Oxford Citation Style. How it Works?

(The writer was unable to find history on Oxford citation. The writer did comprehensive research and had no concrete leads in finding accurate information regarding the history of this format. As such, there’s no exact data available either. Therefore, the writer has written a comprehensive article on how Oxford citation works).

There are numerous citations and referencing styles you might have heard about. APA is one of the most common ones and is largely taught all over the world as well. Citing your academic work is really important and serves multiple benefits. One of the biggest advantages is that it saves you from plagiarism. Academic integrity plays a huge role in academia all over the world. Whether you are doing new research work or following someone else’s work, using proper citation as a referencing tool is crucial.

What is Oxford citation style?

Aside from APA or MLA citation styles, there are other citation methods, one of which includes the unique Oxford citation. The Oxford style incorporates a note citation system. In this style, a superscript number is added in the point of the academic essay where you wish to cite the work of another author. At the end of the same page, you need to repeat the superscript number and then mention the full details, which include the work of the author and the page number of the piece you are citing. You need to start the footnote from 1 and then continue the sequence and the article without missing the count.

Now, here is a footnote example that might help you understand things with a better idea:

This is the sort of system which is commonly known as the documentary-note system. What makes Oxford different from APA and Harvard is that this type of citation requires footnotes at the end of the page instead of the in-text citation styles used in the other two types.

In this style of citation, there are two elements:

1. In-text citation (Superscript number)
2. Reference list

In-text citation:

The in-text citation in itself includes two parts:

1. Superscript number present in the written text
2. Note present in footnote (bottom of the page)

The notes are to be sequentially numbered, starting with 1 in the superscript then throughout the paper, chapter or article. The name of the author or the initial of their name needs to come in the beginning followed by citing the title of the work, the place of the publication, the publisher (if any), followed by the date of the publication and then the reference page. If you wish to refer to the same author and their work, then you need to just use the last name of the author and the page number of the material you are citing.

Here is an in-text citation example:

¹ C Neville, The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism, 2nd edn, Open University Press, New York, 2010, p. 25

Reference List

Your academic paper or article will be incomplete if you do not include a reference list in the end of the work. In other types of citation, the reference list has different names such as bibliography. In Oxford style, it is denoted as a reference list.

A reference list is known as the display of all the material you have used in the academic work in alphabetical order, using the last name of the author. In case you cited the work of the same other more than once, you may want to arrange them by their date. In this style, you will use the initials of the name of the authors. You have to use full stops and add no space when writing their initials. Remember, the last name comes before the first name.

Using the Oxford style, here’s an example of how you cite references in the reference list:

Neville, C, The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism, 2nd edn, Open University Press, New York, 2010.

Just like any other referencing style, you have to ensure that following Oxford referencing style meets the requirement of the subject/discipline and that you have used it correctly. When publishing your work, publishers carefully look if you have followed the right method and requirements or not and in case you haven’t, it could potentially lead to rejection. The same is the case when any college assignment as it could result in deduction of your works.

Always remember to cite the work of others to avoid any sort of plagiarism or penalty. Enjoy researching and here’s to hoping that you research on something phenomenal!