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

Journal articles are probably the most common type of publication you will come across in your studies. With that in mind, knowing how to reference them correctly is key to getting the marks you deserve.

Here’s what you need to include in a journal article reference:

• Author(s) surname(s) and initials
• (Year of publication)
• ‘Title of paper’
• Journal title
• Volume (Issue), where available
• Page range

…and how it should look…

Macdonald, E., Kleinaltenkamp, M. and Wilson, H. (2016) ‘How Business Customers Judge Solutions: Solution Quality and Value in Use’, Journal of Marketing, 80 (3), pp. 96-120.

Szwejczewski, M., Goffin, K. and Anagnostopoulos, Z. (2015) ‘Product service systems, after-sales service and new product development’, International Journal of Production Research, 53 (17), pp. 5334-5353.

What if my article has no author listed?

If you find that your article has no obvious author, then you will need to use the journal title in place of the author’s name…

The Economist (2016) ‘Tug of war; Brexit and the union’, The Economist, 419 (8992), p. 25.

What if I accessed my journal article online or it is online-only?

There is no need to indicate that you found your article online e.g. via EBSCO or ABI/Inform etc. However, if your article is only published online (and not in paper format) then you will need to add in the article URL and the date on which you accessed it…

Kokko, R., Tingvall, P. G. and Videnord, J. (2015) ‘The Growth Effects of R&D Spending in the EU: A Meta-Analysis’, Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 9 (2015-40). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2015-40 (Accessed 4 June 2016).

Any questions?

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

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