ISO 690:2010

Version: ISO 690:2010
Official website: https://www.iso.org

Description

This International Standard gives guidelines for the preparation of bibliographic references. It also gives guidelines for the preparation of citations in Latin scripts in works that are not themselves primarily bibliographical. It is applicable to bibliographic references and citations to all kinds of information resources, including but not limited to monographs, serials, contributions, patents, cartographic materials, electronic information resources (including computer software and databases), music, recorded sound, prints, photographs, graphic and audiovisual works, and moving images. It is not applicable to machine-parsable citations. It is also not applicable to legal citations, which have their own standards.

This International Standard does not prescribe a particular style of reference or citation. The examples used in this International Standard are not prescriptive as to style and punctuation.

Citation rules

Name and date system (Harvard system)
In-text citation

The creator's name and the year of publication of the resource cited are given in the text in a name and date system. If the creator's name occurs naturally in the text, the year follows in parentheses, but if not, both name and year are in parentheses. In citations to particular parts of an information resource, the location of that part (e.g. page number) may be given after the year within the parentheses.

If two or more information resources have the same creator and year, they are distinguished by lower-case letters (a, b, c, etc.), following the year within the parentheses.

EXAMPLE : The notion of an invisible college has been explored in the sciences (Crane 1972). Its absence among historians is noted by Stieg (1981b, p. 556). It may be, as Burchard (1965) points out, that they have no assistants, or are reluctant to delegate (Smith 1980; Chapman 1981).

Reference List

The references to the information resources cited in the text are arranged in a list in the alphabetical order of the creators' surnames, with the year of publication and lower-case letter, if any, immediately following the creator's name.

EXAMPLE: 1 BURCHARD, J.E., 1965. How humanists use a library. In: C.F.J. OVERHAGE and J.R. HARMAN, eds. Intrex: Report on a planning conference and information transfer experiments. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 3 Sept. 1965, pp. 41-87.

Numeric system
In-text citation

In the citation in text model, numerals in the text, in parentheses, brackets or superscript, refer to information resources in the order in which they are first cited. Subsequent citations of a particular information resource receive the same number as the first. If particular parts of an information resource are cited, page numbers, etc., may be given after the numerals.

EXAMPLE: The notion of an invisible college has been explored in the sciences26. Its absence among historians is noted by Stieg13 p. 556. It may be, as Burchard8 points out, that they have no assistants, or are reluctant to delegate27, 28.

EXAMPLE: The notion of an invisible college has been explored in the sciences (26). Its absence among historians is noted by Stieg (13 p. 556). It may be, as Burchard (8) points out, that they have no assistants, or are reluctant to delegate (27, 28).

Reference List

The references to the information resources should be arranged in their numerical order in a numbered list.

EXAMPLE :8. BURCHARD, J.E. How humanists use a library. In: C.F.J. OVERHAGE and J.R. HARMAN, eds. Intrex: Report on a planning conference and information transfer experiments. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 3 Sept. 1965, pp. 41-87.

Running notes
In-text citation

For running notes, numerals in the text, in parentheses, brackets or superscript, refer to notes, numbered in the order they occur in the text. The notes may contain references to cited information resources. Multiple citations of one information resource should be given separate note numbers.

EXAMPLE: 1 The notion of an invisible college has been explored in the sciences32. Its absence among historians is noted by Stieg33. It may be, as Burchard34 points out, that they have no assistants, or are reluctant to delegate35

EXAMPLE: 2 The notion of an invisible college has been explored in the sciences (32). Its absence among historians is noted by Stieg (33). It may be, as Burchard (34) points out, that they have no assistants, or are reluctant to delegate (35).

Reference List

Notes should be presented in numerical order. A note that refers to an information resource cited in an earlier note should either repeat the full reference or give the number of the earlier note, with any necessary page numbers, etc.

If names are abbreviated, the first note (note 1) should explain all such abbreviations or state where the explanations may be found.

1. The abbreviations used are:
CRUS = Centre for Research on User Studies
UGC = University Grants Committee
...

8. BURCHARD, J.E. How humanists use a library. In: C.F.J. OVERHAGE and J.R. HARMAN, eds. Intrex: Report on a planning conference and information transfer experiments. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 3 Sept. 1965, pp. 41-87.

Examples

Book
FARRAR, Frederic William. Eric, or Little by Little: a tale of Roslyn School. London: Hamilton, 1971.
Serial / journal article (print)
AMAJOR, L.C. The Cenomanian hiatus in the Southern Benue Trough, Nigeria. Geological Magazine. 1985, 122(1), 39-50. ISSN 0016-7568.
Electronic resource (remote access)
McLEAN, Renwick. Canary Islands species threatened by soft borders. International Herald Tribune [online]. Paris, France, 21 June 2006 [viewed 7 July 2006]. Available from: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/20/news/ecology.php