Citing Rowling

[Lady Martha]

Becca:

> I want to make a reference to the Potterverse in a paper I'm 
writing:
> specifically, I'm describing clinical depression as how I imagine it
> feels to run into a dementor. I need to cite the reference. I
> currently say "Harry Potter, dementors, and all other references to
> that universe were developed by J. K. Rowling" - do I need to 
say "and
> are the property of Scholastic Books"? do I give copyright and a 
date?
> if so, should the date be the first book or the most recent one? is
> "dementor" one of the words that have been specifically copyrighted 
or
> trademarked? 

Martha:

Hi Becca. As far as I know, there is no need to refer to Scholastic - 
or even to state the reference so formally. As a general rule, as 
long as you provide the author's name so you can't be accused of 
plagiarism, you'll be OK.

I don't know which system of referencing you use, but I use the APA 
(American Psychological Association) version. In this, you need to 
mention the author and date in the text itself, then provide a full 
reference at the end, like this:

In the text of the paper (an example):

... The symptoms of depression are blah, blah and blah. These are 
also the symptoms encountered when one encounters a "dementor" 
(Rowling, 2003). Or, alternatively, "as described by J K Rowling in 
her Harry Potter series" - since it's not an academic paper you're 
referring to. 

In your bibliography:

Rowling, J K, 2003. _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix._ 
London: Bloomsbury.

This is the format I've always used when referring to novels in 
literature essays, although you should probably check with your 
teacher/whoever for the appropriate format. It also depends on what 
the subject is.

Of course, I'm assuming you're not writing this to be published. If 
you are, it's might be worth sticking in a quick "Harry Potter is a 
trademark of Warner Bros" or something. However, bear in mind that as 
long as your work won't reach the public, it's highly unlikely you'll 
be sued. :-)

Anyway, I hope you can pull something useful out of all that waffle.

Cheers

Martha