Referencing your work using the Harvard system

What is a reference?

When you have included information from published sources in your work, you must
acknowledge this information fully and accurately. The inclusion of such information is
called citation, and the details about the information are known as a reference, since you
are referring to the book, journal article, website or other source.

The reference list should only contain items that have been cited (specifically
mentioned) in the main text of your work. Why include references?

 They show that you have done some research and have found relevant information.
 They show that you have supported your points properly.
 They enable readers to trace the primary sources and draw their own conclusions from
the original works which you have cited.
 They are part of the marking criteria.
• They help you avoid being accused of Plagiarism. This is using someone else's work as
your own without acknowledging it. Whether you are quoting word for word, or
paraphrasing a written passage, if you do not acknowledge it you are cheating and guilty
of plagiarism. Whether this is done deliberately or unintentionally, the University’s
regulations are very strict.

When do you need to supply references?

You should acknowledge your source with a reference whenever you include:

• Mention of a particular theory, fact, argument or viewpoint (attributable

to a specific person, that is not common knowledge).
• Statistics, examples and case studies.
• Direct quotations from another source.
• Paraphrases of any of the above.
 Quotation & paraphrase – What is the difference?

• Quotation is the direct transcription in your work of words from the original text.
Quoted passages should be made obvious by enclosing them in quotation marks, or
indenting longer passages, followed by the citation. (see the section on Citing references
in your work)

• Paraphrase is rewriting the original text to suit the style of your piece of work, but still
using the ideas of the original writer. Quotation marks are not used, but there should
still be a citation to show that the ideas are not original.

• Reference details should be taken from the publication itself, not from the catalogue.
You should note down the details of material you use at the time you are using it, rather
than wait until you have finished your research. It may be difficult to remember the
details or find the material later on.
• Be very precise in recording page numbers for quotations that you may wish to include in
your work.

What is secondary referencing?

In some cases you may wish to mention a piece of work that has been referred to in
something you have read. This is called secondary referencing as you have not read the
original piece of work. It is important to read the original work, but this may prove difficult
on occasion and it is accepted that it is not always possible. If you still wish to refer to it,
you must make it clear that you have not read the original source but are referring to it
from a secondary source. The use of secondary references is not usually encouraged in
academic work.

In the body of your work, you need to refer to the author whose work you have read,
indicating that he/she cites another source, which you name. This can be done in several
ways:

Francis (1998) cites the work of Chandler and Ross (1985) who developed the Segment
lifestyle questionnaire.

Or:

Chandler and Ross (1985, cited by Francis 1998) developed the Segment lifestyle
questionnaire.

Or:
Francis (1998, citing Chandler and Ross, 1985) refers to the Segment lifestyle
questionnaire.

In your reference list it would appear as follows:

Chandler, F. and Ross, P. (1985) Marketing and lifestyles. London: Bellwood Press.
Cited in: Francis, J. (1998) Defining a life. 2nd ed. Oxford: Scarecrow Press.

Some published works are secondary sources (e.g. digests or reviews) of published material
which have used reports of studies to inform their own writing. Much of this material is
very useful and brings a lot of research information together in a systematic way, but it
needs to be clearly shown that you have not read the original research if you have merely
read about it in a review or digest.

Citing your references in your work

The referencing system used here is known as the Harvard System, having originated at
Harvard University. It is one of the most common systems, and used in many departments
of the University. However, some departments may prefer another style, and it is wise to
check with your academic tutors whether your subject area uses another preferred system.

You can cite a document in two different ways:

• By specifically mentioning the author’s name(s) within your own text, followed by the
year of publication in brackets, for example:

It may be, as Burchard (1999) points out, that they have no assistants.

• By just presenting the information or idea without direct reference to the author in
your own text, but followed by both the author and year of publication in brackets, for
example:

It may be that they are reluctant to delegate (Smith, 1980).

The reader can then easily find the full description of the item you have cited by referring
to the alphabetical list of references at the end of your work.

An author’s initial is only used to avoid confusion when two or more authors have the same
surname and have published in the same year. If more than one item has been published in
the same year by the same author, use lower case letters after the date (e.g. Smith, 1980b)

Where more than one reference is given at the same point in the text, they should be listed
chronologically.

Smith, (1981); Brown, (1982); and Jones, (1983).

For documents with no obvious author, use 'Anon' instead.

 What if there is more than one author?

If there are two authors, the surnames of both should be given. If there are three or
more, the first author only should be given followed by the phrase et al. (an abbreviation for
the Latin phrase meaning and others). See the examples below:

The main involvement has been at the stage of the production of reading lists (Shepherd and
Yeoh, 1990, p.26)

History reveals that sick people required and received care long before nursing became an
organised occupation (Roper et al. 1990).

Direct quotations

If you refer to a document as a whole, there is no need to give page numbers. However, if
you refer to a specific point or wish to quote directly from it, you need to cite the
appropriate page or chapter in both the main text of the work and also in the list of
references.

Newman states: “that many authors’ names are interspersed in the text like stones in a
cherry pie.” (Newman, 2001, p.235).

Quotations of up to two or three lines (which fit naturally into your own text without
appearing too cumbersome) may be inserted as in the above example.

Longer quotations should be introduced by a colon and indented, typed with single spacing
but without quotation marks, and with the reference at the end, as in the example below:

Silvestri emphasises the resistance towards community policing:

The resistance towards community policing is also borne out in the British case. It
has been widely noted that community policing initiatives have had to contend with
subversion and opposition by the lower ranks in particular.
(Silvestri, 2003, p.37)

You can introduce quotations into your text in various ways. Some useful introductory
words and phrases may include:
• As X states, “………………” (or believes / suggests /indicates / points out / observes /
indicates / argues / outlines / proposes / contradicts etc.)
• For example, X has argued “………………..” (or alternative as above)
• According to X, “………………….”
• X suggests that “………………..” (or alternative as above
 What information do I need to include in my reference list?

A number of elements must be present in the reference for an item to be easily identified.
It is better to give extra or redundant information than to omit vital features, but the
usual elements for various types of material are shown in the following examples.

Italics or underlined?

The use of the underline goes back to the days before word processing as it enabled
particular sections of the reference to be highlighted. Today, italics are often used instead.
You can use either providing you are consistent in your approach.

Books

• Originator (Author/s, Editor/s, or the institution responsible for writing the document)
Authors should have the surname first, followed by a comma and then their
initials, with a full stop after each initial)
• Year of publication (in round brackets).
• Title (underlined, or in italics – be consistent throughout).
• Series and individual volume number (where present).
• Edition (if not the first edition).
• Place of publication (if known), followed by a colon. Don’t get this confused with where
the item was printed.
• Publisher.

Details of these should normally be obtained from the title page of the book or the reverse
of the title page (but not from the front cover, which may have a shortened or different
form of the title).
• For one author:

Bigge, M.L. (1982) Learning theories for teachers. 4th ed. London: Harper and Row

• For two authors:

Aldrich, R. & Leighton, P. (1985) Education: time for a new act? London: University of
London Institute of Education

• For three or more authors, all the names should be included:

Gibbons, M.,Lomoges,C.,Nowotny,H.,Schwartzman,S.,& Trow, M (1994) The new production of

knowledge. London: Sage
• If there are editors rather than authors, add 'ed.' or 'eds.' to the names:

Leishman, F. and Mason, P., eds. (2003) Policing and the media. Portland: Willan Publishing.

Details of punctuation and order of elements may vary from one scheme to another. Also
some citation styles leave out the place of publication, and some leave out the name of the
publisher. Your module area may have a prescribed way of doing things, but whatever you do
it is important to be consistent in your application.

To maintain consistency in your reference list you should only use the initial letters of the
writer's forename(s), even when you have more information.

Electronic Books
Citation order

Author. Year of publication (in brackets) Title of book (underline or italicise). Name of e-
book supplier [online]. Available at: URL [Date accessed]

Example

Clarke, C and Jenner, S. E. (2004). Hidden secrets: how to interpret dreams. Amazon
[online]. Available at: <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/> [Accessed 16
August 2004].

Institutions or organisations as authors

If a piece of work has been written by an organisation, and no specific authors identified,
then the organisation is regarded as the author, and cited as such in the reference.

If the publisher has already been cited as the corporate author, it is usual to shorten it to
initials in the ‘publisher’ part of the reference.

Royal College of Nursing (1984) What the RCN stands for. London: RCN

If the name appears as a group of initials, the full form (if known) may be added in square
brackets, unless the body is usually identified by its initials only. For example:

NATO
CILIP [Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals]
UNESCO
 How do I reference a chapter from a book with items by several people?

When referring to a chapter or contribution in an edited book, or a particular conference

paper from conference proceedings, in the text list the author and date of publication of
the chapter or contribution and not the editor of the book. In the reference list at the
end, the reference is listed alphabetically under the author’s name followed by the word ‘In’
and the details of the book where the item can be found.

Castledine, G. (1986) A stress adaption model. In: Kershaw, B. and Salvage, J., eds. Models
for nursing Chichester: John Wiley. pp.55 - 68

If you make this kind of reference correctly, your reader will immediately know what is the
book to look for (i.e. Kershaw and Salvage) and not waste time searching for a non-existent
(or a different) work with the title, A stress adaption model.

Journal articles

• Author.
• Year of publication.
• Title of article (in single inverted commas).
• Title of journal (underlined, or in italics).
• Volume number (if present).
• Part, issue or season of the year number (in brackets - if present).
• Page number(s) using p. for a single page and pp. for a range of pages.

Manninen, A. (1997) 'Critical reading in accounting' Accounting Education, 6, (4) pp.281-294

Where an article in a journal or newspaper has no obvious author (either a person or an

organisation) use Anon. This will make it easier to cite the article in your text.

Electronic Journal articles

The way in which the reference for an electronic journal (‘e-journal’) article should be
written depends on whether the journal is an electronic version of a printed journal, or a
journal which is published only on the Internet (i.e. not in printed form). At the moment, the
majority that are retrieved through full text databases and journal collections are of the
former rather than the latter type.
 Electronic Journal articles retrieved using a full text database or journal collection

For the reference, the following information is required.

• Author (or editor) – surname and initials,

• Year of Publication ( original print version or online version ),
• Title of article ( if it is an editorial, indicate this in square brackets after the
• title),
• Title of the journal in italics or underlined,
• Date (month or season),
• Volume number (if any),
• Part or issue number (in brackets if present),
• Page numbers ( pp. plus page range ),
• [online],
• Available from : the database provider, e.g. Business Source Premier,
• <URL>, [Date accessed] – the actual date you viewed the article.

For example:
Morrison, C. and Jutting, J. (2005) Women’s discrimination in developing
countries: a new data set for better policies, World Development. July, 33 (7), pp.1065-1081
[online] Available from: Science Direct <http://sciencedirect.com> [Accessed 31 July 2005]

E Journal published directly on the Internet

The information required is as for the example above, except that in the Available at
statement you should give the precise URL for the article. Sometimes page numbers will be
given, sometimes a running number within the “volume”. Whatever the practice, reference
the article precisely as given on the screen.

For example:
Pattinson, S.D. (2003) Paying living organ providers. Web Journal of Current Legal Issues.
[online] Available at: <http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2003/issue3/pattinson3.html>
[Accessed 4 July 2004]

Sometimes an article has been given a date of revision at the end of the text; however, you
need to cite the original details at the top of the article. By giving the date of access, the
reader will be clear which version you are identifying.
 Newspaper articles

• Author.
• Year of publication.
• Title of article (in single inverted commas).
• Name of the newspaper (underlined or in italics).
• Date of publication.
• Page number(s).

Hunt, L. (1995) ‘GPs admit failing to diagnose Dementia’ Independent, July 3. p.7

For newspaper articles in electronic form, give the complete reference as above, followed by:

• [online] Available at: <URL> [Accessed date, month, year]

Prowse, M. (2003) ‘A show of force meets an outbreak of terrorism’ Financial Times, May 24, p.13
[online] Available at: <http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark> [Accessed 10th March
2004]

Illustrations or photographs

If you particularly wish to refer to an illustration in a book:

• Artist/photographer
• Year
• Title of the illustration.
• Medium of the illustration (in square brackets).
• “In” followed by details of the book.

Versace, G. (1991) Gold Medusa watch [photograph] In: Townsend, C. (2002) Rapture: art’s
seduction by fashion since 1970. London: Thames and Hudson, p.9.

For online images:

• Author/artist/photographer
• Year of publication (if no date, use n.d.)
• Title of image (in italics)
• [online image]
• Available at: <URL>
• [Accessed date]

Wood, N (n.d.) Venice [online image] Available at: < http://www.nickwoodphoto.com/ html/frame-
pages/TRAVEL-frameset.html> [Accessed 12 August 2005].
 Conference proceedings

• Name of the organising body (where appropriate).

• Name of the conference.
• Number (if appropriate).
• Date.
• Location (if appropriate).
• Date of publication.
• Title of published work, if different from the name of the conference (underlined, or in
italics).
• Author/Editor.
• Place of publication.
• Publisher.

IEEE Computer Society, Technical Committee on Software Engineering & Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (1991) Conference on software maintenance, October 15-17, 1991.
Sorrento, Italy. Los Alamitos (California): IEEE Computer Society Press

International Conference on CAD/CAM, 6th. 1991. South Bank Polytechnic, (1992) Robotics and
factories of the future Bera, H. & Gill, R., eds. London: Southbank Press

To reference an individual paper from conference proceedings, use

• Author’s name.
• Date.
• Title of paper, followed by “In”
• The reference to the proceedings
• The relevant page numbers

Balow, H. (1991) Maintenance productivity – a case study. In: IEEE Computer Society, Technical
Committee on Software Engineering & Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Conference on software maintenance, October 15-17, 1991. Sorrento, Italy. Los Alamitos
(California): IEEE Computer Society Press, pp.250-253

Theses and dissertations

• Author.
• Year of publication.
• Title and subtitle (if any) (underlined, or in italics).
• Type of document (e.g. PhD thesis, Degree dissertation).
• Place of publication (if not clear from institution name, e.g. Preston, University of Central
Lancashire).
• Awarding institution.

Peck, M. (2000) Methodology for analysis and improvement of planning within the engineer to
order sector. PhD. thesis, University of Huddersfield.
 How do I reference foreign language materials?

If you are referencing a book or journal article written in another language you should either
give the title exactly as it appears on the page, or an English translation of it with the language
acknowledged.

Either:

Semprun, J (2004) Veinte años y un día. Barcelona.Difusion.

Or:

Semprun, J (2004) Twenty years and a day. (in Spanish). Barcelona. Difusion.

Translations
For a book or journal article translated into English you will need to include the translator’s
details and the original language from which it was translated. You need to include the following
information in this order:
• Author(s)
• Year of publication in brackets
• Title
• The words Translated from the
• The language of the original
• The word by
• The translator’s name (note that the translator’s name is not written surname
first)
• Place of publication
• Publisher

How do I reference brochures and leaflets ?

• Organisation
• Date (if no date, use n.d.)
• Title (in italics)
• [Brochure]
• Place of publication (if known)
• Publisher (if known)

York Art Gallery (n.d.) Take your own grand tour: discover 600 years of British and
European art [Brochure].
 Personal Communications (e-mails, letters, personal interviews)
If you refer in your text to a letter or email you have received from someone, or a conversation
you have had with someone you should only cite it as a personal communication in the text. It is
usually good practice to seek permission from the person concerned before using it as a
reference. The citation should contain:

• The person’s name (if that does not appear in your text) laid out as surname followed by
initial(s)

• The words “personal communication” (for letters or emails you should add “by letter” or
“by email”

• The date the communication took place (for emails or letters this is the date on which
it was sent to you).
Personal communications do not appear in your reference list. However many people do thank
the person in a brief "Acknowledgements" section at either the beginning or the end of your
text.

Emails posted to a bulletin board or weblog should be cited as for other webpages.

e.g

Charles North (personal communication. 23 August 2005) suggests that leisure is often the
first activity to be cut in times of financial constraint

while “leisure is often the first thing to suffer when funds are tight” (North, C. personal
communication. 23 August 2005)

while the Head of Service declares that the company has never needed family friendly policies
(Sanderson, M, personal communication by email. 23 August 2005)

British Standards

• "British Standards Institution".

• Date of publication.
• British Standard number and year (separated by a colon).
• Title and subtitle (if any) (underlined or in italics).
• Place of publication (if known).
• Name of publisher, which is the abbreviation "BSI".

British Standards Institution (1989) BS1629:1989 Recommendations for references to published

materials. London: BSI.
 Government or official publications

• Government department or organisation for which the publication was produced (in
capitals).
• Date of publication.
• Title (underlined or in italics).
• Official reference number (if there is one), comma, place of publication, colon.
• Publisher, followed (if there is a chairperson) by round brackets containing name of
chairperson and the word Report.

Be careful with the abbreviation Cmnd. used in UK Government publications for "Command"
papers. This has varied over the years (e.g. Cmd.), and each variation is a different document
series.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE (1985) Education for all: report of the
committee of inquiry into the education of children from ethnic minority groups. Cmnd. 9453,
London: HMSO (Swann Report).

Films, videos and broadcasts

Most films, videos and broadcasts are the co-operative output of many individuals, no one of
whom has a dominant role as the originator. They should be cited with the title as the first
element in the reference.

• Film title (underlined or in italics).

• Date of release.
• Director's name.
• Place of publication.
• Production company name.
• Medium : Format (in square brackets).

Macbeth (1948) Directed by Orson Welles. USA, Republic Picture. [Film: 35mm]

For individual broadcast programmes within a series, the number and title of the episode should
normally be given, as well as the series title, transmitting organisation and channel, the full date
(i.e. year, month and day).

• Series title.
• Series number.
• Year of release.
• Programme title (underlined or in italics).
• Place of publication.
• Publisher (i.e. transmitting organisation and channel, where appropriate).
• Date of release (month, day).
• Medium : Format (in square brackets).

Yes, Prime Minister, Episode 1. (1986) The Ministerial Broadcast. London, BBC2, January 16,
[Video: VHS]

CD-ROMs

• Author.
• (Year),
• 'Article Title'.
• [CD-ROM],
• Date, where applicable.
• Journal Title.
• Available on: CD-ROM title.

Tony Jackson (1998),' Too much focus pocus' [CD-ROM], 17/3/98, Financial Times. Available on:
FT McCarthy on CD-ROM 1998.

Websites

• Author.
• (Year) If no date of creation is evident, then write (no date).
• Article Title, in italics or underlined, followed by [online].
• Available at: <URL>.
• [Accessed – Day, Month (spelt out), Year].

Li, X. and Crane, N. (1996), Bibliographic formats for citing electronic information [online]
Available at: <http://www.uvm.edu/~ncrane/estyles/> [Accessed 10th August 1998]

For online versions of journals and newspapers, see the paragraphs on rules for individual
articles.

As online material is continually updated or revised, the material you refer to may have
undergone change since you cited it. Therefore the date that you accessed the material must
be included in the reference list.

Since internet addresses contain full stops and commas which may be confusing when you are
referencing, the common convention is to use diamond brackets < > to start and end a URL.

Any online sources you use should be printed out and filed, so that you have a record of the
information in case the pages are subsequently updated, deleted or moved.
 How do I cite a website in the body of my text?

Give the author of the page, if known (individual or organisation), and the date (if known). If
the author of the page is not clear, use the first few words of the page title. See the examples
below:

It is crucial not to assume that all information found on the Web is of equal
value (Grassian, 1999).

The Government’s proposals on mental health law reform met with a mixed
response (Mind, 2000).

In some cases "people's assemblies" are advocated as more democratic (Abolish

Politicians, no date).

How do I reference seminar or lecture notes?

• Lecturer's surname,
• Lecturer's initial(s) (each initial with full stop)
• Year of lecture in brackets.
• Lecture Notes.
• Open square bracket
• Description of the lecture note,
• Full date of lecture (day, date, month and year)
• Close square bracket.
For example:

Lecturer, I.N. (YEAR). Lecture Notes. [Description of Lecture Note Tuesday 10th
September 2003].

Share/H&H/referencing/final.doc