How to Reference in MHRA Style

MHRA referencing uses footnotes: the first citation of a source gives full details — Firstname Surname, Title of Book (City: Publisher, Year), p. 5. — later citations use a short form such as Surname, p. 130, and a bibliography lists every source surname-first.

Published by the Modern Humanities Research Association, MHRA is the house style of English literature, modern languages and much of the humanities at UK universities. Its signatures are single quotation marks around article and chapter titles, ‘ed. by’ for edited collections, and journal citations like Journal Name, 12 (2019), 45–67 (p. 50). This guide covers every common source type, the short-form rules and the bibliography — and if you would rather see it done properly, Projectsdeal’s UK academics have MHRA-referenced work for 115,000+ students since 2001.

MHRA Referencing, Step by Step

MHRA rewards precision: every comma, bracket and quotation mark sits in a fixed place, and because the style is fully codified, markers can check your citations against the official guide line by line. The good news is that six patterns cover almost everything you will ever cite. Here they are.

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Every MHRA Convention, Covered

Worked Example: MHRA Citations Done Correctly

Follow one source through an essay. First citation, footnote 1: Sarah Wood, Reading the Victorians (Oxford: University Press, 2020), p. 112. Footnote 4, after other sources have intervened: Wood, p. 130. If a second Wood book enters the essay, the short form grows a title: Wood, Reading the Victorians, p. 130. A journal article cites as: Sarah Wood, ‘Dickens and the City’, Victorian Studies, 58 (2016), 210–28 (p. 215). And in the bibliography the book becomes: Wood, Sarah, Reading the Victorians (Oxford: University Press, 2020) — name inverted, pinpoint page gone. The mistakes markers see constantly are the mirror image of this sequence: double quotation marks where MHRA wants single, ‘pp.’ inserted before journal ranges, footnote format pasted into the bibliography, and full citations repeated when a short form is required. Fix those four habits and your MHRA is essentially clean.

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Referencing Help — Guides, Tools and Services

MHRA is one of several styles you will meet across a humanities degree — these guides and services cover them all, plus expert checking of your existing citations.

Essay Writing Help by Academic Level

MHRA expectations rise with every level of study — from clean book citations at A-Level to editions, translations and manuscript sources at masters. Our writers pitch it exactly where your markers expect.

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Why Choose Projectsdeal for MHRA-Referenced Work

Humanities Referencing by Writers Who Publish in It

MHRA is the working style of UK literary scholarship, and Projectsdeal’s humanities academics use it daily across our English literature essay service, English literature assignment help and essay writing service. Every piece arrives with correct first citations, clean short forms and a properly inverted bibliography, checked against the MHRA Style Guide and your department’s own variant.

Referencing your own work? Compare the footnote systems in our Oxford referencing guide, see all the alternatives in the UK referencing styles guide, and have a UK editor verify your citations through our proofreading service or references and bibliography service. However you work, you get 25+ years of experience, 100% human writing, free Turnitin reports and complete confidentiality — the standard 115,000+ UK students have trusted since 2001.

Frequently Asked Questions on MHRA Referencing

1. What is MHRA referencing?
MHRA is the footnote referencing style of the Modern Humanities Research Association. The first citation of a source gives full details in a footnote, later citations use a short form, and a bibliography at the end lists every source alphabetically, surname first. It is the standard style for English literature and modern languages at many UK universities.

2. What does a first MHRA footnote look like?
A book is cited in full, name first: Firstname Surname, Title of Book (City: Publisher, Year), p. 5. For example: Sarah Wood, Reading the Victorians (Oxford: University Press, 2020), p. 112.

3. How do I cite a source the second time in MHRA?
Use the shortest unambiguous form — usually the author’s surname plus page number: Wood, p. 130. If you cite more than one work by the same author, add a short title to distinguish them: Wood, Reading the Victorians, p. 130.

4. How do I cite a journal article in MHRA style?
Article title in single quotation marks, journal title in italics, then volume, year, page range and pinpoint page: Firstname Surname, ‘Title of Article’, Journal Name, 12 (2019), 45–67 (p. 50). Note that MHRA drops ‘pp.’ before a journal page range.

5. How is the MHRA bibliography formatted?
Alphabetically by surname, with the first author’s name inverted and no pinpoint page numbers: Wood, Sarah, Reading the Victorians (Oxford: University Press, 2020). Bibliography entries also drop the final full stop in strict MHRA practice — follow your department’s guide on that point.

6. Which subjects use MHRA referencing?
English literature is the main user, alongside modern languages, linguistics, philosophy and some history and drama departments. If your department publishes in humanities journals, there is a good chance its house style is MHRA.

7. What is the difference between MHRA and Oxford referencing?
Both are footnote systems with full first citations and short forms. The differences are in detail: MHRA has its own punctuation rules — single quotation marks for article and chapter titles, no ‘pp.’ for journal ranges — and is codified in the MHRA Style Guide, whereas ‘Oxford’ referencing varies by department.

8. Does MHRA use ibid.?
Traditional MHRA practice allows ibid. for an immediately repeated source, but the current MHRA Style Guide prefers the short author–page form for all repeat citations because it is clearer. Follow your department’s preference, and never use ibid. across an intervening source.

9. How do I cite a chapter in an edited book in MHRA?
Chapter author and title first, then the collection: Firstname Surname, ‘Chapter Title’, in Title of Book, ed. by Editor Name (City: Publisher, Year), pp. 20–35 (p. 22). The ‘ed. by’ wording is distinctively MHRA.

10. How do I cite a website in MHRA style?
Author or organisation, page title in single quotation marks, site name, then the URL and access date in square brackets: British Library, ‘Discovering Literature’, British Library <https://www.bl.uk> [accessed 12 July 2026].

11. Do footnotes count in the word count under MHRA?
The style itself sets no rule — your university does. Many UK English departments exclude purely bibliographical footnotes but include discursive ones. Check the module handbook, and keep argument in the text rather than the notes.

12. Is MHRA an author-date style?
The classic MHRA style is footnote-based, and that is what UK English departments almost always mean by ‘MHRA’. The association also publishes an author–date variant for some contexts, so if your handbook mentions MHRA author–date, follow the specific formats it sets out.

13. Can Projectsdeal write my essay with MHRA referencing?
Yes. Since 2001 our UK academics have written MHRA-referenced essays and dissertations for English literature, languages and humanities students — correct footnotes, short forms and bibliography, delivered with a Turnitin report.