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Academic Skills: UCS Footnotes (MHRA)

This guide provides information and instruction for developing academic, information, and digital literacy skills.

UCS Harvard style

University of Suffolk Footnotes (MHRA) Style

The preferred referencing style for citations and bibliographies for History students is University of Suffolk Footnotes, or MHRA.

Learning Services at University of Suffolk often runs workshops on the principles of using the University of Suffolk Footnotes referencing style,
but you can also schedule a one-to-one appointment with either your Academic Skills Advisor or Academic Liaison Librarian.  
Advice can also be obtained from Library staff at each of the University of Suffolk centres.

Footnotes appear in text whenever evidence is presented to support information, evidence or an interpretation of an argument. They are indicated in the text by a number, and run continuously through the text. Footnotes may be presented as superscript or in square brackets.

A bibliography is also presented at the end of your work, listing, alphabetically, all materials read and used in the writing of the work.

University of Suffolk Harvard Style University of Suffolk APA Style University of Suffolk Footnotes (MHRA)  RefWorks and Reference Management

Creating your Bibliography

Final bibliography - key points

  • An alphabetical list of all the sources used in producing the piece of work.
  • Laid out exactly as for full-reference footnotes.
  • Works by the same author should be listed in date order, earliest first.
  • Do not give individual page number for books or articles.
  • Do give page ranges for any particular book chapters or articles used.

Final bibliography

D. Andress, French Society in Revolution; 1789-1799, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999).

D. Andress, 'The Denial of Social Conflict in the French Revolution: Discourses around the Champ de Mars Massacre, 17 July 1791', French Historical Studies, 22, 1999, pp.183-209.

W. Doyle, Origins of the French Revolution, Second edition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, [first edition 1908]).

C. Lucas, 'Nobles, Bourgeois and the Origins of the French Revolution', in G. Kates (ed.), The French Revolution: Recent Debates and New Controversies, (London: Routledge, 1998), pp.44-67.

Final bibliography - key points

  • An alphabetical list of all the sources used in producing the piece of work.
  • Laid out exactly as for full-reference footnotes, apart from the following: Surname first, followed by forename(s) or initial(s)
  • Works by the same author should be listed in date order, earliest first.
  • Do not give individual page number for books or articles.
  • Do give page ranges for any particular book chapters or articles used.

Final bibliography

Andress, D.  French Society in Revolution; 1789-1799, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999).

Andress, D. 'The Denial of Social Conflict in the French Revolution: Discourses around the Champ de Mars Massacre, 17 July 1791', French Historical Studies, 22, 1999, pp.183-209.

Doyle, W.  Origins of the French Revolution, Second edition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, [first edition 1908]).

Lucas, C.  'Nobles, Bourgeois and the Origins of the French Revolution', in The French Revolution: Recent Debates and New Controversies, ed. by G. Kates (London: Routledge, 1998), pp.44-67.

Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) Guide

The principles for laying out your citations and references are found in the following text:

RefWorks Bibliographic Management Tool

RefWorks enables you to collect all your references in one place, together with any other files such as full-text pdfs, and then create citations and full references for any assignment, according to the required reference styles. This resource is available online and can be used anywhere.

Additional information is available under the Referencing tab

Printable Guides

For additional guidance, access the printable MHRA Reference guide from below

Footnotes

Books by one or more author - the first reference to the source per text

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

In the first instance per text, the footnotes must provide full details of the source as presented below.

  • Author / Editor: Initial. Surname
  • Title of the book (in italics, with the initial letter of each noun, verb or adjective capitalised, and where it is the first word in a subtitle, after a colon.)
  • Edition (indicate the date of the edition used and then add the date of the first edition [first edition date])
  • Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication (all in round brackets)
  • Page numbers (p. for single pages or pp. for multiple pages)

Note: the place of publication is always a town or city, never a county or country.

Where there are multiple authors:

  • For 2 authors - separate the authors using 'and'
  • For more than 2 authors - list all the authors and separate using a comma, except for the last author which should be separated using 'and'

Single author - single page

[1] D. Andress, French Society in Revolution, 1789-1799, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999), p. 7.

Single author - multiple pages

[2] D. Andress, French Society in Revolution, 1789-1799, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999), pp.1-7.

Multiple authors (2)

[3] G. Shapiro and J. Markoff, Revolutionary Demands: A content Analysis of the Cahiers De Doleances of 1789, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998), p. 97.

Multiple authors (more than 2) and multiple editions

[4] I. Budge, I. Crewe, D. Mackay and K. Newton, The New British Politics, Fourth edition, (London: Longman, 2007 [first edition 1998]), p.101.

Books by one or more author - subsequent references to the source per text

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

Subsequent references should give abbreviated details of the source. This should include:

  •  Author's surname
  • First significant word of phrase from the title (leaving out 'the' or 'A') giving enough to distinguish the text from any other sources you may be citing)
  • Page numbers specifically referred to(p. or pp.)


Book by single author - subsequent reference

[5] Andress, French Society in Revolution, p.7.

Book by multiple authors - subsequent reference

[6] Shapiro and Markoff, Revolutionary Demands, pp.95-98.

Book with multiple editions

[7] Doyle, Origins of the French Revolution, p.92.

Print chapter - in an edited book, first reference

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author of the chapter: Initial. Surname,
  • 'Chapter full title', (in single quotation marks)
  • in
  • Book full title (in italics),
  • Editor: Initial. Surname
  • Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication (all in round brackets),
  • Page numbers (p. or pp.)


[8] C. Lucas, 'Nobles, bourgeois and the Origins of the French Revolution', in The French Revolution: Recent debates and new controversies, ed. by G. Kates (London: Routledge, 1998), p.56.

Print chapter in an edited book, subsequent reference

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author of the chapter surname,
  • 'Shortened chapter title', (note it is not always possible to shorten the title)
  • Page numbers specifically referred to (p. or pp.)


[9] Lucas, 'Nobles, Bourgeois and the Origins of the French Revolution', p.56.

Indirect source

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author of the quotation: Initial. Surname,
  • Title of the quoted book, (in italics)
  • Edition (if not the first edition)
  • Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication, [first edition date](all in round brackets)
  • Page numbers, (p. or pp.)
  • quoted in
  • Author of the full source: Initial. Surname,
  • Title of the source book, (in italics)
  • Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication, (all in round brackets)
  • Page numbers (p. or pp.)


[10] D. Andress, French Society in Revolution, 1789-1799, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999), p.7 quoted in J. Sperber, Revolutionary Europe 1780-1850, (Harlow: Longman, 2000), p. 123.

[11] W. Doyle, Origins of the French Revolution, Second edition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988 [first edition 1980]), p.92, quoted in D. Andress, French Society in Revolution, 1789-1799, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999), p.7.

Journals by one or more authors - first reference

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author / Editor: Initial. Surname,
  • Title of the journal article, (in single quotation marks, with the initial letter of each noun, verb or adjective capitalised, and where it is the first word in a subtitle, after a colon.)
  • Journal Title, (in italics)
  • Volume number,
  • Year,
  • Page numbers.(p. or pp.)


Single author

[1] D. Andress, 'The Denial of Social Conflict in the French Revolution: Discourses around the Champ de Mars Massacre, 17 July 1791', French Historical Studies, 22, 1999, p.206.

Journals by one or more author - subsequent references to the source per text

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

Subsequent references should give abbreviated details of the source. This should include:

  • Article author surname,
  • 'Short article title', (in single quotation marks)
  • Page numbers (p. or pp.)


[2] Andress, 'Denial of Social Conflict', p.206

References for websites and other internet based sources

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author, (if there is one) Initial. Surname
  • 'Title of article or page,' (in single quotation marks)
  • Website title, (follow with website)
  • URL of article <in angled brackets>
  • Date article or page was published or last updated,
  • Accessed date [in square brackets]
  • Any notes on the source.
   

Web page where an author is identifiable

[1] A. Easthorpe, 'In defence of history', IHR website, <www.history.ac.uk/discourse/anthony.html> June 1999, [accessed on 14 February 2013] Note: This review first appeared in Textual Practice, Vol. 12, no.3 (Winter 1998).

Webpage where there is no author

[2] 'Holocaust Denier Irving is jailed', BBC News website, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4733820.stm, 20 February 2006, accessed on 14 February 2013.

References for archival sources

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Name of Records Office of Archive, (abbreviated) and including location details (e.g. specific office)
  • Reference number,
  • Description of document. (including any given dates)


Document from Suffolk Records Office - Ipswich. SRO (I)

[1] SRO (I), HD1689/1, Needham Market War Diary of Mr E.W.Platten, 3 September 1939-30 March 1945.

Document from Cumbria Records Office - Carlisle. CRO (C)

[2] CRO (C), DWM 419/372, Derwent Conservancy Board Minute Books. 1880-1891.

References for newspaper articles

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author / Editor: Initial. Surname,
  • 'Title of the article', (in single quotation marks)
  • Title of newspaper (in italics),
  • Date,
  • Section if applicable,
  • Page number (p. or pp.)


M. Schmidt, 'Tragedy of three star-crossed lovers', Daily Telegraph, 1 February 1990, p.14.

J. Friedland, 'Across the divide', Guardian, 15 January 2002, Section G2, pp.10-11.

References for Parliamentary papers

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Type of paper, E.g. British Parliamentary Paper (or BPP)
  • Year,
  • Reference number,
  • Title of the paper or document, (in italics)
  • Description of document,
  • page number (p. or pp.)


British Parliamentary Paper

[1] BPP, 1861, XXIII, Royal Commission into the Salmon Fisheries, Minutes of Evidence, (E. Peplow, fisherman, Severn) p.245.

The following guidance is for the presentation of multiple sources in the same reference, i.e. you have written a sentence which refers to more than one historical argument.

References with multiple sources.

Footnote order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

For each of the sources to be included cite it using the standard format as indicated in this guide, remembering to use shortened formats are being cited for the second time in the piece of work.