How do I reference a book chapter… in the Cranfield Author-date style?
06/07/2015
Many of you might be wondering what the point is to this post. After all, a book’s a book, isn’t it? A chapter is just part of a book, so you just reference the book, don’t you? Simple. Maybe not so simple.
First of all, you need to check the book details to see if the book has authors or editors. If only authors are mentioned, then yes, it’s simple, just reference the book; but if it has editors, things are a little different. Read on…
So how do edited books differ from authored books?
Well, a book with authors was written by those authors. They planned out the content and they wrote the text. An edited book however is different. Within an edited book, each individual chapter has its own author(s) who actually produced the text. The role of the editor(s) is to choose or commission the content and to arrange it into book form.
Have a look at this book below. The people named on the cover are clearly marked as editors, not authors. Then, when you reach the contents page, you can see that each chapter has its own author(s).
When you cite a chapter within an edited book, your reference needs to reflect this. You need to include not only the book details but also the chapter details – so two sets of names will appear.
What should your Author-date reference include?
Your book chapter reference should include:
- Author(s) of the chapter (Surname, Initials)
- (Year of publication)
- ‘Title of chapter – inside single inverted commas’
- ‘in,’ plus editor(s) of book (Surname, Initials) (ed. or eds.)
- Title of book – in italics.
- Place of publication: Publisher,
- Page range.
- (Series, volume number if appropriate).
And how should it look?
So, if we were to reference one of the chapters above in the Author-date style, it would look like this. The text in black is the original book reference, and the surrounding blue text gives the chapter details…
French, R. (2008) ‘Sharing thoughts on leadership and friendship‘, in, James, K. and Collins, J. (eds.) Leadership Perspectives: Knowledge into Action. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 43-57.
If your chapter has no author details, follow the example below using the publisher in place of the author:
ASM International (1998) ‘Corrosion characteristics of carbon and alloy steels’, in, Davis, J. R. (ed.) Metals handbook: desk edition. 2nd edn. Cleveland: ASM International, pp. 301-306.
As always if you have any questions about referencing, please contact us.
Feature image from Pixabay. Available at: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/06/01/06/26/open-book-1428428_960_720.jpg
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Systematic Literature Review – Identifying your search terms and constructing your search strings
Our previous posts on the systematic review have looked at getting started and selecting your sources. In this post we will look at the next fundamental stage: Identifying your search terms and constructing your search ...
Navigating the World of Robotics: My Journey at Cranfield University
Hey there, I'm Manideep, and I'm thrilled to share my experience pursuing an MSc in Robotics at Cranfield University. Let me take you through my journey and how Cranfield became the ...
Exploring safer and smarter airports with the Applied Artificial Intelligence MSc group design project
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have experienced rapid development in recent years, spanning from large language models (LLMs) to generative artificial intelligence (GAI). These cutting-edge advancements have significantly impacted various aspects of ...
My aerospace manufacturing journey at Cranfield University
Hey there, I'm Abhishek and I wanted to share my journey into aerospace manufacturing, guided by my experiences at Cranfield University. Let's dive into how this remarkable institution shaped my career ...
Changes to Library Services over Easter, 29 March – 1 April
Libraries on the Cranfield site Both Kings Norton Library and the School of Management Library (Building 111, first floor) will be open 24/7 over the Easter weekend. You will be able to use the study ...
How to present well as a group
You will have put a lot of work into your research or project and want to show everyone what you have achieved or discovered, so you need to impart this knowledge as clearly as possible. ...