Recite Help: Reference List Issues

Problem:

Explanation:

• This entry doesn't seem to appear in any citation within your text, so is probably redundant.
• You may have initially been citing this work, but removed it at a later date.
• Try searching your document for the author's name, to ensure you're no longer citing it, before removing the reference.

Problem:

Explanation:

• This entry doesn't have an EXACT match with a citation, but (in this case) has 2 possible matches.
• Possible matches here are citations that offer this entry as a possible match (for any kind of mismatch in the citation issues section).
• This issue is more than likely going to disappear automatically when the citation issues that relate to the possible matches, are resolved.

Problem:

Explanation:

• A correctly formatted reference list entry, for APA style (and most Harvard), has a comma after a surname.
• A comma has likely been omitted after the author's surname (an asterisk shows which author).
• In our example above, the author has used a dot (period) instead of a comma, so this needs amending.

Problem:

Explanation:

• In APA style, a complete set of author initials should be followed by a comma (apart from the final author).
• A comma has likely been omitted, following the dot after an author's (final) initial (an asterisk shows which author).

Problem:

Explanation:

• In APA style, a complete set of author initials should be followed by a comma (apart from the final author).
• A comma has likely been omitted, following the dot after an author's (final) initial (an asterisk shows which author).

Problem:

Explanation:

• APA style states the use of an ampersand (&) to join the last two authors.
• This reference list entry is incorrectly using "and" to join the last two authors, which needs amending.

Problem:

Explanation:

• APA style states the use of an ampersand (&) to join the last two authors.

Problem:

Explanation:

• APA style uses an ampersand (&) to join the last two authors, followed by a space.
• The ampersand here seems to be missing the space after it.
• Note: the asterisk (*) shows in the position of the missing space (which means you don't see the missing space in the screenshot).

Problem:

Explanation:

• In APA style, an ampersand is used to join the last two authors in a given reference list entry.
• It is invalid to join any other authors in this way (use a comma instead).
• In our example above, the author has used an ampersand when there are two further authors remaining (rather than one).

Problem:

Explanation:

• There are a number of different places a space would be expected:
  1. A space should appear after the comma following an author's surname.
  2. A space should appear after the comma following an author's initial.
  3. A space should appear after the dot/period between author's initials (this is the issue in the example above).
  4. A space should appear after any suffixes.
  5. A space should appear after the final author's details, before the opening parenthesis of the date element.
  6. A space should appear following the comma after a year, before a month/season (if present).
  7. A space should appear after the ellipsis following the 6th (APA 6th Edition) or 19th (APA 7th Edition) author.
• The example illustrates an important point in the way Recite works. The author here has missed a space between each author's initials, but only the first issue is shown.
• An asterisk shows the location of the issue

Problem:

Explanation:

• A space should appear after the author's final initial (before the next author surname or date element).
• An asterisk shows the location of the issue.

Problem:

Explanation:

• For reference list entries with 8 or more authors, an ellipsis (...) should follow the 6th author (then specify the final author).
• When using an ellipsis here, an ampersand following it, is not required.
• An asterisk shows the location of the issue.
• This is different in APA 7th Edition, as the newer edition states to list the first 19 authors (for works with 21+ authors), rather than 6.

Problem:

Explanation:

• For reference list entries with 21 or more authors, an ellipsis (...) should follow the 19th author (then specify the final author).
• When using an ellipsis here, an ampersand following it, is not required.
• An asterisk shows the location of the issue.
• This is different from APA 6th Edition, as the previous edition states to list the first 6 authors (for works with 8+ authors), rather than 19.

Problem:

Explanation:

• Where an ellipsis is used after the 6th (APA 6th) or 19th (APA 7th) author an ampersand is not needed before the final author.

Problem:

Explanation:

• APA 7th edition specifies that all authors should be listed up to 20.
• For 21+ authors an ellipsis should be used after the 19th.
• This entry is using an ellipsis after the 6th author, which is correct for APA 6th, but has changed for APA 7th.

Problem:

Explanation:

• There are two different places a dot (period) would be expected;
  1. A dot should follow the "n" and "d" in "n.d." (no date).
  2. A dot should follow the closing parenthesis of the date element.

Problem:

Explanation:

• A surname is followed by a comma, then an initial and dot (repeat initial and dot as needed).
• The only time this doesn't apply, is when an author has a single name (eg. Madonna).
• In the example above, the author Kelly appears to be missing a dot after their initials.
• Recite will still warn for single author names, as often these are a typo.

Problem:

Explanation:

• A dot (period) is required in a number of places:
  1. A dot is missing after an initial.
  2. A dot has been missed after an organisation name.

Problem:

Explanation:

• An authors initials should be separated by a dot and space only.
• A comma between initials is invalid and not needed.
• This also applies for authors with names like "Maria de Fátima Mantovani" which becomes "Mantovani, M. de F." (a comma isn't needed after the "M.").

Problem:

Explanation:

• Unnecessary comma found at end of authors, before the date portion.

Problem:

Explanation:

• APA style uses "(Ed.)" or "(Eds.)" for editor information.
• This entry appears to be referencing an editor or editors in an incorrect format.
• In our example above, the author has missed the dot (period) after "Eds".

Problem:

Explanation:

• A comma is not needed before editor information.
• Remove the comma for APA compliance.

Problem:

Explanation:

• Organisational authors should be followed by a dot (period) only.
• This entry appears to have an unnecessary character after the dot.
• In our example above, the author has correctly inserted a dot after the organisation name, but then inserted an unnecessary comma.

Problem:

Explanation:

• This reference doesn't appear to have any detectable authors.
• Check the formatting of this reference to ensure it loosely resembles an APA style reference.
• In our example above, the authors have clearly been omitted, but in other instances this may be a formatting issue.

Problem:

Explanation:

• After your authors, the date portion should be included in parentheses.
• An opening bracket would be expected at this point (to contain your date).

Problem:

Explanation:

• After your authors, the date portion should be included in parentheses.
• An opening bracket was detected, but did not then have a year following it.
• Ensure your date is correctly formatted inside parentheses.

Problem:

Explanation:

• In APA style, a year can be followed by a comma then a month or season (or range thereof, where relevant).
• Check the manual for the correct usage here - generally it's used for magazines, news articles, blogs etc.
• This year is followed by a comma but then doesn't appear to have a month/season following it.

Problem:

Explanation:

• In APA style, a year can be followed by a comma then a month or season (or range thereof, where relevant).
• This is then followed by the day or days of the month for that date - eg. (2014, January 12-14).
• This year is followed by a month/season, but doesn't appear to then have a day or days value.

Problem:

Explanation:

• In a disambiguation for an "n.d." (no date) reference entry, the correct formatting is (n.d.-a.).
• This entry appears to be have a character after "n.d." that isn't a hyphen.

Problem:

Explanation:

• After your authors, the date portion should be included in parentheses.
• A closing bracket would be expected at this point (to contain your date).

Problem:

Note: This can be appended to any other problem

Explanation:

• Recite has detected the phrase "et al." in your reference list entry.
• Some styles use et al in reference lists, but APA does not.
• As noted above, this warning can be appended to any other issue - as seen in our example where it's appended to a "space expected" issue.

Problem:

Explanation:

• This entry doesn't appear to follow the format expected for an APA formatted reference list entry (allowing for small discrepancies).
• Check that the date is present and in parentheses.

Problem:

Explanation:

• This entry doesn't appear to follow the format expected for a reference list entry in your selected style (allowing for small discrepancies).
• Check the formatting of this entry to ensure it isn't missing any crucial information (author(s) or a date, for example).

Problem:

Explanation:

• This entry doesn't appear to follow the format expected for an APA formatted reference list entry (allowing for small discrepancies).
• Recite was unable to detect a date - check the formatting of this entry to ensure it has a date and all other required information.

Problem:

Explanation:

• APA style states that any suffixes (eg. Jr., Sr., I, II, III etc.) should appear after the author's initials.
• This reference appears to have the suffix before the initials, so needs moving.

Problem:

Explanation:

• Most Harvard based styles use either an ampersand or "and" to separate the final two authors.
• Check which applies for the version of Harvard you're targeting and use that.

Problem:

Explanation:

• Most Harvard based styles use either an ampersand or "and" to separate the final two authors.
• A space is expected after the "and" or "&" which isn't present in your reference.