How to mhra reference a journal article

Overview

The Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) referencing style is commonly used in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It is characterized by its use of footnotes or endnotes for in-text citations, followed by a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the work. This system allows for detailed commentary and source attribution within the footnotes while maintaining a clear overview of all consulted materials in the bibliography.

How to Reference a Journal Article in MHRA Style

Footnotes/Endnotes

When citing a journal article for the first time in a footnote or endnote, you should provide all the necessary bibliographic information to uniquely identify the source. The general format is:

1. Author's First Name Last Name, 'Title of Article', Title of Journal, Volume Number (Year), Page Number(s).

Example:

1. Jane Doe, 'The Evolution of Baroque Music', Journal of Musicology, vol. 25, no. 2 (2018), pp. 112-130.

Key elements explained:

• Author's Name: First name followed by last name.
• Article Title: Enclosed in single quotation marks ('), with major words capitalized.
• Journal Title: Italicized (Title of Journal), with major words capitalized.
• Volume and Issue: Preceded by 'vol.' and 'no.' respectively.
• Year of Publication: Enclosed in parentheses ().
• Page Numbers: Followed by 'pp.' for multiple pages, or 'p.' for a single page. If referring to a specific page, list that page number.

Subsequent Citations

For subsequent citations of the same source within your text, you can use a shortened form. This typically includes the author's last name, a shortened version of the article title (if necessary to distinguish from other works by the same author), and the specific page number(s) being referenced.

Example:

2. Doe, 'Evolution of Baroque Music', p. 115.

Alternatively, if only one work by the author is cited, the title may be omitted:

3. Doe, p. 120.

If you are citing a different work by the same author, you must include the title to differentiate them.

Bibliography

The bibliography, placed at the end of your document, provides a complete alphabetical list of all sources you have cited. For journal articles, the format in the bibliography is similar to the first footnote citation, but without page numbers related to a specific reference within the text. Instead, it lists the journal's pagination.

The general format for a journal article in the bibliography is:

1. Author's Last Name, First Name, 'Title of Article', Title of Journal, Volume (Year), pp. Page range of the article.

Example:

Doe, Jane, 'The Evolution of Baroque Music', Journal of Musicology, vol. 25 (2018), pp. 112-130.

Key differences for bibliography:

• Author's last name comes first.
• No specific page number of your reference is included, only the total page range of the article.
• The year is not in parentheses.

Online Journal Articles

If you are referencing an article accessed online, you should include the URL and the date you accessed it. The format is:

1. Author's First Name Last Name, 'Title of Article', Title of Journal, Volume (Year), pp. Page range, <URL> [accessed Date].

Example:

4. Smith, John, 'Digital Art and its Impact', Art History Today, vol. 10 (2020), pp. 45-60, <http://www.arthistorytoday.com/digitalart> [accessed 15 October 2023].

The bibliography entry would be:

Smith, John, 'Digital Art and its Impact', Art History Today, vol. 10 (2020), pp. 45-60, <http://www.arthistorytoday.com/digitalart>.

Important Considerations:

• Consistency: Adhere strictly to the MHRA guidelines throughout your document.
• Punctuation: Pay close attention to commas, periods, italics, and quotation marks as they are specific in MHRA style.
• Abbreviations: Use standard abbreviations for terms like 'volume' (vol.), 'number' (no.), and 'pages' (pp.).
• Style Guides: Always refer to the official MHRA Style Guide or your institution's specific adaptation for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively and accurately reference journal articles using the MHRA style, ensuring academic integrity and clarity in your scholarly work.