One question we get asked a lot at the library is what are all the parts that make up the reference? This referencing hack breaks down a QUT Numbered reference so that we can fully understand all the components of it.
Here is our example, which is a journal article with DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
And here are what all the parts, separated by different colours, refer to.
Grey – This is the number assigned to the reference in text. These run consecutively with the first reference having the number [1] then the next reference has [2] and so on.
Pink – These are the authors of the journal article.
Light green – This is the title of the journal article.
Light Blue – This is the abbreviated name of the journal that this article was published in.
Orange – The online medium on which you accessed this article. This is usually [Internet].
Dark blue – The year the journal article was published.
Purple – The exact date that you referenced this article in your assignment.
Red – Information about the journal article. The volume number comes first and the issue number (if the article has one) follows in brackets.
Dark green – This refers to the number of computer screens the online resource runs over i.e. roughly how many screens did you scroll through to read the whole article?
Black – This is the URL of the journal article.
Yellow – The DOI [Digital Object Identifier] of the journal article.
These sections can be applied to other examples of numbered referencing also, with perhaps small tweaks. You can view more examples on QUT cite|write. If you need further assistance with understanding your referencing don’t forget you can always contact a referencing expert!
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