reference notes: books

If it is not included in a bibliography, cite the source work in detail the first time it is noted. A footnote or endnote description of a book should contain the same information as a standard bibliographic reference, but the information is presented somewhat differently.

The author’s name is not inverted and is followed by a comma instead of a period.

The name of the place of publication is followed by a colon and one space, and the publisher’s name is followed by a comma, as in a bibliographic entry; but the publishing information and the date should be enclosed in parentheses. A comma follows the parentheses.

Page references should remain outside the parentheses and are followed by a period:

• 3. Michael Ondaatje, The Cinnamon Peeler (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1992), p. 13.

If the source material is listed in a bibliography at the end of the text, reference notes may not require elaborate treatment. The first reference to a book may comprise only the author’s initials and surname, the title of the work, and the relevant page number(s).

© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus^®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau