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Academic Integrity - Referencing, Citation & Avoiding Plagiarism: ebook

This guide explains what referencing and citation is and how to use APA and MLA. It includes a short interactive tutorial on each style.

Note on ebooks

As a general rule an eBook should be cited as you would a print source but additional information such as the platform or "container" should be included along with the location. The format will differ depending on the file used. Ebooks include electronic versions of books available through library databases and online sources such as Google Books. The bibliographic information should be used for the relevant entry (e.g. a chapter from a book). 

 

eBook

REF: Author’s Last name, First name. Title of eBook. Publisher, Year of Publication. Name of container/access platform, location/link.  

Example: Rawson, Michael. Eden on the Charles: the making of Boston. Massachusetts, Harvard UP, 2010. ACLS Humanities E-book, hdl.handle/net/2027/heb.30498.0001.001. 

In-Text-Citation:

  • (Author Last name)
  • (ch.)

Example: 

  • It is suggested that Boston would have been a very different city had there been no fire (Rawson).
  • Michael Rawson suggests that Boston was a city that could have had a very different form, if the fire had not occurred (ch.2).

 

eReader

REF: Author Last name, First name. Title. Version, Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example: Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. Kindle ed., Farrar, 2010.

In-Text-Citation:

  • (Author Last name, ch.)
  • (ch.)

Example: 

  • The Roosevelts enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle but they were not ostentatious (Rowley, ch.6).
  • Hazel Rowley notes that although the Roosevelts enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, they were not ostentatious (ch.6).

Note on eReaders

eBooks that lack a URL and which you use a software to read on a personal device or computer are considered a version in the MLA 8th Edition

If page numbers are not available, avoid markers such as Kindle file location as these may not be consistent on all devices. Instead, use stable numbered sections such as chapters. If the eBook does not have any form of sections then the work must be cited as a whole within the text.

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