08.3.4 The Key Elements of a Reference

There must be enough to enable the reader to find the exact source quickly in a library.

◊ Author or (if no author) editor; ◊ title of chapter or article; ◊ title of book or journal; ◊ editor and/or translator; ◊ edition (if not the 1st); ◊ no. of volumes; ◊ series title and number; ◊ city; ◊ publisher; ◊ date; ◊ electronic source information; ◊ full stop.

i. Author or Editor

Full names rather than initials should be used if possible; a space should be left between initials; ancient works may be listed under the name of either the ancient author or the modern editor, with the same practice adopted for all ancient works cited.

ii. Title

Regardless of the way it is printed in the source, a colon should precede every subtitle unless the title ends with a question or exclamation mark. Titles and subtitles in English should be fully capitalized (i.e. all words except articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions).

For the capitalization of titles in foreign languages, see the SBL Handbook, 73–76.

Primary sources should be cited, parenthetically, inside the final punctuation, except in the case of a block quotation (§8.2.1). If the translation is important, insert it following the reference. For example:

          From Luke’s point of view, “the kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:21 NRSV).

iii. Series Title

Series titles are capitalised but not italicised.  In units with a CT prefix, e.g. Doctrine, Ethics, Church History, it is not customary for series titles to be included in references.  If there is a series title, it should be omitted.

iv. Publisher

The publisher’s name should be abbreviated—unless ambiguity or awkwardness would result—by the omission of Press, Publishing Company, and the like, and by the use of an ampersand instead of and (e.g., T. & T. Clark). Hence: Hendrickson (not, Hendrickson Publishers); Cerf (not, Editions du Cerf); Eerdmans (not, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company). Exceptions: Oxford University Press (and other university presses); Scholars Press; Free Press; JSOT Press. See the SBL Handbook, 76–82.

v. Place and Date of Publication

List only the first place when several are mentioned, even if the second is linked to a second publisher. If the place is not well known, add a reference to the state or country. The decision you make will depend on the readership. Thus, “Homebush Bay, N.S.W.” would suffice for local readers; “Chico, CA” would be necessary for most readerships. (For abbreviations of the states of the U.S.A. use the two-letter postal abbreviations as given in the SBL Handbook, 118).

Where the place of publication cannot be found, the abbreviation “n.p.” (no place) is used. Where the date of publication is unknown, use “n.d.” (no date), or else estimate the century or decade, e.g. “18--?” or “196-?” Where there are no page numbers, also use “n.p.” (no pages).

vi. Volume and Page Numbers

All numerals should be Arabic, with volume and page numbers separated by a colon (e.g., 1:96–97). Do not use f. and ff., but give actual page ranges. Examples of such ranges—separated by an en dash—can be found in §8.2.4 above.

vii. Electronic source information

Information about the electronic format cited (PDF e-book; Kindle edition, etc.) always goes at the end of a reference. For online publications a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is preferable to a URL. There is no need to provide an access date, and URLs must never be hyphenated. Divide them at a dot or slash if necessary.

Finding the DOI for an article. Many articles do not have a DOI, but if they do it should be printed on the first page of the article PDF. Alternatively, go to CrossRef.org and click on the “search metadata” tab on the homepage. Enter details of the article’s title and author into the search box. A DOI is a number beginning with 10. To convert it to a URL, http://dx.doi.org/ is placed in front of it (e.g., http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/660696).