College of Accounting Sciences

Prescribed Referencing Method

2022
EDITION

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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 3
2. INSTALL CAS REFERENCE STYLE ON MENDELEY DESKTOP ......................................... 4
3. BOOKS ................................................................................................................................... 5
4. ELECTRONIC-BOOKS ........................................................................................................... 5
5. INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS IN EDITED BOOKS........................................................................ 5
6. JOURNAL ARTICLES ............................................................................................................. 5
7. PUBLICATIONS OF CORPORATE BODIES .......................................................................... 6
8. AUDIO VISUAL ....................................................................................................................... 6
9. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS ............................................................................................ 6
10. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ................................................................................................... 7
11. INTERNET SOURCES ........................................................................................................ 7
12. THESIS OR DISSERTATIONS ........................................................................................... 7
13. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS ........................................................................................ 7
14. ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................... 8
15. CITATIONS IN TEXT........................................................................................................... 8
16. DIRECT QUOTATIONS ...................................................................................................... 8
17. LEGISLATION..................................................................................................................... 9
17.1 South Africa......................................................................................................................... 9
17.2 Foreign countries............................................................................................................... 11
18. SOUTH AFRICAN LAW REPORTS .................................................................................. 11
19. IFRS, ISA, JSE LISTING, and KING CODES .................................................................... 13

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1. INTRODUCTION

UNISA uses the Harvard Referencing method. This method has been internationally
accepted and standardised by the International Standards Organisation (ISO): ISO 690:
Documentation – Bibliographic references – Content, form and structure.

The purpose of the referencing is to enable other to find the information you have used in
your assignment/dissertation/theses. It is therefore, important that you cite the work of those
individual and institution whose work have influenced your assignment and you have used
in your text.

The referencing is necessary to ensure the following:

• Avoid being accused of plagiarism;
• To enable the reader to verify information used; and
• To demonstrate that the author acknowledges the work of others

UNISA has a ZERO-tolerance approach to contraventions of Academic Integrity, including

Plagiarism. Please refer to the links below for policy and definitions:

• What is plagiarism? (unisa.ac.za)

• Plagiarism (unisa.ac.za)
• Policies, procedures & forms (unisa.ac.za)
• Policy on Academic Integrity - appr - Council - 10.06.2017.pdf (unisa.ac.za)

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2. INSTALL CAS REFERENCE STYLE ON MENDELEY DESKTOP

The students should start using Mendeley and the Mendeley web plug-in
(https://www.mendeley.com/guides/web-importer/) from the time they first do a literature
search in the Library and download the full text PDFs that they find relevant to their studies,
into their Mendeley Library with the web plug-in. The web plug-in (use with Chrome and
Firefox) automates the importation of a source on a webpage, e.g. a journal article, into
the student’s Mendeley Library. However, students should still check that the fields are
correctly populated as per this guide. Sometimes, Mendeley ‘pulls’ the information for a
source into the Library incorrectly.

Students should also refer to this Mendeley Guide to see how to install Mendeley Citation
plugin for MS Word, so that citing sources and generating a reference list is automated.
It is recommended that students start using the Word Mendeley Citation plugin (visible
under References tab in Word once installed) already for all versions of the proposal and
Chapters should definitely be written with these tools. This will assist students to
acknowledge every source they use (they cite from their Mendeley Library and not from
internet sources) and prevent unintentional plagiarism.

Compulsory to use page number with in-text citation. It is CAS’ requirement that all
M&D students should cite the page number with the source that they are
paraphrasing/citing. This applies for proposals and chapters.

Install CAS reference

style on Mendeley Des

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3. BOOKS

Author’s surname, initials. Year of publication. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication:Publisher.
Smith, M. 2017. Research methods in accounting. London: Sage.

4. ELECTRONIC-BOOKS

The citation order, capitalisation and punctuation are as follows:

Author’s Surname, Initials. Year of publication. Title of book. [online] Edition. Place of
publication: Publisher. Available from: URL [Accessed date].
Example:
Atrill, P, & McLaney, E. 2018. Management Accounting for Decision Makers. [online] 9th
Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education, Limited. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [20
October 2021].

5. INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS IN EDITED BOOKS

Author’s surname, initials. Date of publication. Title of chapter or paper. In: Editor’s surname,
initials. ed(s). Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher. Page numbers of the individual chapter.
Almeida, D.J. 2015. The problem with college readiness. In: Tierney, W.G. & Duncheon,
JC. eds. The problem of college readiness. Albany, NY: State University Press. 3-44.

6. JOURNAL ARTICLES

Author’s surname, initials. Date of publication. Title of article. Name of journal, Volume number
Issue no): page numbers. DOI number.

Gow, I.D., Larcker, D.F., & Reiss, P.C. 2016. Causal inference in accounting research.
Journal of Accounting Research, 54(2):477-523. doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.12116.

Austin, L., & Gaither, B. 2017. Perceived motivations for corporate social responsibility
initiatives in socially stigmatized industries. Public Relations Review. In press.
doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.06.011.

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7. PUBLICATIONS OF CORPORATE BODIES

The body responsible for the document. Date. Title. Place of publication: Publisher. If the body is
the author and publisher of the document, it is named twice.

International Monetary Fund. 1977. Balance of payments manual. 4th edition.

Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.

Institute of Directors Southern Africa. 2016. King IV report on corporate governance for
South Africa 2016. Johannesburg: Institute of Directors Southern Africa.

International Standards Board. 2016. A guide through international financial reporting

standards. London, UK: IFRS Foundation.

8. AUDIO VISUAL

Title (in italics). Year. Format. SURNAME (in capitals). Production details (if available). Place of
producer: Producing organisation.
How to deal with cultural diversity in accounting. 2017. PowerPoint. WALTON. Chicago,
IL: Jack Wilson and Associates.

9. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Author’s surname, initials. Year. Title of conference: subtitle (including location and date of
conference). Publisher. Page numbers.
Jones, T. 2017. Doing electronic commerce. Proceedings of the 1st International
Conference on Electronic Commerce, Geneva, October 2-4. E-commerce. 113-140.

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10. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Author’s surname, initials. Year. Title of the article, Name of the newspaper, Date of issue. Page
number(s).
Jones, D. 2001. Asmal says life-skills education will be enforced in every school. Business
Day, 22 August. 11. (Author identifiable)
OPEC countries agree to keep oil output steady. 2017. Business Day, 27 June. 15. (No
author identifiable)

11. INTERNET SOURCES

Author’s surname. Initials. Year. (Or 'No date' if no date of publication). Title [online]. Place of
publication (if available): Publisher. Available from: URL [Accessed date].
Smith, B. 2017. Outsourcing supply chain [online]. Chicago: Logistics International.
Available from: http://www.logistics.org.us/html [Accessed 28 July 2017].
International Standards Board. 2016. International Financial Reporting Standard 2. Share-
based payment [online]. London, UK: IFRS Foundation. Available from: https://
ww.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ [Accessed 21 August 2017].

12. THESIS OR DISSERTATIONS

Author’s surname, initials. Year of acceptance. Title. Degree. Name of institution, Place of
publication.
Maluleke, M. 2017. An investigation of the impact of accounting standards. Phd (Acc Sci)
thesis. University of South Africa, Pretoria.

13. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Name of country. The name of the legislative body, court, executive department, bureau, council,
commission or committee. If given, the name of the relevant sections, office, etc,. Year of
publication. Title (in italics). Report number. Place of publication: Publisher.
South Africa. Central Statistical Service. 1996. Statistical release. PO317. Pretoria:Central
Statistical Service.
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14. ACRONYMS

Acronym of the body responsible for the document, see full name of the body responsible for the
document. Date. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.
Full name of the body responsible for the document. Date. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.
SAICA, see South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. 2012. Balance of payments manual. 4th
edition. Johannesburg: SAICA.
(List in alphabetical order)

15. CITATIONS IN TEXT

(SAICA 2017:45)
(Skyman & Smith 2017:1-6)
Palmer and Smith (2017:12-17) describe how…
(Cronje, Green & Brown 2017:18) (Three authors or more - first time use)
(Cronje et al 2017:18) (Thereafter)
If you cite more than one document (i.e. book or article) by an author published in the same year,
distinguish between them by adding a, b, c etc. after the date, and ensure that they are all listed in
the list of references.
Example:
(Skyman & Smith 2017a:1-6)
(Skyman & Smith 2017b: 8)
Palmer and Smith (2017a:12-17) describe how
Palmer and Smith (2017b:18) describe how

16. DIRECT QUOTATIONS

If you quote directly from a source, place the quotation in inverted commas, followed by the
reference to the author with the relevant page numbers:
e.g “describes how to conduct qualitative research during a pandemic” (Author, 2021: 23–24).

For recorded interview the following reference should be used:

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 Smith, M.B. (1989, August 12). Interview by A.B.C King [Tape recording]. Name of the
interview, Institution. Archives, Place

17. LEGISLATION

17.1 South Africa

The basic form of reference is: Income Tax Act 58 of 1962.

The first time where reference is made to an Act, the full reference is given in the text. After that
an abbreviated form can be used, provided it is indicated as such in the first reference. In this case
the reference would look like this:

• Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (hereinafter referred to as the ITA).

If you are only going to refer to one act in your paper, you could do the following:
• Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (hereinafter referred to as the Act).

Please note that the Citation of Constitutional Laws Act 5 of 2005 provides that the final
Constitution should always be referred to as Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

This is therefore an exception to the general rule. If you are going to refer to the Constitution more
than once, you could do the following:
• Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the
Constitution).

No commas or repetitions of the word Act should be used in a reference (such as the
Income Tax Act, Act 58 of 1962).

Acts are divided into sections. A section may be divided into subsections, a subsection
into a paragraph, and a paragraph into subparagraphs. They run as follows: section 1;
subsection (1); paragraph (a); subparagraph (i). Section, subsection, paragraph and
subparagraph must each be spelt in full when it is the first word in a sentence; otherwise
abbreviate as a rule as s (plural ss), subsec (plural subsecs), para (plural paras). For

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example: s 56(1) or subsec (1) of s 56, but not subs 56(l) which is illogical. If you wish to
cite two or more subsections of a section, do it as follows:
• subsecs (1) and (4) of s 56, or s56(1) and (4).

Provincial ordinances are referred to in the same way as Acts, except that where
necessary the first letter of the name of the province must be added in this way: the Town planning
and Townships Ordinance 25 of 1965 (G).

In subordinate legislation (such as schedules to an Act or ordinances, proclamations,

rules, regulations, and bylaws) and other material in the Government Gazette (abbreviation:
GG) and similar official publications, the following is applicable:

• A schedule normally has paragraphs or items; and subparagraphs or subitems.

Example: Schedule 4 para 13 (2) (a) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962.
• A proclamation (abbreviation: proc) has sections, subsections and paragraphs.
Example: Proclamation 51 GG 3651 of 15 April 1983 (also see the explanation under the next
bullet). Within a sentence use Proc, thus:
By Proc 51 of 1983 certain substances were declared to be special nuclear material for the
purposes of the Nuclear Energy Act of 1982.
• A Government Gazette is identified by way of different numbers on the first page. Some editions
are regulation gazettes, some are extraordinary government gazettes, and some are ordinary
editions. Regulation gazettes and extraordinary gazettes are numbered independently and apart
from the successive numbering. For the purposes of quotation, these numbers, as well as the
volume number given on the left-hand side under the title block of the first page of each
Government Gazette, should be ignored. A specific Government Gazette is effectively identified
with the aid of the date of publication and the ongoing numbering. These details are found on
the first page of the relevant gazette right under the title block in the middle (date) and right-hand
side (number). The complete example of reference is as follows:
Proclamation R138 Government Gazette 8331 of 6 August 1982.
• Rules are made under Acts. The subdivisions are subrules and paragraphs.
Example: Rule 57(2)(a) of the Uniform Rules of the Supreme Court.
• Regulations (abbreviation: reg) are made under Acts and ordinances. The subdivisions are
subregulations and paragraphs.

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 Example: Reg 5(2)(f) of the regulations in terms of s 22G of the Medicines and Related
Substances Act 101 of 1965 (GN R553 GG 26304 of 30 April 2004). (GN stands for Government
Notice.)
• Bylaws of local authorities have sections, subsections and paragraphs.
More examples:

Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000

Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999.
Public Service Act 147 of 1999.
Public Service Employment Act SC 2003
Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011
Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act, 16 of 2016.
South African Revenue Service Act 34 of 1997.
South African Revenue Service Amendment Act 46 of 2002.

17.2 Foreign countries

Cite the name of the relevant legislation or subordinate legislation fully, and precisely follow the
divisions found in the legislation. If uncertain, scout around for the correct mode of citation which
you will normally pick up from a related secondary source, such as a book or article dealing
with the legislation.

18. SOUTH AFRICAN LAW REPORTS

In the register of cases in the bibliography the name of the case is given fully. In the text
all non-essential information should be left out, for example NO, NNO,and others, et cetera.

The case must be cited in the form, also as regards brackets, given in the particular law
report.

The name of the case (ie the parties to the case) is italicized.

The first time where reference is made to a court case, the full reference is given. After that an

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abbreviated form can be used, for example, “the Hoffmann case”. It should however be stated clearly
that this abbreviated form will be used further on, for example:
Hoffmann v South African Airways 2001 (1) SA 1 (CC) (hereinafter the Hoffmann case).

Specific sections of a case are referred to with reference to either the page(s), for example 263H,
where it is indicated in the reported volume, or a paragraph(s) of the judgment. The paragraph is
identified by way of square brackets, for example [137].
The following are some examples of principal South African law report series:

AD Reports of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. Annual
volumes. 1910-46.

Example: Marks Ltd v Laughton 1920 AD 12

All SA All South African Law Reports: 1996-Current. Four volumes a year, three monthly
issues making a volume. It covers decisions of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of
Appeal, the divisions of the High Courts of South Africa and the superior courts of Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The reference to the court is in the letter or letters in the last
parenthesis of the citation.

Example: Holomisa v Argus Newspapers Ltd [1996] 1 All SA 478 (W)

BCLR Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports: 1994-Current. Report judgments dealing

with constitutional issues, particularly from the Constitutional Court.

Example: S v Makwanyane and another 1995 (6) BCLR 665 (CC)

SA South African Law Reports 1947-Current. Initially published in four volumes per
year, it now includes six volumes a year, two monthly issues making a volume. It
covers decisions of the South African Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of
Appeal, the High Courts, the Labour Court, the Labour Appeal Court, the
Competition Appeal Court, the Land Claims Court; the superior courts of Namibia,
Zimbabwe and their predecessors; and the previously independent states of

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Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Ciskei and Venda. The reference to the court is in the
letter or letters in the last parenthesis of the citation.

Example: S v Soci 1986 (2) SA 14 (A)

More examples:
3M South Africa (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service and Another
[2010] 3 All SA 361 (SCA)
Commissioner for Inland Revenue v City Deep Limited 1924 AD 298
CSARS v NWK (27/10) [2010] ZASCA 168
ITC 1806 (2005) 68 SATC 117 (G)

19. IFRS, ISA, JSE LISTING, and KING CODES

• IASB (International Accounting Standards Board). 2015. Conceptual framework for financial
reporting. IFRS Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.ifrs.org/ Current-Projects/IASB-
Projects/Conceptual-Framework/Documents/ May%202015/ED_CF_MAY%202015.pdf
[Accessed 8 May 2016].
In the example above “Conceptual framework …” may be replaced by International Financial
Reporting Standards and then a list can be given below e.g.
IAS 16, Property, Plant and Equipment;
IFRS Number, Name

If only one standard needs to be referred to, then put the IFRS number, Name directly in the
place of Conceptual framework …

• JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange). 2014. SRI index: Background and criteria.
Johannesburg: JSE.

• IoDSA (Institute of Directors Southern Africa). 2016. King IV report on corporate

governance for South Africa 2016. Johannesburg: Institute of Directors Southern Africa.

Students can refer to paragraphs and sections from the IFRS/ISA/JSE Listing Requirements/King
Reports by either writing the paragraph or section out in full in the sentence preceding the source,
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or with the source in brackets after the colon (as you would for a page number).

Below are some examples:

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

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