In-text citations

Sources are numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear within the text. Once numbered, a source retains the assigned citation number within the document. In-text citation numbers are written in superscript without brackets, e.g. ¹

Place citation numbers outside full stops and commas, e.g. …as previously reported,^3,4… …the largest study included 12 participants.⁵

Place citation numbers inside colons and semi-colons, e.g. The results were as follows¹⁹:

When mentioning authors by name within the text:

• Citation numbers may be placed directly after the author's names, e.g. Smith¹ explains…
• If the source has one or two authors, include both surnames, e.g.  Koe and Poe² report an increase in….
• If the source has three or more authors, list the first author’s surname, followed by ‘et al’, e.g.  Moe et al⁷ reported...

Separate multiple citations with a comma and use a hyphen where more than two consecutively numbered sources are cited. Citation numbers are entered without spaces, e.g. …as previously reported^2,3,17-21… …some challenges faced by the community^2-4,7…

Including page numbers are helpful for direct quotations or if referring to the same source multiple times within the text. Enclose the page numbers within brackets, along with a single ‘p’ for a single page number or two ‘p’s for multiple pages, without spaces, e.g. ^1(p21) or ^1(pp3,5).

A secondary citation is created when an author is cited from within another authors' work.
Finding and citing the original source is always preferable. See the section on 'secondary citations' within this guide for information on constructing secondary citations.