Skip to main content
  1. Library
  2. Study and research support
  3. Referencing
  4. Leeds Numeric referencing examples
  5. Book

Leeds Numeric: Book

Reference examples

Family name, INITIAL(S). Title. Edition (if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

The name of the publisher can usually be located on the front cover or spine of the book. The place of publication is usually the main office of the publisher and can be found on the copyright page near the beginning of the book. 

Examples:

Adams, A.D. Electric transmission of water power. New York: McGraw, 1906.

Finch, E. and Fafinski, S.  Legal skills. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Book as a volume in a series

If you are referencing a book that is part of a series, you should reference as follows:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Book title. Series title, Volume number. Edition (if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

Example:

Bowlby, J. Separation. Attachment and loss series, Vol 3. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 1998.

Editor(s)

If you are referencing a book with an editor rather than an author, this should be indicated in the reference.

Family name, INITIAL(S) (of editor). ed(s). Title. Edition (if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

Examples:

Crandell, K.A. ed. The evolution of HIV. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1999.

Wexler, P., van der Kolk, J., Mohapatra, A. and Agarwal, R. eds. Chemicals, environment, health: a global management perspective. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2012.

For an edited book with chapters written by different authors, see Book chapter (in an edited book).

Author and editor

Family name, INITIAL(S) of author. Title. Edition (if not first edition). Family name, INITIAL(S) of editor. ed(s). Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

Example:

Hobbes, T. Leviathan. Malcolm, N. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Translated book

You should reference exactly what you read so, if you read a translation, you should reference the translated version. Include the details of the author(s) or editor(s) of the work and also the details of the translator(s).

Family name, INITIAL(S). Title. Edition (if not first edition). Translated by INITIAL(S) Family name. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

Examples:

Kafka, F. Metamorphosis and other stories. Translated by M. Hoffman. New York: Penguin Books, 2007.

García Márquez, G. One hundred years of solitude. Translated by G. Rabassa. London: Jonathan Cape, 1970.

Author, editor and translator

Family name, INITIAL(S) of author(s). Title. Edition (if not first edition). Family name, INITIAL(S) of editor(s). ed(s). Translated by INITIAL(S) Family name. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

Example:

Freud, S. Civilization and its discontents. Rev ed. Strachey, J. ed. Translated by J. Riviere. London: Hogarth Press, 1963.

Citation examples

Standard citation

Every citation should be labelled within your text by using a number in brackets (1).
You should insert the citation number directly after a source is referred to in your text, even if this is in the middle of your sentence. It is acceptable to place a citation number at the end of a paragraph, if the entire paragraph is referring to the same source.

Examples:
Aitchison (1) suggests that language change is inevitable, but not a bad thing.
One leading expert suggests that language change is inevitable, but is not a bad thing (1).

The first item you cite is allocated number 1, the second item is allocated number 2, and so on throughout your piece of work.

Once a source has been allocated a number, this number is used again if you refer to the same source at a later point in your work.

If you use the name of the author(s) of a souce within the text and there are three or more authors for the source, then the name of the first author shoule be given, followed by the phrase "et al.".

Example:

Southgate et al. (1) emphasised that references should be presented in a consistent manner.

When to include page numbers

You should include page numbers if you quote directly from the text, paraphrase specific ideas or explanations, or use an image, diagram, table, etc. from a source.

Example:

"It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent" (1, p.24).

When referencing a single page, you should use p.

For a range of pages, use pp.

Example:

p.7 or pp.20-29.

If the page numbers are in Roman numerals, do not include p. before them.

Example:

(5, iv)

Common issues

When you're referencing with Leeds Numeric you may come across issues with missing details, multiple authors, edited books, references to another author's work or online items, to name a few. Here are some tips on how to deal with some common issues when using Leeds Numeric.

Skip straight to the issue that affects you: