Reference styles
Reference styles are standardised rules for presenting information about the sources used in a text. Typically, a style will describe how to organise information about author(s), publication year, title and page numbers.
There are many different ways to organise the references of a text. Some reference styles follow the author-year format, while others are based on footnotes and/or numerical references. Your choice of style will normally depend on your discipline, and should be discussed with your supervisor. Different academic journals use different reference styles. If you are planning to publish in a journal, the instructions for authors will normally include information about reference style.
Some of the most commonly used reference styles in academic writing are:
- American Psychological Association (APA 7th) – author-year, commonly used in psychology, economics, educational sciences and health sciences | See the guide at Kildekompasset or at NTNU Oppgaveskriving.
- The Chicago styles (18th) See the licensed Quick guide:
- Chicago A – footnote system, commonly used in the humanities | See also the guide at NTNU Oppgaveskriving
- Chicago B – author-date, commonly used in the social sciences and by many publishers, see for example Taylor & Francis author-date guide | See also the guide at NTNU Oppaveskriving
- Harvard – author-year, a general reference system used in many disciplines and by many publishers, see for example Sage’s Harvard reference guide | See also the guide at NTNU Oppgaveskrivng
- Modern Language Association (MLA) – author-page number, widely used in linguistics and literature. See the official MLA Style Center | See the guide at Simon Fraser University
- Vancouver – numbered system, commonly used in medicine, health sciences and natural sciences | See the guide at NTNU Oppgaveskriving
- IEEE (Institue of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) - used in, e.g., engineering and computer science | See the guide at Kildekompasset
If there is no preferred style in your discipline, you may pick a style and use it consistently.
General advice for using reference managers (EndNote/Zotero)
Even if you use a reference manager and enter the correct information, the reference may not appear exactly as it should according to the citation style you follow. For some sources it is also not clear which item type to choose for the source. The main rule is to use the item type that makes the reference look as correctly as possible, but sometimes manual edits are necessary.
Simple solution for individual adjustments
At the very end of the writing process, before you submit your text, we recommend detaching the document from the reference manager. You can then manually make the remaining changes to get the references fully correct.
Be aware
Detaching the document from the reference manager cannot be reversed. We therefore recommend that you first save a backup copy of your document with the references still linked to the software.
In EndNote
Choose “Convert to Plain Text” under Update Citations and Bibliography in the EndNote menu. This function removes the EndNote codes from the document and makes it a plain document. You can then format the bibliography as you wish.
In Zotero
Choose “Unlink Citations” in your document. This function detaches your document from your Zotero library. You can then format the bibliography as you wish.
You can also customize the bibliography in Zotero while working on the document (Edit Bibliography), but be aware that manually edited references will no longer be actively linked to the tool. If you change the citation style or make changes to individual references in Zotero, the reference(s) in the document will not update.
Advanced solutions for individual adjustments
Both tools also offer options for customizing a citation style. This is easier in EndNote than in Zotero. Remember that the styles should be correct in the tool to begin with, so if you need to use a specific style you should not make any big changes.
In EndNote
When you make changes to a citation style in EndNote, your changes will apply to all your references. This can take some time and be a bit fiddly, and is most relevant if you need to make larger changes (change the appearance of all in-text citations) or you have many references in “odd” formats. You can read more about editing styles in EndNote here: Redigere stiler
In Zotero
In Zotero you have the option to customize citation styles and create your own version of them, but this requires some experience with programming.
You can read more about editing styles in Zotero here: Zotero Style Editor
There are many different citation styles and variants available in EndNote and Zotero, but not all of these styles include formatted templates for every possible reference type available in the tools (Item type/“reference type”). These will still appear in the menu of the customized citation style, but the tool will use a generic format if a template for the source type is missing. So if your reference does not look correct in the bibliography you can consider switching to another reference type that is similar, or edit the reference manually.
Checklist for correct referencing when using a reference manager
- Last name and first name are in the correct fields (Zotero) or in the correct order (EndNote)
- If the author is an organization, write the name in the Single Field (Zotero) or write a comma after the name (Endnote)
- Author is changed to Editor or Translator where applicable (Zotero)
- If you are writing in a language other than English, check that the correct language is selected (Zotero) or that you have a version of the style in the correct language installed (EndNote)