12 Referencing and crediting sources

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Proper referencing of all source material is important for the credibility of FAO communication and information products and to avoid inadvertent plagiarism.

For the purposes of this publication, a citation is the shorthand within the text that points to the reference. A reference is the string of terms (author, date, title, publisher, etc.) that identifies the source. A source is the place (publication, website, database, etc.) the information was borrowed from.

FAO has developed its own referencing styles. These styles share some elements with, but nevertheless differ from, the most common referencing systems (APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA).

When borrowing material, check whether there is a required citation and revise to match FAOSTYLE. Where permission has been obtained to use third-party content, the reference should include <correct-text>Reproduced with permission<correct-text>.

Personal communications do not appear in a bibliographic list and are cited in the text using parentheses, e.g. <correct-text>(R. Wright, personal communication, 2000)<correct-text>. Social media comments, messages and direct replies should be treated as personal communications; an example from a social media platform is: <correct-text>(Facebook direct message to author, 30 April 2017)<correct-text>.

12.1 Artwork, photographs and other images

When original artwork is created for the publication, it is often required to mention the creator. This is typically done in the acknowledgements or on the copyright page. A citation for each element they create is not required.

All photos must carry a credit line adjacent to the photo stating the copyright holder and the photographer, if known, and any other obligatory information required by the source of the photo. Credit FAO as well as the photographer where it is the work of a staff member or a remunerated external collaborator whose duties include photography, in particular where FAO provided the equipment, i.e. <correct-text>© FAO/Robert Smith<correct-text>. Credit the individual if the photo was taken by a staff member or collaborator outside their official duties, or by a person external to FAO, i.e. <correct-text>© Robert Smith<correct-text>. Where the name of the photographer is not known, just put <correct-text>© FAO<correct-text>.

For cover photographs, add: <correct-text>Cover photograph:<correct-text> before the credit. See 2.1.3.2 Copyright page for placement. 

If you are negotiating rights with a third party, check whether you are obligated to apply their policy for photo credits or captions.

Always ensure that required permissions have been obtained, preferably using the Permission Request Form (contact copyright@fao.org for further information). 

12.2 Referencing in front matter (preliminary pages)

In front matter, it is best practice to use footnotes for both sources and general notes; include the full reference in the footnote and do not include these sources in the bibliographic list (unless they are also cited in the main text). Each note, whether it is a general note or source reference, receives a separate number (this means a reference may appear more than once). See 11 Notation (inserting endnotes and footnotes) for how to format and insert footnotes.

12.3 Referencing in main text and end matter

There are two different systems for referencing source material in the main text of FAO information products: the author–date system and the endnote system. Only one system may be used within an information product.

12.3.1 Author–date system (in-text)

For in-text citations, the author’s name is followed by the year of publication of the source, e.g. <correct-text>This point has been demonstrated in a recent report (Costa and Gilles, 2016).<correct-text> It is not necessary to indicate the page number unless text is quoted. For sourcing quoted text, see 12.3.3 Direct quotes (both systems).

Use <correct-text>and<correct-text> between the last two author names with no comma. Do not use the ampersand (<incorrect-text>&<incorrect-text>). Use a semicolon between different citations unless they are from the same author.

Generally, in-text citations should be organized alphabetically, chronologically, in order of presentation, or in order of importance and should be consistent within the document.

In-text citations should be presented as follows:

• one work, one author:
  <correct-text>as demonstrated by Sanders (2008)<correct-text> or <correct-text>as the study demonstrated (Sanders, 2008)<correct-text>

• one work, up to three authors:
  <correct-text>according to a recent report (Sanders, Cohen and Bolbol, 2010)<correct-text>

• one work, more than three authors unless there are multiple sources with the same first author and year, in that case, provide a clear distinction between different sources:
  <correct-text>as stated in a recent survey (Sanders <correct-text><correct-text-italic>et al.<correct-text-italic><correct-text>, 2011)<correct-text>

• more than one work by different authors:
  <correct-text>as various studies demonstrate (Sanders, 2008; Murguía, 2010)<correct-text> or <correct-text>as various studies demonstrate (Sanders, 2008; Murguía, 2010; Bekele <correct-text><correct-text-italic>et al.<correct-text-italic><correct-text>, 2007)<correct-text>

• more than one work by the same author:
  <correct-text>(Sanders, 2001, 2004, 2009a, 2009b)<correct-text>

• different authors with the same surname:
  <correct-text>(Sanders, J., 2009; Sanders, B., 1999)<correct-text>

• edited works:
  <correct-text>(Sanders, ed., 2008)<correct-text> or <correct-text>according to Sanders (ed., 2008)<correct-text>

• when referring to a source cited within another source (indirect reference, or secondary source), refer to the one you consulted, not the original:
  <correct-text>as demonstrated by Sanders (cited in Murguía, 2008)<correct-text>

• as an exception, when referring to a single idea that cites more than three sources, use a footnote to cite all the sources:
  ⁶⁶<correct-text>See Australia, 1982; Azerbaijan, 1995; Jamaica, 1947; South Africa, 2008; and Thailand, 1973<correct-text>.

12.3.2 Endnote system (in-text)

Where applying the endnote referencing system,¹ each source receives a unique key;² therefore, an endnote key may be reused if the same source is cited multiple times.¹ The notes will appear in order of first appearance¹ in the corresponding list of bibliographic content at the end of the publication (or section), which is labelled <correct-text>Notes<correct-text>, as below.^{2, 3}

<correct-text>Notes<correct-text>

<correct-text>1 First source<correct-text>

<correct-text>2 Second source<correct-text>

<correct-text>3 Third source<correct-text>

It is best practice to not use endnotes in front matter. For how to source references in front matter, see 12.2 Referencing in front matter (preliminary pages).

12.3.3 Direct quotes (both systems)

Enclose the quoted material in double quotation marks:

• Author–date: <correct-text>McKinsey and Company (2009, p. 9) state that “in forestry and agriculture, both costs and investments are relatively low.”<correct-text>
• Endnote: <correct-text>McKinsey and Company (p. 9) state that “in forestry and agriculture, both costs and investments are relatively low.”<correct-text>²

For longer quoted text of approximately three or more lines, use block quotations. These are introduced by a colon, indented, and do not have quotation marks:

• Author–date:
  <correct-text>As stated in the document:<correct-text>
  <correct-text>Ensuring food security and nutrition at the household and global levels requires investing in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, protecting women’s rights and improving their social and nutritional status (FAO, 2011, p. 3).<correct-text>
• Endnote:
  <correct-text>As stated in the document, p. 3:<correct-text>
  <correct-text>Ensuring food security and nutrition at the household and global levels requires investing in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, protecting women’s rights and improving their social and nutritional status.<correct-text>⁴

Quotations should follow the presentation (italics, bold, capitals, underline, etc.) of the original. Do not apply FAOSTYLE to quoted matter unless the quote was from a spoken source.

12.4 Referencing in figures, tables and boxes

Each stand-alone element that contains sourced data must have a complete list of references. The list is placed below the element, following any informational notes, and given the heading <correct-text-italic>Source:<correct-text-italic> or <correct-text-italic>Sources:<correct-text-italic>

If the list is very long, it may be moved to the bibliography, where it should be inserted after the list of sources from the main text and end matter and given an appropriate subtitle. Direct the reader to the list of references by providing a clear cross-reference to its location, e.g. <correct-text-italic>Sources:<correct-text-italic><correct-text> See References<correct-text>.

If sources refer to specific data points and not to the entire figure, table or box, refer to Table 11.1 Indicators for endnotes and footnotes.

References may begin with <correct-text>Adapted from<correct-text> or <correct-text>Reproduced with permission from<correct-text>.

When (optionally) citing the author of the publication as the author of a figure or table, the preferred format is:

• For one author: <correct-text-italic>Source:<correct-text-italic><correct-text> Author's own elaboration.<correct-text>
• For multiple authors: <correct-text-italic>Source:<correct-text-italic><correct-text> Authors' own elaboration.<correct-text>

Refer to FAO guidance for maps to correctly credit author modifications to maps.

If using Zotero, sources for figures, tables and boxes may need to be added manually.

12.5 Bibliographic information

This section, called <correct-text>References<correct-text> when using author-date citations, and called <correct-text>Notes<correct-text> when using the endnote system, contains bibliographic information for the sources cited in the main text and end matter. A long book, or one with sources unique to each chapter or section, may have a Notes or References section at the end of each chapter or section. Include each chapter or section’s reference list in the table of contents.

Regardless of which system is used, FAO (unlike some publishers) applies the same order of elements and formatting of the full bibliographic reference. The basic format for both systems is as follows:

<correct-text-bold>Author.<correct-text-bold><correct-text> Year. <correct-text><correct-text-italic>Title<correct-text-italic><correct-text>. Place, Publisher.<correct-text>

Ideally, references for non-cited sources are formatted in the same way as references for cited sources. When a publication does not include cited sources in the text but does include a list of referenced material, use the section title Bibliography and list the entries in alphabetical order (not numbered) by author.

12.5.1 Author–date (References)

Under the section title <correct-text>References<correct-text>, the list of references is alphabetical. The list is alphabetical by author’s surname; then by co-authors’ surnames (independent of the number of co-authors); then chronologically in ascending order by publication date (oldest first, e.g. 2019 before 2021). Where there are two or more titles by the same author in the same year, distinguish the sources from each other by using <correct-text>a<correct-text>, <correct-text>b<correct-text>, <correct-text>c<correct-text>, etc. as necessary after the year. The lettering is determined by the order in which the works are first cited in the text, with the first work mentioned being assigned the letter <correct-text>a<correct-text>, e.g. <correct-text>2008<correct-text><correct-text-bold>a<correct-text-bold>. Example:

<correct-text-bold>FAO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2019. ...<correct-text>
<correct-text-bold>FAO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2020. ...<correct-text>
<correct-text-bold>WHO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2020a. ...<correct-text>
<correct-text-bold>WHO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2020b. ...<correct-text>

For suggested reading or additional resources, change the title of the section from <incorrect-text>References<incorrect-text> to <correct-text>Bibliography<correct-text> and insert the subtitles <correct-text>References<correct-text> (for cited sources) and either <correct-text>Further reading<correct-text> or <correct-text>Additional resources<correct-text> (for non-cited sources).

12.5.2 Endnotes (Notes)

Under the section title <correct-text>Notes<correct-text>, the list of references is numbered (ordered by the first appearance of a citation in the text).

This list follows the order of appearance in the main text:

<correct-text>1. <correct-text><correct-text-bold>WHO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2020. ...<correct-text>

<correct-text>2. <correct-text><correct-text-bold>FAO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2020. ...<correct-text>

<correct-text>3. <correct-text><correct-text-bold>FAO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2019. ...<correct-text>

<correct-text>4. <correct-text><correct-text-bold>WHO<correct-text-bold>.<correct-text> 2021. ...<correct-text>

If needed, add a <correct-text>Further reading<correct-text> or <correct-text>Additional resources<correct-text> section immediately after <correct-text>Notes<correct-text> to accommodate sources not cited in the text. This section should not be numbered and should be in alphabetical order by author.

12.6 Writing or generating bibliographic lists

Some guidelines:

• Corporate authors are typically identified by and therefore alphabetized by their abbreviation. Best practice is to provide your reader access to the full name of the corporate author, whether through a list of abbreviations or in the bibliographic list itself, e.g.:
  <correct-text-bold>ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2017.<correct-text> (first use)
  <correct-text-bold>ICAO<correct-text-bold><correct-text>. 2020.<correct-text> (second use)
  Make manual modifications as necessary to ensure consistency when using Zotero.
• For works with more than ten authors, only the first seven must be listed; the rest may optionally be truncated using <correct-text-italic>et al.<correct-text-italic>
• Use <correct-text>and<correct-text> or the ampersand (<correct-text>&<correct-text>) between the names of the last two authors in each reference, e.g.: <correct-text-bold>Sanders, J., Cohen, L. & Bolbol, M.<correct-text-bold><correct-text> 2010. …<correct-text>.
• Titles of books, journals, papers, periodicals and websites are italicized, including titles in foreign languages. Titles of articles, presentations and chapters are not italicized, including titles in foreign languages.
• Titles of FAO information products use sentence case, whereas meetings, official days and years, projects and conferences are given initial capitalization.
• Bold can be used (optionally) for author names only: <correct-text-bold>Munro, G.R.<correct-text-bold><correct-text> 2010. <correct-text><correct-text-italic>From drain to<correct-text-italic><correct-text> ...<correct-text>.
• The city and country of publication come before the publisher, e.g. <correct-text>Montreal, Canada, ICAO<correct-text>. When the city is the capital, the country is omitted, e.g. <correct-text>Ankara, FAO<correct-text>.
• The <correct-text>United States of America <correct-text>and the <correct-text>United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland <correct-text>may be abbreviated to <correct-text>USA <correct-text>and <correct-text>UK<correct-text> in references. Omit other geographical or administrative details, such as county, state, province and district with the exception of <correct-text>Washington, DC<correct-text>.
• If multiple locations are provided, format as location per publisher (e.g. <correct-text>Rome, FAO & Quebec City, Canada, CINE<correct-text>). Otherwise, format as usual (e.g. <correct-text>Cairo, FAO, CIRAD & CIHEAM<correct-text>).
• Information products that have not yet been published at the time of writing should be cited as <correct-text>forthcoming<correct-text>. Thus:
  <correct-text>(Brandt, forthcoming)<correct-text> (in-text citation)
  <correct-text-bold>Brandt, S.<correct-text-bold><correct-text> (forthcoming). <correct-text><correct-text-italic>Title<correct-text-italic><correct-text> … <correct-text>(reference list)

12.7 Formatting citations and bibliographic lists

12.7.1 Manual formatting

If you intend to input reference entries manually, please refer to 12.8 Examples of bibliographic style.

12.7.2 Automatic formatting

Bibliographic software, such as EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks and Zotero, can facilitate the generation of citations and bibliographic entries. Such tools save time and remove the drudgery of formatting citations and generating bibliographies. FAO bibliographic style in Citation Style Language (CSL) is available for use with Zotero. For guidance, see Appendix 4 Installing and using Zotero.

In addition, the FAO Library has licensing arrangements for EndNote, with FAOSTYLE citations. If you prefer to use EndNote, please contact the FAO Library.

With video tutorials available, even beginners can start using these tools within minutes to input records manually (completing standard fields such as author, title and year) or automatically (using metadata from web pages and PDFs). The records can be downloaded as necessary in the form of reference entries already formatted in FAO bibliographic style. The records will remain in a master file (or can be grouped in appropriate subfolders) for use in future information products. They can be exported and shared with other colleagues. In this way, a unit can compile a large master file of citation entries.

Although software tools can capture most elements required for citations, it may be necessary to make some manual edits.

12.8 Examples of bibliographic style

General templates are provided below, followed by example lists. Replace the black text with information from the source; the text in orange remains as shown here. Note that some items are not required if not applicable, e.g. the author or place of publication for a web page, or the agency that adopted a legal instrument.

• Online publication

Author. Year of publication. Publication title. Series title, Series number. Place of publication, Publisher. URL

• Print publication

Author. Year of publication. Publication title. Series title, Series number. Place of publication, Publisher.

• Website or webpage

Author. Year of publication, or n.d. if not known. Web page title. <biblio-text>Text by<biblio-text> Surname, Initials. <biblio-text>In:<biblio-text> Website identity. <biblio-text>[Cited<biblio-text> DD Month YYYY<biblio-text>]<biblio-text>. URL

• Database

Author. Year of last update. Name of database: Name of dataset OR Name of database. <biblio-text>[Accessed on<biblio-text> DD Month YYYY<biblio-text>]<biblio-text>. URL. <biblio-text>Licence:<biblio-text> CC Licence.

• Legal case

Name <biblio-text>v.<biblio-text> Name. Court name, date. Codes.

• International instrument (international or regional, binding or non-binding)

Name (Alternative name or abbreviation). Agency, Place, date. Codes.

• National and supranational legislation (national, supranational, regional)

Country or region, etc. Name of legislation, date. Codes. [OPTIONAL: <biblio-text>Also available at:<biblio-text> URL of database, e.g. FAOLEX URL]

12.8.1 Sample references

This is organized following the rules for a references or bibliography section of a publication using the author–date system of referencing. To see an example of a notes list for the endnote system, refer to 11. Notation (inserting endnotes and footnotes).