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MHRA Referencing Guide
MHRA (Modern Humanities Research Association) is commonly used in arts and humanities subjects. It is stylistically very similar to MLA referencing, but with a few critical differences.
MHRA referencing Overview
Key things to remember
There are two types of citation in MHRA referencing: footnotes, which are marked in text with a number by the citation and detailed in full at the bottom of the page, and bibliographies, which should include all works directly cited in the piece as well as any sources which have been examined in relation to the subject.
Footnotes should be displayed in text like this:
'Lille and Cranmer1 purport that this is the best option for modern restaurant-goers.'
The full citation that would be found at the bottom of the page would then be presented like so:
1 Jennifer Lille and Elsa Cranmer, Savvy: A Restaurant Guide. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2005), p. 25.
Subsequent citations of the same source in the footnotes can be condensed – e.g.:
1 Lille and Cranmer, p. 27.
A full citation for this source would also be found in the bibliography: the only difference is that in the bibliography, the author's surname is listed first. These should be displayed alphabetically by author's surname.
1. Books
Citations for books with one author:
Last name, first name. Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). (City of publication: Publisher, Year).
For example:
Davis, Bryan. A History of Chocolate. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2011).
Davis, Bryan. A History of Chocolate. 3rd ed. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2013).
Citations for books with two or three authors:
Last name, first name and Last name, first name. Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). (City of publication: Publisher, Year).
For example:
Jones, Felicity and Hughes, Sam. Eating Out: A Definitive Restaurant Handbook. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2006).
Evans, Drew, McDonald, Fenella and Jackson, Trig. Getting the best service. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2008).
Citations for books with four or more authors:
If a book has four or more authors, only the first author's name should be listed in-text followed by 'and others' (NOT et al.). In the reference list, you can either list all authors or just the first author's name followed by 'and others'.
Last name, first name, Last name, first name, Last name, first name, and Last name, first name. Title. (City of publication: Publisher, Year).
For example:
James, Patrick, Croft, David, Levin, Susan and Doe, Andrew. How to Succeed in the Restaurant Industry. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 1998).
James, Patrick and others. How to Succeed in the Restaurant Industry. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 1998).
Citations for a chapter in an edited book:
When citing a single chapter in a larger book, it is important to ensure that you add the page range (pp.) that the chapter spans.
Last name, first name. 'Chapter name' in Book title, ed. by Editor/s name/s. (City of publication: Publisher, Year). Page/s.
For example:
King, Sandra. 'The best wines and where to find them' in Fine Wine: A Guide, ed. by Edward Loftus. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2010). pp. 28-46.
Citations for multiple books by the same author:
In text, the author's texts can usually be differentiated by year. They should be listed in chronological order of publication. Where you are citing two works by the same author which were published in the same year, these should be labelled with 'a', 'b', 'c' and so on directly after the year.
Last name, first name. Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher, Year.
For example:
Brown, Graham. Mexican Food. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2011).
Brown, Graham. Japanese Food. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2014).
Brown, Graham. Chinese Food. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2015a).
Brown, Graham. Italian Food. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2015b).
2. Articles
Citations for Print Journals
Last name, First initial. "Article Title," Journal name, Volume.Issue (Year): Page/s.
For example:
Jenkins, Oliver. "Unusual Recipes and Cantonese Cuisine," Culinary Research, Volume 5.8 (1996): pp. 47-59.
Citations for Journal Articles accessed on a website or database
Last name, First initial. "Article Title." Journal name, Volume.Issue (Year): Page/s. <URL> [Accessed date].
For example:
Jenkins, Oliver. "Unusual Recipes and Cantonese Cuisine," Culinary Research, Volume 5.8 (1996): pp. 47-59. < http://j.culinaryresearch.2010.10.009> [Accessed 12 May 2015].
Citations for Newspaper or magazine Articles – Print or Online:
Newspaper or magazine citations are rendered similarly to journal articles; the same differences in formatting occur, as the example below illustrates.
Last name, First name. 'Article title.' Newspaper name, Date published, Page/s.
Last name, First name. 'Article Title.' Newspaper name, Date published, Page/s. <URL> [Accessed date]
For example:
Bell, Yvette. 'Man with unusual tastes eats chalk for breakfast'. The Weekly Herald. April 23 2016: p. 4.
Lees, Peter. 'Freaky eaters'. The Weekly Herald 14 December 2013. <www.theweeklyheraldonline.com/freakyeaters2015> [Accessed 11 December 2014].
3. Online sources
Citations for websites:
When citing a website, it is important to ascertain authorship of the website – if it's an article on website which is not a newspaper/magazine site or online journal, there may be an individual author; if not, the organisation or website name would be credited with authorship.
Author/Source if no specific author, "Title of web document/page," Website name [medium]. Date published/ last updated if available. [date cited] Available from: <URL>
For example:
HealthTips, "Superfoods and where to find them," HealthTips.com [online] updated 11 June 2014 [cited 23 June 2016]. Available from: <www.healthtipsarticles.com/superfoodsandwheretofindthem>
4. Images/visual mediums
Citations for films/videos/DVDs:
Full Title of Film/Video/DVD. Dir. Name of Director. Names of key performers if appropriate. Film studio or maker. Year. Format if appropriate.
For example:
The World's Best Curries. Dir. Jackson Hertz. Foodie Studios. 2008.
Citations for YouTube videos:
Username of contributor. "Video Title". Year. <URL> [Accessed on: date].
For example:
Yummydishes. "Egg custard – simple recipe!". 2013. <www.youtube.com/yummydisheseggcustard> [Accessed on: 3 December 2015].
Citations for images/photographs – Print or Online:
Last name, first name. Title of image. Year. Type of medium. Site of photograph, city.
Last name, first name. Title of image. Year. Type of medium. Site of photograph, city. Website title. Medium. Date accessed. <URL> [accessed: date].
For example:
Hewer, Drella. Women enjoying a cup of tea. 1995. Photograph. London, Food Photography Library.
Hewer, Drella. Women enjoying a cup of tea. 1995. Photograph. London, Food Photography Library. PhotoToday.com. Website. 14 April 2016. <www.phototoday/dhewerteaphoto> [accessed: 4 May 2014].
5. Other source types
Citations for reports:
Organisation/author/s. Full title of report. (Place of publication: Publisher, Year).
For example:
Marks and Spencers. A report on the sales of '2 Dine for £10'. (London: M&S Publications, 2008).
Citations for dissertations:
Last name of author, first name. Title of dissertation. (Level, Official name of university, year published).
For example:
Neath, G. An examination of Mexican food in popular culture. (Masters thesis. Oxford Brookes University: 1998).
Citations for government/official publications:
Country of publication. Government agency/Last name of author, first name. Title of document. (City of publication: publisher, year).
For example:
Great Britain. UK Government. Nutrition and Young People. (London: Government Publications, 2013.
Citations for interviews:
Last name of interviewer, first name. "Title/description of interview." (Location, Year).
For example:
Ferman, Helen. Interview. "Discussing cooking". (Delicious Magazine, 6 October 2011).
Citations for presentations/lectures:
Last name of author, first name. "Presentation/lecture title." Event name if relevant. Location if relevant. Date presented/accessed. Format.
For example:
Yates, Richard. "The benefits of herbs." 3 August 2008. PowerPoint Presentation.
Citations for music:
Performer/writer's last name, first name. Recording title. Conductor/director. Year. Format. CD/LP reference number if available.
For example:
Luce, Frankie. Delicious. Cameron DeLuca/ 1996. CD recording. CD 487 685-3.
Citations for dictionaries:
"Entry name". Def. number. Full title of dictionary. (Place of publication: Publisher, Year).
For example:
"Food". Def. 1. Wordy's modern dictionary. (Nottingham: Delectable Publications, 2010).