How do I reference a newspaper article… in the Cranfield Author-date style?

Newspaper articles can prove an invaluable source of data and analysis for your research, providing insights into industries and markets and current affairs.

Just like any other source, they require proper citations and references when used in an assignment. Unsure? Read on for more information.

In-text citations:

Following the same style as journal articles, where you refer to a newspaper article in your text, you would use the author(s)’ surname(s) and the year of publication (remember also to include the page number wherever you quote directly). You can either work these details into your text, e.g. “Paton (2006)  reports that….”, or place them entirely inside brackets at an appropriate point in your text, e.g. “(Paton, 2016)”.

What should your Author-date reference include?

At the end of your work, your bibliography or reference list should include full bibliographic references for all your sources.  Your newspaper article reference should include:

• Author(s) surname(s) and initials
• (Year of publication)
• ‘Article title’,
• Newspaper title,
• (Edition – if known – e.g. Evening edition)
• Day and month,
• Page(s).

And how should it look?

Paton, G. (2016) ‘Crime chiefs join forces to cut drink-drive limit’, The Times, 22 February, p. 4.

If your article was accessed online via the newspaper’s website:

Paton, G. (2016) ‘Crime chiefs join forces to cut drink-drive limit’, The Times, 22 February. Available at: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4696227.ece (Accessed: 22 February 2016).

If your article was accessed online via a database such as Factiva:

Paton, G. (2016) ‘Crime chiefs join forces to cut drink-drive limit’, The Times, 22 February. Available at: https://global.factiva.com/ (Accessed: 22 February 2016).

Any questions?

As always if you have any questions about referencing, pop into MIRC or contact us.