Every citation in the style your faculty or journal requires.

Marks, and sometimes a desk rejection, turn on getting the referencing style exactly right. The Referencing service formats your in-text citations, footnotes and numbered references to that style, whether OSCOLA, Harvard, APA, PELJ, Vancouver or another, and rebuilds a correctly sorted bibliography or reference list. Your words are left alone.

R4 per page, R150 minimum. Citations and bibliography brought into line with your required style. No language editing of your prose.

What the service does

We take the citations you have already written, bring each one into line with your style, and build the reference list to match.

In-text citations and footnotes

Author, title, year, pinpoint and punctuation are set out as the guide requires. Ibid, short forms and cross-references are kept consistent throughout.

Numbered reference styles

For Vancouver and other numbered systems, references are numbered in order of first appearance, the numbers in the text are matched to the list, and the list is laid out as the journal specifies.

The bibliography

Rebuilt to the style: ordered as the guide requires, de-duplicated, grouped where the style asks for it (cases, legislation, books, articles), with consistent hanging indents.

Styles we work to

We format to the style your faculty or journal requires, with particular depth in South African law-journal styles. If your guide is not listed, send it with your document and we will work to it.

Footnote, author–date and numbered styles we format to every day, among others.

OSCOLA Harvard APA PELJ Vancouver SALJ SAJHR Chicago UNISA PULP JLPUL

House styles and supervisor-specific requirements are welcome. Send the guide with your document and we will format to it.

What comes back

A Word document with your citations reformatted and your reference list rebuilt to the required style. The example below shows the kind of output the service produces.

Citations and bibliography, formatted to style
Footnotes, formatted and consistent
12  J Smith The Law of Contract (3rd edn, Juta 2019) 142.
13  Mthembu v Letsela 2000 (3) SA 867 (SCA) para 27.
14  Smith (n 12) 145.
Bibliography, sorted and grouped
Khumalo T, ‘Access to Justice in Rural Communities’ (2021) 24 PER 1.
Smith J, The Law of Contract (3rd edn, Juta 2019).
Mthembu v Letsela 2000 (3) SA 867 (SCA).

Illustrative example. Your footnotes, in-text citations and reference list are reformatted from your own document to your required style.

How it works

Four steps from upload to formatted file.

1

Send your document

Upload your Word file with your citations and references as you have written them, and tell us your required style: OSCOLA, Harvard, APA, PELJ, Vancouver and others.

2

We read your citations

We identify every footnote, in-text citation and reference-list entry in your document, even where the formatting is currently inconsistent.

3

We format to your style

Citations and footnotes are reformatted to the guide, numbered systems are renumbered in order, and your bibliography is rebuilt, sorted and de-duplicated.

4

You receive your formatted file

Your Word document comes back with citations and reference list in your required style, with a short note if any reference is missing detail you need to supply.

Who it's for

  • Postgraduate students whose thesis or article is written but whose references aren't yet in the required style.
  • Authors preparing for a journal that mandates a specific style, OSCOLA, PELJ, Harvard, APA, Vancouver and the rest.
  • Law and humanities writers with long, footnote-heavy work and an inconsistent bibliography to pull together.
  • Anyone who has the right sources but needs the citations and reference list formatted correctly before submission.

What it doesn't do

  • It does not language-edit your prose. We format your citations and references; your wording, argument and voice are left untouched.
  • It does not check that your sources are real or accurately cited. That is our Reference Auditor.
  • It does not find new sources for you. To discover sources for a topic, see our Reference Finder.

Your documents are treated as strictly confidential and are never shared.

Pricing

One per-page rate for the whole job.

R4 / page
R150 minimum per document

Every word counts toward the page count, footnotes included, and there is no footnote surcharge. The price is calculated at checkout from the length of your document, so you see the quote before you decide.

Send the document you have written

You get back one consistently referenced file: footnotes and in-text citations in your style, and a sorted bibliography to match.

Format my references

R4 per page, R150 minimum. The quote comes first, and nothing starts until you accept it.

Which referencing service do I need?

Three services deal with references. Pick the sentence that describes your situation. You are on Referencing now.