Oxford referencing style consists of:
Sources need to be cited in a footnote wherever ideas, words, statistics or images from those sources are discussed, summarised, paraphrased or quoted.
Repeat mentions of a source can be cited using ibid or op. cit. See the section on Footnotes for examples.
Referencing sources within an assignment requires both footnotes (at the base of each page) and a bibliography (at the end of the assignment).The order of elements and punctuation differs between the two.
| Footnotes | Bibliographic citations |
| Author format: First name Surname | Author format: Surname, First name |
| Uses commas between each of the details | Uses commas but also full-stops and colons (:) between some of the details |
| Adds specific page number(s) for articles, chapters in edited books and books | Adds the page range for journal articles and chapters in edited books |
Use the full author name, first and last, in footnotes. Use the full author name, last and first, in the bibliography.
The author's name should be cited as it appears on the resource or the copyright page (inside page of books). Where only author initials are provided use those instead.
Multiple works by the same author(s)
If you use more than one reference by the same author (or the same group of authors listed in the same order) published in the same year, list them in the bibliography first by the author’s surname, then alphabetically by the title of the book, article, etc.
For works by the same author with a different year, list by the author’s name and then by year of publication with the earliest year first. Only write the author’s name on the first entry; for subsequent items use an em-dash to indicate that it is the same author as the book above.
For example, two works by Richard Broome in a bibliography would look like this:
Broome, Richard, Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Crows Nest: NSW, Allen & Unwin, 2005.
—Aboriginal Australians: A History Since 1788. 4th edn., Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2010.
To create an em-dash in Microsoft Word hold down <Ctrl> <Alt> <minus key on numeric pad> or for Mac users <Shift> <Option> <minus key>.
Corporate author
An author can be also be an organisation. In those cases, use the name of the organisation or government department as author. List alphabetically in the bibliography using the first word including occasions when the first word is 'The'.
No author
Use Anonymous where the author is unknown.
Footnotes and bibliographic citations italicise the titles of books, journals, works of art, websites and films/documentaries. All other details are non-italicised.
All words in the title have capital letters (title case) with the exception of articles such as 'a', 'the', 'and'.
Cite the first city listed in the publication details. If not a capital city, add the state details using an acronym (abbreviated version). For example, Crows Nest, NSW.
No place of publication
Place of publication can be found in the copyright page of most books and ebooks. On the rare occasion the resource has no place noted use use n.p. (for no place of publication).
For all book publications there is a difference between publishing houses (which are referenced) and what can be called umbrella or parent publishing companies.
The publisher’s name is usually found on the book cover but also in the copyright pages (between the book cover and the preface or table of contents), which also provides the city and year of publication. This includes eBooks.
Please note this information is not always correct in Library catalogue records or citation tools.
Many publishing houses are no longer independent and therefore the publishing company’s name will also be mentioned. Typical examples are:
| Publishing house (should be referenced) | Publishing company (parent company, do not reference) |
| Routledge | Taylor & Francis |
| Palgrave Macmillan | Springer |
Dates are formatted depending on what they refer to. For example year of publication (2024) or date of access [Accessed March 14 2024].
If no date can be found use n.d. (for no date).
Footnotes require a page number that corresponds to where the information cited was retrieved from. For example:
Craig Lockard, Societies, Networks and Transitions, Volume 1: To 1500: A Global History, 4th edn, Boston, MA, Wadsworth/Cengage, 2020, p. 20.
The bibliographic citation entries for journal articles and book chapters require a page range. For example:
Bennison, Amira K. ‘Universalism and Western Globalization’, in A. G. Hopkins (ed.), Globalization in World History. London: Pimlico, 2002, pp. 74–97.
Footnotes for information from webpages where no PDF is available should use para. (for paragraph) instead of page. For example:
Christine Drewe, 45 Years on: Mervyn Moriarty and the Flying Arts School in Queensland, State Library Queensland, 2016, para. 5, <https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/45-years-mervyn-moriarty-and-flying-arts-school-queensland> [Accessed 24 March 2024].
URLs are web addresses, for example, https://www.unisq.edu.au/library.
The Oxford referencing style does not use URLs for books or journal articles from library databases, library catalogues or online sites where items otherwise available in print are stored.
Where URLs are appropriate include an access date within square brackets, for example, [14 March 2024].
DOIs (digital object identifiers) are not used as part of Oxford referencing style.
Images reproduced in your work should be accompanied by a figure number and footnote number, corresponding to a footnote that outlines the source, for example, the book or website the image where the image is located. A full list of figures should be placed at the end of your work including figure number, artist name, artwork title, year, and medium.
Tables reproduced in your work or created by you should be accompanied by a table number and footnote number, corresponding to a footnote that outlines the source or sources of the information in the table.
The use of artificial intelligence tools is strictly limited to circumstances that have been approved by your course coordinator. Unapproved use of AI tools in your assessment can result in a penalty for serious academic misconduct. Please check with your course coordinator for course specific guidelines regarding generative AI.