, such as ⁴ ,throughout that paper.

• When two or more references appear at the same point in the text, the relevant superscript numbers are separated by commas.
• Three or more consecutive citations are joined by a hyphen.

In the reference list entry, place the institution responsible for the work in the author position.

The reference list includes only the works cited in the paper. It appears at the end of the paper and provides the full bibliographic information of the sources cited. Only one reference list entry should be provided for each work cited. The reference list is ordered numerically according to the order of the first citation of a work.

• The reference number does not have a full stop after it and the reference entry is indented from the number.
• Include the names of all authors in the order they are listed in the publication.
• Authors' and editors' initials precede their family names. Names are separated by commas with 'and' between the last two names, e.g. P. S. Francis, R. A. Russell and N. W. Barnett.
• Titles of books and journals are italicised.

Sample reference list

In the reference list entry:

• Book titles should be italicised and all major words should be capitalised.
• If the city of publication is not well known, then the state or the country should also be included.
• Edition number is provided only for second or later editions.
• E-books should be cited as print books, unless the e-book is a special edition or only available online – in this case, provide a URL and date accessed as you would other online sources.

When you refer to a specific article, report or chapter in an edited book containing individual contributions by various authors, you need to acknowledge the particular author whose work you are citing. In the reference list entry, provide the name of the author cited plus information about the book in which the work appears.

• The title of the book section or chapter is not identified but the book title is preceded by the word 'in' to indicate that the cited work is part of an edited collection.
• The first page of the chapter (or first page of the article) has to be identified. Where possible, cite the range of pages.
• Use p. or pp. for page number(s) of articles or chapters in books. (Note that journal articles do not use p. or pp.)

When referring to the entire book and not to a specific section or chapter by a particular author, the work is listed under the editor's name.

• Journal titles should be abbreviated and also italicised. If the common abbreviation cannot be located, use the full title. See the following advice on abbreviations, or contact unit staff or your liaison librarian for more information:
  http://cassi.cas.org/
  http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ReSourCe/AuthorGuidelines/AuthoringTools/JournalAbbreviations
• The name of the article is not included in the citation.
• Indicate the volume number using bold font.
• Place the issue number in brackets.
• Where possible, cite the range of pages of the article.

Continuous pagination

Continuous pagination (used by many journals) continues the sequence of page numbers through all the issues that make up a volume. It is not necessary to indicate issue numbers, as page numbers are sufficient to indicate the location of articles in volumes that use continuous pagination.

Separate pagination

Some journals do not number pages continuously through the issues that make up a volume; each issue begins at page 1.  Provide the issue number in brackets after the volume number.

Volumes numbered by year

Some journals use only the year to indicate each volume; there is no dedicated volume number.

It is not recommended to use articles from general reference books like the Encyclopaedia Britannica. You may want to get an overview from a general encyclopedia article before you research a complex and difficult topic, but do not cite such a source in your assignment.

If you use an article from a specialist encyclopedia, cite it as you would a chapter in an edited book.

When using generative artificial intelligence, you need to ensure that your final submitted assessment is your own work, creation, and analysis.

Where you have used generative AI in developing your assessment (for example, in the development of ideas, problem solving, data analysis, significant writing feedback) you should acknowledge your use of it.

It is also essential that you provide details about where and how you have used it.

• First, read assessment instructions in your unit site or check with your Unit Chair whether you are allowed to use generative AI and how you are allowed to use it.
• Understand the limitations and the risks.
• Critically evaluate any output.
• Document how you used the tool and acknowledge this in your final submission.

Your acknowledgement should include:

• the name of the generative AI tool (you can also include the version, if known)
• the month and year you accessed it
• (where relevant) details of your prompts, the output, and precisely where in your assessment you have used generative AI. Discuss unit requirements with your Unit Chair.

This can go in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section and further details can be provided in an Appendix.

Examples of acknowledging the use of generative AI

Examples adapted from: Bozkurt, A. (2024). GenAI et al.: Cocreation, authorship, ownership, academic ethics and integrity in a time of generative AI. Open Praxis, 16(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55982/ openpraxis.16.1.654

Can I cite generative AI?

In most cases, citing AI-generated content as a primary source of information for an assessment is not acceptable. You will need to discuss unit rules and requirements with your Unit Chair.

All sources of information for assessment need to be evaluated for credibility. Cite recommended journal articles, books, websites and other reliable and credible sources.

If you have concluded that generative AI is an appropriate source to cite for your task, then it needs to be cited appropriately.

In all cases, you must acknowledge the use of generative AI as outlined above. In addition, you can cite as follows.

When acknowledging or citing the use of generative AI, do not humanise the tool. ChatGPT does not “discuss”, “report”, or “allege” as a human author does. Instead, simply acknowledge your use of the tool, when you used it and details of how you used it.

References

• There is not official guidance on how to cite AI tools in the Numbered Citation style, so until we have that advice, cite as follows.
• You can provide further details of the prompts and output in an appendix.

Computer programs that are released through a program library, e.g. the Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange or the Computer Physics Communications Library, are referenced as journal articles, based on the announcement of the program's release.

Computer programs that are released through an institution or a commercial publisher should be referenced like a book, except that the title of the computer program is not italicised.

• The title is not included.
• The thesis type is the name of the degree for which the thesis has been submitted.
• Theses should only be cited when the information has not been published elsewhere.

Material from the web must always be checked for reliability, accuracy and appropriateness. Anonymous content should not be used because the accuracy cannot be checked. For guidelines on evaluating materials from the web, see:

'Appendix G: Reliability of World Wide Web Reference Materials' in: K. Lim, Chemistry Style Manual, Deakin University, Geelong, rev. edn., 2010.

Note the following when referencing sources from websites (not including journal articles accessed online nor e-books):

• A web citation should provide the author, title of document/webpage, the URL, the year of publication, and the full date the material was accessed.
• If there is no identifiable author, list the institution responsible for the website.
• If you have to break a web address across a line, do so after a slash or before a full stop. Do not add a hyphen at the line break.

Australian Harvard is an author-date style of referencing.

In-text citations:

• Provide the author and year of publication in the body of your writing.
• In addition, provide a page number for quotes.
• Page numbers can also be provided for paraphrases.

Reference list:

• Create a list of all sources used in your in-text citations.
• Order them alphabetically according the first-listed author's name of each source.

For in-text citations in Harvard, provide:

• the family name of the author(s) or the name of the organisation/department(s)
• the year of publication
• page numbers when quoting directly from a source (essential)
• page numbers when paraphrasing a source (recommended)
• a colon between the year and the page number (or other locator)
• a corresponding entry in the reference list.

When using in-text citations, you can emphasise the author:

Or the information:

If the citation is from more than one page, include the page range in the in-text citation:

Important: it is essential when citing sources to engage with your sources critically. Avoid writing paragraphs that lack your own commentary and analysis of sources.

There are three main ways to include sources in your work: summarising, paraphrasing or directly quoting.

1. Summarising your source

A summary of a work or section of a work, or a general reference to someone's theory or idea, always requires a citation.

Include the author(s) and the date:

2. Paraphrasing your source

A paraphrase accurately conveys the meaning of a brief and specific section of text from a source – and in roughly the same number of words.

• Include the author(s) and the date.
• We also recommend including a page number (or other locator if there are no page numbers, e.g. paragraph number).

3. Quoting your source

A direct quote is the exact reproduction of someone’s words.

Only quote a source when it is essential that the reader sees the original wording – for example, it may be a memorable quote, a definition, regulation, legislation, a literary work or a controversial statement.

For further information on Direct quotes see the next topic.

Learn more about summarising, paraphrasing and quoting sources.

Only directly quote a source when it is essential that the reader sees the original wording. For example, it may be a memorable quote, a definition, regulation, legislation, a literary work or a controversial statement.

Note: While it is more common to provide direct quotes in disciplines such as History, Literature and in disciplines where policy documents or regulations need to be cited, it is less common in the sciences.

Short quotes

For direct quotes of approximately less than 30 words:

• include the author, the date, and the page number (or for web sources you may use another locator e.g. paragraph number or section title)
• enclose the quote in single quotation marks
• if the citation is at the end of a sentence, place the full stop after the citation.

Long quotes

For longer quotes of more than approximately 30 words, format as a block quote:

• indent the quote from main text
• use a smaller font size
• use 1.5 or double spacing
• do not use quotation marks
• place the in-text citation after the full stop in the original text.

Quote marks within quotes

When quoting directly from a source that already includes quote marks, use double quotation marks inside single quotation marks.

Adding or removing text from direct quotes

You may add or remove text from a direct quote for clarification or to improve the flow of your sentence – as long as it does not change the intended meaning of the original text.

Use ellipses (…) to show where you have removed words.

Use text in square brackets to show where you have added words.

All in-text citations must have a corresponding entry in the reference list. This provides your reader with details on how to locate your sources. In each entry, you provide the:

• author
• year of publication (some sources also require the day and month)
• title of the work (note: some web sources require either the title hyperlinked to the URL, or the URL provided at the end of reference list entry)
• publication details (note: this varies for different source types)
• date you accessed the source (for some online sources).

Note: some titles of works published online are hyperlinked to the URL. For further details, see the Harvard topics: URLs and DOIs and Web and video: Overview.

The entries in a reference list are alphabetically ordered:

• by the family name of author or authoring organisation
• by title where there is no author (disregarding 'A', 'An' or 'The').

Multiple entries by the same author

• Provide a long dash in place of the author for subsequent entries.
• Order entries by date.

Multiple entries by the same author in the same year

• Provide a long dash in place of the author's name for subsequent entries.
• Add lower case letters following the year, i.e. 2001a, 2001b, 2001c.
• Order entries alphabetically by the title of the work.

Group authors

Where you have used a shortened form for a group author (organisation, agency or government department) in an in-text citation, provide the reference list entry under the shortened form of the name, followed by the full name in brackets:

For further examples, see the Harvard topic Group authors and the section Government, NGO and legal.

Note: some specialised sources – for example, artworks or legal sources – may require their own list. These lists often have a title such as ‘List of artworks’ or ‘Legislation cited’. Check with your unit teaching staff if you are required to provide a list in addition to the main reference list.

Here is a sample reference list, with the title ‘References’ centred and in bold:

In-text citations

For sources with a single author, provide the family name, or organisation/agency name, and the date.

For sources with two authors, provide the family names of the authors in the order they appear in the publication.  Use the word ‘and’ – not the ‘&’ symbol.

For sources with three or more authors, use only the family name of the first-listed author in publication, followed by ‘et al.’ (meaning 'and others').

Reference list

Provide the names of all the authors in the order that they appear in the publication.

In-text citations

An author may be an organisation, a government agency/department or a corporate body.

• Only use a shortened form of an organisation/department/agency if it is in common use.
• Spell out the full name of an organisation/department/agency the first time you use it, then use the shortened form from that point on.

Reference list

If you use a shortened form in your text, provide the reference list entry under the shortened form of the name, followed by the full name in brackets.

For further examples of Government sources, see the Harvard section: Government, NGO and legal.

Note that sometimes where it appears there is no author, the author is in fact an organisation or government department.

For sources that do not name a specific author or have an authoring organisation, you can begin the citation with:

• the name of the publication (e.g. the name of the news site or blog)
• the title of the work (e.g. the title of the book), or descriptive title (e.g. an artwork with no title).

In-text citations

Reference list

When you cannot find a date for a source, use:

• n.d. (meaning 'no date') instead of a date
• c. (short for ‘circa’) if the date can be reliably estimated.

In-text citations

Reference list

Capitalisation

• For most titles, capitalise the first letter of the first word and the first letter of proper nouns.
• However, for journal titles, and some government sources and legislation, retain the capitalisation used in the original title.

Quote marks

• For titles of chapters, articles and blog posts, enclose the title in single quote marks.

Italics

• Format titles of books, web pages, journals and newspapers in italics .

Hyperlinked titles

• For some web sources, you may provide the URL as a hyperlinked title (or provide the URL in full at the end of the reference).
• Note: there are a number of sources that do not require a URL, for example a journal article with a DOI.

For further details on how to format titles, look at the examples provided for specific source types.

Some sources, such as websites and some e-reader editions of e-books, do not have page numbers.

In-text citations

For sources with no page numbers, you may include another locator in your in-text citation, such as a:

• paragraph number (para.)
• section heading
• chapter heading.

Reference list

In-text citations

Citing multiple sources at the same point:

When citing more than one source at the same point in your writing:

• order the sources by date, from the earliest date to most the recent
• separate each source with a semicolon
• if sources have the same date of publication, order them alphabetically by author name.

Citing the same source multiple times in one paragraph:

Ensure that it is clear which part of your text is linked to each citation.

Important: In addition to citing your sources it is essential to comment on and analyse your sources.

In-text citations

When citing more than one work by the same author at the same point in your writing:

• provide the author and dates
• order citations by date, from the earliest to the most recent
• separate the dates with commas.

When citing more than one work by the same author in the same year:

• use the lower case letters (a, b, c etc.) after the date to distinguish between sources
• the lower case letters are assigned to the dates according to the alphabetical order of the titles (see reference list below).

Reference list

Multiple entries by the same author:

• Provide a long dash in place of the author for subsequent entries.
• Order entries by date.

Multiple entries by the same author in the same year:

• Provide a long dash in place of the author's name for subsequent entries.
• Add lower case letters following the year, i.e. 2001a, 2001b, 2001c.

Order entries alphabetically by the title of the work.

In-text citations

When citing a source that you have not read directly but which has been quoted within a source that you have read, provide:

• the name of both authors in text
• a citation for the source you have read.

In this example, you have read Cotterall and Cohen, who are citing Donato – but you have not read Donato directly. Nevertheless, you would like to cite Donato.

In each case, the in-text citation only refers to the text that you have read.

Reference list

Provide only the details of the source you have read.

DOIs

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a unique identifier that is available for most academic journal articles and some e-books.

• A DOI is a more stable identifier than a URL, so where a DOI exists, cite this rather than a URL.
• There is no need to provide the date you accessed a source with a DOI.
• Do not place a full stop at the end of a DOI.

You can usually find the DOI on the first page of an article in the header or footer. They also appear in library records.

DOIs typically appear in one of these two formats and you may use either format (usually whichever one appears in your source):

Here are two reference list examples of journal articles with DOIs.

URLs

In reference list entries, URLs are provided for some online sources, such as web pages, web documents, blog posts and online videos – and for online articles that do not have a DOI.

• Provide the full URL of the source. You can do this in two ways: hyperlink the title of web page to the URL, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• For students using Endnote, you will place the URL at end of the reference list.
• For web sources that requires a log in, do not hyperlink the title. Provide the home page URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• Note: in most cases, there is no need to provide a URL for an e-book nor for an article published in an academic journal. A DOI is usually provided instead.
• Note: URLs may be provided for some online video sources, but not for films nor TV episodes.

Web document:

Blog post:

Online article with no DOI:

In-text citations

Cite the original author, not the translator.

Reference list

Include the name and role of the translator in brackets after the title of the work.

In-text citations

Reference list

• Provide as much detail as is available. If a detail is not given, for example an edition or place of publication, simply leave it out.
• For the most part, the same information is provided for both print books and e-books.
• For older books (for example, when citing classical literature), the original year can be included as well as the year of the edition. See the Shakespeare example below.
• An e-reader edition of an e-book may need to be noted, as it may be a unique edition. For further details, see the Harvard topic: e-books.
• DOIs should be provided, where available. If provided there is no need to include a place of publication. For further details, see the Harvard Explained topic: DOIs and URLs.

Provide the following bibliographic details, where available, for both print books and e-books:

In-text citations

For e-books that do not have page numbers, you may cite:

• a chapter (‘Chapter title’)
• section title (‘Title of section’)
• paragraph number (para.).

Reference list

In most cases, reference list entries for e-books:

• are the same as for print books (with the addition of a DOI, if available)
• do not require a URL, a database name, nor a date of access.

For further details, see the Harvard Explained topic: DOIs and URLs.

For example, here is a reference list entry for an e-book accessed via a Deakin database. Note how it has the same details as for a print book.

e-book with no DOI:

e-book with DOI:

e-reader editions:

For e-reader editions of e-books that have differing (or no) page numbers (e.g. Kindle editions), provide the edition.

Reference list

• Place the edition of the book after the title.
• If the book is a first edition, there is no need to note an edition number.

Note that ‘edition’ can refer also to an e-reader edition of an e-book – but note too that most e-books are not different editions and correspond to the equivalent print edition.

Reference list

The names of the editor (ed), editors (eds), compiler (comp), reviser (rev) or translator (trans) can be included in two ways:

• after the title (in brackets)
• or if these roles are of primary importance, they can be placed in the author position (in brackets).

Reference list

• The first-listed city of publication is placed after the publisher's name.
• If a DOI is provided there is no need to include a place of publication. For further details, see the Harvard Explained topic: DOIs and URLs.

The state or country of publication can be added for lesser known cities or where two cities might be confused.

Note: When citing a chapter from a book written by a single author or single set of authors, cite as you would a whole book – there is no need to include the chapter title in the reference list entry.

When citing a chapter from an edited collection (a book of collected works by different authors), provide the author of the chapter (or preface, foreword or introduction) in the in-text citation.

In-text citations

Reference list

When citing a chapter from an edited collection, include the following:

• author of the chapter (or preface, foreword, introduction)
• title of chapter
• editor(s) of the book.

A journal article in the context of academic study often refers to an article published in a peer-reviewed academic publication, but the term can apply more broadly to a range of articles that you may find online.

Be aware that some news and magazine sites may not always be credible sources of information for the purposes of your assessment. Discuss this further with the teaching staff in your unit. Learn more about evaluating sources.

The best way to find journal articles is via the Deakin Library:

• Resource guides
• A-Z journals and newspapers

See also the Harvard topic: News articles.

Most academic journal articles (whether in print or online) have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). DOIs can usually be found on the first page of the article or in the entry on the Library catalogue. Note that there are different formats for DOIs. Use the format provided in the article.

For further details, see the Harvard Explained topic: DOIs and URLs.

In-text citations

For longer online articles with no page numbers, you can use paragraph numbers or section headings.

Reference list

Provide as much detail as is available. If a detail is not given, for example a journal issue number, simply leave it out.

• Place article titles in single quote marks, and only capitalise the first letter of the first word and any names.
• Format journal titles in italics, and use capital letters as they are used in the publication.
• Place the journal issue number in brackets after the volume number.
• Include a colon between the issue and the page range.
• Provide a DOI, where available. Do not place a full stop after a DOI.
• Do not include the name of the library database where you sourced the article, nor a library database URL.

Some articles published on a website have no issue, volume number or DOI. In this case,

• Provide the full date, where available.
• Hyperlink the title to the URL of the article, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• Include the date you accessed the article.

Some journals use article numbers rather than volume numbers, issue numbers or page numbers.

• Use the term in press to refer to a peer-reviewed article accepted for publication in a future issue of a journal.
• Leave out any details that cannot be confirmed, for example, the year, issue, volume, DOI or page number. Never guess any of the details.

In-text citations

Reference list

In-text citations

Include the name of the reviewer.

Reference list

• In addition to details of the review and the journal it was published in, include the publication details of the work being reviewed.
• Note: some reviews, like the one below, do not have a title – in this case, simply leave out the title of the review.

In-text citations

The author of government reports and other publications is often a specific department or agency.

• Only use a shortened form of a department or agency if it is in common use.
• Spell out the full name of a department or agency the first time you use it, then use the shortened form from that point on.

Reference list

• If you use a shortened form in your text, provide the reference list entry under the shortened form of the name, followed by the full name in brackets.
• For online sources, hyperlink the title if the source is freely available to the public.
• For reports that are part of a series, provide the title of the series.
• Provide a catalogue number, if one exists.
• Include the name of the government that the department belongs to.
• Cite according to source type. See also the Harvard topics: Book, Web page, Web document, Media release, Report.

Report on a web page:

Note: In this example, the source is also a part of a series, and has a catalogue number and a DOI.

Print report with a named author:

Web document:

Web page:

In-text citations

Spell out the full name of the Australian Bureau of Statistics the first time you use it, then use the shortened form ABS from that point on.

Reference list

• Hyperlink the title of the ABS publication to the precise URL.
• Provide the ABS catalogue number, where relevant.
• Learn more about citing various ABS resources (but then always apply the advice in this guide to your final citation).

The following advice is based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) referencing style. For further details, see the Deakin guide to AGLC.

The following details are included in both in-text citations and the reference list.

• Title and year: the title of the Bill is followed by the year (but they are not in italics, as with Acts)
• Jurisdiction: abbreviated and in round brackets, e.g. (Cth) = Commonwealth
• Pinpoint reference: references are often to clauses or subclauses. For example, cl = clause; sub-cl = subclause (see section 3.1.4 and Appendix C of the AGLC).

In-text citations

• Citations of Bills may be integrated into the sentence or cited in round brackets at the end of the sentence.

Reference list

• There is no full stop at the end of reference list entries.
• Note: you may be asked in your unit to create a separate section for legal sources (e.g. Acts and Bills).

The following advice is based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) referencing style. For further details, see the Deakin guide to AGLC.

The following details are included in both in-text citations and the reference list.

• Case name: full name of case in italics
• Year: in square brackets – if case has a unique court identifier or if law report volume is organised by year
• Year: in round brackets – if law report is organised by continuous volume numbers
• Unique court identifier: See rule 2.3.1 and Appendix B of the AGLC for a list of unique court identifiers
• Judgement number
• Pinpoint: if required, refer to the paragraph number

In-text citations

Citations of cases may be integrated into the sentence or cited in round brackets at the end of the sentence.

Reference list

• There is no full stop at the end of reference list entries.
• Create a separate section for cases within the reference list, under the sub-heading 'Cases'. List cases alphabetically.

Cases without a unique court identifier (Reported cases):

• Where a case does not use a unique court identifier in the citation, it has come from a law report series. The abbreviations for law reports are in Appendix A of the AGLC.
• Note that both round and square brackets are used around the year. Copy the reference details as they appear in your source.
• Some of these cases have no volume number.

The following advice is based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) referencing style. For further details, see the Deakin guide to AGLC.

The following details are included in both in-text citations and the reference list.

• Title and year: the title of the Act is followed by the year, and are both in italics
• Jurisdiction: abbreviated and in round brackets e.g. (Cth) = Commonwealth
• Pinpoint reference: reference to a page, paragraph, section, clause, etc. For example, s = section; pt = part (see rule 3.1.4 and Appendix C of the AGLC).

In-text citations

Citations of legislation may be integrated into the sentence or cited in round brackets at the end of the sentence.

Australian consumer law:

The principle consumer protection law in Australia is found in schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The first citation of this Act should be:

Subsequent citations should be shortened to Australian Consumer Law. See rule 3.1.7 in the AGLC for more information on individual parts of legislative material.

Reference list

• There is no full stop at the end of reference list entries.
• Note: you may be asked in your unit to create a separate section for legal sources (e.g. Acts and Bills).

In-text citations

• Only use a shortened form of a non-government organisation (NGO) if it is in common use.
• Spell out the full name of an organisation the first time you use it, then use the shortened form from that point on.

Reference list

• If you use a shortened form in your text, provide the reference list entry under the shortened form of the name, followed by the full name in brackets.
• Cite according to source type. See also the Harvard topics: Book, Web page, Web document, Media release.

Parliamentary debates and proceedings:

In-text citations

Reference list

When citing Australian parliamentary debate, or Hansard, provide:

• the volume number before a colon
• page number range after the colon.

When citing official recordings of proceedings in Parliament, provide:

• the issue number in parentheses, or the volume number
• page number range after the colon.

The following advice is based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) referencing style. For further details, see the Deakin guide to AGLC.

Treaties (also known as Conventions, Covenants, Declarations, Protocols and Statutes) are international agreements between states and are part of international law.

In-text citations

Reference list

There are endless sources of information to be found on the internet, but not all of it is appropriate to contribute to your academic writing.

1. What is the purpose of your writing task? Which sources will support your response to the task?
2. Use your set unit readings as a starting point. Look at the citations in those readings.
3. Then use the Deakin Library databases and resource guides to find further sources.
4. Always ask yourself: Is this a credible and reliable source of information?
5. Seek advice from teaching staff in your unit.
6. You can also get help from the Deakin Library and study support.

Do I always need to include a URL and date of access?

In the Australian Harvard style of referencing, a number of online sources require:

1. the URL, hyperlinked in the title of the work or provided in full at the end of the reference list entry
   (Note for Endnote users: always provide the URL at the end of the reference list entry)
2. the date you accessed the source.

This applies to the following source types:

• web pages or documents
• online news reports
• blog posts
• online videos e.g. YouTube
• podcasts.

Only provide full URLs to freely available sources. If a source is behind a paywall, requires a log in, or is private access only, do not hyperlink the title or provide the URL. In this case, provide the landing page URL or else the name of publisher.

If you are submitting your work in print format only, in your reference list you will need to provide the full URL after the accessed date instead of hyperlinking titles. Do not place a full stop at the end of a URL.

Note: most e-books and online journal articles do not require a URL nor a date accessed, and they do not require any information about the Library database where they were found. They are mostly cited the same way as print books and articles.

Likewise, citations of films or TV episodes, even those accessed via digital streaming platforms, do not require the name of the platform (e.g. Netflix) nor a URL.

How do I hyperlink a title?

If you are using Microsoft Word:

1. Select the title you want to hyperlink.
2. Click CTRL and K (PC) or COMMAND + K (Apple).
3. Paste the URL into the address.
4. Save.
5. Check that your link is correct.

Is this source available to the general public?

Sources that are not available to the general public, such as private social media posts, wikis and email messages, should be treated as Personal communications. If you are not sure whether it is appropriate to cite social media or personal communications in your assessment, seek clarification from the teachers in your unit.

• Note: Many web pages do not include the names of individual authors. Learn more in the Harvard topics: Group authors, Government overview, NGOs.
• It is preferable to cite a web page rather than an entire website – this provides a more accurate location of your source.
• Provide the day, month and year, where available (commonly provided for an article on a webpage) but do not use the copyright date. Be aware that some web pages do not provide any date – and in this case give the date as (n.d.) ‘no date’.

In-text citations

• For longer webpages, you may provide section titles or paragraph numbers (instead of page numbers).
• When citing multiple sub-pages or sub-sections of a website, you may provide the titles of the specific sections in your in-text citation. In the reference list, provide the single web page where all sub-sections/pages can be found.

Reference list

• Include the day, month and year, where available.
• Include the date you accessed the web page.
• Provide the full URL of the source. You can do this in two ways: hyperlink the title of web page to the URL, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• For students using Endnote, you will place the URL at end of the reference list.
• For web source that requires a log in, do not hyperlink the title. Provide the home page URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• Note: for articles from a library database, do not provide a URL. See the topic Journal articles.

Web page with title hyperlinked to the URL:

Web page with the URL provided at the end of the entry:

Web page not freely available to the public:

• Provide the home page URL at the end of the reference.

• Note: Many web documents do not include the names of individual authors. Learn more in the Harvard topics: Group authors, Government overview, NGOs.
• Provide the day, month and year, where available, but do not use the copyright date. Be aware that some web documents do not provide any date – and in this case give the date as (n.d.) ‘no date’.

In-text citations

For a long document with no page numbers:

• you may cite a paragraph number, sub-heading or section title.
• never cite the page numbers of your printed version of the document.

Reference list

• Include the day, month and year, where available.
• Provide the full URL of the document. You can do this in two ways: hyperlink the title of web page to the URL, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• For students using Endnote, you will place the URL of the document at end of the reference list.
• If there is no URL for the document, provide the URL for the webpage where the document can be found.
• For web documents that requires a log in, do not hyperlink the title. Provide the home page URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• Include the date you accessed the document.

Web documents - with title hyperlinked:

Web document - with URL provided at end of the reference list entry:

In-text citations

• Provide the author and year.
• As most blog posts are short they do not require paragraph numbers, sub-headings or other locators – but they can be provided for longer posts, if needed.

Reference list

For blog posts, provide:

• the author’s name as it appears in the post
• the blog as author if a post has no named author
• the day, month and year of the post
• a hyperlinked title to the URL of the post, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• the date you accessed the post.

Before citing a social media source, ask yourself:

• Is it acceptable to cite social media sources for an assessment in this unit?
• What is the purpose of citing this source?
• Is this a credible and reliable source of information?
• If the post is referring to content that can be found elsewhere, should I try to find the original source?
• Is the social media post/update public or private? Posts from private social media accounts should be treated as Personal communications. All the following examples are of public social media posts.

In-text citations

Provide the author of the post and year.

Reference list

For social media posts and updates, provide the:

• author name (can also be username or name of an organisation)
• day month and year of the post
• first 10 words of the post followed by an ellipsis (…), hyperlinked to the URL of the source, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
• the type of post in square brackets
• the date you accessed the post.

In-text citations

‘Online video’ here refers to videos that have been uploaded to a website or a social media platform such as YouTube. It does not refer to any film or episode that may have been viewed online (e.g. on Netflix or ABC iview). For further details see also the Harvard topics: Films and TV episodes.

• Place the creator or owner of the video in the in-text citation
• In some cases, you might provide the presenter in the in-text citation (if it is a video with a single presenter, e.g. a TED talk).
• In addition, when citing a specific speaker in the video (e.g. interviewee), include their name in text.

Reference list

For online videos, provide the:

• name of video creator/owner, which may be a username or the name of an organisation
  (if there is only one speaker, such as in a TED talk, you can place their name in the author position).
• Day, month and year the video was uploaded, if available
• title hyperlinked to the URL of the source, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry
• medium as [video]
• name of the channel or the name of the organisation that owns the content
• name of the website (if different from the authoring organisation, e.g. YouTube)
• date you accessed the video.

In-text citations