‘L’s g on with it’

show where you have found your information.

acknowledge the source of figures you use.

What is a report on specific work.

REFERENCE? back up general statements with data, evidence,

examples.
demonstrate that you are aware of the major
work in the field.
ing some-
Referencing is us distinguish between original data and subsequent
interpreta-
one else’s ideas,
discussion (primary/secondary sources).
etc in your
tions, discussion, show how up-to-date your sources are.
acknowledging
own writing, and enable a reader to look up the original if
ese ideas, in-
the sources of th ions, etc,
necessary.
cuss
terpretations, dis
ect academic
following the corr Choice of References
conventions. The main criteria to be borne in mind when deciding
what to use as a reference is:

01 RELEVANCE, so ask yourself:

There are so many acceptable variations in how refer-
• Is it relevant to my assignment topic?
encing is done. However, in this study guide, we have
• Is it relevant to the argument I am trying to
selected the Harvard System, the most common way of
make?
using references in scientific writing. Here we refer to
• Will it help me answer the question?
‘references’ but elsewhere you may also hear the terms
‘documentation’ and ‘citations’, which are taken from 02 INTEREST
sources or the literature.
• Is it worth giving space to in my assignment?
• Will it engage the reader’s interest?

Reasons for Using References

To use references well, you have to understand why they Choice of Using References
are important in academic writing. There are several Once you have decided that something is worth using
different reasons for using them, which centre around in your work, there are four possible ways this can be
the notion of credibility—the extent to which what you done: summary, paraphrase, short and long quotations.
write can be taken seriously and believed. Credibility With ALL of them, it is essential that you acknowledge
of yourself as a student and credibility of the facts and the author’s name and provide details of the publica-
ideas you are presenting in your assignment are both im- tion. Failure to tell your reader where you found your
portant. References give authority to your writing. More material is considered plagiarism—an academic crime,
specifically they are used to: and strict markers will give you zero instantly.

indicate to your lecturer the range of texts you

have used.
demonstrate that you have consulted the major For more information see the
writers in the field. Summarising Study Guide

show how your work is derived both from others’

and your own approach.
provide date/evidence for your views.

Using References 1 of 8
01 SUMMARY
You summarise someone else’s work when you select EXAMPLE: SUMMARISING
the main points, or the most relevant points for your (cont’d)
purpose, and use your own style and language to in-
corporate them into your writing. The art of good
essay writing lies in marshalling summaries of other Summary
Emissions from volcanoes and undersea magma
people’s work to contribute towards your own indi-
vents have played a major role in the formation of
vidual, unique interpretation of the question. Part the earth’s crust, the first oceans and atmosphere.
of that exercise lies in analyzing and presenting the Weathered volcanic materials produce fertile soils.
evidence to the reader. However, volcanoes have always endangered hu-
mans; for example, the destruction of the cities of
Herculaneum and Pompeii by the eruption of Mt.
02 PARAPHRASE
Vesuvius is A.D. 79. (Wiiliamson, 2003)
You paraphrase when you convert someone’s work
into your own words, changing the vocabulary and
the sentence structure to fit your own style, but
keeping the original meaning.

03 SHORT QUOTATION
You use a short quotation when you integrate a small EXAMPLE: PARAPHRASING
piece of someone’s work into your writing. A ‘short’
quotation can be from two words to three lines. You
copy the exact word and put inverted commas round Original text
them (“…”), but you must also make sure that the The earth’s atmosphere is undergoing rapid changes
quotation is grammatically fluent with your own that are going to profoundly alter the weather and
writing. climactic patterns within the next century.

Paraphrase
04 LONG QUOTATION Great changes are taking place which will soon
When a quotation is three or more lines, it cannot be enormously affect the earth’s weather and climate
conveniently integrated into your own writing and is systems (Sutton, 1998: 3).
thought of as ‘long’. In that case, you separate the
or
quote from your own writing. This is done by leaving
a line space, starting on a new line, and indenting, According to Sutton (1988, p.3) great changes are
preferably on both sides of the page. You may also taking place which will soon enormously affect the
put the quotation in italics. Despite the separation earth’s weather and climate systems.
from your own writing, you must still make sure that
the quotation flows smoothly and grammatically
from your writing, i.e. that there is not a sudden
change. Here are some examples

EXAMPLE: SUMMARISING

SHORT QUOTATIONS
Original text
Volcanoes and undersea magma vents are the sources
of most of the earth’s crust. Over hundreds of millions
of years, gaseous emissions from these sources formed
The issue of cooperation between Pacific Islands
the earth’s earliest oceans and atmosphere. Many of
is not a new one. In 1984, for example, Herr que-
the world’s fertile soils are weathered volcanic mate-
ried whether there were not “ways in which small
rials. Volcanoes have also been an ever-present threat
Islands could work together to represent them-
to human populations. One of the most famous his-
selves internationally without loss of sovereign-
toric volcanic eruptions was that of Mount Vesuvius in
ty?” (p 27). It was Herr’s view that “scarce natural
Southern Italy, which buried the cities of Herculaneum
resources” obliged Pacific microstates to seek aid
and Pompeii in A.D. 79. The mountain had been giving
from abroad and to “pay more attention than they
signs of activity before it erupted, but many citizens
might otherwise have done to their foreign rela-
chose to stay and take a chance of survival. On August
24, the mountain buried the two towns in ash. Thou- tions” (p 27).
sands were killed by the dense, hot, toxic gases that
accompanied the ash flowing down from the volcano’s
mouth. It continues to erupt from time to time. (Cun-
nigham and Saigo, 1999, cited in Williamson, 2003).

Using References 2 of 8
 LONG QUOTATIONS
Acknowledging Sources
There are several ways of acknowledging other people’s
material, so it would be wise for you to check with the
lecturer who is going to mark your work about their
Many people would probably think that the ability preferences before finalizing your reference protocol.
to write well is found among experts only. After all, Whichever system you adopt, it should be CONSISTENT
these are people with superior minds, and with in- AND COMPREHENSIVE.
teresting things to say. It follows from this, then,
that if anyone were to hold an opposite view, they
would have to produce very good reasons. Chadburn
It is important to note that you are required to tell your
(1960) seems to be one such individual. According to reader which author you have used and when their work
Chadburn, experts are good at one thing only: think- was published as you go along. Usually, you do this by
ing or coming up with bright ideas, but when it is opening brackets and noting the surname and the year
time to write down those ideas: of publication at a convenient place—for instance, at the
…the experts—philosophers, biologists, phys-
end of the sentence or paragraph. If you are quoting,
icists—flounder in their textbooks and arti- you should also use the page number. If you wish to use
cles. They have never mastered the craft of the author’s name in your sentence, then it does not
word composition so their writing is obscure have to reappear in the brackets. See referencing table
and bad. To express our meaning concisely, for example.
logically, grammatically, is not an easy ac-
complishment; but it can be learnt, for it is
a question of mind training (Chadburn, 1960:
179)
List of References
At the end of your essay, you must include a list of refer-
ences. It is important that your list correlates exactly
with what has gone before in your writing. Always give
a full reference for all the authors you have used, and
do not put extra works in your list that you have not
referred to. If you want to show that you have also read
other books create a separate list called, for example,
“Background Reading”.

A list of examples of referencing for different sources using the Harvard

format is given on the next few pages. You may choose this method of
referencing, or another, but whichever one you choose, be consistent.

What is Referencing?

Single author ‘The theory was first propounded in Comfort, A 1997, A good age, Mitchell
1993’ (Comfort 1997, p.58). Beazley, London.

OR

‘Comfort (1997, p. 58) claimed

that...’

2 or 3 authors (Madden & Hogan 1997, p. 45) Madden, R & Hogan, T 1997, The defi-
nition of disability in Australia: moving
OR towards natinal consistency, Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare, Can-
Madden and Hogan (1997, p. 45) berra.
discuss this idea…)

Using References 3 of 8
 4 or more authors (Leeder et al. 1996, p. 69) Leeder, SR, Dobson, AJ, Gibbers, RW,
Patel, NK, Mathews, PS Williams, DW
& Mariot, DL 1996, The Australian film
industry, Dominion Press, Adelaide.

No author ‘This was apparently not the case Advertising in the Western Cape 1990,
before about 1995’ (Advertising in the ABC Publishers, Cape Town.
Western Cape 1990, p. 14)…

OR

‘In Advertising in the Western Cape

(1990, p. 14) it was claimed that…’

Multiple works by ‘University research (Brown 1982, Brown, P 1982, Corals in the Capricorn
Same author 1988) has indicated that…’ group, Central Queensland University,
Rockhampton, Brown, P 1988. The
effects of anchor on corals, Central
Queensland University Rockhampton.

Order Chronologically in the refer-

ence list.

Article or chapter in a (Solving the Y2K problem 1997, ‘Solving the Y2K problem’ 1997, in D
book — no author p. 23) Bowd (ed.), Technology today and to-
morrow, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New
York, p. 27.

Brochure (Research) and Training Centre 1993, Research and Training Centre on Inde-
p. 2) pendent Living 1993, Guidelines for
reporting and writing about people
with disabilities [Brochure], 4th edn,
Research and Training Centre, Law-
rence, KS. The publisher’s name may
be abbreviated if it is also the author.

Multiple works published ‘In recent reports (Napier 1993a, Napier, A 1993a, Fatal storm, Allen &
in the same year by the 1993b)…’ Use a/b etc. to differenti- Unwin, Sydney. Napier, A 1993b, Sur-
same author ate between works in same year. vival at sea, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
Order alphabetically by title in the
reference list.

Editor (Kastenbaum 1993, p. 78) Kastenbaum, R (ed.) 1993, Encyclope-

dia of adult development, Oryx Press,
Phoenix.

Different Editions Renton (2004, p. 5) suggests that… Renton, N 2004, Compendium of good
writing, 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons,
Milton. An edition number is placed
after the title of the work - this is not
necessary for a first edition.

Using References 4 of 8
Encyclopedia or Dictionary The new Grove dictionary of music Sadie, S (ed.) 1980, The new Grove
and musicians (1980, p. 85) defined dictionary of music and musicians,
it as... 6th edn, Macmillan, London.

Article or chapter in a As discussed by Blaxter (1976, Blaxter, M 1976, ‘Social class and
book p. 101)… health inequalities’, in C Carter & J
Peel (eds), Equalities and inequalities
in health, Academic Press, London,
pp. 120-135.

Article or chapter in a (Solving the Y2K problem 1997, ‘Solving the Y2K problem’ 1997, in D
book – no author p. 23) Bowd (ed.), Technology today and to-
morrow, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New
York, p. 27.

Brochure (Research and Training Centre 1993, Research and Training Centre on In-
p. 2) dependent Living 1993, Guidelines
for reporting and writing about peo-
ple with disabilities [Brochure], 4th
edn, Research and Training Centre,
Lawrence, KS. The publisher’s name
may be abbreviated if it is also the
author.

Article – no author ‘It’s a growing problem in the U.K.’ ‘Anorexia nervosa’ 1969, British Medi-
(Anorexia nervosa 1969, p. 530)… cal Journal, vol. 1, pp. 529-30.

Newspaper/Magazine (Towers 2000) Towers, K 2000, ‘Doctor not at fault:

article coroner’, Australian, 18 January,
p. 3.

Newspaper article – no .....in the Sydney Morning Herald (24 Provide all the details in the in-text
author January 2000, p. 12) citation – no need for an entry in the
reference list.

Press release (Watersmith 2000) Watersmith, C 2000, BHP enters new

era, media release, BHP Limited, Mel-
bourne, 1 March.

Full text from an (Madden 2002) Madden, G 2002, ‘Internet econom-

electronic database ics and policy: an Australian perspec-
tive’, Economic Record, vol. 78, no.
242, pp. 343-58. Retrieved October
16, 2002, from ABI/INFORM Global
database.

Using References 5 of 8
 Full text from an electronic ‘The internet has had a huge impact ‘Internet economics and policy: an
database – no author on the Australian economy’ (Internet Australian perspective’ 2002, Eco-
economics and policy 2002, p. 350). nomic Record, vol. 78, no. 242, pp.
343-58. Retrieved October 16, 2002,
from ABI/INFORM Global database.

Journal Article ‘…origins of neuralgia’ (Carini and Patton, KT 2002, ‘Neuralgia and head-
Hogan, cited in Patton 2002, p. 2154) aches’, Science, vol. 4, pp. 2153-55.
OR Carini and Hogan (cited in Patton Record the journal that you actually
2002) sourced.

Document on WWW ‘It’s essential you learn how to refer- Dawson, J, Smith, L, Deubert, K &
ence’ (Dawson et al. 2002). Grey-Smith, S 2002, ‘S’ Trek 6: ref-
erencing, not plagiarism. Retrieved
October 31, 2002, from http://study-
trekk.lis.curtin.edu.au/

Document on WWW – (Leafy seadragons and weedy Leafy seadragons and weedy seadrag-
No author seadragons 2001) ons 2001. Retrieved November 13,
2002, from http://www.windspeed.
net.au/~jenny/seadragons/

Document on WWW – (Royal Institute of British Architects Royal Institute of British Architects
No date n.d.) n.d., Shaping the future: careers
in architecture. Retrieved May 31,
2005, from http://www.careersinar-
chitecture.net/

Image on the web The image of the bleached coral Coral bleaching and mass bleaching
(Coral bleaching and mass bleaching events [Image] 2002. Retrieved Sep-
events 2002) tember 2, 2005 from http://www.
gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/info_ser-
vices/scie nce/bleaching.

Act of Parliament The Commonwealth’s Copyright Act Legislation is included in a list of

1968... references only if it is important to
an understanding of the work. Set
[future references do not include the list apart from the main body of
date] the reference under the subhead-
ing ‘Legislation’.

Essential elements: Short title Date

(Jurisdiction) eg. Copyright Act 1968
(Cwlth).

Using References 6 of 8
 If legislation is obtained from an
electronic database, add a retrieved
statement as for electronic journal
articles.

Cases The State of New South Wales v. The Legal authorities are included in a
Commonwealth (1915) 20 CLR 54 list of references only if they are
important to an understanding of
the work. Set the list apart from the
main body of the reference under
the subheading ‘Legal Authorities’.

Australian Bureau of (Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999,

Statistics Bulletin 1999) Disability, ageing and carers: summa-
ry of findings, cat. no. 4430.0, ABS,
Canberra.

Australian Bureau of (Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics

Statistics from AusStats 1999) 1999, Disability, ageing and carers:
summary of findings, cat. no. 4430.0,
ABS, Canberra. Retrieved October 14,
2002, from AusStats
database.

Census Information (Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001,

2001) Census of population and housing:
B01 selected characteristics (First
release processing) postal area 6050.
Retrieved November 20, 2002, from
AusStats database.

Government Report (Resource Assessment Commission Resource Assessment Commission

1991) 1991, Forest and timber inquiry: draft
report, vol. 1, Australian Government
Publishing Service, Canberra.

Act of Parliament The Commonwealth’s Copyright Act Legislation is included in a list of

1968... references only if it is important to
an understanding of the work. Set
[future references do not include the list apart from the main body of
date] the reference under the subheading
‘Legislation’.

Essential elements: Short title Date

(Jurisdiction) eg. Copyright Act 1968
(Cwlth).

If legislation is obtained from an

electronic database, add a retrieved
statement as for electronic journal
articles.

Using References 7 of 8
 Cases The State of New South Wales v. Legal authorities are included in a list
The Commonwealth (1915) 20 CLR of references only if they are impor-
54. tant to an understanding of the work.
Set the list apart from the main body
of the reference under the subhead-
ing ‘Legal Authorities’.

Australian Bureau of (Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999,

Statistics Bulletin 1999) Disability, ageing and carers: summary
of findings, cat. no. 4430.0, ABS,
Canberra.

Australian Bureau of (Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999,

Statistics from AusStats 1999) Disability, ageing and carers: sum-
mary of findings, cat. no. 4430.0, ABS,
Canberra. Retrieved October 14, 2002,
from AusStats database.

Census Information (Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001,

2001) Census of population and housing: B01
selected characteristics (First release
processing) postal area 6050. Retrieved
November 20, 2002, from AusStats
database.

Government Report (Resource Assessment Commission Resource Assessment Commission 1991,

1991) Forest and timber inquiry: draft report,
vol. 1, Australian Government Publish-
ing Service, Canberra.

Examples adapted from Curtin University - Library and Information Service Harvard Referencing 2006.
http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/harvard

Using References 8 of 8