Referencing guide for DE100 (OU Harvard Style)

This guide summarises referencing rules for the types of sources you will engage with most frequently on DE100, but
it does not cover all types of source material. If you would like more information about referencing, or want to
reference a source that is not described in this summary, please consult the library OU Harvard referencing
guidelines, available here: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620

In-text citations & reference list

In order to reference properly, you need to use in-text citations and provide a reference list.
In-text citations are included in the body of your report or essay (and are included in the word count).
The reference list is a complete list of the sources that you cited in the text, presented in alphabetical order at the
end of your piece of work (and not normally included in the word count).

If a source is referenced correctly it should allow someone reading your essay to find the relevant information in the
source that you have cited. The format of the reference depends on the type of source material.

Textbook chapter
On DE100 you will often be asked to cite material from chapters in the module textbooks: Investigating Psychology
and Investigating Methods. The examples here are drawn from Investigating Psychology. This is an edited textbook,
and the editors are Brace and Byford; however, they are not the authors of all of the individual chapters, and it is the
author name you must include in the citation. Page 57 of Investigating Psychology identifies Philip Banyard as the
author of chapter two. The examples here show you how to cite content from this chapter. Although the author’s
full name is provided in the textbook, you will see that the author’s forename is not part of either in-text citations
(surname only) or reference list entries (surname and initial).
In-text citation when writing in your own words
Milgram was an eminent social psychologist, particularly noted for his ground-breaking studies into obedience
(Banyard, 2012).
Banyard (2012) describes Milgram as an eminent social psychologist, particularly noted for his ground-breaking
studies into obedience.
In-text citation for a quotation (i.e. using exactly the same words as the source)
‘Milgram was one of the most innovative and productive social psychologists of his generation’ (Banyard, 2012,
p. 67).
Reference list
Banyard, P. (2012) ‘Just following orders?’, in Brace, N. and Byford, J. (eds) Investigating Psychology, Oxford, Oxford
University Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 57-97.

Secondary sources
Sometimes you might like to refer to a theory or research finding that you encountered in in one of the textbooks,
but have not read the work of the original author yourself; this requires secondary referencing. The example shows
you how to reference a source that was cited in chapter two of Investigating Psychology.
In-text citation
Smith and Bond (1993) cited in Banyard (2012, p. 84) looked at twelve studies which explored cultural variation in
obedience and found large differences across cultures; the lowest level of obedience was 12%, and the highest was
92%.
Reference list
Banyard, P. (2012) 'Just following orders?', in Brace, N. and Byford, J. (eds) Investigating Psychology, Oxford, Oxford
University Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 57-97.
Link to library guidance: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620&section=7.7

Kate Brierton 2011, updated by module team in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 & 2019
DE100 Online module materials: text
The online material was authored by the module team in 2014 (year of module start), and individual authors are not
identified. The material is credited to the organisation (‘The Open University’) rather than the individual authors who
work for that organisation. The example shows you how to cite text material, but please do not copy this directly as
the URL changes across presentations. You need to insert the current URL from your browser, and add in the date
that you accessed the materials to complete your reference.
In-text citation
Psychological phenomena can be studied using indirect methods such as questionnaires (The Open University, 2014).
Reference list
The Open University (2014) ‘Online Activity 5.3: Questionnaires’, DE100 Week 5 Study Guide [Online]. Available at
https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1302030&section=5 (Accessed 4 January 2018).
Link to library guidance: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620&section=7.3

DE100 Online module materials: video and audio

Like text material, audio and visual materials are credited to the organisation (‘The Open University’), rather than to
individual presenters or contributors, and citations should include year of module start (2014). The way in which you
format references for module audio and visual material differs in several ways from the way in which you format
references to text material. The examples below show you how to reference video and audio materials from the
module website. Please do not copy these examples directly as the URL changes across presentations. You need to
insert the current URL from your browser, and add in the date that you accessed the materials to complete your
reference.
Video Examples
In-text citations:
The easy access to information afforded by the internet means that children are at increased risk of exposure to the
negative aspects of society (The Open University, 2014).
In Interview with Sonia Livingstone: Part 1 (The Open University, 2014), it is claimed that because the internet
affords easy access to information, it increases the risk that children will be exposed to the negative aspects of
society.
Reference list:
The Open University (2014) 'Interview with Sonia Livingstone: Part 1' [Video], DE100 Investigating psychology 1.
Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1049362&section=2.1 (Accessed 4 June 2017).

Audio Examples
In-text citations:
Research on authoritarianism was influenced by the social, political, and historical context in which it was conducted
(The Open University, 2014).
In The authoritarian personality (The Open University, 2014), McAvoy discusses how research on authoritarianism
was influenced by the social, political, and historical context in which it was conducted.
Reference list:
The Open University (2014) 'The authoritarian personality' [Audio], DE100 Investigating psychology 1. Available at
https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1049383&section=3.5 (Accessed 3 June 2017).

Link to library guidance: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620&section=7.5

Kate Brierton 2011, updated by module team in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 & 2019
Three or more authors
If the source you are citing has three or more authors, the in-text citation should include only the surname of the
first author, followed by ‘et al.’, and the year. For example, Chapter 3 of Investigating Psychology (Oates, 2012)
discusses a study by three authors - Bandura, Ross, and Ross. The example below shows you how to cite this study if
you read about it in the Investigating Psychology textbook chapter.
In-text citation:
Bandura et al. (1963) cited in Oates (2012, p. 109) were interested in whether the medium used to expose children to
aggressive behaviour (either live or on film) affected the likelihood that the children would imitate this behaviour.
Reference List
Oates, J. (2012) 'Learning from watching’, in Brace, N. and Byford, J. (eds) Investigating Psychology, Oxford, Oxford
University Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 99-138.

Link to Library Guidance: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620&section=2

Multiple publications by the same author published in the same year

Sometimes you will cite two different sources that have the same author and publication year within a single essay.
This often happens with module materials that are credited to the organisation rather than individual authors. For
example, the in-text citation for both the audio and video examples in this referencing guide take the same form -
(The Open University, 2014).
If you were to cite both of these sources in this way, it might be difficult for the person reading the essay to tell
which in-text citation goes with which entry in the reference list. In this case, you should add letters after the year in
the in-text citations and the reference list, in order to distinguish between the sources.
In-text citations:
The easy access to information afforded by the internet means that children are at increased risk of exposure to the
negative aspects of society (The Open University, 2014a).
Research on authoritarianism was influenced by the social, political, and historical context in which it was conducted
(The Open University, 2014b).
Reference List:
The Open University (2014a) 'Interview with Sonia Livingstone: Part 1' [Video], DE100 Investigating psychology 1.
Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1049362&section=2.1 (Accessed 4 June 2017).
The Open University (2014b) 'The authoritarian personality' [Audio], DE100 Investigating psychology 1. Available at
https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1049383&section=3.5 (Accessed 3 June 2017).
Link to Library Guidance: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620&section=2

Kate Brierton 2011, updated by module team in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 & 2019