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
