DELC Lectures: Referencing · Bibliography •It is mandatory to submit your work with a bibliography. •If your source text is the only one to document, do it all the same. It is

DELC Lectures:Referencing

Dr Bárbara Fernández Melleda

Teaching Fellow in Spanish

The University of Edinburgh

What is referencing?

• How to quote a text correctly.

• What if I am paraphrasing?

• Do all my ideas need secondary sources?

• How do I correctly integrate a reference?

• Footnotes/Endnotes?

• Building a bibliography or works cited list.

Formal Aspects

• Word count is very important: word-count should be given at the endof the essay/commentary.

• 10% rule. You will not be penalised if you write 10% more or less thanthe number of words you are required to submit. For instance, for a 1,500 word essay: min 1,350; max 1,650.

• Quote directly from the source: if this is in Spanish, French, orGerman, keep the original. Do not attempt to translate the source, especially if you are studying the language you are quoting.

How to quote correctly.

• Up to 40 words from a source ‘go between commas’ (Author’sSurname, Year of publication, page number).

Example:

According to many historians ‘la década de 1790 a 1800 [es] como coyuntura clave para la historia de Cuba’ (Martínez, 1989, p.24). Therefore, this decade must be considered as key to the study of Cuban culture in following years.

What if I am paraphrasing?

For Martínez, among many historians, it seems like the key to understand Cuban culture is the decade between 1790 and 1800, as itpresents relevant events that must be considered in a thoroughanalysis of what happened in later years.

• My point here, you always mention the source.

• If it is hard to paraphrase a text, there is no problem if you quote itdirectly, as in the previous example.

Do all my ideas need secondary sources?

• No. But, if any of your statements need further explanation and thereis critical work about a given idea, it is best to consult a secondarysource.

• Especially when reading material that has been studied extensively in the past. For instance, Shakespeare, Spanish Renaissance, Film reviews, etc.

• If you submit a paper with a generalisation that you assume thereaders will ‘obviously’ know, think twice whether you need to document it or develop it further. Nothing is too obvious.

How do I correctly integrate a reference?

• Think about the following:• Is it relevant to add a quotation?

• Does it help to support my ideas?

• Does it demonstrate or further develop something I am trying to prove?

• Does it clearly exemplify what I mean to say in my text?

• Make sure your paragraph is clearly making a point and that the quotationcontributes to it.

• Also, if your reference is long, see the DELC Guide and follow the instructions.

• Try to use short quotations.

• Depending on the language in which you are writing, see if you need to indent every paragraph to guide your reader.

Footnotes/Endnotes?

• Footnotes are used to document sources or to add relevantinformation.

• When an exercise is short: that is, less than 2,000 words, footnotesare not recommended.

• If you think you might need one, ask yourself if that information can be contained in your essay. If not, it might not be even that relevantto mention.

• You might be allowed to use endnotes, consult with your tutor.

The DELC Writing Style Guide

• Use the guide to have a format that is easy to follow and helps yourreader/evaluator assess your work.

• Always submit the file using 1.5 or double space. This way yourevaluator can have enough space to provide comments in text.

• Font: Arial 12 pt (suggested)

• The DELC Writing Guide follows the MHRA model.

What the MHRA Allows

• You can always discuss the reference format in advance with yourtutor in case you have any questions or if you feel more comfortableusing another reference model, such as MLA.

• The MHRA style is normally used in the humanities—which means literatures, cultures and languages as in DELC.

• It uses footnotes that fully reference a citation. This is optional.

• This does not mean that the work does not need a full bibliography. Use footnotes ONLY when necessary. If you feel it is too repetitive, keep the bibliography and eliminate footnotes.

• In a short essay or commentary, avoid explanatory footnotes.

Bibliography

• It is mandatory to submit your work with a bibliography.

• If your source text is the only one to document, do it all the same. It isgood academic practice.

• You might be deducted marks if you fail to include a bibliography.

• What you need to document: all the books, articles and materialsconsulted to write your paper.

• Do not use pointers or numbers to separate references.

• Bibliographies are structured in alphabetical order.

Example of a Bibliography: Books

Name Surname, Title, ed./trans (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page number.Carlos Fuentes, Aura, ed. by Peter Standish, Durham Modern Language Series: Hispanic Texts, 1 (Durham: University of Durham, 1986), pp. 12–16 (p. 14). Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. by Joseph R. Strayer and others, 13 vols(New York: Scribner, 1982–89), vi (1985), p. 26. Jean Starobinski, Montaigne in Motion, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), p. 174. Tom McArthur, Worlds of Reference: Lexicography, Learning and Language from the Clay Tablet to the Computer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 59.

Articles

Name Surname. ‘Article Name’, Journal, volume/number (year), page numbers (pp. pages quoted)

Robert F. Cook, ‘Baudouin de Sebourc: un poème édifiant?’, Olifant, 14 (1989), 115–35 (pp. 118–19).

Lourdes Martínez Echazabal. ‘Fuentes históricas del primer capítulo de El siglo de las luces’, Caribbean Studies, Vol. 22, No. 3/4 (1989), 23-32 (pp. 24).

Online Sources

Name Surname, ‘Title of Article’, in Main Webpage <http://www.webpageused.com> [date of access day month year]

Kent Bach, ‘Performatives’, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http://www.rep.routledge.com> [accessed 3 October 2001]

Quoting Film: Ask Tutor about Format if notthis one.

All the Sources as a Bibliography (DELC)

Abdullah Kent, The Diseases of the Heart. 1995. True Radio, 1999. Audiocassette.

Carlos Fuentes, Aura, ed. by Peter Standish, Durham Modern Language Series: Hispanic Texts, 1 (Durham: University of Durham, 1986), pp. 12–16 (p. 14).

Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. by Joseph R. Strayer and others, 13 vols (New York: Scribner, 1982–89), vi (1985), p. 26.

Jean Starobinski, Montaigne in Motion, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), p. 174.

Kent Bach, ‘Performatives’, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http://www.rep.routledge.com> [accessed 3 October 2001]

Larry Smith. The Politics of Money. New Studios, 2000. Film.

Lourdes Martínez Echazabal. ‘Fuentes históricas del primer capítulo de El siglo de las luces’, Caribbean Studies, Vol. 22, No. 3/4 (1989), 23-32 (pp. 24).

Robert F. Cook, ‘Baudouin de Sebourc: un poème édifiant?’, Olifant, 14 (1989), 115–35 (pp. 118–19).

Tom McArthur, Worlds of Reference: Lexicography, Learning and Language from the Clay Tablet to the Computer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 59.

Films: Ask instructors for advice on following MHRA or MLA, or any other (APA).

• You can always speak with your tutor if you still have concernsregarding the use of references in your essays or commentaries.

• Good luck!

Useful Links

• For MLA: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

• For MHRA: http://www.mhra.org.uk/pdf/MHRA-Style-Guide-3rd-Edn.pdf

• For APA: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html