The importance of place in referencing

All good references require a place of publication… or do they? Read our guide on how to include places of publication in your references.

When do I include a place of publication in references?

In Harvard referencing, you should include place of publication for books (print and e-books) or printed reports.

This can sometimes feel confusing if a report is available both in a printed and a web version but if you have found it online, then you don’t need the place of publication, even if it is given, only the DOI or URL (Accessed: date)

In the example below, you would choose the URL from the HTML version.

Department of Health and Social Care (2021) People at the heart of care: adult social care reform. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/people-at-the-heart-of-care-adult-social-care-reform-white-paper (Accessed: 8 February 2024).

If an e-book does not have a print equivalent, then it is possible to cite it without a place of publication e.g. Campion, D. (2017) The man in the moon. Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 23 January 2024).

Finding place of publication details

Most modern books (we’ll set pre-twentieth century books aside for the moment) have a copyright page which will look something like this:

It appears on the verso side of the page (that’s the left) and comes a few pages into the book after the title page.

You’ll get a lot of information about who published the book, when they published it, who distributed it, who has the copyright and sometimes who designed it.

Confronted with a range of addresses and places, it can be quite hard to know where exactly the book was published.

In the case of the example above, Palgrave Macmillan is undoubtedly the publisher, but there are three places mentioned on the page: New York, NY; Basingstoke, Hampshire; and Chennai, India.

Cite Them Right advises that “If there is more than one place of publication, include only the most local”. The book was first published in New York, but the UK distributor is in Basingstoke.

In this instance, Basingstoke is more local than New York so its more likely that this version of the book was published in the UK, but no one is going to mark you down if you use New York, NY.

If you are finding it confusing working out which place to put, you can check the library catalogue click on the title of a book and find additional information about publication in the record.

How should the place appear?

In Harvard referencing, you should separate the place from the publisher’s name with a colon e.g.

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

For places in the United States, it is usual to include a state abbreviation also. e.g.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

This is not as it might appear super-picky, but acknowledges that there is more than one place in the United States called Cambridge e.g.

Cambridge, MD (Maryland)

Cambridge, MA (Massachusetts)

And it is specifically outlined in Cite them Right 12^th edition (so it must be right!)

Other referencing systems

MLA

MLA which is used by some English literature courses, has a mind-boggling approach to place of publication, but one which most frazzled students will be over-joyed with – don’t include it!

Larson, Katherine Rebecca, et al., editors. Re-Reading Mary Wroth. First edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

The exception to this rule is for titles published before 1900 e.g.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Vol. 1, London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor and Jones, 1818.

APA

Place of publication is also not required for students using the APA referencing system e.g.

Cameron, M. (2019). Cookery for beginners (5th ed.). Munchies Press.

OSCOLA

And OSCOLA doesn’t use it either e.g. Manners A and Moore J, Family Law (7th edn, Browns 2016).

Chicago

For history students who use primary source documents such as pamphlets and manuscripts, the Chicago style of referencing provides guidance on how to reference some of the more intriguing places of publication. Look at the pub names included in this reference!

Tillotson, John. A Sermon Preach’d before the Queen at Whitehall, March the 8^th, 1689. London, Printed for Brabazon Aylmer, at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill; and Will Rogers, at the Sun over against St Dunstan’s Church in Fleet Street, 1689. Early English Book Online.