HARVARD REFERENCING

Known as the author-date system.

Two main elements:
i. citing within the text of an assignment ii. listing
references at the end of an assignment

In-text citations
You need to include the author(s) surname(s), year of publication and page number (for direct
quotations)
Uncertainty
Referencing is inextricably linked to the concept of plagiarism; it involves learning how
to represent what has been learned from earlier authors (Pears and Shields, 2008, p. 18). As
an “essential skill for higher education” (Neville, 2009, p. 95) it substantiates the evidence on
which discussion or argument is based. Academic referencing gives credibility to the
information presented, enabling sources to be traced, authenticated, and used to connect
and synthesise ideas. Roberts (2008) suggests the chief cause of plagiarism is uncertainty
about how to cite sources and misconceptions about referencing terminology. A reason for
this predicament is the absence of a universal referencing system. A plethora of referencing
systems exist, and styles can vary from one department to another within the same
institution, with irregularities between tutors in how these styles are interpreted and applied
(Neville, 2007). A first year joint honours student may be expected to use a particular style of
referencing for one assignment and then a different style for another project. Consequently,
it is not surprising that students are left confused. I have seen many students individually
whose difficulty with referencing has been perplexity at what is expected of them. McGowan
(2009, p. 2) criticised the requirements of academic writing for being shrouded in mystery and
therefore it not unreasonable for students to expect clear, succinct guidelines. Levin (2004)
queries how students should know what counts as common knowledge and does not need
referenced and Neville (2009) states there are nine referencing styles found within higher
education in Britain, while Moore et al. (2010) argue there are at least fourteen separate
referencing styles in active use.

Phrasing
There are several ways to phrase in-text citations and place the author’s surname within a
sentence. You need to include the author(s) surname(s), year of publication and page number
(for direct quotations and paraphrases of sentences)
START: Smyth (2010, p. 187) argued that “18-25 year old males...”
MIDDLE: In a recent survey (Jones, 2009), the pedagogic benefits of interactive whiteboards
were analysed.

END: “Referencing is inextricably linked to the concept of plagiarism; it involves learning how
to represent what has been learned from earlier authors” (Pears and Shields, 2008, p. 18).

TIPS
Give the citation where it fits comfortably with the flow of your writing.
Where the author’s name does not occur naturally, put the in-text citation into brackets.
If you paraphrase something it may be neater to give the in-text citation at the end of the
sentence.

Page Numbering
Include page numbers in your citation when you quote from, paraphrase, or summarise a
specific section in the source
Exclude page numbers when you refer to a larger section or to an entire work Add
a comma after the year and use p. for a single page and pp. for a page range.
Example citations:
(Byrne, 2014, p.56) (Byrne, 2014, pp.17-19)

One author
(Author’s surname, Year) Example
citations:
Juniper (2016) contends...
"More people create a greater demand for food, energy, water and other resources, driving
pressures on the natural environment" (Juniper, 2016, p. 16).
Increased population size increases energy demands… (Juniper, 2016).

Two or more authors

(First author’s surname & second author’s surname, Year)
List the authors as they appear on the source material, not alphabetically.
Examples:
Educational research (Bannister and Ashworth, 1994) suggests that...
According to Carney and McNeish (2005:18) “electromagnetic forces...”

Four or more authors

(First author’s surname et al., Year)
The first author is as listed on the source material, not alphabetical order. Include the first
author’s surname followed by et al.’ Example citations:
Music changed radically in the 1980’s (Johnston et al., 2009) ... When discussing musical
history, Murphy et al. (2008) highlight...

Multiple publications by the same author in the same year

Use lowercase letters after the year in the citation Example
citation:
(Smith, 2012a) (Smith, 2012b)

Book chapter
Donnelly (1997) found that...
The ethnic relations in Russia ...(Donnelly, 1997).

Publications with no date

If you do not know the date of the publication, use ‘n.d.’ (not dated) in place of the year in
both citation and reference list Example citation:
(O’Donnell, n.d.)

Multiple Sources
If you need to refer to two or more sources at the same time, use a semi-colon to separate
them.
Example:
Plagiarism within higher education has risen substantially over the past decade (Roberts,
2008; Terry, 2007; Devlin, 2006).
Should be cited in reverse chronological order.
Short Quotations
Set in quotation marks and include in the body of text.
Example:
As Laurillard (1993, p.47) points out “it is a peculiarity of academic learning that its focus is
not the world itself but others views of that world.”

Long Quotations
Long quotations should be formatted as follows:

• preceded by a colon :
• entered as a separate paragraph with a one-line space above and below the
quote
• indented from the main text at both the left and right margins
• typed in a smaller font size to the main text of the work
• typed in single-line spacing
• not set in quotation marks Example:
De Raeve (1998, p. 488) is of the opinion that:
Nursing cannot require of individual nurses that they wholeheartedly sacrifice
personal for professional integrity, since this would lead to the depersonalization of
the individual and to individuals becoming the tools of the group. This, it might be
said, was what happened to prison camp guards in Nazi Germany, where integrity
might have been construed purely as loyalty to the regime and obedience to authority,
thereby, many would say, undermining its very nature.
This argument may be especially pertinent where nurses are employed by the state.

Making Changes to Quotations

If you omit words, phrases, or paragraphs from a quotation, whether from the beginning,
middle or end, you must indicate this with ellipsis points (. . .) Example:
“E-learning ... has the potential to revolutionise accessibility” (McKervey, 2010, p.6)
If you insert your own words, or different words, into a quotation, you must put them in
[square] brackets Example:
“impacted this sphere [political] of constitutional reform”
If you underline, embolden or italicise any part of the quotation for emphasis, you must state
that the emphasis is your own
Example:
(O’Connor, 2012, p.45, author’s italics).
If any part of the original is underlined, or in bold, or in italics you must indicate that this is
how it appears in the original source Example:
(Smyth, 2014, p.44, italics in original).

Paraphrasing and summarising

Paraphrases and summaries do not change the original meaning
You must still acknowledge the original source with an in-text citation, as the idea is not your
own
Paraphrase: to put someone else’s work into your own words
Original (taken from page 221 of a book written by Donnelly, published in 2022): During a dark
time in Belfast’s culinary history, when Boojum burritos could be sourced “for neither love
nor money”, students scrambled to find recipe books, joined cookery clubs, and befriended
chefs.
Example:
As Donnelly (2022, p. 221) points out, there were times in Belfast’s culinary history when
Boojum burritos could not be consumed by any means and, subsequently, students were
forced to find alternatives.
Summarise: to give an outline of the main points of a passage, chapter or book in your own
words
Original (Donnelly, 2022): The Fashion Police tried to control fashion to disseminate various
propaganda messages to women Example summary:
In Fashion: a History, Donnelly (2022) demonstrates the ways in which the Fashion Police have
used women's fashion to communicate certain images of their ideal world.

Secondary References
This is where you cite a source quoted by another source. It is best practice to cite and
reference sources that you have seen yourself.
For sources that you have not actually seen but which are referred to in another work you
must cite both the author of the idea you are using and the source in which you found it.
In your reference list only give details of the source that you have actually seen.
Example citation:
(Simon, 1957, cited in Jones and Hill, 2013, p.28)
A study by Donnelly (2006, cited in McNelly, 2008, p. 17) indicated that…
Reference List
In the Harvard referencing system, the in-text citations link to your reference list.
A reference list contains all the sources that have been cited in the text of your work.
Example
In-text citation:
Neville (2009) however offers a contrary view ...
Reference list:
Neville, C. (2009) The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism, Maidenhead:
Open Universities Press.

Formatting
There are specific rules for formatting references, which vary according to the type of source.
Author(s)
Put the surname first, followed by the initial(s).e.g. Frazer, P.
Include all authors. e.g. McQuade, A., Moran, P. and Crawford, T.
Sometimes the author may be an organisation. e.g. Nursing and Midwifery Council
If the publication is compiled by an editor or editors, use the abbreviation (ed.) or (eds.) e.g.
Hughes, R.J. and Hampson, P. (eds.)

Year of Publication
Put the year in the round brackets after the surname(s) e.g. (2010) If no
date can be identified, use (no date) or (n.d.)

Title
Capitalise the first letter of the first word and any propert nouns. e.g. Contract law in
France:19752001,
The title should be italics. e.g. A tale of two cities,
You may either put a comma OR full stop after the title and subsequent reference
components. e.g. Gone with the wind,

Edition
Only include the edition if it is not the first edition.
Abbreviation to edn. e.g. 2nd edn.

Place of Publication: Name of Publisher

List the place of publication first followed by the name of the publisher. Separate using a
colon. e.g. Maidenhead: Open Universities Press

Page Reference
Only include if you are referring to a specific chapter or journal article. Include the page
numbers after the publisher’s details. e.g. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 391-406.

Title of Article (Journal / Newspaper)

Put the title in single quotation marks and capitalise the first letter of the first word. e.g.
‘Plagiarism on the rise’

Title of Journal/Newspaper
Capitalise the first letter of each word in the title, except linking words such as: the, for, and,
of, etc. Italicise the whole title e.g. British Journal of Educational Technology

Issue Information
List the volume number followed by the issue number in round brackets. e.g. 14(3)

URL
Include the full web address for Internet sources used. This is formatted using Available at:
http://www.qub.ac.uk/lds (Accessed: 23 June 2021)

How to Reference a…
Book
• Author(s) / Editor(s)
• Year of publication (in round brackets)
• Title (in italics)
• Edition
• Place of publication: Publisher.
Example:
Pearrow, M. (2007) Web usability handbook, 2nd edn., Boston: Charles River Media.

Chapter from book

• Author(s) of chapter
• Year of publication (in round brackets)
• Title of chapter (in single quotation marks)
• in
• Author(s) / editor(s) of book
• Title of book (in italics)
• Place of publication: Publisher
• Page reference Example:
Bannister, P. and Ashworth, P. (1998) ‘Four good reasons for cheating and plagiarism’, in Rust,
C. (ed.) Improving student learning: improving students as learners. Oxford: Oxford Centre for
Staff and Learning Development, pp. 233-240.

Print Journal article

• Author(s) of journal article
• Year of publication (in round brackets)
• Title of article (in single quotation marks)
• Title of journal (in italics, capitalise the first letter of each word)
• Issue information (volume, issue number) or DOI (see below)
• Page reference Example:
Aldrich, F., Rogers, Y. & Scaife, M. (1998) ‘Getting to grips with “interactivity”: helping teachers
assess the educational value of CD-ROMS’, British Journal of Educational Technology, 29(4),
pp. 321-332.

E-journals without a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) number

• Author(s) surname(s), • Initial(s).
• (Year of publication)
• ‘Title of article’,
• Title of journal,
• Volume number(Issue/number, or date/month of publication if volume and issue are
absent),
• Page range (if any),
• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date) Example:
Hart, M. and Friesner, T. (2004) ‘Plagiarism and Poor Academic Practice - A Threat to the
Extension of e-Learning in Higher Education?’, Journal of eLearning, 2(1), pp. 89-96. Available
at: http://www.ejel.org/volume-2/vol2-issue1/issue1-art25.html (Accessed: 6 July 2012).

E-journals with a Digital Object Identifier

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is used to permanently identify an article or document and
link to it on the internet. While a web address might change, the DOI will not. If the DOI is not
listed, look it up on the website www.CrossRef.org (use the “Search Metadata” option).

• Author of article Surname,

• Initial(s)
• (Year)
• 'Title of article',
• Title of Journal,
• Volume(Issue),
• Page range (if available).
• doi:
Example:
Dobson, H. (2006) 'Mister Sparkle meets the 'Yakuza': depictions of Japan in The
Simpsons', Journal of Popular Culture, 39(1), pp. 44–68.doi:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15405931.2006.00203.x

Webpage
• Author(s) / Organisation
• (Year created or last updated)
• Title of webpage.
• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date).
Examples:
Terry, J. (2007) Moving on - preparing for university & organising your studies. Available at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dcs/teaching/movingon/7.pdf (Accessed: 5th
July 2012).
NHS (2019) Diabetes. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetes/ (Accessed: 26
April 2021).
Webpage with no author
Example:
Grey to Green Sheffield (2016). Available at: http://www.greytogreen.org.uk/index.html
(Accessed: 26 April 2021).

Clinical Guidelines
• Physical copy of guidelines
• Corporate Author
• (Year of publication)
• Title of Guideline.
• Reference Number (if given).
• Place of publication: Publisher.
Example:
NICE (2004) The epilepsies: the diagnosis and management of the epilepsies in adults and
children in primary and secondary care. CG20. London: National Institute for Clinical
Excellence

Online Clinical Guidelines

• Corporate Author
• (Year of publication)
• Title of Guideline.
• Reference Number (if given).
• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date) Examples:

BSG (2017) Guidelines on the management of abnormal liver blood tests. Available at:
https://www.bsg.org.uk/clinical-resource/guidelines-on-the-management-ofabnormal-
liverblood-tests/ (Accessed: 30 March 2021).
NICE (2015) Obesity in children and young people: prevention and lifestyle weight
management programmes. QS94. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs94
(Accessed: 4 August 2017)

Newspaper article
• Author
• Year of publication (in round brackets)
• Title of article (in single quotation marks)
• Title of newspaper (in italics)
 • Day and month
• Page reference Example:
Prince, R. (2010) ‘Why food is costing us the earth’, The Times, 30th August, p.18.

Report
• Author or organisation
• Year of publication (in round brackets)
• Title of report (in italics)
• Place of publication: Publisher Example:
Johnson, S. and Fitzpatrick, S. (2007) The impact of enforcement on street users in England.
Bristol: The Policy Press

Online report with a URL

• Author Surname, Initial(s) or Corporate Author • (Year of publication)
• Title of report.
• Paper number (if applicable).
• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date).
Example:
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2015) Building sustainable homes. Available at:
https://www.jrf.org.uk/file/46481/download?token=UXZzH3XM&filetype=full-report
(Accessed: 4 May 2017).