Referencing: The Harvard System of Citation

Produced by SHMS library 28.SEP.02

How to Reference: Within the Text

Add the reference at the end of a sentence to avoid breaking up the flow of text and making it unreadable. Initial letters are only used when two or more authors have the same surname and have published in the same year. In the case of three or fewer Authors to a source, list all the names. In the case of four or more Authors to a source, use the name of the first author (from the title page) followed by et al. (Johnson & Scholes, 1998) or (Lennon et al, 1964) If the author's name occurs naturally in the text, the year follows in parentheses. Rowley (1996) Use lower case letters after the date if you reference more than one item published in the same year by the same author. (Rowley, 1996a) then (Rowley, 1996b) the numbers should also be used in the bibliography. If the book is a collection of chapters by different authors it can be better to cite the author of the chapter rather than the editor. (See Chapters for how to reference this in the bibliography) If you are using a general textbook that itself mostly cites the work of others avoid citing the textbook editors name every time you quote from it in the text; this makes your work clumsy and hard to follow. Within the text cite the original author. (See Secondary Referencing for how to reference this in the bibliography)

What is Referencing?
Referencing shows which texts have been consulted in the writing of a particular document, be it a book, an essay, a report or a dissertation. Every document or source of information used should be referenced Only documents or sources that have been used should be referenced. There are a number of ways to reference. The Harvard system is just one of these ways. Even within the Harvard system different institutions vary slightly in how they like the information presented. Any work produced at SHMS should adhere to the following format. At each point in the text that refers to a particular document, the authors surname and the publication year is inserted in brackets. The full description of the item cited is in the alphabetical list of references (or bibliography) provided at the end of the report. Different types of documents need to be presented in a different way. The aim is always the same. To allow a reader to see where the information is coming from and to give them enough detail to find the original source of information

Why Cite References

Referencing: Shows that you have consulted widely, recognising and acknowledging the relevant debate, arguments and practice in a given field Substantiates any statement that you make. Enables others to check the evidence and accuracy of your information, and to consult texts which you have found relevant and useful. Gives proper credit to other peoples work and ideas, showing that you are not plagiarizing. Enables you to go back to review the sources of your information.

How to Reference: Direct Quotes

Any time you use somebody elses words these should be written in quotation marks. When quoting you should identify the page numbers, these appear after the date within the brackets. (Rowley , 1996 p.121) or (Gordon, 1998, pp.121-3) If you start or finish the quote mid-sentence useto indicate this. If you miss out some words to make it clearer useto indicate this e.g. quality isnot a variable. If you add some words to make it clearer use [ ] to indicate this e.g. The writing [is] on the wall. Long quotes should start on a new line and be indented on both margins.

How to Reference: The Bibliography

The bibliography appears at the end of your work and is organised alphabetically by surname and chronologically if referencing two or more articles by the same author. The first two elements of your reference, i.e. author and date, constitute the link you made in the text. Thus the reader can move between the text and the bibliography and trace a correct reference. In order to maintain consistency in your bibliography you should only use the initial letters of the writer's forename(s), even when you have more information. Follow this format: Bennett, H., Gunter, H. & Reid, S.

Journals
Author of the article. Year of the publication (in brackets). Title of the article. Title of the journal, underlined Volume and part number, month or season of the year. Page numbers of article.

Bennett, H., Gunter, H. & Reid, S. (1996) Through a glass darkly: images of appraisal. Journal of Teacher Development. 5 (3) October. pp.39-46

Electronic Journal Articles: If only published Books

Author (s), editor(s) or the institution responsible for writing the document. (Note: ed. is a suitable abbreviation for editor.) Date of publication (in brackets). Title. Capitals, Underlined Series and individual volume number (if any). Edition if not the first. Place of publication, Publisher. electronically, use the following format. Author(s)/ Editor(s). Year (in brackets). Title of Article. Title of Journal, underlined. [type of medium]. Date of publication. Volume number (issue number), pagination or online equivalent. Available from: <URL>. [Accessed date].

Spence, B. (1993) Secondary School Management in the 1990's: Challenge and Change. London, Independent Publishers.

Smith, J. (1996) Time to go home. Journal of Hyperactivity. [Internet] 12th October, 6 (4), pp.122-3. Available from: <http://lmu.ac.uk> [Accessed June 6th, 1997]

Chapters
Author of Chapter Date of publication (in brackets). Title of Chapter, only first word capitalised In followed by a colon: Author/Editor of collected work Title of collected work. Capitals, underlined Place of publication, Publisher.

Newspapers
Author of the article. Year of the publication (in brackets). Title of the article. Title of the Newspaper, underlined Date of publication. Page numbers of article.

Baty, P. (1998) Learners are born, says report. Times Higher Education Supplement. 16th January. p.5.

Porter, M.A. (1993) The modification of method in researching postgraduate education. In: Burgess, R.G. ed. The Research Process in Educational Settings: Ten Case Studies. London, Falmer Press.

World Wide Web Documents

Author/Editor. Year (in brackets). Title. Underlined [Internet]. Edition, if not the first (if ascertainable). Place of publication (if ascertainable) Publisher (if ascertainable) Available from: <URL>. [Accessed date].

Secondary referencing
Original Reference Cited in: Reference of Collection

Giddens A. (1995) Structuration and social action, London: Sage. Cited in: Haralambos M. (1997) A Textbook of Sociology. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone.

Holland, M. (1996) Harvard System [Internet] Poole, Bournemouth University: Available from: <http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/servicedepts/lis/LIS_Pub/harvardsys.html> [Accessed 22 August, 1997]