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Guidelines for Citing References and Compiling Bibliography

 

Explanation of Terminology
  • Reference – a short reference form, which is enclosed in parentheses (the author-date system) or is added as a footnote at the bottom of the page (footnote referencing) or as a note at the end of the work (endnote), to identify the information sources, from which a quotation, text excerpt, the idea, illustrative and similar material is taken, and to specify the exact location of the used information in the source.
  • Bibliography – a compiled list of the sources, which are used in producing the work and which are referred to in the text.
  • Sources – not interpreted materials – laws, official documents, statesmen speeches, interviews, and statistics. They are divided as follows: chronicles (first narrative source); laws and regulations (legal documents); record-keeping; classification of documents according to their importance (decisions, resolutions, orders, instructions); minutes and transcripts; control documentation (inventories, time-sheets, invoices); statistics (quantitative record of properties); personal data (reward records, patient medical histories); sources of personal origin (letters, e-mails). If necessary, the sources can be divided in other ways according to the specifics of the branch.
  • Bibliographical reference – a bibliographical reference is a compendium of information that provides identification of the source used.
  • Quotation – the exact extract from a person's speech or an author's written text; and it is put in quotation marks. If the quotation is a complete sentence or a sentence group, it is usually included in the text as direct speech and the punctuation is used as in the sentences containing direct speech. If the quotation is fully included in the written sentence, it is put in quotation marks, but the rest of punctuation is determined by the sentence structure.
  • The digital object identifier (or DOI) is a permanent way how to identify a document that is not related to its current location. DOI is usually used to assign a unique identification number to scientific articles that makes it easier to find this document. It can also provide an opportunity to find a copy of the document on the Internet.
  • Data source is any book, document, database, person, etc. that provide information to be used in the work. The term is used if it is necessary to describe all the materials used in the work without distinguishing which material is to be classified as a source or literature.
  • Literature – scientific publications (books, academic journals, scientific articles, Internet database resources) – all works, that analyse problems scientifically and that give interpretation (creative explanation, analysis) of facts (sources) or the facts are subjectively chosen.
  • Monograph - a reviewed scientific book dedicated to a single subject, is internationally available in scientific information repositories and it contains bibliography and an annotation in a foreign language.
  • Plagiarism - the literary appropriation of another author's/other authors' thoughts or works copying or representing thoughts/ideas of other authors as one's own; failure to give references to the work created by other authors.
  • Footnote is placed at the bottom of the respective page. Footnotes may be numbered in consecutive sequence or grouped at the end of the chapter or volume. The necessary explanations, comments and links are indicated in the footnotes in order to clarify and supplement the information in the document, to make it more understandable and more comprehensive. Endnotes at the end of the work do not substitute the list of bibliography. Footnotes are printed in smaller (usually by two points) letters than the rest of the text and they are separated from the text by a short line and line spacing.

 

Basic Principles of Citing and Referencing

What is a reference?

Written works (essays, reports, scientific publications, research, etc.) often contain the words said by other authors. Direct quotations, figures or facts are used to justify convincingly one’s own views. A mention and analysis of the other people’s ideas are positive, but it is important to give a reference to the sources used. If it is not done, the work is considered to be plagiarism. A reference to the used sources and literature has to be given whenever you do not express your own thoughts, conclusions and findings, i.e. the bibliographical reference has to be used:

  • if there is a quotation in the text;  if the text contains a paraphrase of something another author has said / admitted;
  • if numerical data, a table or a picture from another author's work is given in the text;
  • if the text sets out something said by another person or gives another person's views;
  • if a source, scientific research or an article is mentioned in the text;
  • If concept definitions by other authors are given;
  • if an example or one-off case which is not generally known is mentioned or described in the text. 
     

It is allowed to copy precisely word for word or to narrate someone else's words only when the reference is used. The reference shall SET FORTH CLEARLY where the CITATION/THOUGHT/DATA are taken from.

How to cite correctly?

A quotation has to be related to the content of the text. If the quotation is short, for example, not longer than two to three sentences, it can be 'entwined' in the sentence, using quotation marks. Quotations are not to be put in italics.

  • Example: Benjamin Franklin believes that „the best of all medicines are rest and fasting”.1

If the quotation is longer, then it has to be separated, that is, the quotation that exceeds 6 – 8 lines, has to be taken out separately from the body text, reducing the quotation font by two points (for example, from 12 to 10) and also the text space (from 1.5 to 1) and so on.

  • Example: 1. Hippocrates in his work explains: „Correct is to recognize what diseases are and whence they come; which are long and which are short; which are mortal and which are not; which are in the process of changing into others; which are increasing and which are diminishing; which are major and which are minor; to treat the diseases that can be treated, but to recognize the ones that cannot be, and to know why they cannot be; by treating patients with the former, to give them the benefit of treatment as far as it is possible..”2

1Tryon, E. 1908 . A Dictionary of Thought. 339.

2 Hippocrates. 1988. Disease. Translate by P. Potter. 5, 2.

Can a quotation be changed?

You can quote omitting the text, which is not significant for the written work, but the words said by the author must not be changed. Two dots in square brackets are used instead of the omission [..]. You can also retell what the author said not using the quotation marks, but then a paraphrased idea has to appear in the text and a direct quotation must not appear (a literal quotation of the author must not appear but it has to be said in your own words) – a reference has to be given also in such a case.

  • Example: In his famous 1963 speech Martin Luther King said: „I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: „We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.””3
  • Example of two dots: In his famous 1963 speech Martin Luther King said: „ [..] even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream [..], deeply rooted in the American dream [..], that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: „We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.””3

Important! Very long quotations - court statements, regulations by the Cabinet of Ministers, articles of the law and, for example, hygiene standards or other voluminous information – is not included in the body text, but is added in Appendices or as footnotes

3 Martin Luther King. 1963. I have a Dream. Transcription by M. E. Eidenmuller. In: American Rhetoric. www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm

When is it better to paraphrase?

The author has to take a decision whether to quote or paraphrase in his own words. However, it has to be taken into account that too many quotations and too few comments reduce the value of the work and distract the reader's attention; and the reader will skip long quotations. Therefore it is mostly recommended to paraphrase what has been said and to use quotations only in those cases when it is absolutely necessary.

In which cases you do not have to cite?

Generally known facts or the facts which are easily verifiable as well as beliefs and well-known proverbs can be used without reference unless the quotation is not taken from any other source. Take into account that the author has to be absolutely sure about the accuracy of the facts mentioned.

The reference is not required, for example, in the following cases:

  • The Second World War in Europe ended on 8 May 1945, a few days after Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin.
  • According to the folk belief a small mound turns over a large cartload.
Is it allowed to change punctuation, spelling and grammar of the original quote?

The text in the direct quotation has to be the same as the original, though the following changes are permitted:

  • The first letter of the quotation can be written either as a capital letter or a small letter as it is necessary for the work, but the changes need to be differentiated by indicating them in square brackets. Example: „ [T]he first word in the original quotation was written in a small letter.”
  • The full stop at the end of the quotation can be replaced by, for example, a comma, if it is followed by your text.
  • Remarks mentioned in the original can be omitted in the quotation (using two dots in square brackets) as long as they do not change the idea of the quotation. Example: „I do not support the involvement of the clergy in politics [..]. The Church in general has to express their point of view in a louder and braver manner on what is happening in the country, in the Parliament and in politics.”
  • Apparent spelling mistakes that have occurred in the original quotation may be corrected, unless the quotation is taken from an old source that uses the style and grammar rules of that time. If you change the spelling and the punctuation of the quotation corresponding to modern standards, the reader has to be informed about the changes (in a remark, introduction or any other place in the work).
How to cite a quotation inside a quotation?

If you cite a quotation which is already included in another quotation, both quotations have to be put in quotation marks, and the reference must be given according to the format of a quotation within a quotation. If the cited material consists exclusively of a quotation within a quotation, only single quotation marks have to be used.

  • Example: As it is pointed out by Rebecca Goldstein, Plato quite cynically characterised the forms of human existence, which they will acquire after their death, saying that "they will turn into donkeys "and other perverted animals” or predators – "as wolves, lions and dragons" while "the ordinary citizens” – straight and the haughty bourgeoisie – will turn into busy small bees and ants.”4

Important! Quotation marks have to be used in all cases where necessary, and the punctuation also has to be put in the corresponding place within the quotation marks. Example of using the quotation marks:

  • Harijs sacīja: „Neāksties! Sacīt, ka „es domāju, ko runāju,” ir tas pats, kas „es runāju to, ko domāju,” ir tikpat mulsinoši kā stāstā par Alisi Brīnumzemē. Tu taču atminies, ko Cepurnieks teica Alisei: „Nav vis viens un tas pats! Tādā gadījumā tu varētu tikpat labi teikt, ka viens un tas pats ir „es redzu to, ko ēdu” un „es ēdu to, ko redzu”!””5

(Harry said: “Don’t play the fool! To say that "I think what I speak" is the same as "I speak what I think" and it is as confusing as in the story of Alice in Wonderland. But you remember what the Hatter said to Alice: "Not the same thing! In that case you might just as well say that the same thing is "I see what I eat" and "I eat what I see"!"”)

In this example there are three quotation marks at the end of the quotation: the first quotation marks conclude the words said by the Hatter and they have an exclamation mark at the end; the second quotation marks refer to the whole Hatter's quotation and the third quotation marks conclude the words said by Harry. To avoid such unnecessary number of quotation marks, it is recommended to paraphrase the text.

4 Plato. 2009. Phaedo, 88. London: Oxford Paperback. Quoted in R. Goldstein. 2014. Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away. New York: Pantheon Books, 7.

5 Kerols, L. 2014. Alises piedzīvojumi Brīnumzemē. Rīga: Zvaigzne ABC, 87.

How to use capital and small letters in English headings?

Titles of books, newspapers and magazines

In titles the first word of a sentence and all the subsequent words always have to be capitalized, except articles (a, an, the), prepositions regardless of their length (to, on, for, after, among, between, etc.), conjunctions (but, and, or, etc.) and subordinate conjunctions (as, because, although, if, etc.).

Exception! If the articles, prepositions, etc. follow the punctuation marks (. : ! ?), in the title, they have to be written with a capital letter.

Examples:

  • Current Diagnosis and Treatment in Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endoscopy
  • Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction
  • The British Journal of Surgery

Headings of chapters, subchapters and scientific articles in books, newspapers and magazines

In headings of chapters subchapters and scientific articles only the first word, proper nouns, the nouns that have to be written with capital letter (according to the rules of English grammar, such as Achilles tendon, Parkinson’s disease, Heimlich manoeuvre, Monday, Communism, Democracy, London, Germans, Mississippi River, etc.) and all the words following the punctuation marks (. : ! ?) have to be capitalized.

Examples:

  • Improving outcomes for pancreatic cancer: Radical surgery with patient-tailored, surgeryspecific advanced haemodynamic monitoring
  • Multiplicity of data in trial reports and the reliability of meta-analyses: Empirical study
  • Who speaks for climate? Making sense of media reporting on climate change
How to format the titles of information resources (books) correctly?

If in the body text there is a reference to the title of a book/article/source and the title is given in the nominative, it has to be put in quotation marks. Example: As pointed out by Professor Viktors Kalnbērzs in the book “Operating surgeon: the second half of the 20th century” (2006), then…

The use of ''Ibid''

The abbreviation Ibid. (from Latin ibidem, meaning "in the same place”) is usually used in the footnotes if the next reference is made to the same source cited above. In other words, it is not customary to copy the same identical reference repeatedly in the footnotes. If the reference is identical with the further reference, only "ibid" is used. If there is a change in page number in the quotation, it is written, for example, Ibid., 7.

Important! Ibid. must not be used as a reference in a new page (because there is nothing to refer to).

Example (how it would look in the footnotes):

  • 5 Holmlund, C. 2002. Impossible Bodies: Femininity and Masculinity at the Movies. New York: Routledge, 159.
  • 6Ibid.
  • 7Ibid., 162.

Important! Ibid. Is always written with a capital letter, in italics and it has a full stop at the end of the abbreviation.

Formatting of the Used Sources and Bibliography

In text citations and bibliographies have to be formatted by using citation and reference managing tools like EndNote, Mendeley or Zotero, and choosing the reference style that has been chosen by RSU department (APA, Chicago etc.)

EndNote installation and user instructions

What is the bibliography or the reference list?

The bibliography or the reference list is a list of all the sources which are included in the research text or footnotes (with rare exceptions).

Important! The sources referred to in the text should be included in the bibliography, and vice versa – each entry in the bibliography should be mentioned in the text. The author has to make sure that each source appears in both places and that the reference in the text and the entry in the bibliography are identical.

How to format the bibliography correctly?

The sequence and the language: The list is numbered and put in alphabetical order according to the first element (the author, if not - the title)

If documents are used in a foreign language (other than English), for example, Russian etc., the title should be translated into the language of the research work and put within square brackets after the original title.

Formatting: The list is single space (not 1.5 space) but one entry from another is separated by a 12- point space (Paragraph > Spacing > pt 12 or pt 6).

Example: 

  • Ashelford, S. 2016. Pathophysiology & Pharmacology for Nursing Students. Los Angelos: SAGE.
  • Perkins, M. D. et al. 2017. Diagnostic preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks. Lancet. May 31. Available from: doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31224-2 [viewed 06.04.2015.].
  • Walker, R. 2012. Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingston/ Elsevier.

Formatting of Internet links: Hyperlink function has to be removed for all the Internet links in references and the sources used. Namely, the Internet link has to be in the same colour as the body text and without underscore. Hyperlink function is removed by right-clicking on the Internet link and selecting the function ‘Remove Hyperlink’.

How to group the information resources in the bibliography?

In voluminous scientific works (study paper/course paper/qualification work/Bachelor's/Master's/Doctoral theses), where there are more than 20 information resources in the bibliography, it is advisable to group them.

Within the grouping of the bibliography the information resources are listed according to the Latin alphabet not making a distinction between languages, but the numbering is uniform for the entire list.

Structure of the bibliography: The sources are listed first, followed by books, periodicals, Internet resources and other sources. In some cases, if necessary, a more specific arrangement can be used. For example: when it is needed to use the grouping appropriate to the specific nature of the branch, for example, for the science of law, unpublished sources, such as study papers, Bachelor’s and Master’s theses, as well as reports and other informative materials taken from museums, funds and depositories are listed separately (Unpublished sources) and are arranged like those in published sources, namely, in alphabetical order.

If necessary, the list can be grouped according to the specific nature of the branch.

Where to place the bibliography?

The bibliography is added on a SEPARATE sheet(s) at the END of the scientific work.

Formatting Styles for References and Bibliography

The Author-date system 

In the text, indicating the reference to the source, it is written in parentheses, including the author's surname without initials and giving the year of publication after a comma: if there is one author – (Smith, 2015); if there are three authors – (Rudņeva, Zepa and Slokenberga, 2005); if there are more than four authors – (Bond et al., 1996). If the author is not explicitly stated, a person or an organisation that is responsible for the source: the editor, compiler, translator, composer, graphic designer, publisher, distributor, etc., can be considered as the author, for example, (WHO, 2010).

  • Example: Based on the results of the research by Milon (2014), ..

When giving a reference to the particular quotation, in the text, it is written in parentheses, including the author's surname without initials, indicating the year of publication of the source after a comma and a number of the page from which the respective quotation is taken after another comma.

  • Example: Smith points out that "a precise quotation follows" (Smith, 2015, 451).

The reference has to be given either straight after the quotation, the author's opinion or the paraphrase or behind the most important opinion or a piece of information mentioned in the text.

If it is necessary to refer repeatedly to the article of the same author within one paragraph, the full reference (right in this paragraph) does not have to be repeated (instead, you can write, for example, „.. it was found in the study mentioned, that ..”, or „.. as the author of the article mentions, ..”).

If the opinion taken from the same source is repeatedly paraphrased in another paragraph, a full, accurately formatted reference has to be given again.

If several articles that have identical one or several first authors and that are published in the same year are used in the work, then giving a reference repeatedly, the first author's surname and the necessary number of subsequent authors have to be given in parentheses in order to distinguish one article from another, completing the list with “et al.ˮ, for example, (Baret, Costa, Martin et al., 2005), (Baret, Costa and Jang, 2005).

If two or more publications whose first authors have the same surname (but different names) are included in the list of the sources, then the first author's initials have to be included in all the references in the text even if the publishing years are different, for example, R. Lāse (1959) and A. Lāse (2006) found that…

A reference to a number of authors. If the statement or information is found in works of a number of authors, there is no need to refer to all of them (if there are many authors). It is sufficient to mention some key authors. In this case, the references within the same parentheses (literature or sources) are separated by a semicolon (;) and they are arranged chronologically or alphabetically according to the first author’s surname of the literary sources, for example, (Gidron, Gal and Desevilya, 2003; Özkan and Lajunen, 2005), (Krahe and Fenske, 2002; Özkan and Lajunen, 2005), (Özkan and Lajunen, 2005; Stradling and Parker, 1997).

Important! If the author of the publication/source is an organisation, for example, an enterprise, an association, a public institution or a research group, etc., then the name of this organization is given instead of the author’s name. Full names of organizations are usually given in the text. The names of well-known organisations are given in full in the first reference, but their abbreviations may be indicated further in the text (see the example). The names of the organizations that are little known to the reader have to be written in full in the text. If the organisation is mainly identified by the abbreviation, then the internationally accepted abbreviation may be used when mentioning the organisation for the first time - UNESCO, NATO.

Examples:

  • (Rīga Stradiņš University [RSU], 2014)
  • Note: When the reference is mentioned repeatedly in the text: (RSU, 2014)

The works by one or more authors with the same year of publication are labelled with letters by adding them to the year of publication (a, b, c, etc.). These letters are also indicated in the list of the used information sources where these works are arranged alphabetically by their title, for example, (Carlson, 2007a), (Carlson, 2007b).

If the work does not have the year of publication, the author's surname has to be indicated in the text, a comma is put after it and the letters “n. d.” (no date) should be included, for example, (White, n. d.).

If a document or documents are analysed together in detail in several sentences within one paragraph, the reference is inserted at the very beginning, already in the first sentence, and other sentences continue outlining the opinion without giving the reference repeatedly. In turn, the further opinions that are not connected with the mentioned publication (-s) start a new paragraph. If later in the text (or in the next paragraph) an opinion is repeatedly paraphrased from the information source mentioned in the previous paragraph, the full accurately formatted reference has to be written again.

If a sentence contains several opinions, the respective reference has to be given after each opinion

Example:

  • It is stated that there is a relationship between risky driving and control locus (Gidron, Gal and Desevilya, 2003; Özkan and Lajunen, 2005), anxiety (Moen, 2007), aggressiveness (Van Rooy, Rotton and Burns, 2006), the pursuit of strong feelings (Moen, 2007), gender (Krahe and Fenske, 2002; Özkan and Lajunen, 2005) and age (Özkan and Lajunen, 2005; Stradling and Parker, 1997).

The sequence of two or more references within parentheses. If they are one author’s works, the author’s surname has to be written only once indicating the publication years of the works separated by commas.

Examples:

  • Derryberry and Reed tried to explain the structure of the temperament in several studies ( Derryberry and Reed, 1999, 2003, 2005a, 2005b).
  • In the studies of the past events (Lasmanis, 1998, 2000) ..

If any of the publications is only submitted for publication, then “in-press” is written as the last record.

Examples:

  • Derryberry and Reed tried to explain the structure of the temperament in several studies (Derryberry and Reed, 1999, 2003, 2005a, 2005b, in-press-a, in-press-b).

References to additional information. If you need to refer to additional information that can be obtained in another author’s work, then it should be written in the following manner in parentheses: (for complete information see Thompson, 2008, 543, Table 1) or (for detailed information see Polkinghorne, 2005, 137–145).

Footnotes and endnotes

This referencing method prescribes that behind quotations the superscript numbers (3 ) are used to identify notes that according to their sequence in the text are given at the bottom of the page (endnote). This note can be also comment that does not always include a reference.

Example:

  • Primitive opinion of guilt is closely connected to the opinion of the infringement of rights.6 There is a very strict principle in Criminal Law - nullum crimen sine poena (no crime without guilt). 7 Professor K. Torgāns, relying on the experience of the foreign scholars of law, has defined the guilt as objective, unlawful and from the subjective point of view blameworthy behaviour of an accountable person. 8
6 Sinaiskis, V. 1935. Civiltiesības. 1. d. Rīga: Valters un Rapa, 130.
7Krastiņš, U. 1930. Noziedzīgs nodarījums. Rīga: TNS, 7.
8Torgāns, K. 26.09.1996. Referāts. Latvijas Universitātes 56. zinātniskā konference. Rīga, 2

Examples of references and bibliographies

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