Module 8, References

8.1 Introduction

Referencing is an essential component of dissertation writing. If you are well informed on how to reference your dissertation correctly, it will not only give your work the scholarly texture it requires to pass but also help support your ideas and findings. This allows the reader of the dissertation to have a concise grasp of the expertise and studies conducted on the topic of interest. If you do not understand how to reference your dissertation correctly, your research will not pass the standard expected by your institution. The term “scholarly referencing” pertains to a set of standards that are utilized to direct the readers’ attention to the materials from which you have referenced, quoted, or indirectly acquired information for the purpose of your research. There are quite several distinct referencing styles. However, all the types offer the same essential components to assist readers in finding a source you may have cited in your research. The standard features of the references include:

• The actual name of the publication you have used.
• The kind of publishing being discussed (For instance, is it an entire book, a book chapter, a journal article, or a webpage?)
• The date that the source was published.
• The name of the author
• The place where the publication was done.

Different referencing styles may also provide any other information that may be relevant, such as the volume and issue number, as well as the page range, to help the reader locate the existing literature referred to.

8.2 Why and When to Reference

Most educational institutions will begin explaining why proper citation is so important by stating that doing so shields you from allegations of plagiarism. While formatting the references of a dissertation, you are required to submit a reference for any previously completed research by other scholars used in your dissertation. This does not simply pertain to direct quotations but also to paraphrases, facts, and even more general “schools of thought,” on a subject in general. Plagiarism is not necessarily dishonest. You may not be purposefully passing off another person’s publication as you own. However, if you fails to cite any sources that might have impacted your thinking, you leave your research open to allegations of plagiarism. To be on the safer side, you are always encouraged to cite sources if you are at all uncertain as to whether or not the assertion that you are making was affected by the statement that you have written. In spite of this, there are several reasons supporting the need to follow appropriate citation habits apart from protecting your reputation. More specifically, these are related to your growth as a researcher and your contribution to the process of the collaborative use of knowledge:

• People who read your research may wish to participate in it also, or it might just spark their creative thinking. In either case, it is considered proper academic etiquette to ensure that everyone who examines your research is able to identify the factors that had an effect on your ideas, information, and methods in a way that is both explicit and apparent.
• The individuals evaluating your work are more likely to be persuaded by your assertion if you recognize and reference the credible published research that endorses the perspectives. This is because complete citation of the studies of other researchers enables you to make the underlying argumentative reasoning that you are informed on the topic at hand.

8.3 Consistency in Referencing

When writing your dissertation, you may have a large number of sources needing referencing. It will be difficult to recall every publication that has been cited in the research and locate its bibliographic details. Tracing the numerous publications used can be tedious if you treats your references section as a different entity from the rest of the research. You are required to establish a systematic manner to keep a record of and organize the publications that you have cited. This will help to make retrievals easier for the sources when necessary and use them efficiently in your referencing section. Also, you can accomplish this in many ways, such as creating a spreadsheet or simply taking detailed notes on the sources as you continue to conduct you studies rather than at the end of your research.

            While formatting the references of a dissertation, the use of reference management software is more efficient and can be used to note, retrieve, and reference the publications used in the study. Different institutions subscribe to this software, making them easily accessible. The most common features outlined in any reference management software include the following:

• You can use the database to arrange a variety of folders.
• A wide range of diverse study fields correspond to the basic information needed by different citing systems.
• Various techniques for automatic generation of records. These include web plugs used to capture accurate details from pages of the literature of interest.
• The technology to add in-text citations by use of word-processing plugins.
• The technology needed to generate the complete reference in the various citation styles.

The use of software packages is highly recommended as it saves time and makes it easier for you to access use, and reference sources. 

8.4 The Use of Parenthesis

Parenthetical references are the most prevalent types of academic styles currently in use. These styles are utilized across a diverse variety of subject areas, with various patterns serving as the standard in each of these subfields. The Modern Language Association (MLA) and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) are typically the most widely used styles of citation in the arts and humanities fields (especially in North America). On the other hand, the American Psychological Association (APA) is widely used in the social sciences. Also, one of the numerous variations of the Harvard system can be found in any field across the globe. The use of parenthesis is typically justified on the grounds of economics. They enable the reader to retrieve a citation easily and swiftly in the list of references at the conclusion of the dissertation. In diverse parenthetical citing configurations, this is marked as “References” or “Works Cited” and is made up of the materials actively referenced in your literary work. The reader can do so with minimum interference, and with the flow of the text where the references appear. Due to their insistence on efficiency, parenthetical styles often dictate that you should only state the author’s name in the parenthetical reference if it needs to be evident from the context. Hence, if you introduce a statement with “Bob says that…” you are not expected to repeat Bob’s name in the parenthesis after the quote. While formatting the references of your dissertation, different formats can be used. The most common forms include the following:

• American Psychological Association (APA) style
• Modern Language Association (MLA) style
• Harvard citation style
• Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) referencing style.

8.5 American Psychological Association (APA)

Below are a few reference examples used for published dissertations in the APA 7^th Edition Citation style:

“Kabir, J. M. (2016). Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction at a Fast Food Hamburger Chain: The Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty. [Doctoral Dissertation, Wilmington University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Thesis Global”

“Miranda, C. (2019). Exploring the lived experiences of foster youth who obtained graduate level degrees: Self-efficacy, resilience, and the impact on identity development (Doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University).”

“Zambrano-Vazquez, L. (2016). The interaction of state and trait worry on response monitoring in those with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Arizona).”

            While formatting the references of a dissertation in the APA referencing style, the parenthetical citations will be as follow:

(Kabir, 2016); (Miranda, 2019); (Zambrano-Vazquez, 2016).

However, while referencing the sources in the form of a narration in APA referencing format, you should use the following format:

“Kabir (2016) states that…”

“According to Miranda (2019), the…”

“Zambrano-Vazquez (2019) revealed that….”

Based on the examples given above, there are guidelines that should be followed when formatting the references of a dissertation in APA style. These guidelines include the following:

• “If a dissertation can be accessed through a database like ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Worldwide or PDQT Open, an institutional repository, or an archive, then it is deemed to be published.”
• “The student should include the publication number in parentheses after the title of the dissertation or thesis without italicizing the title.”
• “If the database assigns publication numbers to dissertations and theses, include the publication number in this format.”
• “Add the description “Doctoral dissertation” or “master’s thesis,” followed by a comma, and then list the name of the educational establishment that conferred the degree.”
• “After the title of the dissertation or thesis, as well as any publication number, include this information enclosed in square brackets.”
• “Provide the name of the database, repository, or archive in the “source” part of the reference.”
• “Changing the wording of the description contained within brackets to reflect the type of thesis being presented (for example, “Undergraduate honors thesis”) allows the same style to be adapted for use with various published theses, including undergraduate theses.”
• “Add a URL for the dissertation or the thesis if the readers will be able to access it through the URL (as shown in the Miranda and Zambrano-Vazquez examples).”
• “Readers will not be able to access the dissertation or thesis through the provided URL if the database or archive needs users to log in before they can view it. In this case, the reference should conclude with the database name (as in the Kabir example).”

8.6 Modern Language Association (MLA)

While formatting the references of a dissertation in MLA style, there are vital components of the reference that should be included:

• The authors identity
• The title of the publication, usually in italics
• The date of publishing the research
• The university or college granting the degree
• A summary of the research
• The database and URL linking the reader to the source

From the list above, you should note that the university or college granting the degree and the summary of the publication are optional details. The following are examples of references used for published dissertations in MLA referencing style:

“Kabir, Jahangir M. Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast food hamburger chain: the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Wilmington University (Delaware), 2016.”

“Miranda, Cristina. Exploring the lived experiences of foster youth who obtained graduate level degrees: Self-efficacy, resilience, and the impact on identity development. Diss. Pepperdine University, 2019.”

“Zambrano-Vazquez, Laura. The interaction of state and trait worry on response monitoring in those with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Diss. The University of Arizona, 2016.”

The parenthetical referencing if the reference in MLA citation style is done by noting the year of publication and the page number where the specific literature was retrieved.

8.7 Harvard Citation

While formatting the references of your dissertation in Harvard Citation style, the main constituents of the references include:

• The authors name.
• The year of publication
• The title of the research written in italic
• The degree statements.
• The university or college granting the degree.
• The database and URL linking the reader to the source.
• The date the study is being accessed.

The following are examples of references used for published dissertations in Harvard referencing style:

“Kabir, J.M., 2016. Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast-food hamburger chain: the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Wilmington University (Delaware).”

“Miranda, C., 2019. Exploring the lived experiences of foster youth who obtained graduate level degrees: Self-efficacy, resilience, and the impact on identity development (Doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University).”

“Zambrano-Vazquez, L., 2016. The interaction of state and trait worry on response monitoring in those with worry and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Arizona).”

While formatting the references of a dissertation in Harvard citation style you should take note of the following points:

• There are many ways in which a thesis might be presented; for example, it may be obtained from a database, it may not be published, or it may be both.
• The guidelines for citing sources in a thesis are identical to those used for citing sources in a book.

8.9 Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)

The Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) was developed at Oxford University. You can use this referencing style in acknowledging the different materials used in their thesis. Legal citations are used to give credit to an authoritative document. You can frequently access legal documents like previous cases that have been decided, statutes, policies, government information, and academic journals in law. Basically, the correct citation on legal documentation contains the detail of the authority of the publication and the year of publication. For instance, “Griswold v. Connecticut, 390 U.S 481, 484 (1956).”  This citation shares insightful information regarding the authority cited. It entails:

• The identities of the parties involved. In many instances, the names represent the plaintiff and defendant in the case, respectively. In the example given, the plaintiff is Griswold, while the defendant in Connecticut.
• The case is reported in volume 390 on the United States Reports, abbreviated as the U.S.
• The case is documented on page 481 of the volume.
• The primary literature used to support their dissertation is on page 484 of the volume, known as the “pin cite.”
• The authority cited was published in 1956.

Unlike the other citation styles in this guide, OSCOLA applies footnotes rather than the parenthetical citation model. When citing a specific sentence in your research using the OSCOLA style, you should add a superscript number at the end of that sentence and after the punctuation mark. For example, (The Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) was developed at Oxford University.¹). The reference of the source where the information is derived is then added at the end of the page. For instance,

“¹Kabir, Jahangir M. Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast food hamburger chain: the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Wilmington University (Delaware), 2016.”

“²Miranda, Cristina. “Exploring the lived experiences of foster youth who obtained graduate-level degrees: Self-efficacy, resilience, and the impact on identity development.” PhD diss., Pepperdine University, 2019.”

“³ Zambrano-Vazquez, Laura. “The interaction of state and trait worry on response monitoring in those with worry and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.” Ph.D. diss., The University of Arizona, 2016.)”

The full details of each reference should be included in the bibliography written as the last section of the dissertation. This allows the reader to locate the sources effectively. While formatting the references of a dissertation in OSCOLA citation style, you are required to arrange the sources in your list the presented in alphabetical order.