Clearance and Reference Style

This page is for authors, as well as in-house editors and freelancers. It outlines general reference guidelines and a style guide for the presentation of references.

General Reference Guidelines

• If you are using, describing or otherwise referring to another person’s specific idea, theory, technique, or approach in the way that person has presented it (i.e., the sequence of ideas, the pattern of thought, or the series of steps or actions), you must attribute the material to the person who originated it and cite the original source.

• When you refer to another person’s ideas, theories, techniques, or approaches, you must do so in a manner that makes it clear that you are reporting and commenting on these materials rather than presenting them as your own.

• If you are including a direct quote, or if you are reproducing visual or graphic elements (such as a list, a table, a photograph or an illustration) from another person’s work, you must provide the source and include the page number with the in-text reference.

• Visual and graphic elements being reproduced, as well as exercises or other similarly proprietary elements being reproduced or adapted, will likely require permission from the copyright holder. Authors, contact your supervising editor for guidance here.

• Any directly quoted material must be within quotation marks and must be properly attributed to the source in a formal citation. Close paraphrasing must also be identified and attributed to the source in a formal citation. 

• Unfortunately, there is no perfect “rule of thumb” to determine how much material may be quoted or paraphrased without permission under the so-called Fair Use Doctrine. "250 words or less" is the usual benchmark cited. It may not always hold. If you have any concerns about a lengthy quote you hope to use, contact your supervising editor.

• Some words, phrases, or symbols are claimed as trademarks. The use of the TM, SM or ® symbols indicates that trademark rights are claimed, but the absence of a trademark symbol does not necessarily mean that the material is not claimed as a trademark. If your source makes or suggests a trademark claim, you must alert your supervising editor so a decision can be made whether written permission is required.

• Some ideas and facts can be considered common knowledge and therefore do not require documentation. Generally, this refers to common and widely available ideas and information that can be obtained from multiple standard sources. However, as discussed above, some ideas, theories, techniques and approaches may be claimed as intellectual property by the authors who originated them under the laws of copyright and trademark. Again, it is important to alert your editor if you are using ideas, theories, techniques and approaches from another’s person work so that a decision can be made whether written permission is required.

• It is difficult to justify the use of poems and song lyrics under the Fair Use Doctrine. To use a poem or song lyric in a New Harbinger book, no matter how brief the excerpt, we require written permission from the copyright holder. This tends to be difficult and expensive to secure. Use of poetry and song lyrics is thus discouraged.

• When in doubt, cite; your editor will then decide whether the citation is necessary.

• New Harbinger will make the final decision on whether written permission is required for the use of materials from other authors and publishers and/or whether a disclaimer must be included.

• Be careful with use of websites as sources. This may seem odd given that many people today rely on the Internet as a research tool. Nevertheless, traditionally published sources (print books, articles in reputable journals, and so on) are preferred. Barring that, referencing reputable, nationally recognized websites are also acceptable. 

 If you’d like more information about copyright issues, a helpful source is The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers by Lloyd J. Jassin.

“Red-Flag” Issues

• Read all copyright and trademark notices in your sources. Be alert for the use of copyright and trademark symbols, including “Copyright,” ©, ®, TM and SM.  The use of these notices should be called to the attention of your editor.

• Look out for the use of words and phrases that are capitalized, displayed in lists or charts, or used as prominent headings in your sources. These are also indications that copyright or trademark may be claimed, and they should be called to the attention to your editor.

• Any direct quotes or close paraphrasing should be plainly indicated and the sources must be identified in your work.

• If your research discloses that someone has made a legal claim (such as, by way of example, filing a lawsuit) over the use of his or her intellectual property, bring the matter to the attention of your editor.

• If you receive any communication that states a claim of ownership of intellectual property or a threat of legal action, bring the communication to the attention of your editor immediately.

The New Harbinger References Style

New Harbinger uses two sets of reference styles: We use a slightly modified version of CMS18's author-date style for titles we consider trade books. This style is documented on this page. 

For professional books, we use APA style (which is documented here). 

Copy editors and proofreaders: Whether the book you're working on is trade or professional will likely have been communicated to you at the time you received the manuscript for editing. If you have any questions, please contact an in-house editor. 

Style for In-Text Citations in Trade Books

When making a citation in the text, include the author’s name and the year. You can choose between two formats:

Thomas Cash (1997) proposes in The Body Image Workbook that...

Studies show that 43 percent of men are dissatisfied with their appearance (Cash 1997).

Springer and Tolin (2020) describe a number of exposures... 

Skillful therapist psychoeducation can help clients understand the toxic role avoidance plays in maintaining their presenting problems (Springer and Tolin 2020).

For works with more than three authors, the parenthetical reference should list the first author and “et al.” For example: (Purcell et al. 1999). All the authors should be listed in the references list at the back of the book.

If it's necessary to reference a page number in a parenthetical reference, include it inside the parentheses, separated from the author name and publication date with a comma:

(Cash 1997, 159)

See CMOS 13.120 for additional guidance on styling page numbers for direct quotations. 

When citing a major reference work, give the information as an in-line citation, rather than the standard in-text citation + reference entry. Note this is a deviation from CMOS18, in which "s.v." is no longer recommended (see 14.130).

(Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed, s.v. "woodchuck.")

For Twitter posts: In text, work the author and date into the sentence, along the lines of:

On June 1, 2011, Jane Smith (@janesmith) tweeted that "Blah blah blah."

Or use a parenthetical citation:

Commentator Jane Smith observed on Twitter that "Blah blah blah" (@janesmith, June 1, 2011).

If more than one tweet per day by the same person is mentioned, the time may be added after the date.

For all other types of in-text citation, follow CMOS's guidance, reaching out to your supervising editor for any additional input that may be needed.

Style for Reference Lists in Trade Books

In addition to the in-text citation, a full reference list should be provided at the back of the book. In it, all sources should be presented in a single alphabetical list. 

Authors and copy editors, make sure that the information in the in-text reference matches the information in the references list. That is, check to make sure that names are spelled the same in both places and that the year in the references list is the same one that is found in the in-text reference. Also work to confirm that all citations in the text are represented in the references list, and vice versa. 

Note NH style is to use initials in place of the author’s first name, in a divergence from CMOS author-date style.

Please note that for sources by multiple authors, all authors except the first one are listed by first name, then surname. For example: Kerrigan, P., E. Wallace, and J. Winthrop.

When works in the reference list have multiple authors, use this rule to determine listing: If there are ten or fewer authors, list them all in the style described below. If there are eleven or more authors, list the first six in the style described above, and represent the remaining with "et al."

Books

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle. Publisher.

Cash, T. 1997. The Body Image Workbook: An Eight-Step Program for Learning to Like Your Looks. 2nd ed. New Harbinger Publications.

Ludtke, M. 1997. On Our Own: Unmarried Motherhood in America. Random House.

Starlanyl, D., and M. E. Copeland. 1996. Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Survival Manual. New Harbinger Publications.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Year of Pub. "Title of Chapter." In Title of Book: Subtitle, edited by Editor’s Name. Publisher.

Kaiser, E. 1964. "The Literature of Harlem." In Harlem: A Community in Transition, edited by John Clarke. Citadel Press.

Journal Articles

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Year of Pub. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume (Issue Number): Page Number(s).

Blake, J. 1986. "Treatment of Acute Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with Tricyclic Antidepressants." Southern Medical Journal  79 (2): 2–5.

Bryant, R. A., A. G. Harvey, S. T. Dang, T. Sackville, and C. Basten. 1998. "Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder: A Comparison of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Supportive Counseling." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 66 (5): 862–866.

As evident from the above example and the hyphenation of "Cognitive-Behavioral," maintain fidelity to the styling of terms in the original source.

As outlined in CMOS, journal titles should appear in title caps (uppercase first and last word; uppercase prepositions of five or more letters). Provide the full journal title, not an abbreviation.

Popular Magazines

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Year of Pub. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine or Newspaper, Issue [Month or Month, Day], Page(s).

Klein, R. 1990. "Becoming Attached." Atlantic, February, 35–70.

Alternatively, if you're citing the online version of the magazine: 

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Year of Pub. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine or Newspaper, Date. URL.

Lambert, J. 2024. "Psychedelics Are Challenging the Scientific Gold Standard." Atlantic, June 3. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/06/psychedelics-mdma-ptsd-fda-placebo/678588/

Webpages

Author's Last Name, First Initial (or Organization Name). Year of Pub. "Title of Page." Accessed [Month Day, Year]. URL. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2024. "National Diabetes Statistics Report." Accessed June 20, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/php/data-research/index.html

Twitter Posts

Smith, J. 2011. Twitter post, http://twitter.com/jsmith, June 1, 9:00 a.m.

For additional guidance, consult chapters 13 and 14 of CMOS, looking to author-date rather than notes and bibliography style, or reach out to your NH editor.

Endnote Style

We generally discourage endnotes in our core psych and professional books. However, we will allow them on occasion, on a case-by-case basis. We also allow endnotes for certain trade books and spirituality books, in which a frictionless reading experience is often valuable.

If you are editing a book that will feature endnotes, note the following:

• All note entries should be formatted according to Chicago's notes and bibliography style. See CMOS18 13.18 - 13.26 for the basics.

• Endnotes themselves should be styled using Word's Footnotes and Endnotes features (which you'll find within the References menu in most versions of Word). You'll want to set the following options in the "Footnote and Endnote" dialogue box:

  • Under "Location": Endnotes: End of section

  • Under "Format": Number format: 1, 2, 3...

    • Start at: 1

    • Numbering: Restart each section

  • Under "Apply changes": Apply changes to: Whole document

Occasionally, authors will use commas with note signals in the text (ex., "This means it has a bias toward the negative.7, 8"). Note that per CMOS18 13.31, more than one note reference should never appear in the same place. In cases like these, it's best to combine the notes in question into a single one ("This means it has a bias toward the negative.7").

Contact us if you have questions.