Dear Students,

This write-up is intended to provide a broad overview of the most frequently used citation
and referencing methods for MBA students. This piece is based on the American
Psychological Association (APA) recommendations, which is widely followed in
management and social sciences. This write-up is neither intended to be comprehensive
nor authoritative and is only a pointer to the most frequently used referencing and citation
methods. For greater details on referencing you may kindly refer to the web resources
especially the American Psychological Association (APA) style websites as listed in the
bibliography section.

There are three distinct advantages in acknowledging the intellectual contributions of

others (Monippally, Pawar, Nande & Deou, 2004)
 It helps comply with the demands of scholarly work by acknowledging the idea(s)
of others
 It enhances credibility of our arguments without burdening us with proportionate
responsibility
 Also helps the reader to go to the original source and study the issue in detail if
they so wish

Wherever the source details are available you should acknowledge the source at the point
in the document full text where it is quoted, with what is called a ‘citation’ The citation is
of the form - (name of author(s), year). In case an author can’t be traced, it should be of
the form - (name of the article, year). At the end of the document the full bibliographical
details need to be provided. The way in which the full bibliographical details need to be
provided varies slightly as per the citation source as is detailed in the table below.

For a piece of information for which you don’t know the source, it is recommended to
highlight this fact by starting the sentence indicating that it is a general belief/widely
known fact without any supporting source. (Monippally, Pawar, Nande & Deou, 2004)

Different forms of citing other’s work

1. A direct quote from another source where the text is reproduced word by word.

 Put it within quotes with the page number

 Wherever some words are omitted put three dots
 When you want to include some text which is not part of the text in the original
document put it within square brackets.
Ex: “We have spent Rs 5 Crores [50 million] on advertising alone”

2. Paraphrasing (ideas taken from others are put in our own words)

Acknowledge the source in a way that the readers can distinguish what is your own and
what is borrowed (Monippally, Pawar, Nande & Deou, 2004). Acknowledge the source
wherever you have borrowed an idea.

December, 2006 Prepared by Prof.T.N.Krishnan

Amrita School of Business
 3. Citing sources from the internet

Internet has become a hot bed for all kinds of information. In this scenario, it is all the
more critical that guidelines are adhered to. The following two guidelines are suggested
by the American Psychological Association (APA) for citing sources from the internet
(Electronic References: Electronic Media and URLs, 2003, para.4).

 “Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited; whenever

possible, reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages.
 Provide addresses that work”

Let us now look at the most commonly used citation sources and the corresponding
referencing style through illustrative examples.

Citation source Referencing style

Journal article Ford, C.M. and Gioia, D.A. (2000). Factors influencing creativity in the area of
retrieved from an managerial decision-making. Journal of Management, 26(4), 705-732. Retrieved
online data base November 10, 2006, from EBSCO HOST Research Databases
Journal article Khandwalla, P.N. and Mehta, K. (2004). Design of corporate creativity. Vikalpa:
retrieved from a The Journal for Decision Makers, 29(1), 13-28.
print version of a
journal
Newspaper article Airports put on high alert after FBI warning (November 13, 2006). The Hindu, p.1
with no author
named
Newspaper article Habib, H. (2006). Blockade halts Bangladesh (November13, 2006), The Hindu,
with author p.1
named
Magazine article Lashinsky, A. (2006). Chaos at Google. Fortune, 154(6), 42-45
Books and other Beaumont, P.B. (1996). Human Resource Management – Key concepts and skills,
non-periodicals New Delhi: Sage Publications
Book Chapters Porter, M.E. (2002). How competitive forces shape strategy. In David Faulkner
(Ed.) Strategy- Critical perspectives on Business and Management (pp. 3-17).
New York: Routledge
Internet article Electronic References: Electronic Media and URLs (2003). Retrieved November
with no author 10, 2006, from APA Online, APA style website:
named http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html


If the author of an article/document is not identified, begin the reference with the title
of the document. (Note: This indicates the correct usage of ‘Footnotes’. It is not to communicate
bibliography related information but to draw the attention of the reader to additional information).

December, 2006 Prepared by Prof.T.N.Krishnan

Amrita School of Business
Citation source Referencing style
Internet article Prayag, A. (2006). Large Retail: Average consumer spend doubles in last 2 years.
with author Retrieved December 6, 2006, from The Hindu Businessline.
named http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/12/06/stories/2006120605710100.htm

References

Electronic References: Electronic Media and URLs (2003). Retrieved November 10,
2006, from APA Online, APA style website: http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html

Monippally, M.M., Pawar, B.S., Nande, K. & Deou, B. (2004). IIMA citation style guide
for presenting assignments. Version 1. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
retrieved November 10, 2006 from
http://stdwww.iimahd.ernet.in/IIMA_Style_Guide_2004.pdf

Other web resources you may refer to

http://www.apastyle.org/

http://www.wright.edu/academics/writingctr/apa2.pdf

http://www.lib.washington.edu/help/guides/43APA.pdf

http://stdwww.iimahd.ernet.in/IIMA_Style_Guide_2004.pdf

http://www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html#77

http://www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html

December, 2006 Prepared by Prof.T.N.Krishnan

Amrita School of Business