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Referencing: Xamk instructions: Composing a list of references

This page provides instructions on how source references must be marked in body text and how a list of references is created in accordance with Xamk writing guidelines

General

The list of references includes all the sources that were referenced in the text and no sources that were not referenced in the text. The items on the list are placed in alphabetical order according to the author's surname or, if no author is stated, according to the name of the publishing community or title of the publication. If there are multiple authors, the alphabetical place is defined by the author whose name is mentioned first on the title page of the publication. All sources are recorded in one alphabetical list without separate groups for printed, unprinted or electronic sources.

General guidelines:

  • Line spacing is 1 with one empty line between items.
  • Heading of the list must be REFERENCES, no matter what other alternatives you may see in your source materials. The use of another word may imply that the writer did not reference in their text all items on the list, but that must not be the case with your text. The list of references in a bachelor’s or master's thesis must record all the sources referenced in the text. Accordingly, there should be in-text references matching all the sources recorded in the list of references.
  • List of references is presented with page numbers.
  • Author is ALWAYS indicated by Surname [comma] Initial(s) of the first name [full stop], e.g. Smith, J.
  • Two authors are separated with the symbol '&'. If there are more than two authors, the last two are separated with the symbol '&', the others with a comma. 
  • Multiple items by the same author are presented from the least recent to the most recent. If there are multiple items by the same author from the same year, they are alphabetically placed according to the name of the publication and identified by a low case 'a', 'b', 'c' etc. added to the year of publication without a space in between; e.g. Smith, J. 2019a. // Smith, J. 2019b. 
  • If no year of publication is stated, this is indicated in the list of references with 'n.d.' which stands for "no date".  
  • Even if access to an online source requires Xamk registration, the address of the source proper is stated as the WWW address.
  • UPDATED 23 NOV 2023: If the source has a permanent address (URN, DOI), only that and no other Internet address is indicated in the list of references. 
  • The address proper of any web source must always be used and no links presented on a Word document should be directly copy-pasted.
  • Publications with ISBN identifiers are referenced as e-books.

Tips:

  • It it advisable to start composing and updating a list references as soon as you begin producing text. This way, the list of referenes will be created gradually as part of the writing process instead of a great piece of effort at the end of the process.
  • When reviewing the references in body text, the Word screen can be shared (on PC: CTRL+Alt+S; on Mac: Alt+Cmd+S). This way, you can have the list of references in one part of the screen and the body text in the other, which makes it easy to go through your text and make sure every in-text reference has a target source appropriately stated on the list of references. Also, if you temporarily highlight in yellow all matches on the list of references, you will easily see after the review if there was no in-text reference to a particular source. In such case, you must carefully track down and insert the missing in-text references, or, if you had not used a source at all, delete it from the list of references.   

Electronic sources

As a rule, the same instructions apply to electronic sources as to printed sources. The in-text reference of an electronic source must match with the item on the list of references.

If the publication is available in both printed and electronic form, the one that was effectively used must be stated as the reference. It is advisable to see if a printed material is also available on the Internet or in a database to provide the reader with a quicker access to the source.

Usually the Internet address can be easily copied from the address field. However, if the address is extremely long and contains complex code at the end, it can be shortened. On some web sites, pages are presented in frames, which means that one master address is used for multiple pages instead of a number of individual addresses. The master address will suffice as the source reference. If you wish to see the source for the frame, right-click on the page and select View Source or View Frame Source.

The permanent web address of the source must be used in referencing. This also concerns databases if the permanent address is provided. The type of document must be stated, such as 'Web page', PDF document', 'Entry in a conversation forum', 'Blog', Facebook update', 'Tweet', 'Electronic book' or 'E-magazine article'.

If the web page states the date of the first publication and the date of the latest update, only the date of the latest update is indicated in references.

The source is always primarily identified by its author(s). If the author is unknown, the identifier is either the title or the publisher, and whichever is chosen, should be consistently used with all sources that do not state the author.

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Publisher. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Eckes, T. 2000. The developmental social psychology of gender. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Electronic book. Available at: https://prospero.murdoch.edu.au/record=b1600608 [Accessed 7 August 2021].

Title. Year. Publisher. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

APA citation guidelines. 2020. Scribbr. Web page. Available at: https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/ [Accessed 23 March 2021].

Publisher. Year. Title. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Scribbr. 2020. APA citation guidelines. Web page. Available at: https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/ [Accessed 23 March 2021].

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title of article. In Surname and Initial of editor(s) (ed./eds.) Title of collection. Place of Publication: Publisher, page range. Type of document. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. 2019. Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In Subotnik, R. F. , Olszewski-Kubilius, P. & Worrell, F. C. (eds.) The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent. Washington: American Psychological Association, 345–359. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016 [Accessed 26 April 2021].

E-book

Author’s surname, Initial. Year of publication. Title. City of publisher’s registered office: Publisher. Type of document. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Allen, G. M., & Tozzer, A. M. 1910. Animal figures in the Maya codices. Salem: Salem Press. E-book. Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19042 [Accessed 1 July 2021].

A) If no author is stated, the entry on the list of reference can be started either with the title:

Parenthetical Versus Narrative In-Text Citations. 2020. American Psychological Association. E-book. Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/parenthetical-versus-narrative [Accessed 22 January 2021].

B) ... or with the publishing community:

American Psychological Association. 2020. Parenthetical Versus Narrative In-Text Citations. E-book. Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/parenthetical-versus-narrative [Accessed 22 January 2021].

C) All such entries on the list of references must follow a uniform pattern.

 

Thesis and doctoral dissertation

Author’s surname, InitIal. Year of publication. Title. Institute of higher education. Faculty. Type of paper. Type of document. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Weekers, J. 2016. Embracing one’s archrival: A case study on the role of ideas and preferences in the German reunification process. Radboud University.  School of Management. Master's Thesis. PDF document. Available at: https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/2165/Weekers%2c_Jim_1.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed 17 September 2019].

Article in a scientific journal

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Name of publication in italics, volume (issue), pages covered by the article. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Chaddock, L., Hillman, C., Buck, S. & Cohen, N. 2011. Aerobic fitness and executive control of relational memory in preadolescent children. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 43 (2), 344–349. E-journal. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20508533 [Accessed 16 April 2019].
 

Article in an e-magazine

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Name of publication in italics, issue, pages covered by the article. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Kroll, K. 2021. Global logistics reboot: A new beginning. Inbound Logistics, 3, 50–54. E-magazine. Available at: https://resources.inboundlogistics.com/digital/issues/IL_Digital_March2021.pdf [Accessed 9 June 2021].

 

Article in an electronic newspaper

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Name of paper in italics, Day Month Year. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Woolcock, N. 2021. A-level results 2021: A-grades awarded in almost half of exams. The Times, 9 August 2021. Electronic newspaper. Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-grades-awarded-in-almost-half-of-exams-n6drhc55z [Accessed 9 August 2021].

Note: If the article in an electronic newspaper is updated after it was first issued, this must be stated in the reference as follows:

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Name of paper in italics, Day Month Year. Document type. Updated Day Month Year. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Author's surname, Initial. Year. Title. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Burton, P.A. 2014. Castles of Spain. Web page. Available at: http://www.castlesofspain.co.uk/ [Accessed 14 October 2015).

 

No year:

Author's surname, Initial. n.d. Title. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Brown, S. n.d. 12 ways to save money by using what you’ve got on hand. Web page. Available at: https://www.stayathomemum.com.au/my-money/money-saving-tips/dozen-hidden-ways-youre-saving-money-didnt-even-realise/ [Accessed 29 May 2018].

 

No author - choose of the two alternatives presented below and consistently use it in your list of references:

Title of publication. Year of publication. Publishing organisation/body. Type of publication. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

River and coastal maintenance programmes 2013-14. 2013. Environment Agency. Web page. Available at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk [Accessed 25 August 2017].

Publishing organisation/body. Year of publication. Title of publication. Document type. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Environment Agency. 2013. River and coastal maintenance programmes 2013-14. Web page. Available: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk [Accessed 25 August 2017].

 

If the source materials opens as a PDF document, this is indicated in the reference:

WHO guidelines for indoor air quality. 2009. Dampness and mould. PDF document. Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/ 0017/43325/E92645.pdf [Accessed 17 March 2017].

Blog

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Document type. Date of blog entry/update. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month year].

Ouellette, J. 2019. Physicists capture first footage of quantum knots unraveling in superfluid. Blog. 15 November 2019. Available at: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/study-you-can-tie-a-quantum-knot-in-a-superfluid-but-it-will-soon-untie-itself/ [Accessed 28 February 2020].

 

Podcast

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Platform. Document type. Date podcast posted. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month year].

Mäenpää, M. 2019. Fifth Corner - Nelli Såger. #Yrittäjyys360. Soundcloud. Podcast. 21 December 2018. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/yrittajyys360/nelli-sager-fifth-corner/s-3Cx2m [Accessed 28 April 2019].

 

Tweet (on Twitter)

Individual

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Document type. Date tweet posted. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month year].

Dougill, A. 2013. Energising development with Jatropha curcas? Biofuel reflections from Mali in @PracticalAction briefing paper. Tweet. 16 April 2013. Available at: https://twitter.com/AndyDougill/status/324081303874052096 [Accessed 26 July 2013].

Organisation or community

Organisation/Community. Year. Title. Document type. Date tweet posted. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month year].

Guardian. 2019. During a meeting with the secretary general of Nato, Donald Trump called for the media to look into the ‘oranges’ […]. Tweet. 2 April 2019. Available at: https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1113239919441235969 [Accessed 5 April 2019].

Note: As shown in the last sample above, a long tweet can be cut short at the end with [...].

Email communicator's surname, Initial. Year of email submitted. Title/Position of communicator. Type of communication. Date of submission. Communicator's employer/business/organisation.

Kaira, R. 2016. Senior Lecturer. Email. 12 March 2016. Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences.

Lax, B. 2020. Marketing Manager. Email discussion. 2 August – 1 November 2016. Company Inc.

Publishing organisation/company/community. Year. Organisational body. Type of event. Document type. Date. Available: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

American Planning Association: New York Upstate Chapter. 2021. Executive Board. Zoom and teleconference meeting. PDF document. 15 January 2021. Available: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5717ac15a3360cf4481e28bc/t/60983316a2a10b47658d3189/1620587287084/APA+Board+2021-01-15+Minutes.approved.pdf [Accessed 30 March 2021].

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Publishing organisation/community. Type of document. Date. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Oldschool-Hasbeen, Q. 2020. Representation of self by means of baggy pants. Pepperland University of Applied Acidicity. Power Point presentation. 5 November 2020. Available at: https://www.isowishthisstudyhadbeenmade.puaa.com [Accessed 3 August 2021].

In publication archives (e.g. Theseus and Valto), materials are typically provided as persistent URN-sources. Whenever this is the case, the URN-address must be presented in the list of references as shown in the sample below.

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title. Institute of higher education. Faculty. Type of paper. Type of document. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Loaiza Enriquez, R. 2021. Cloud Security Posture Management /CSPM) in Azure. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Information Technology. Bachelor’s thesis. PDF document. Available at: http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021062916705 [Accessed 7 August 2021]. 

Television broadcast

Director's/Producer's Surname, Initial (status specified). Year. Title. Channel of broadcast. Type of broadcast. Date of broadcast. Producing company's place of registry: Producing company.

Williams, C. (Executive Producer). 2020. 100 Women Run the World: Finland's Female Leaders. BBC World News. Television documentary. 24 November 2020. London: BBC.

Television programme available online

Director's/Producer's Surname, Initial (status specified). Year. Title. Publishing platform. Type of broadcast. Date made available. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Mouat, S. (Director and Producer). 2021. Brave New Wilderness. Yle Areena. Television documentary. 9 August 2021. Edwin Productions. Available at: https://areena.yle.fi/1-50621145# [Accessed 11 August 2021].

 

Radio broadcast available online

Announcer's Surname, Initial. Year. Title. Publishing platform. Type of broadcast. Date made available.  Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Mottram, L. 2020. Hazard reduction burning is not a panacea to bushfire risk: Expert. ABC. Radio broadcast. 8 January 2020. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/thinned-forests-can-be-more-prone-to-fire,-expert-says/11853280 [Accessed 26 October 2020].

Reference identified by author 

Author's surname, Initial. Year. Title. Publisher. Document type. Date of publication. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Gwizdala, J. 2020. Why do I string my bass with high C? Janek's bass studio. Youtube. Video clip. 21 July 2020. Available at: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=uroitbCOBD8 [Accessed 13 May 2021].

 

Reference if author unknown

By title

TitleYear. Publisher. Document type. Date of publication. Available at: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Youth – The Pursuit of Dream. 2017. Tianjin University. Video clip. Available at: http://www.tju.edu.cn/english/info/1014/1088.htm [Accessed 22 May 2021].

By publisher

Publisher. Year. TitlePlatform. Document type. Date of publication. Available: web address [Accessed Day Month Year].

Tianjin University. 2017. Youth – The Pursuit of Dream. TJUTV.  Video clip. Available: http://www.tju.edu.cn/english/info/1014/1088.htm  [Accessed 22 May 2021].

Footnote 1: As shown in the samples above, the date of publication can be omitted if no further information but the year is provided.

Footnote 2: Throughout the list of references, one of the options presented above (By title or By publisher) must be consistently used.

Publisher. Year. Title. Type of document. Publisher's registered place of operation: Publisher.

Rockstar Games. 2018. Red Dead Redemption 2 (special edition). Video game. New York City: Rockstar Games.

Printed sources, lectures, presentations and interviews

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title of the article. Name of the paper/magazine in italics, issue number, pages.
If there is no author, the title of the article is used as an entry in the list of reference.

A patient’s consent is required in teaching situations. 2016. Helsingin Sanomat, 10 November 2016, A8.

Hartikainen, J. 2016. 5 tips for reasonably priced housing. Helsingin Sanomat, 12 November 2016, B12−B13.

Hubley-Kozey, C.2005. Training the abdominal musculature. Physiotherapy Canada, 1/2005, 5−17.

Author’s surname, Initial. Year. Title of article. In Surname and Initial of editor(s) (ed./eds.) Title of collection. Edition (if stated). Place of Publication: Publisher, page range.

Nordman, T. 2002. Communication in a health care organization. In Torkkola, S. (ed.) Health care communication. Vammala: Tammi, 121−149.

Telfer, E. 2008. Food as Art. In Neill, A. & Ridley, A. (eds.) Arguing about Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 11–29.

Author’s surname, InitIal. Year of publication. Title and possible subtitles. Edition (if not the 1st). City of publisher’s registered office: Publisher.

Adams, F. 2021. Conquering cyberspace. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Horowitch P. & Hill W. 1998. The art of the electronics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Morris, S., Willcocks, G, & Knasel, E. 2002. How to lead a winning team. London: Prentice-Hall.

Editor's Surname, Initial. (ed./eds.) Year of publication. Title. City of publisher’s registered office: Publisher.

Bruya, B. (ed.) 2010. Effortless Attention. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Wardrip-Fruin, N. & Montfort, N. (eds.) 2003. The new media reader. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Title. Year of publication. City of publisher’s registered office: Publisher.

Spelling guide. 2012. Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland.

The first edition is not stated. Any later edition is stated after the title.

McGabe. J. 2004. Feminist film studies: Writing the woman into cinema. London: Wallflower.

Orem, D. E. 2009. Nursing: concepts of practice. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book.

Only the title and date/no. are stated.

Copyright Act 1961/404.

Environmental Protection Act 86/2000.

Lectures and presentations

Speaker’s Surname, Initial. Year of delivery. Title. Type of performance. Date of delivery. Additional information e.g. about supplementary abstracts, notes, summaries.

Dunwell, J. 2000. Community health assessment tool: Does it work crossculturally? Towards new approaches in international learning. Conference presentation. 31 July 2000. Abstract.

Speake, R. 2021. Shipping in the Arctic. Lecture recording. South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences. 5 March 2021.

Interviews

Interviewee's surname, Initial. Year. Title/Position of interviewee. Type of communication. Date. Interviewee's employer/business/organisation.

Skille, D. 2019. CEO. Interview. 15 August 2019. Company Inc.

Title of publication. Year of publication. Publishing organisation/body. Type of publication.

Note: If the title includes the publication year, it is not necessary to state the same year twice.

Action plan for the year 2011. Savonlinna Primary Health Care Federation of Municipalities. The Physiotherapy Ward. Handout.

The heating system is not ordered in the building plan. 2005. The Daily Telegraph, 12 September 2005, 6.

If the year of publication is unknown, acronym 'n.d.' is used (i.e. 'no date'.) The letters a, b, c are used to differentiate between multiple sources by the same author that have no date of publication.

Halton Group. n.d. CBH active chilled beam. Product catalogue.

Honda. n.d. Honda Civic Tourer specifications.

Stanley, Raul. n.d.a. Citation in academic papers. Detroit: Indieresearch.

Stanley, Raul. n.d.b. Study and reliability. Detroit: Indieresearch.

 

Author’s surname, Initial. Year of publication. Title. Edition (if not 1st). Serial publication id. City of publisher’s registered office: Publisher.

Hakulinen, T., Onwen-Huma, H., Varsa, H., Pulkkinen, P. & Sandt, M. 2017. Gender equality from the perspective of postnatal care. Guide for supporting the parents after childbirth. 2nd ed. Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2017:13. Helsinki: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Orava, H., Liukkonen, H., Saksanen, A. & Kuopanportti, H. 2005. Methods of biowaste and sewage sludge treatment and their applicability in Southern Savo region. Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences. Research studies 17.

Standards are identified by the ISO code, number, year and name.

Patents are recorded in alphabetical order according to the names of the patent holders.

Graham, C. P., Fonti, L. & Martinez, A. M., American Sugar Co. 1972. Tablet-ing sugar and compositions containing it. U.S. Pat. 3,642,535.

SFS-ISO 13381-1:en. 2011. Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines. Prognostics. Part 1: General guidelines.

If the source material has not been written in the Latin alphabet, the reference entry must be transliterated. Materials written in the Cyrillic alphabet are transliterated according to standard SFS 4900.

Naumov, A. 1996. Hofstedovo izmerenie Rossii. Menedzhment, 3, 70–103.

Politkovskaja, A. 2002. Vtoraja tšetšenkaja. Moskova: Zaharov.

The different publications published by one author in the same year are identified with lower-case letters (a, b, c etc.) with no space between the year and the id letter.

Branford, A & Coutts, L. 2015a. The precious ring, Walker Books Australia, Newtown, NSW.

Branford, A & Coutts, L. 2015b. The wishing seed, Walker Books Australia, Newtown, NSW.

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