Demystifying Harvard Referencing: A Comprehensive Guide for Students and Researchers

Referencing is a crucial aspect of academic writing. It acknowledges the sources that inform your work, strengthens your arguments, and avoids plagiarism. The Harvard referencing style is a widely used author-date system. This guide explains the intricacies of Harvard referencing, providing clear examples and helpful resources to ensure accuracy in your academic endeavors.

What is Harvard Referencing?

Harvard referencing is a popular citation style known for its simplicity and ease of use. Unlike some other styles, there isn't an official manual for Harvard referencing. Instead, many institutions offer their own style guides, leading to some variations in punctuation and formatting. The core principle remains consistent: using the author-date system for in-text citations and providing a comprehensive reference list at the end of your work.

The author-date system involves including the author's last name and the year of publication within parentheses in the text. This allows readers to quickly identify the source. The reference list then provides full details for each source, enabling readers to locate them.

Key Components of Harvard Referencing:

• In-text citations: Brief references within the body of your text, including the author's surname and year of publication.
• Reference list: A comprehensive, alphabetized list of all sources cited in your work, providing full publication details.

How to Reference in Harvard Style

When using Harvard referencing, follow these steps for in-text citations and the reference list:

In-Text Citations:

• Author and Year: Include the author's surname and year of publication in brackets immediately after the borrowed information or at the end of the sentence (e.g., (Smith, 2020)).
• Page Numbers: If quoting a specific passage, include the page number(s) after the year (e.g., (Smith, 2020, p. 25)).
• Multiple Authors: For sources with more than four authors, use the first author's surname followed by "et al." (e.g., (Jones et al., 2018)).

Reference List:

• Alphabetical Order: Arrange entries alphabetically by the first author's surname.
• Italics: Italicize the titles of books and journals.
• Capitalization: Capitalize the primary words in the title of the journal (e.g., Journal of Applied Psychology).

Harvard Referencing Examples:

To illustrate how Harvard referencing works, here are examples for different source types:

Printed Books:

General format: Author/editor Year of publication (in round brackets) Title (in italics) Place of publication: Publisher Series and volume number (where relevant)

• Book with One Author:

  • In-text: (See, 2012)
  • Reference List: See, M. (2012) Greenhouse gas emissions: Global business aspects. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

• Book with Two Authors:

  • In-text: Auerbach and Kotlikoff (1998)
  • Reference List: Auerbach, A. J. and Kotlikoff, L. J. (1998) Macroeconomics: An integrated approach. 2nd ed. London, England: MIT Press.

Journals and Magazines:

• Journal Article:

  • In-text: (Norrie et al., 2012)
  • Reference List: Norrie, C. et al. (2012) 'Doing it differently?' A review of literature on teaching reflective practice across health and social care professions', Reflective Practice, 13(4), pp. 565-578.

• Journal article with DOI

  • In-text: (McCauley and Christiansen, 2019)
  • Reference list: McCauley, S. M. and Christiansen, M. H. (2019) “Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development,” Psychological review, 126(1), pp. 1–51. doi: 10.1037/rev0000126.

Websites:

• Website with Individual Author:

  • In-text: McCarthy (2021)
  • Reference List: McCarthy, S. (2021) Over 1 Billion Tonnes More Food Being Wasted Than Previously Estimated, Contributing 10% of All Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Available at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/over-1-billion-tonnes-more-food-being-wasted-than-previously-estimated-contributing-10-of-all-greenhouse-gas-emissions (Accessed: 27 July 2021).

• Website with Organization as Author:

  • In-text: (National Health Service, 2018)
  • Reference List: National Health Service (2018) Check your symptoms. Available at: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/checkyoursymptoms (Accessed: 17 October 2018).

• Website with no author

  • In-text: (Altruism, 2021)
  • Reference List: Altruism (2021) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism (Accessed: August 24, 2021).

Theses:

• Doctoral Thesis:

  • In-text: (See, 2012)
  • Reference List: Pradhan, S. (2021) Impacts of road construction on landsliding in Nepal. Doctoral thesis. Durham University. Available at: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14069/ (Accessed: 28 July 2021).

Social Media:

• Instagram Post:

  • In-text: (VeganArtShare, 2021)
  • Reference List: VeganArtShare (2021) 'Tiny dancer of the sea.' [Instagram]. 25 June. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQjWYSWJDqT/ (Accessed: 24 August 2021).

Helpful Resources on Harvard Style

To further assist you with Harvard referencing, here are some helpful tools and resources:

Cite Them Right

For a very detailed guide on Harvard referencing, refer to the 11th edition of Cite Them Right.

FAQs on Harvard Referencing

• What if there is no author? Use the title and date in place of the author's name in the in-text citation.
• How do I cite a source with no date? Use "n.d." (no date) in place of the year.

Conclusion

Mastering Harvard referencing is essential for academic success. By understanding the core principles and following the guidelines outlined in this article, you can accurately and effectively acknowledge your sources, enhance the credibility of your work, and impress your professors.