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Referencing: Print, Online & Media Resources: E-Books

E-books and electronic journal articles can contain a number which identifies them, called a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to permanently identify an article or document and link to it on the web. A DOI will help your reader easily locate a document from your citation. It is like a PPS number for the article you’re citing — it will always refer to that article, and only that one (source: UIC).

A DOI is not the same as an ISBN, but it does the same thing - it is a unique number assigned to a piece of work that allows you to find the work even if the work moves databases or websites, etc. The DOI is a hyperlink which can take you to the article in one click. 

If you know the DOI it is best to include it in your references/bibliography so that you know you're linking directly to the correct article, and to make it easy for the reader to check the source. 

APA Style

Reference: Authors Last name, Initials. (Year). Title of work [Reader name version]. Retrieved from URL/DOI.

Example: Luhr, W. (2004). The Coen brothers’ Fargo: Cambridge University Press film handbooks series [Kindle version]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-eBooks.

In-Text-Citation:

  • Author Last name (Year)    
  • (Author Last name, Year)

Example:

  • Luhr (2004) shows that….
  • It is argued that the Coen brothers’ Fargo is their seminal work (Luhr, 2004).

Source: UCD Library

Harvard Style

Reference: Authors’ Last name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. Available at: URL (Downloaded: Day Month Year).

Example: Luhr, W. (2004) 'The Coen brothers' Fargo'. Cambridge University Press film handbooks series. Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coen-Brothers-Fargo-Cambridge-Handbooks ebook/dp/B001G60IQI/ref=kinw_dp_ke (Downloaded: 24 February 2014).

In-Text-Citation:

  • Author’s Last name (year, page number if available)
  • (Author’s Last name, year, page number if available))

Example:

  • Luhr (2012, 105) suggests that the Coen brothers…
  • It has been argued that “The Coen brothers represent a revolution in cinematography” (Luhr, 2012, 105).

Source: UCD Library

MHRA Style

There are two styles of MHRA referencing - footnotes/bibliography style and author/date style. This guide covers notes/bibliography style. For more information on both types of styles please see information here from the Univeristy of St. Andrews, and here from the MHRA style guide online. 

Right click + open image in new tab to see a larger version. 

Source: Swansea University

MLA Style

Reference: Author’s Last name, First name. Title of eBook. Publisher, Year of Publication. Name of container/access platform, location/link.  
Example: Rawson, Michael. Eden on the Charles: the making of Boston. Massachusetts, Harvard UP, 2010. ACLS Humanities E-book, hdl.handle/net/2027/heb.30498.0001.001. 
In-Text-Citation:
  • (Author Last name, page number if available)
  • (ch.)
Example: 
  • It is suggested that Boston would have been a very different city had there been no fire (Rawson, 251).
  • Michael Rawson suggests that Boston was a city that could have had a very different form, if the fire had not occurred (ch.2).

Chicago Style - NOTE

Please note that there are two style of Chicago referencing: author/date style and notes/bibliography style. This guide covers notes/bibliography style. 

Chicago Style

In-Text Citation: Use a superscript number (like this: ¹) in the text at the place where you are indicating that you are citing from a source.

Footnote: #. Author(s) First name Last name, Title: Subtitle (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), Edition. url (if available).

Bibliography: Author(s) Last name, First name. Title: Subtitle. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Edition. Accessed Month Day, Year. url (if available)

Examples: 

In-Text Citation: Hartmann and Henderson have argued that the rate of infant mortality in fifth-century Athens has been considerably overestimated.³

Footnote: 3. Lesley A. Beaumont, Childhood in ancient Athens: iconography and social history (London: Routledge, 2012), accessed May 27, 2013. http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=428492

NOTE: When a source is referenced more than once on the same page a shortened form of footnote is used after the first reference, as seen below.

Second footnote: Beaumont, Childhood, 102-103/

Bibliography: Beaumont, Lesley A. Childhood in ancient Athens: iconography and social history. London: Routledge, 2012. Accessed May 27, 2013.  http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=428492

Source: UCD Library

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