How do I reference a case study… in the Cranfield Author-date style?

If you have read our previous post Looking for case studies?, you’ll have discovered some of the best MIRC resources for finding case studies on a topic or company.

Now that you know the top sources for case studies, you now need to know how to reference and cite one in your work. If your case study is published in a journal, you just need to follow the format for referencing a journal article. For example:

Ojasalo, J. (2008) ‘Management of innovation networks: a case study of different approaches’, European Journal of Innovation Management, 11 (1), pp. 51-86.

Poczter, S. L. and Jankovic, L. M. (2014) ‘The Google Car: Driving Toward A Better Future?’, Journal of Business Case Studies, 10 (1). Available at: http://www.cluteinstitute.com/ojs/index.php/JBCS/article/view/8324 (Accessed: 21 October 2015).

If your case study isn’t published as a journal article, then you need to use the following format. Don’t worry it isn’t as difficult as it sounds!

This is what you need to include in your Author-date reference:

• Author(s) (surname, initials) or organisation
• (Year of publication)
• Number/identifier of case study (if available)
• Title of case
• Place of publication: Publisher

If the case study is available online, you can add the following:

• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date)

Here are some examples of what your bibliographic references might look like in the Author-date style:

Aaker, J. and Chang, V. (2010) Case No. M321: Obama and the power of social media and technology. Stanford: Stanford Business School.

Max, S. (2014) A Small Brand Tries to Escape the Confusing Shadow of a Big Brand. New York: The New York Times. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/business/smallbusiness/a-small-brand-tries-to-escape-the-confusing-shadow-of-a-big-brand.html?ref=topics&_r=0 (Accessed: 21 October 2015).

Polzer, J. T. (2003) Leading Teams. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

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