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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)
  • (Author’s Last name, year)

Example:

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

Source: UCD Library

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)
  • (ch.)
Example: 
  • It is suggested that Boston would have been a very different city had there been no fire (Rawson).
  • Michael Rawson suggests that Boston was a city that could have had a very different form, if the fire had not occurred (ch.2).

MHRA Style

There are two styles of MHRA referencing - footnotes and bibliography style and author-date style. Please check with your lecturer/tutor which one you must use.

For information on both types of styles please see information here from the Univeristy of St. Andrews, and here from the MHRA style guide online.