Sources and referencing
Sources and referencing
Good referencing is essential. The reader of your thesis must always be able to find out how you got the information. That’s why you always need to indicate in your text when you quote the work of others. The reader can then consult the bibliography to find the title of the other author.
There are various referencing systems. The rules of the American Psychological Association (APA) are often used in research.
If you use an idea, phrase or text of someone else you must always include who the orginal is from and where you found it. It is not allowed to simply copy something from someone else. This is plagiarism which is illegal.
APA-guidelines
The American Psychological Association (APA) has published rules about references. Many Economics journals follow these APA rules. When writing your thesis you can also use these guidelines. It is important to be consistent with your referencing system. You can consult the APA-style publication manual in the University Library.
You can also find more information on the APA website.
Quotations
If you quote the text of others, you always need to include a correct reference. You can use the APA-guidelines for this.
References in the text include the name of the first author and the year of publication. In the alphabetical bibliography at the end of your thesis your reader must be able to find which source you have used. See a few examples below:
Quotation (the name of the author in the sentence) | Jansen (2004) provides examples of this usage. |
Quotation (the name of the author is at the end of the sentence) | Research shows that this is the case. (Jansen, 2004) |
Quotation (two authors) | Wiertzema & Jansen (2006) or (Wiertzema & Jansen, 2006) |
Quotation (three authors or more) | Jansen et al. (2004) or (Jansen et al., 2004) |
Quotation (various sources with different authors) | (Jansen, 2004; Wiertzema, 2006) |
Quotation (various articles with one author) | (Jansen, 2002, 2004a, 2004b, 2006) |
When in doubt you can consult the APA-style publication manual in the University Library. You can find more information on the APA website.
Bibliography
When putting together the bibliography you can use the APA-guidelines. In short, the following rules apply to the bibliography:
- The bibliography is organised alphabetically by author;
- The title of a book or the name of a journal is written in italics (or underlined);
- Books that have been edited are listed under the name of the editor(s).
In practice it is not always easy to use correct references. That’s why we have included a few examples.
Book with one author | Gerritsen, S. (2001). Schrijfgids voor economen. Bussum: Coutinho. |
Book with two authors (as they appear on the title page) | Thill, J.V. & Bovée, C.L. (7th ed.). (2006). Excellence in business communication. New Yersey: Pearson / Prentice Hall. |
Book with three authors (as they appear on the title page) | Jansen, C., Steehouder, M. & Gijsen, M. (2004). Professioneel communiceren: taal- en communicatiegids. Groningen/Houten: Martinus Nijhoff. |
One editor | Franck, H.J. (Ed.). (2002). Writing with Power. Oxford: Pergamon Press. |
Two editors | Becker, L.J. & Seligman, C. (1981). 'Welcome to the energy crisis.' |
Journal article, one author | Mears, P. (1974). 'Structuring communication in a working group.' |
Journal article, author not mentioned | Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). (2001). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. |
Unpublished manuscript, thesis, assignment | Gottfredor, G.D. (1978). Why don't vocational interests predict job satisfaction better than they do? Unpublished manuscript. John Hopkins Univeristy Center for Social Organization of Schools, Baltimore. |
Alphabetisation: nothing comes before something | So: Dijk, T. van before: Dijksma, A. |
Website: note down the website address and date when you found it | Van Ovost, R. (2009). 'Dubbele woonlasten: een lastig probleem?' EconomieOpinie.nl, http://www.eur.nl/ese/nieuws/economieopinie/ 19-02-2008]. |
When in doubt you can consult the APA-style publication manual in the University Library. You can find more information on the APA website.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is quoting or paraphrasing phrases and ideas of others and presenting it as your own work. An example of plagiarism is copying a text from the internet into your assignment or thesis without providing a clear reference to the source of this text. Plagiarism is considered to be a serious crime. It is fraud, even though you may not have done it intentionally. If your thesis supervisor finds out that you have committed plagiarism you will be reported to the ESE Examination Board. The Examination Board may punish you and this sanction depends on how serious the committed fraud is.
You can read the official rules and regulations in The Rules and Regulations of the Study Guide.
Apart from information about fraud and plagiarism, the EUR website provides advice and tips on correct referencing of sources.
