Reports

This section covers:

General principles for reports

Set out references to published and unpublished reports in the same way. This is a diagram illustrating the format of the example reference shown below of a published report.

GRDC (Grains Research and Development Corporation) (1990). Annual report 1989–90, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

DEWHA (Australian Government Department of the Environment Water, Heritage and the Arts) (2008). Background document for the threat abatement plan for competition and land degradation by rabbits, DEWHA, Canberra.

EA (Environment Australia) (2001). A directory of important wetlands in Australia, 3rd edn, EA, Canberra.

Note: In June 2003, the title used to refer to Australian Government departments changed from Commonwealth Department of XYZ to Australian Government Department of XYZ. Reports published before June 2003 should have Commonwealth Department of XYZ as the author or publisher; those published after June 2003 should have Australian Government Department of XYZ. If it is not clear in which month a document was published in 2003, use Australian Government Department of XYZ.

For 2 corporate authors:

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) & AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (1997). The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples, ABS cat no. 4704.0, AIHW cat no. IHW2, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

If it is definitely known that the report is unpublished (ie not accessible to the reader), include unpublished or internal report in the description, and the name of the organisation that produced the report or that the report was produced for:

This is a diagram illustrating the format of the example reference shown below of an unpublished report.

Brownlow PG & Jones TO (1995). A new method for detecting organophosphorus pesticide residues, unpublished paper presented at the Therapeutic Goods Administration workshop, Thredbo, March 1995.

AusAID (2012). Developmental Leadership Program (DLP) policy brief: the role of local leadership processes and coalitions in development, internal document, June.

Widgets Australia (2005). Sales prospects for 2006, unpublished marketing report.

Some publications include a number of references by the same government author. To avoid multiple repetitions of the spelling-out of a long abbreviation, there are 2 options: spell out the abbreviation only for the first reference in the list (this is the preferred style) or use a 2‑em rule:

DSEWPaC (Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) (2010). Publication number one, DSEWPaC, Canberra.

DSEWPaC (2011). Publication number two, DSEWPaC, Canberra.

DSEWPaC (2012). Publication number three, DSEWPaC, Canberra.

or

DSEWPaC (Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) (2010). Publication number one, DSEWPaC, Canberra.

—— (2011). Publication number two, DSEWPaC, Canberra.

—— (2012). Publication number three, DSEWPaC, Canberra.

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Report by a consultant

For a report that was written by consultants for a government department, where the department name appears on the title page, include the information about who prepared the report:

This is a diagram illustrating the format of the example reference shown below of a consultant report under a department's name.

DoW (Department of Widgets) (2003). Title of report, report prepared by Smith A & Jones D, DoW, Canberra.

However, if only the name of the consultant appears on the title page, use this name as the author:

This is a diagram illustrating the format of the example reference shown below of a consultant report under the consultant's name.

Elliston L & Cao L (2004). Managing effort creep in Australian fisheries: an economic perspective, ABARE eReport 04.5, prepared for the Fisheries Resources Research Fund, Canberra.

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Title that is part of a series, with no series number

Include the title of the document in italics, followed by the title of the series in roman type:

Australian Weeds Committee (2012). Pond apple (Annona glabra L.) strategic plan 2012–17, Weeds of National Significance, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Canberra.

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Title that is part of a series, with series number

If the series also has a name or numbers, include this before the publisher. Use lower case for terms such as technical series, monograph and report, and omit No. (or no.) if it is part of the name:

This is a diagram illustrating the format of the example reference shown below of a strategy document.

PISC (Primary Industries Standing Committee) (2002). Model code of practice for the welfare of animals – domestic poultry, 4th edn, SCARM report 83, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.

Bice C, Whiterod N, Wilson P, Zampatti B & Hammer M (2012). The critical fish habitat project: reintroduction of threatened fish species in the Coorong, SARDI publication F2012/000348-1, SARDI research report series 646, South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Adelaide.

In the first example above, the series title is Model code of practice for the welfare of animals, but this does not need to be included after the name of the document because it forms part of the document’s name.

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Technical report published by sponsoring organisation

Sometimes additional information, such as a report number or a project number, appears on the report cover, but not as part of the title. Include this information after the title.

This is a diagram illustrating the format of the example reference shown below of a technical report.

Lara-Lopez A, Davis J & Stanley B (2012). Evaluating the use of onboard cameras in the Shark Gillnet Fishery in South Australia, FRDC project 2010/049, final report 2010-049-DLD, Australian Fisheries Management Authority & Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra.

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Report presented to a scientific committee

Davies N, Hoyle S, Harley S, Langley A, Kleiber P & Hampton J (2011). Stock assessment of bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, working paper WCPFC-SC7-2011/SA-WP-02, WCPFC Scientific Committee seventh regular session, Federated States of Micronesia, 9–17 August 2011, www.wcpfc.int/doc/sa-wp-02/stock-assessment-bigeye-tuna-western-and-central-pacific-ocean.

Welsford DC (2010). Preliminary assessment of mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) in the vicinity of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (Division 58.5.2), based on a survey in March–April 2010 including a revised growth model, WG-FSA-10/12, report to the CCAMLR Working Group on Fish Stock Assessment, Hobart.

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Publications ‘in press’ (accepted for publication but not yet published)

GRDC (Grains Research and Development Corporation) (in press). Annual report 2000–01, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

The text citation for these references should be (Name, in press). Do not include a year, because publications often take longer than anticipated to finally appear in print.

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