References - Bottom of page? End of chapter? All together? Opinions, please.

[Dorm Ant]

Quick canvas of opinion: When reading non-fiction/reference/text books that contain references, do you prefer...

The references to be all together in a section at the back of the book?
Or on a special page at the end of each chapter?
Or as footnotes on each page?
Or even, like students do, incorporated into the body of the text, formatted Harvard style?

 

[Hannah F]

Depends on the book. If it is an academic-style textbook, I like Harvard or numbers at the same places with numbered references at the back (in chronological order). For narrative non-fiction, it depends on the number of references. If there are a lot, I'd prefer numbers at the referencing point and references at the back. If there's only the occasional reference, I'd prefer footnotes. I don't like narrative non-fiction layout where the footnote part is almost as long, on the page, as the narration.
A page at the end of each chapter means having to find it whereas it's easy just to turn to the pages at the back of the book. (I read print copies. I suspect footnotes might be easier for scrollers.)

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I agree with Hannah; however, your publisher may have a style sheet. Personally, I prefer footnotes that are digressions and expansions of the text to be with the text, preferably rewritten to be part of it. Not everyone reads the footnotes, but I do. If a footnote is merely a citation, then having it at the end of the book makes sense. Hope this helps.

 

[James Charles]

I like them at the bottom of the page so I can quickly look down, then back up instead of flipping pages trying to find them.

 

[Dorm Ant]

I agree with Hannah; however, your publisher may have a style sheet. Personally, I prefer footnotes that are digressions and expansions of the text to be with the text, preferably rewritten to be part of it. Not everyone reads the footnotes, but I do. If a footnote is merely a citation, then having it at the end of the book makes sense. Hope this helps.

I asked them. They said there's no standard style on this.

They would just be citations. For example, I mention in the text "According to the United Nations..." and then cite the report or website entry that I'm referring to. Just to be clear that I'm not shitting.

 

[Brayati]

Most of the non-fiction I've read recently has that type of in text reference number has the citation listed either at the end of the chapter or end of the book. When done in an ebook, the reference number is clicked to show the citation, so it won't matter where it's placed.
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers (technical books) uses end of chapter.

 

[izi 出久]

I prefer footnotes. Often, I reference the notes, and it's annoying to me to need to flip to the end of the book or chapter every time.

 

[Dorm Ant]

It's a 20K manuscript, as opposed to a massive coffee table book or textbook, so will only have four chapters.

I think I'm going to put the references at the end of each chapter.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I asked them. They said there's no standard style on this.

They would just be citations. For example, I mention in the text "According to the United Nations..." and then cite the report or website entry that I'm referring to. Just to be clear that I'm not shitting.

Just to save yourself more work later, you might determine if there is a UK style sheet. @AgentPete would know. There are several in the US, and when you submit to a publisher, they usually specify which style they want. You might also look at Zotero (Zotero | Your personal research assistant), an open source citation tool that automates much of the work involved in formatting the citations. It integrates with web browsers and with Scrivener and Word.

 

[izi 出久]

Just to save yourself more work later, you might determine if there is a UK style sheet. @AgentPete would know. There are several in the US, and when you submit to a publisher, they usually specify which style they want. You might also look at Zotero (Zotero | Your personal research assistant), an open source citation tool that automates much of the work involved in formatting the citations. It integrates with web browsers and with Scrivener and Word.

Zotero proved invaluable during my capstone project.

 

[AgentPete]

Just to save yourself more work later, you might determine if there is a UK style sheet. @AgentPete would know.

I’m notoriously negligent at this kind of thing Fortunately, my better half is as good as I’m bad… will ask her...

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I asked them. They said there's no standard style on this.

They would just be citations. For example, I mention in the text "According to the United Nations..." and then cite the report or website entry that I'm referring to. Just to be clear that I'm not shitting.

If it's citations, I prefer them all together at the back, unless your chapters are quite distinct topics. Then I'd put them at the end of each chapter (because a reader could find them easily if they wondered where you'd gotten your info about a particular topic). Little diversions that add depth to the narrative, I prefer at the bottom of the page, because understanding them requires their context in the narrative.

 

[AgentPete]

OK, so here’s the considered reply from Peggy… without whose patient sustentation my own words would appear as if the product of a blithering buffoon…

---

Peggy writes...

What an interesting question to consider!

I think that referencing appears rather arduous and can seem to threaten both the ‘flow’ and succinctness of one’s writing. However, I have come to think of it very differently, realizing that it supports my efforts and also allows the reader to trust me.

‘Write for the reader’ is a motto that I nail to my forehead. When I answer to who is my reader? and what is my topic? the referencing style most compatible to that combination tends to surface.

The ‘naked page’ style is my term for no brackets or referencing numbers in the text. It allows a nearly-conversational style of writing by simply telling the reader what, when and where happened to create a reference. An event such as a conference gathering or television interview, for instance, can be written into the narrative. This can easily include a quote, too. All the information is there, given to the reader in one ‘picture’ that does not require them to relocate their attention.

I adore the asterisk. Not so much when I am writing, as in my own reading. It is not in the least terrifying. I don’t have to turn a page and I don’t have to get up and open the dictionary. A foreign word or an antiquated device can be explained in a line or two at the bottom of the page. Job done.

Next is a referencing style that places Notes at the back of the book but leaves the reader’s page clear. The Note gives only the book’s page number, followed by a line of text to help the reader find their place on that page. This line of text can be a quote, a sentence beginning or simply a general concept. The rest of the Note can be anything that supports or enhances the writing on the page.

I enjoy this style, both as a reader and a writer. It delivers the essentials – such as a citation - and can sometimes build a relaxed and delightful sense of companionship. The Note can accommodate a digression or a not-many-people-know-that tidbit of information that adds colour to the topic.

The other referencing styles use numbering on the reader’s page. I understand that some readers find this unpleasant because they worry the book will be too academic for them. Reducing font size of the super-script numbering is perhaps one way to deal with this reaction. However, I notice that I very quickly ‘stop seeing’ the numbering while I am reading. It only ‘re-appears’ when I mentally ask myself a question about what I have just read.

The exception is while reading scientific or medical research papers. OMG! These are all about numbers and abbreviations and, though fascinating and well-organized, are a very different sort of reading experience. A glass of wine, please!

 

[Dorm Ant]

Thanks to Peggy for this reply. From looking at my book plan, I'll only have about 10 books/websites/studies to reference, so I will put them on one page at the back of the book with a subscript bracketed number in the text.