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Referencing (TAFE)

Journals

Journal Titles are abbreviated and use the format of the National Library of Medicine Catalogue. 

Eg.  J Occup Eviron Med     

  • The article title is in sentence case. Subtitle starts with a lower case. 

  • The journal title is in Title case and in italics. 

  • If you use the DOI you don't need to add an access date and URL. 

  • If there are no page numbers listed, you can use an e-locator instead such as an article no. 

Cite No. Author AA. Title of article.  Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp or e-locator. Accessed Month DD, YYYY. URL or DOI 

  1. James S, Halcomb E, Desborough J, Mcinnes S. Barriers and facilitators to lifestyle risk communication by Australian general practices nurses. Aust J Prim Health. 2021;(1):30-35. doi:10.1071/PY20139 

  2. Konlan KD. Adedia D, Nyande FK, Amenuke M, Tackie V, Anaman-Torgbor JA. Knowledge generation towards evidence-based practice and nursing competency. PLoS One. 2024;19(12):e0311285. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311285 

  3. Livshiz-Riven I, Hurvitz N, Nativ R, et al. Nursing students led simulations to improve healthcare workers’ hand hygiene compliance. Contemp Nurse. 2024;60(2):152-165. doi:10.1080/10376178.2024.2322994 

  4. Ahmann E, Tuttle LJ, Saviet M, Wright SD. A Descriptive review of ADHD coaching research: implications for college Students. J Postsecond Educ Disabil. 2018;31(1):17-39. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1182373.pdf 

For 7 plus authors see the Author Formats tab.

 

In-text Citation 

Authors are only included in-text when using a narrative citation, where the author becomes part of the sentence. When using authors in-text, only include their surname.  

1 - 2 Authors 

For two authors include both author surnames separated with an 'and'. 

Smith and Jones'sstudy indicate a link between...

3 + Authors 

Include the first authors surname followed by et al (no full stop) when used in-text 

Millar et alreported an increase in...

 

*Go to the in-text section for examples on how to format the in-text citations with superscript numerals. 

 

Reference List 

The reference list includes the authors surname followed by initials omitting full stops between initials. 

Author AB.  

Author names are listed divided by only a comma. At the end of the last author put a full stop. 

 

1-6 Authors  

List all authors up to 6 authors. 

  1. Austen J. 

  2. Dickens C, Anderson HC. 

  3. Verne J, Melville H, Orwell G. 

  1. Carroll L, Dahl R, Rowling JK, Tolkien JRR. 

  2. Christie A, Doyle AC, Poe EA, James PD, Grisham J. 

  3. Lewis CS, Fox M, Martin B Jr, Carle E, Donaldson J, Allen P. 

 

7 + authors  

For 7 plus authors only list the first 3 authors followed by et al. 

  1. Dick PK, Asimov I, Clarke AC, et al. 

 

Group Authors 

Separate group authors with a semi colon. 

  1. Nursing and Midwifery Board. 

  1. Nursing and Midwifery Board; Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency  

 

Combination Group and Individual Authors 

If authors are a combination of individuals and a group, add the group author at the end separated by a semi colon. 

Briggs J; University of Adelaide.   

 

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