Harvard referencing

 

The majority of subject areas at UCP Marjon have adopted the Harvard system of referencing. You should use this system unless your subject has given you clear instructions that you should use an alternative system. Some subjects use alternative systems such as the British System and give their own instructions. If you are in any doubt about the system you should use, please check with your Head of Subject/Programme Leader.

Referencing your work

When you hand in an assignment it must include references for all key ideas that are not your own and for all direct quotations; it is vital for your reader to be able to find the source to which you are referring. If you do not identify your sources in this way you are committing plagiarism.

What are references?

References are the system for identifying the sources of the material you refer to in your written work.

What is a bibliography?

Any sources that you have used but not referred to in your text are listed later on in this section. The entries are set out in the same way as references.

How do you reference?

You can use the checklist below to ensure that you reference your work correctly and completely using the Harvard system.

Reference checklist

  • Keep an accurate record of every source you use in preparing your work (author, date, title, place of publication and publisher).  If you take notes from your sources, keep a record of the page number as well as the source
  • In your assignment, refer to all your sources either directly or indirectly utilised (see below). Only include the author's surname, the date and, if relevant, the page number (e.g Brown 2001:132)
  • At the end of the assignment include your reference list. This is a full list of all the sources you have mentioned in your work. Set these out in alphabetical order according to authors' surnames (or title, if no author can be identified)
  • On a separate page, include your bibliography. This is a full list of all the sources you have consulted but have not directly referred to in your work. Set these out in the same way as your references

What is the difference between indirect and direct referencing?

An indirect reference alludes to ideas or facts that have been written by another author which you have not quoted verbatim but have summarised in your own words. There are basically two ways of doing this:-

Example: Barnes (1992) says that you can take a number of practical steps in order to study more effectively.

Example: Studying more effectively involves taking a number of practical steps (Barnes 1992)

Particular care should be taken, when students offer extensive summaries of the work of others, to ensure that references to original authors are made with sufficient frequency to avoid allegations of plagiarism.

A direct reference involves direct quotation from the work of another author.

Quotations of one sentence, or less than three lines, can be incorporated in the body of the text in single quotation marks.

Example:  'There are a number of practical steps you can take in order to study more effectively' (Barnes 1992:5)

Longer quotations are set out separately, indented from left and right margins and single spaced. You do not use quotation marks.

Example:  For many students, academic study at degree level is shrouded in mystery.Particularly at degree level, time can be wasted in trying to fathom what lecturers want from you in order to award the degree (Barnes 1992:2)

Some other conventions you should adopt include:

Use three dots (...) to indicate where you have omitted words from the quotation Use square brackets [ ] to enclose words that you have added A page number must always be given for a quotation or for figures, diagrams or similar

How do you reference different sorts of resources?

a. A book

At the end of your work the full reference to the book by Barnes (referred to above) would appear as follows:  Barnes, R. (1992) Successful Study for Degrees. London: Routledge.

Key points

  • Capital letters are used for the first letter of any nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in a book title
  • The title may be underlined or in italics
  • Note the punctuation

b. A book with more than one author

  • If a book has two authors both names are used in the text and in the references
  • If there are more than two authors, the name of the first one followed by et .al. is used in the text but the names of all of them must be given in the references

Example:  In writing, a word or phrase repeated in the same sentence does not always clarify meaning but can be the result of lapsed concentration (Collinson et .al. 1992)

The full reference would appear as follows:  Collinson, D., Kirkup, G., Kyd, R., Slocombe, L. (1992) Plain English (2nd ed). Buckingham: Open University Press.

c. Article in a book

In the text give the surname of the author of the article and date of the article.

Example:Wilkin (1992) emphasises the use of working on a word processor, in order to add to and improve work up to the last minute.

As the chapter by Wilkin appears in a book edited by Arksey, the full reference would appear as follows:

Wilkin, M. (1992) 'How I got my first in Sociology.' In Arksey, H. (ed) How to get a First Class Degree. Lancaster: Unit for Innovation in Higher Education, pp11-23.

Key points:

  • The chapter title may be put in single inverted commas; it is not underlined
  • Only the first word of the chapter/article title is in capitals, except for proper nouns
  • The book title may be underlined or put in italics

d. Revised editions

  • Always take the date of the latest edition mentioned on the inside page which gives the publishing details
  • Ignore reprinting dates
  • In the full references the edition details are given after the title

e. Corporate author

(For example some reports and Government White Papers).

  • The name of the organisation is used wherever you would use the name of the author, plus the date of the report
  • If the report has a 'popular' name you may use this in your discussion

Example:  The local authority will be responsible for purchasing the residential care(Secretary of State for Social Services 1989).The full reference would appear as follows:-Secretary of State for Social Services (1989) Caring for People. London: HMSO.

f. Journal article

In the body of the text use the author's name and publication date as for a book.

Example:  Spicker (1985) states that the pursuit of equality conflicts with individual freedom in two ways.

The full reference would appear as follows:-Spicker, P. (1985) 'Why freedom implies equality.' Journal of Applied Philosophy Vol. 2, No.2, 205-216.

Key points:

  • Only the first word of the title of a journal article has a capital letter, unless other words are proper nouns
  • The page numbers for the whole article are given after the issue details
  • You may put the article title within single inverted commas and put the journal title in italics instead of underlining

g. Conference papers

In the body of the text use the author's name and publication date as for a book.

Example:  Ferris (2001) notes that female entrepreneurialism is likely to increase three-fold in the next decade.

The full reference should be in the following format:Author; year of publication. Title of contribution. In: editor of conference proceedings (if applicable), ed./eds. (if applicable) Title of conference proceedings, place and date of conference. Place of publication: publisher, page numbers of contribution.

Example:  Ferris, L; 2001. Female Entrepreneurialism. In: JD Shaw, ed. International Conference - Women as Leaders, London 12-14 June 2000. London: Information Sharing Forum Report, 245-267.

h. Newspapers and Magazines

It is usual to use the title of the newspaper or magazine and the date in your text. The writer's name may be added if useful or relevant.

Example:  The absence of fairness and a sense of justice are illustrated by the cases of a wealthy businessman committing fraud and a single mother not paying her television licence fee (Observer, 28 Nov 1993).In the full reference the name of the newspaper/magazine is included in its alphabetical place and appears as follows:-Observer (28 November 1993)

i. TV/Radio programmes and films

The title, date and channel should be given wherever possible for TV/Radio programmes.

Example:-A programme on health choices discussed the ethical implications of resource allocation (BBC1, 27 June 1993).

The full reference would appear as follows:BBC1, (27 June 1993) Heart of the Matter - Health Choices.

Films should be listed alphabetically by title and should include the name of the director, date of release and production company.Example:-Alfie; Gilbert, Lewis; 1966, Paramount Pictures

j. Internet references

The general form of a citation for Internet-based material using the Harvard System is as follows

Author/editor, Year. Title [online]. (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher (if ascertainable).Available from: URL [Accessed date]

Example:-Library Services, No date. A guide to Citing Internet Sources [online].Bournemouth, Bournemouth University. Available from:http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/using_the_library/html/guide_to_citing_internet_sourc.html [Accessed 15 June 2001]

Key points:

  • If no author is credited then ascribe authorship to the smallest identifiable unit within the publishing organisation
  • If no date is given then write "No date"
  • Include the word "online" in square brackets for ALL Internet sources. This may be the company or organisation responsible for hosting the web site if no other information is available the Uniform Resource Locator of the page, sometimes known as its "web address", is what you will normally see in the "Location bar" at the top of your screen when viewing the document with your browser. Do not change the case of the characters
  • Use the date that YOU accessed the information
k. Unpublished work

This may include seminar papers, dissertations and theses. Details of these are given as for a book.

Example:  Bowles (1994) examines the implications of euthanasia for elderly and disabled people in addition to the more usual reference to those in extreme pain or suffering from terminal illness.

The full reference would appear as follows:

Bowles, B (1994) Euthanasia - a critical exploration of some wider issues.Unpublished BA Dissertation. College of St Mark & St John.

Key points:

  • The title is not underlined
  • If you have no publishing information you put 'mimeo'

l. Different books/articles by the same author

If these have been published in the same year, you add an 'a' or 'b' to the date both in your text and in your full references.

Example:  Tinker's (1989a) study showed that telephones provide a crucial service for the elderlyOne 88 year old man used the phone for emergencies only to cut down on cost (Tinker 1989b)

The full reference would appear as follows:

Tinker, A (1989a) The Telecommunication Needs of Disabled & Elderly People - an Exploratory Study. London: OFTEL.

Tinker, A (1989b) 'Better than a neighbour-tenants view of the phone'. Housing. June: 39-41.

m. Secondhand references

Where one author quotes the work of another, the phrase 'cited in' or 'quoted in' is used when you refer to it in your text.

Example:  Buzan (1974 cited in Barnes 1992) says that a good summary of a lecture sequence is often more useful than extensive notes.

In your full references you would give details of Barnes's book and allude to Buzan's work:-Buzan, A in Barnes, R. (1992) Successful Study for Degrees. London: Routledge.

What does a reference list or bibliography look like?

Example: 

Borsay, A. (1986) Disabled People in the Community. London: NCVO

Boswell, D & Wingrove, J (eds) (1974) The Handicapped Person in the Community. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Brisenden, S. (1986) 'Independent living and the medical model of disability'. Disability, Handicap & Society. Vol. 1, No 2, page nos.

Guthrie, D. (ed) (1981) Disability, Legislation and Practice. London: Macmillan.

Oliver, M. (1991) 'Multispecialist and Multidisciplinary - a recipe for confusion?' Disability, Handicap & Society. Vol. 6, No 1, page nos.

Acknowledgements: S North, R Williams, 1984 Modular Scheme Handbook 1994/95

Adapted by Beryl Bowles, January 1995, Linda Prior, September 1998 and the Centre for Learning and Teaching, July 2001.

For more information go to the Student Support Referencing FAQs on Learning Space

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