A Quick and Complete Guide to MHRA Referencing

What is Referencing?

It is necessary to acknowledge other people’s work or ideas when writing; hence, the sources used in your work must be referenced. This is usually via an in-text citation within the body of a text that refers to work or ideas by others.  Also, a complete reference list is provided at the end of the written materials of works or ideas taken from others.

What is MRHA?

MHRA stands for Modern Humanities research association style. It is mostly used in disciplines such as Theatre and Television, as well as English Literature and Film. The guide provided subsequently is as contained in its 3^rd edition. The referencing style features fully referenced footnotes.

Footnote

The in-text citation of this style of referencing uses superscript numbers to indicate footnote.

For Example: According to Barton, the play ‘As You Like’ is "the fullest and most stable realization of Shakespearean commit form.”¹

Footnote Example: The Merchant of Venice, II. 3. 10; The faerie Queene, III. 8. 26; Paradise Lost, IX. 342-50; Aeneid, vi. 215-18; Inferno, III. 9.3

Inserting Footnote in Microsoft Word

Go to the References on the menu tab

Select insert footnote

Shortcut to Add a Reference:

Instead of going through the long route to add a reference to your work, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + F. You need to press these three keys together for the shortcut to work.

 

• The first name and other names of the author should precede the surname, and written out in full;
• The name of the editor should also follow comply with the above,
• The names of up to three authors should be given;
• Where there are more than three authors the name of only the first should be given, followed by ‘and others’

NOTE: where the same source is cited more than once, you don’t need to cite it in full in subsequent citations. Use the surname, and the title.

Also, in the bibliography, the surname comes first followed by the given name and other information. Usually some specific details that do not capture the whole work (e.g., specific page of citation) are excluded.

For example:

First footnote: Guy Halsall,  Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West 376-568 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 245.

Subsequent footnotes: Halsall, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West. p.298

Bibliography: Halsall, Guy, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West 376-568 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008)

 

Forms of References

Books

• The title will appear first where the name of the author is included within the title  or if the book is an edited collection or anthology: Approaches to Teaching Voltaire’s ‘Candide’, ed. by R. Waldinger (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1987), pp. 3, 10, 27.
• Where the book title contains title and subtitle, use a colon to separate, regardless of the punctuation or lack in the title;
• Capitalize the first letters of the major words in the title, including the first letter after the colon above;
• If a detail is unknown and cannot be ascertained, use: [n.p.] = no place, [n. pub.] = no publisher, [n.d.] = no date
• Omit ‘p’ or ‘pp’ if the volume number is cited – thus, just write the page(s)

 

• Author’s Name | Title of the Work | ed. by/trans. by Editor/Translator’s name | series | x edn (if more than one edition) | number of volumes (if it is more than one volume) | (Place of Publication: Publisher, year) | volume number | page number(s)

For example:

Tom McArthur, Worlds of Reference: Lexicography, Learning and Language from the Clay Tablet to the Computer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 59.

Jean Starobinski, Montaigne in Motion, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), p. 174.

Approaches to Teaching Voltaire’s ‘Candide’, ed. by R. Waldinger (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1987), pp. 3, 10, 27.

Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. by Joseph R. Strayer and others, 13 vols (New York: Scribner, 1982–89), vi (1985), 26.

Chapters in a Book

Chapter Author’s Name, | ‘Title of Chapter’ | in Title of the Work | ed. by Editor’s name | (Place of Publication: Publisher, year) | page number(s) – first and last page

Martin Elsky, ‘Words, Things, and Names: Jonson's Poetry and Philosophical Grammar,’ in Classic and Cavalier: Essays on Jonson and the Sons of Ben, ed. by Claude J. Summers and Ted-Larry Pebworth (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982), pp. 31-55.

EBook

Author’s Name, | Title of the Work | (Place of Publication: Publisher, year) | page number, <URL>, [accessed date]

Judith Herrin, Women in Purple: the surprising life of a medieval empire,(London: Pluto Press, 2000), pp. 234-253,  <http://www.theacademiclibrary.com/login_cat.asp?filename=0745315933>, [accessed 18 April  2014]

Articles in Journals

Author, | ‘Title of article’, | Title of Journal (abbreviated), | series number – in Arabic numerals | volume number – in Arabic numerals | (Year),| page number(s) – first and last page | (specific page)

Richard Hillyer, ‘In More than Name Only L Jonson's “To Sir Horace Vere,”’ MLR, 85 (1990), 1-11.

Theses and Dissertations

Author, | ‘Title’, | (unpublished thesis type, University, year) | page

Mary Taylor, ‘The Legend of Apollonius of Tyre in Spanish and French Literature before 1500’ (unpublished master’s thesis, University of Manchester, 1977), pp. 45–47.

Articles in Newspapers and Magazines

Author, | ‘Title of article’, | Name of Newspaper, | DD Month YEAR, | page

Michael Schmidt, ‘Tragedy of Three Star-Crossed Lovers’, Daily Telegraph, 1 February 1990, p. 14.

Online Publications

Author, | 'Title of article,’ | Title of Journal, | (Year of Publication), | page number, | website

Els Jongeneel, 'Art and Divine Order in the Divina Commedia,' Literature and Theology, 21 (2007), pp. 131-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/litthe/frmoo8

Archives, Manuscripts & Ephemera

City where archive is held, | Holding institution, | Collection name, | Manuscript name or collection number (if known), | Date (if known), | Document name or number.

Wellington, Alexander Turnbull Library, Stone Family Papers, A R Stone Diaries, 1917-1932, MS-Papers-11199-58.

Film recording

Title of Film, | Dir. First and Last Name of Director/s, | Performers (if appropriate), | (Distributor, Date), | [on format].

Amistad, dir. by Steven Spielberg, (Dreamworks Pictures, 2001) [on DVD].

Film recording from a database

Title of Film, | Dir. First and Last Name of Director/s, | Performers (if appropriate), | (Distributor, Date), in name of database [accessed date].

1905: Year of Light: Einstein's Important Discovery,  dir. by Philippe Tournancheau, (Filmakers Library, 2006) in Kanopy [accessed 10 May 2016].

Music Score

Composer First Name and Last Name, | Title, | type of score (if used), | Edition, | (Distributor: Publisher, Date).

Wagner, Richard, Tristan und Isolde, study score, Edition Eulenburg no. 905 (London: Eulenburg, 2006).

Music Recording - on CD, DVD, database, online

Author, | Title of Musical Composition, | Performer / artist / group (if appropriate), | conductor | (Place of publication (if available): | Publisher/Production/Recording Company, Date) | [on format].

Beethoven, Ludwig van, Piano Concerto no. 5,  Mitsuko Uchida, Symphonieorchester des Beyerischen Rundfunks, cond. by Kurt Sanderling (Phillips, 1998) [on CD].

Videogames

Name of Game, | (City: Publisher, Date) | [format].

BioShock 2, (California: 2K Games, 2010) [PC].

Youtube

Author, | Title of Film, | type of source, | title of website, | Date, | [accessed date].

BoltonUniLibrary, Critiquing a journal article, online video recording,  YouTube,  5 May 2017 [accessed 26 August 2019].

Blogs

First name and Last name of Author, | ‘Title of blog’, | URL | [accessed date].

Stephen Andrew Hiltner, ‘On Press with “The Paris Review”’, <http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/03/01/on-press-with-the-paris-review/> [accessed 3 March 2012]

Conference Paper

First and Last Name of Author, | 'Title of conference paper', | in Title of conference | (Place of Publication: Publisher, Date), | pp. page range of paper | (page number/s of citation).

Hao Wu and Dan Xu, 'Color Preserved Image Compositing', in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Multimedia Technology (Heidelberg, Berlin: Springer, 2014) pp.325-334 (p.327)

Play - Print

First and Last Name of Author, | Title of Play, | ed. by First Name and Last Name of Editors (when necessary), | Edition name/number (when necessary) | (Place of Publication, Publisher, Date), | Act. scene. line

Shakespeare, William, The Tempest, ed. by Stephen Orgel (Oxford: Oxford World's Classics, 1998)

Live Play Performance

First and Last Name of Author, | Title of Play, | directed by First Name and Last Name | (City: Theatre name, Date)

Shakespeare, William, Romeo and Juliet, dir. Miles Gregory (Auckland: Pop-Up Globe, 22 February, 2016).

Live Music Concert

First and Last Name of Composer, | ‘Title of Work’ | [type of media] | (Location, date seen).

Rush, ‘Greatest Hits Tour’ [music concert] (Bishopthorpe Social Club, York, UK, 29 March 2015)

Thesis - database

First and Last Name of Author(s), | 'Title of Thesis' | (thesis type, Name of Institution, Date), | in Name of Database | [Access date] | page(s).

Buckley, Karen, ‘Sport in the Waikato c.1897-1974: Narratives of Play, Identity and Belonging’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Waikato, 2016), in University of Waikato Research Commons [accessed 22 January 2017]

Online Encyclopaedia

First and Last Name of Author (if available), | 'Title of entry', | in Title: Subtitle, | ed. by first name and last name editor (if available) | (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year Published) (if available), | [accessed date]

Consedine, Robert, 'Anti-racism and Treaty of Waitangi Activism - Organising Against Racism, 1970s to early 2000s', in Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, [accessed 10 August 2016]

Image or Figure

First and Last Name of Creator, | Title of Image, | medium, from collection or book | (City: Publisher, date).

Royal Hotel Raglan, ed. by University of Waikato Library Historical Photographs Collection, 1900 [ca]), , [accessed 2 February 2017]

 

See also: 

A Quick and Complete Guide to Oxford Referencing

A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing

A Quick Guide to Vancouver Referencing

A Quick Guide to MLA (8th edition) Referencing

A Quick Guide to IEEE Referencing in Microsoft Word

A Quick Guide To IEEE Referencing

A Quick Guide To APA 7 Referencing

A Quick Guide To American Meteorological Society (AMS) Style Referencing

A Quick And Complete Guide To Chicago Referencing

A Quick Guide To MHRA Referencing

A Quick Guide To OSCOLA Referencing

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