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URI
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FdSc Tourism ST
Style Manual YL
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2009/2010 MA
NU
AL

Win Scutt
Room KR207
City College Plymouth

01752.305332
wscutt@cityplym.ac.uk
 FdSc TOURISM STYLE MANUAL

Adapted from the Style Manual prepared by Rhys Dugan and Kevin Meehan, updated by Nick Johns,
and further revised by John Dixon, University of Plymouth 2004.
Minor adaptations to Tourism by Win Scutt, 2006
 University of Plymouth & City College Plymouth, 2006

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REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
There are many systems for the presentation of references in academic work.
Which system a writer adopts depends upon many things, including what his or her
subject area is, what part of the world he or she is working in, and who is going to be
publishing the work and for what purpose. Broadly speaking however, these
systems fall into three general formats:
• Citing sources using brackets within the text of the work. Included in this
category is the Harvard Reference System.
• Citing sources at the bottom of the page. This is often referred to as the
Footnote Reference System.
• Citing sources at the end of the work. This is usually called the Endnote
Reference System.
Of these three, only one is approved for use - the Harvard and Footnote Reference
Systems.

WHY REFERENCE ANYWAY?

The primary purpose of a reference is to enable a reader to go to the library and
obtain a copy of the original text to which you refer in your analysis, in order to
check the validity of the claims you make about established theories in support of
your argument (Did Richard Branson really make that statement?), or your empirical
material (Did Gambia really outlaw all-inclusive holidays in 2000?). It also enables
readers, or students, to follow up scholarly work to which you refer for their own use,
just as the references you find in published material provide a good basis for your
own literature surveys. Last, but by no means least, accurate referencing also
guards you against an allegation of committing an academic offence, which is
covered under the University’s ‘Examination and Assessment Offences’ regulations.

HOW MANY REFERENCES?

This is a difficult question to answer, as the number of references required will vary
according to the nature of the issues under consideration. However, it is unlikely that
a student could produce meaningful work with less than the following number of

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references: Stage 1: around 5 or 6; Stage 2: around 6 or 7; and, Stage 3: around 8
or 9. These should be sources you have cited in the actual text of your essay.
Although it is common professional practice to include in the reference list texts that
have been read, but not cited in the text1, this is not the case in the JSSS where we
seek more concrete evidence of appropriate reading and research.

ALL REFERENCES MUST CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION

Whilst all references must contain the following information, the form in which it is
presented will vary between the Harvard and Footnote Reference Systems (the
following examples include citations derived from both systems):

For books:
Author surname, Initials or forename, Year of publication, Book title, Publisher and
Place of publication.

For chapters in edited books:

Author surname, Initials, Year of publication, Chapter title, Book editor, Book title,
Publisher and Place of publication.

For journal articles:

Author surname, Initials, Year of publication, Article title, Journal title, volume
number, part number and pages.

For newspapers and magazine articles:

If you are using newspapers, magazines and so on, references should follow the
same basic pattern. When there is a named author this is straightforward:

Brainless, B. (1998) ‘Vicar Naked in Bath’, The Daily Tabloid, 14 August, p. 12.

However, often the material in newspapers is not attributed to a named author.

When this occurs, use the name of the paper or magazine in place of the author

name:

1
Strictly speaking, a reference list covers sources actually cited in the body of a piece of academic
work, while a bibliography includes sources consulted but not directly referred to. This distinction has
eroded over the years, although you may still come across it in some books in particular.
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The Star, (1992) ‘Thatcher snatched by aliens’, The Star, 1 April, p 1.

For Internet sources:

The use of references from the World Wide Web (www) is increasing. You are
advised to cite the author name (if available), title of material and Website (as
publisher). However, dating Internet pages is difficult, if not impossible - the best
compromise is to cite the Internet address and the date on which you accessed the
site:

Jones, T. (1998) ‘Census EvaIuation’, Department of Statistics, University of

Poppleton Website at http://www.poppleton.ac.uk/soc/cens/cass, accessed 13
September 1998.

Other Sources
You may refer to other sources, such as government publications, pamphlets,
speeches and reports from private organisations. Many of these will not be
‘authored’ in the sense that there is no author’s name attached to them. In these
cases, we treat the organisation or publisher as the ‘author’ in the first instance. For
example, in this case, we use the ‘University of Plymouth’ as the author:

University of Plymouth (2001) Research Report 2000. University of Plymouth:

Plymouth.

Other requirements
Another general rule is that book titles and journal titles should be emphasised,
either by italics or underline.

Harvey, D. (1989) The Urban Experience. Blackwell: Oxford.

Turner, B.S. (ed.) (1996) The Blackwell Companion to Social Theory. Blackwell:
Oxford

Zukin, S. (1990. ‘Socio-Spatial Prototypes of a New Organisation of Consumption:

The role of real cultural capital’, Sociology, 24, 1, 37-56.

Harvey,D. (1989) The Urban Experience. Blackwell: Oxford.

Turner, B.S. (ed.) (1996) The Blackwell Companion to Social Theory Blackwell:
Oxford.
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Zukin, S. (1990) ‘Socio-Spatial Prototypes of a New Organisation of Consumption:
The role of real cultural capital’, Sociology, 24, 1, 37-561

Another variation you might come across involves the order of the information.
While in the Harvard system, the sequence of author (year) title is set, in some
publications you will notice that the publisher and the place of publication are
reversed, so Harvey’s book above is referenced as

Harvey, D. (1989) The Urban Experience. Oxford: Blackwell.

Often there are slight variations to this, sometimes, the part number of a journal is
put in brackets: Sociology, 24, (1), 37 - 56, or the page numbers are prefixed with
pp. (which means pages): Sociology, 24,1, pp. 37 – 56

ACCURACY OF REFERENCE CITATIONS

It is absolutely vital that the exact style and form used in the original text be
repeated in the reference. Remember, the purpose of a reference is to enable
readers to consult the original and any deviation from the correct citation can make
this extremely difficult.

Smith, J. A. (1998) Introduction to Modern China: A Guide to Official Statistics of the

Republic of China. Routledge: London.

Consider the above, full, citation, against an abbreviated and incomplete reference,
like:

J. Smith, Introduction to Modern China, 1998

Whilst this ‘mongrel’ citation certainly reflects the author and title of the monograph
(book) which you may have cited, what would happen in a library which also held
the following titles:

Smith, J. Antony (1998) Introduction to Modern China: A Guide to Official Statistics of

the Peoples’ Republic of China. Routledge: London.

Smith, John Antony (1998) Introduction to Modem China: A Guide to Official

Statistics of the Peoples', Republic of China. Routledge: New York.

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Smiith, John Andrew (1998) Introduction to Modern China: A Guide to Real Ale Bars
and Pubs. CAMRA: Bristol.

Smith, Jane (1998) Introduction to Modern China: A Guide for Backpackers.

Routledge: London.

The abbreviated reference, if not entirely useless, greatly frustrates the task of
finding the original text that was about the official statistics of Taiwan. The poor
quality of the reference means that a search based upon it would produce texts
dealing with the official statistics of Mainland China (UK and US editions), the real
ale trade in China, and backpacker tips on China, as well as the official statistics of
Taiwan. Unfortunately, the reader would have no way of knowing which of these
texts you actually used as a source.

Remember, also, that UK and US editions of the same substantive text may vary in
format, type-face, font size, spelling, and, crucially, pagination - material which
appears on page 789 of the British edition might not be found at the same location
in the American edition.

CITING SOURCES

One of the things that many people find difficult about citing sources is
understanding what needs to be cited. As a general rule of thumb, you should cite
all of the following things:

• Direct quotes
• Paraphrases
• Ideas and interpretations that are not your own
• Statistics and research results
• Facts that are not common knowledge

This last one is probably the least straightforward, as it is not altogether clear what
constitutes something that is not ‘common knowledge’. It is common knowledge, for

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example, that Tony Blair is Prime Minister – this does not have to be cited. What
might not be common knowledge is that he was a member of a rock band in his 20s
– this probably should be cited. Another ‘factual’ area where citations are necessary
is where facts are in dispute. For example, there is a debate in the historical
literature as to whether Adolf Hitler had a homosexual affair in his youth or not –
while his sexual behaviour is a matter of ‘fact’ in the legal sense, which ‘facts’ are
historically accurate are contested. As a general rule of thumb, if you find a factual
statement in at least 4 different publications, and that factual statement is not
challenged anywhere, you can take it as '‘common knowledge” and don’t need to
cite it. If it is mentioned in less than 3 sources, or sources contradict each other,
highlight the discrepancy and cite it.

QUOTES VS. PARAPHRASES: USING QUOTATION MARKS

The difference between a quote and a paraphrase is an important one. A quote
occurs when you use the author’s words within the body of your own work; a
paraphrase occurs when you substantially alter what the author has said and
present it in your own words. Changing one or two words here and there is not
adequate; you still need to put quotes around close paraphrases (signalling where
you have changed the text as appropriate).

It is very important that quotation marks are used when quoting directly from
material produced by another person or persons:

Donath (2000: 52) suggests that identity deceptions on the Internet are “acts of
omission rather than commission”.

This compares to a paraphrase, which still needs to be cited but does not need
quotes:

Donath (2000: 52) suggests that people don’t necessarily lie about who they are on
the Internet; instead, they simply forget to tell the truth about it.

If you are using very long quotes – those that run for more than three lines of text
when you are typing your essay – the quote should be offset from the rest of the text

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in some way. Normally this is done by single spacing the quote and indenting it from
both the left and right margins:

Discussions around the relationship between exposure to media violence and

adopting violent behaviour emerged first in the United States.

With its tradition of film-making, and the fact that widespread usage of
Television first occurred there, it is not surprising that it was in America
that researchers conducted the first major investigations into possible
links between the visual depiction and subsequent commission of violence
(Jones, 2000: 54).

While most of these experiments were not specifically designed to identify a

relationship between media violence and violent acts, the implications of these
laboratory experiments appeared clear.

You do not have to use quotation marks in this context, as the offsetting of the text
signals to the reader that you are quoting.

You should avoid using too many long quotes of this nature. While technically you
are not plagiarising, you are being very highly derivative, and will be marked down
as a result.

You must cite both quotes and paraphrases. Using quotes or close paraphrasing
without the use of quotation marks will result in a breach of University Regulations.
(See Academic Regulations Examination and Assessment Offences in your student
handbook for details)

HARVARD REFERENCE SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION
Under the Harvard Reference System, which is the required system for Sociology
students, references are given in brackets within the text and identified by author
surname and year of publication. All references are then listed at the end of the
work, and ordered alphabetically by author surname: this is list of references is

referred to as either the ‘bibliography’ or ‘references’.

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Bibliography

Brainless, B. (1998), ‘Vicar Naked in Bath!’, The Daily Tabloid, 14 August 1998, p. 3.

Butler, R., Hall, G.M. and Jenkins, F. (eds) (1998) Tourism and Recreation in Rural
Areas. Wiley: Chichester.

Smith, J. A. (1998) lntroduction to Modem China: A Guide to Official Statistics of the

Republic of China, Routledge, London.

Tiger, T. T. (1989) Caring for Stuffed Toys, UCLA Press, San Diego

Wilson, H. (1967) ‘Power in Bognor Regis’, Political Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 34-56.

With this system you also add the page number if using direct quotes, or if referring
to information that is to be found on a particular page:

Nisbet (1967:120) regards de Tocqueville’s work as providing “the first systematic

and empirical study of the effects of political power on modern society”.

Alternatively, it could be written like this:

Sometimes de Tocqueville’s work is regarded as providing “the first systematic and

empirical study of the effects of political power on modern society” (Nisbet, 1967:
120).

A common mistake that many students make is to put all the details in the brackets:

Nisbet (1967 The Sociological Tradition, London Heinemann, p. 120) regards

socialisation as ...

This is unnecessary, as all the information that is required is contained in the

reference list at the back.

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MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR

Sometimes there is more than one author for a book or article. If there are two, the
general rule is to name them both:

According to Rojek and Urry (1997).

If there are more than two, this is indicated by the use of et al. in brackets:

According to Butler (et al., eds) (1998)

Note, also, that in this example, the inclusion of eds in the brackets indicates that
this is a collection of edited papers, and not a joint-authored book.

When this is written up in the bibliography (see below) all names must be included:

Butler, R., Hall, C.M. and Jenkins, J. (eds) (1998) Tourism and Recreation in Rural
Areas Wiley: Chichester.

The advantage of the Harvard Reference System is that it does not clutter up the
bottom of the pages of assignments, articles or books, as does the Footnote
Reference System. Another advantage is that it is easier to compile and check the
bibliography. Also, it allows you to use footnotes and endnotes - but not for
references - if necessary (see Elaborative Footnotes, page 23, below). The
disadvantage is that in order to follow up these references, your reader must keep
turning to the bibliography at the end of the book/article.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES FOR THE HARVARD SYSTEM

The Harvard System requires a bibliography. All works referred to in the text must
be in the bibliography. Compile the bibliography as you go along - do not leave it to
the end, it is not something that can be added as an afterthought. A card index is
very useful for this - if you write out a card for everything you read, all that you have
to do is select the relevant ones for your bibliography. A card index will also act as a
back-up to any computer files. A proper bibliography proves that you have done the
reading and organised the material. Work that does not have an adequate
bibliography and is poorly referenced can lose you marks.

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MORE THAN ONE ARTICLE/BOOK WITH THE SAME DATE
Occasionally you may find that authors have two or more papers or books published
in the same year. These should be referenced as a, b, c, and so on, the order
determined by the alphabetical order of the titles:

Urry, J (1990a) Conclusion: places and policies, in Harloe, M.; Pickvance, C. and
Urry J. (eds) Place, Policy and Politics: Do localities matter? Unwin Hyman: London.

Urry, J. (1990b) ‘The Consumption of Tourism’, Sociology, 24,1, 23-35.

In short, for the bibliography the following rules must be observe

DO:
• put all references in the bibliography.
• compile the bibliography as you go along - not as an afterthought
• arrange it alphabetically by author
• check that all references are correct and in the bibliography

DO NOT:
• reference lecture notes or course handbooks (readings in handbooks are
acceptable - but reference the original source)
• divide the bibliography into sections such as ‘books’, ‘chapters in books’,
‘journals'.
• list any books you have not referred to
• arrange it in the order the references appear in your assignment - to do so is to
confuse this system with endnote referencing.

It is important to get used to doing this now. A bibliography is not counted as part of
the word total for assignments.

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GENERAL LAYOUT OF ESSAYS

INTRODUCTION
The intellectual purpose of an essay is to present and defend an argument based on
your reading of the relevant academic literature. Whilst this document seeks merely
to document the technical requirements for the presentation of written work, the
connections between essays, arguments and the literature cannot be repeated too
often!!!

BASIC PRESENTATION

• Essays should be printed in black ink on white paper.

• Essays should be typed in 11 or 12 point font size with 1.5 or double line
spacing, but footnote references should be 10 or 11 point font size with single
line spacing.
• Essays should have top, bottom, left and right margins of 2.54 cm (standard
default).
• Essays should be submitted with a title page detailing the following information:
 student’s name;
 code of the relevant module;
 title of the relevant module;
 name of the module leader;
 assignment number/title
 email address
 contact telephone numbers
 the following signed authorship statement: I confirm that this submission is
my own work and that all research sources are acknowledged. I have not
allowed my work to be used/copied by any other person, nor have I
used/coipied the work of any other person.
 signed and dated
• Essays should be secured by a single staple in the top left hand corner.
• Essays should be submitted naked, without protective plastic or other covers.

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A NOTE OF REASSURANCE
The requirements listed in this document are guidelines that indicate how we would
prefer written work to be presented. They represent the ideal to which you should
aspire. They are not absolute requirements, the absence of which will result in
automatic failure. We appreciate that accidents do happen, that the best-laid plans
come unstuck. However, please try to conform to these directions.

HEADINGS AND SUB-HEADINGS.

These can be very effective in presenting the main points in your assignments, but
are entirely optional unless specifically requested as in some portfolio assignments.
For example, if you have five main sections, then each can be signaled by the use
of a heading, as has been done in this document. Sub-headings are used within the
sections. One possibility is to have the headings in UPPER CASE, or bold, and the
sub-headings in lower case. Other possibilities are to underline both, or use a
different size or style of font. Whatever system you choose to use, be consistent.
However, if you do decide to include headings, don’t overuse them; this can result in
an essay coming across as being fragmented and without flow.

MAPS, TABLES, GRAPHS, CHARTS, FIGURES AND DIAGRAMS.

Maps, figures, diagrams, charts, tables and graphs get confused. Strictly speaking,
a table is a list of numbers and should be labelled in the text as Table 1. Table 2.
and so on. Although all the rest are different in some ways, they should all be
labelled as Figure 1. Figure 2. Do not get too carried away with presentation - in the
final analysis, it is the content, not the form that counts.

Sources of data should always be attributed. If you are using a table, map or
diagram from a book or article then it should be referenced as follows:

Table 4. Home Ownership in Plymouth 1981 - 1991 (Source: McWhinger, 1995:3)

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QUOTATIONS
Everything that is directly quoted must be properly referenced so that it can be
located if needed. Generally, the rule is that quotes over three lines should be
indented. All quotes must acknowledge the author, year and page number, and
those that do not begin with a capital letter should be preceded by what is termed an
ellipsis, that is, three dots...

As Kumar has pointed out, we must “... beware of imposing our own preconceptions
of modernity on others” (1996:91).

There are variations on this model that are equally valid:

As Kumar (1996) has pointed out, we must “... beware of imposing our own
preconceptions of modernity on others” (p91).

As has been pointed out, we must “ ...beware of imposing our own preconceptions
of modernity on others” (Kumar 1996 p91).

The ellipsis can also be used to break-up a long quote, or to condense a paragraph.

The urban - rural distinction is one which is now rapidly disappearing, so much so
that some now argue that it is no longer appropriate to talk in such terms, as Wilson
states “...increased mobility... has led to spreading suburbanisation ... indeed we are
now a predominantly urban culture'”(1991:9).

Breaking up a long quote in this way is useful, but sometimes you can lose the
sense of the quotation. One way of avoiding this is by the use of square brackets [ ]

The urban - rural distinction is one which is now rapidly disappearing, so much so
that some now argue that it is no longer appropriate to talk in such terms, as Wilson
states “...increased mobility ... [means that] we are now a predominantly urban
culture” (1991.9).

Square brackets indicate that you have added something to the text, and so should

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not be used for referencing.

QUOTING QUOTES.
Sometimes you might come across a quote that an author has quoted which you
want to put in the text.

According to Weber, “Waste of time is thus the first and in principle the deadliest of
sins” (quoted in Urry, 1996 p372) OR (cited in Urry 1996 p372)

The general rule is that you quote the source that you used, which might not be the
original.

APPENDICES
These can be used to present material that relates to the subject, but is too bulky or
detailed for use in the main text. If used, they should be numbered or lettered in the
same order that they are referred to in the text. Appendices are not counted as part
of the word total of assignments, but this does not mean that you can extend
assignments by placing additional material there. Appendices have to be support
and explain certain issues or questions within your text.

A recent survey has shown that 50% of those questioned thought they already knew
how to reference correctly (see Appendix 1)

TYPEFACES AND SIZE

Some final points on the use of word processors; one of their advantages is that
they offer a range of typefaces and font sizes. Some of these may look rather smart
but are difficult to read and sometimes it is possible to use font that is too small.
Choose one that is clear (the current font is Arial) and, as already indicated above,
use 11 or 12 point font size with 1.5 or double line spacing rather than single - which
does not really save you much paper.

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STRUCTURING ESSAYS

What order you put material in, in an essay, is to a certain extent a matter of
personal style and choice. However all (good) essays share certain characteristics
in the way that they are structured in that they have clearly defined sections that can
be broadly categorised as the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

INTRODUCTION
The introduction serves as a ‘road map’ for the essay. It defines where the essay is
going (the question it is going to answer or its main argument) and how it is going to
get there. It is often useful to repeat the wording of the question as it has been set
by the module leader, as it demonstrates to the reader that you are answering that
question. It is also helpful to include some sort of statement regarding why the
question or issue being discussed is important or interesting – how for example it fits
into wider theoretical or research issues or its connection with current events and so
on. Sometimes people also include as part of the introduction (often in a separate
paragraph) a discussion of the ‘key terms’ or ‘important concepts’ being used in the
essay. This can be important particularly if some of the concepts are perhaps
unclear or contested. However, you should avoid simply quoting the dictionary, as
this is rather turgid, and results in the essay coming across as being dull and
lacking creativity right from the start – and remember, first impressions are
important!

BODY
The body of the essay presents all of the detail – all your evidence, your analysis of
that evidence, and how it ties back to the central question – in an organised format.
Depending on the nature of the question you are answering, the body might be
organised in terms of a series of events (for questions that require some sort of
historical analysis), thematically (for questions that ask you to explore an issue or
concept in some depth), or using some sort of comparative framework (for questions
that ask you to compare two arguments or concepts, or to consider the accuracy of
a specific statement). Whatever you choose is up to you, but remember that what
structure you choose will either contribute or detract from how well you are

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answering the question, so choose wisely! If you are unsure as to how to structure
the material, speak to your module or seminar leader – they won’t tell you exactly
what to do, but they may give you some pretty strong hints!

Within the body of the essay, make sure that you order the information into
paragraphs. Paragraphs should be approximately 3-6 sentences in length, and
avoid at all costs single sentence paragraphs. As a general rule of thumb, if you
follow the presentation guidelines set out elsewhere in this guide, you should have
about two paragraphs per page. You should be able to clearly see where one
paragraph begins and another ends simply by glancing at the page. Some people
leave a blank line between each paragraph, while others indent the first line of each
paragraph. Which method you choose is up to you.

Finally, remember that each paragraph should have its own topic – a new issue, a
new event, and a change in direction, or something else that differentiates it from
what was discussed in the paragraph before. The opening sentence of the
paragraph should reflect this function. Ideally, you should be able to get the ‘gist’ of
the body of the essay by simply reading through the first sentences in each
paragraph -–this won't give you the full argument, but it will give you a fairly good
idea of what the argument is.

CONCLUSION
The conclusion brings together the main points and indicates how they relate to the
main argument. It also provides a comprehensive answer to the question – a
statement that provides a definitive response to the question and demonstrates that
you have completed the task you set out to achieve at the outset. Again, it is useful
to repeat the wording of the question as it was originally set as part of this statement
– it leaves no room for ambiguity in whether you’ve answered the question or not.
The conclusion should not introduce any new material, particularly new evidence. It
can, however, pose questions or raise issues for further discussion, and speculate
as to the future direction of the issue.

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COMMON GRAMMATICAL AND STYLISTIC ERRORS

ABBREVIATIONS
Avoid using abbreviations such as etc. eg. i.e. as these break the text up and make
it harder to read. Avoid using can’t and won’t unless these are direct quotes from
speech.

APOSTROPHES
These seem to cause more confusion than anything else, and the rules are a bit
complex. The most common error is to use them to indicate plurals - this is often
referred to as the greengrocer’s apostrophe as it is often seen advertising leek’s,
cabbage’s, banana’s and so on. The first rule is: apostrophes should never be used
for pIurals.

The apostrophe is commonly used in two distinct situations either as a contraction

or to indicate possession:

Contraction: ‘they’re clever’ instead of ‘they are clever’

Possessive: ‘Jemima’s toy gun’ instead of ‘the toy gun of Jemima’

However, the one inflexible exception to this rule is 'its' when used as a possessive:

Contraction: It’s (it is) time to feed the dog

Possessive: The dog escaped from its kennel.

Finally, where the possessive relates to plurals, such as lecturers or students, the
apostrophe usually comes at the end of the word:

Singular Possessive: The lecturer’s lectures influenced the student’s essay. (One
lecturer influenced one student.)
Plural Possessive: The lecturers’ lectures influenced the students’ essays. (Several
lecturers influenced several students.)

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CAPITAL LETTERS
These should only be used for individual names or for specific objects, institutions
and so on. It is correct to write the policy of Plymouth City Council, but incorrect to
write the policies of some City Councils.

COMMAS
Try to use these sparingly, as too many, can, make a sentence, difficult, to read. If
you think that you have too many, try breaking the sentence up into two shorter
ones, or rephrase it.

CLICHES
Well - one person’s cliche is another’s brilliant turn of phrase - but try to avoid them
anyway. Some examples: ‘ball park figure’, ‘definitions on a postcard please’.. any
more and ‘I’ll be sick as a parrot’.

DATE OF PUBLICATION
Although this has been covered in the section on referencing, it is surprising how
many students do not actually look at the date of publication of what they read.
Depressingly, some have in the past thought that Marx wrote in the 17th Century, or
that Weber wrote about WW2 when he died in 1920. Perhaps some of this
confusion is caused by the fact that books are published in new editions or new
translations long after the author’s death.

Another reason for checking dates is that occasionally we get assignments that
have not used any sources published after say, 1980. Do not blame the library stock
for this - use contemporary material please!

EMPHASISING AND STRESSING WORDS

Adding a stress or emphasis to a word or words can help you get an important point
across. They can be either underlined, put in italics or bold (but not all together!) It
is important when adding an emphasis to a quotation to say you have done so.

In dealing with the relation between urban formation and social inequality we must

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bear in mind what has been termed the ' ... mutual interdependence of spatial form
and social structure' (Smith 1987:4, emphasis added)

If the emphasis had been in the original then that too should be acknowledged:

In dealing with the relation between urban formation and social inequality we must
bear in mind what has been termed the ' ... mutual interdependence of spatial form
and social structure' (Smith 1987:4, emphasis in original).

It is best to use emphases sparingly as too manv MAKE IT difficult to read.

ELABORATIVE FOOTNOTES
Where authors wish to expand upon a particular point made in the text, they
sometimes make use of an elaborative footnote (as distinct from a footnote
reference). Some academic journals and publishers do not allow authors to use
them at all. Other journals and publishers will put them at the end of articles or
chapters in which case they become endnotes. Generally, a footnote should provide
clarification of a point in the text and should always be brief. Footnotes and
endnotes can easily become confused if you are using the Footnote and Endnote
Reference Systems. You are advised generally to avoid elaborative footnotes.

HE, SHE, OR S/HE?

Until fairly recently it was common practice for the personal pronoun to be male.
However, this is no longer considered acceptable. One way around this is to use
‘she’ instead, but this does not solve the problem. Some people have resorted to
using ‘s/he’, while others use the gender neutral plural ‘they’ (although this is not
always grammatically correct). Alternatively, many authors simply avoid
constructions that involve the use of personal pronouns.

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SPELLING
One of the disadvantages of word processors is that they tend to make people lazy
when it comes to both grammar and spelling. It is best to print out and check
assignments yourself for errors. Spell-checks do not differentiate between the words
that are spelt correctly but misused grammatically or illogically - for example ‘She
fact cot say an they map’ makes as much sense to a word processor as ‘The fat cat
sat on the mat’. The mind boggles. Also, many dictionaries on word processors will
not pick up certain terms and rarely proper surnames - If I paid attention to the one
on this machine Weber would turn into Webbed, Simmel into Simile and Durkheim
into - well, that would stay the same as it has ‘no suggestions’.

Sic
Occasionally you will come across this abbreviation - always in brackets which, like
ibid. and op.cit., is an abbreviation of a Latin word, in this case siccem which literally
means ‘as written’. This is used when the source material quoted is wrong in some
way or other. It indicates that the error is not yours.

According to Snaut: ‘When Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic in 1956 (sic) he
wanted to outline...’

sic should NOT be used to indicate dislike of an idea, or use of a term which is
grammatically correct but perhaps unacceptable - for example use of the male
personal pronoun for subjects in general (see He, She or S/he above). Neither
should it be used to indicate that the original was written in US English (see below).

UK OR US SPELLING?
The most common problem here is the use of -ise or -ize, for example italicise,
italicize. Both are actually acceptable in UK English for most words, but the use of
-ize is standard for US English. When your source is published in the USA you
should use the original spelling without either ‘correcting’ it, - colour for color, labour
for labor and so on - or without using ‘sic’ (see above). One term that sometimes
causes confusion is Marxian (US) as opposed to Marxist (UK).

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You need to be conscious of these differences when using a computerised spell-

check. Some spell-checkers use American English as the default, and thus will
identify spelling mistakes where there are none.

SOME COMMON ERRORS OF VOCABULARY

English is a complex language, and even distinguished academics reach

occasionally for the dictionary, as opposed to the spell-check. We suggest you
check the difference between the following commonly confused words:

• Stationary and Stationery

• Dependent and Dependant
• Formally and Formerly
• Counsel and Council
• Affect and Effect
• Practice and Practise
• Compliment and Complement
• Advice and Advise
• Biannual and Biennial
• They’re and There and Their
• Incidents and Incidence
• To and Too and Two
• Militate and Mitigate
• Imperial and Empirical
• Phenomenon and Phenomena
• Its and It’s

Again, you should take great care when using a spell-check. A computerised spell-
check will not detect the difference between any of these words above. Nor will it
point out to you that you have consistently left the ‘l’ out of public, or accidentally
typed ‘f’ instead of‘d’ in your account of duck hunting in rural Ontario.

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