78.

Referencing using the Harvard

method
When you write an essay, project, assignment, dissertation or thesis for a
research degree, you will frequently need to refer to literature that you have
read in order to support an argument, illustrate a point, outline a particular
theory, report information or data, or support your reasoning. You must
acknowledge the source of all works that you refer to, by citing references.
References should be flagged within your text and full details listed at the end
of the document. It is important that you never present another writer‟s
material or ideas without acknowledging the source by citing a reference. To
do this is plagiarism, for which you will be subject to the Institute’s Unfair
Practice Procedure if detected. References are essential for the following
reasons:

to prove that you have researched your topic, and that your ideas have
been presented in the light of published material;
to substantiate your ideas and arguments;
to acknowledge the source of your information and development of your ideas;
to distinguish between your own opinions and those of others;
to enable your readers to locate the source of your ideas in order to study the
material themselves.

Principal aspects of the method

The Harvard, or “Name and Date”, method of referencing is one of the most
commonly used. There are two aspects to the system. Firstly, a „flag‟ is
entered, in brackets, in the body of your text at the point at which you make

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

use of another writer‟s work. Secondly, a list, entitled “References”, is
provided at the end of your work in which fuller details of all the references you
have flagged in your text are presented alphabetically. The purpose of this
method is to ensure that the main body of your text is not cluttered up with
large amounts of bibliographic information, which the reader might find
intrusive. The flags themselves contain the minimum amount of information
possible – just sufficient to locate the reference in your list.

Please note
Students should note that while Glyndŵr‟s Academic Board has asked all students have
an understanding of the Harvard referencing system students should note that in their
own subject discipline different referencing systems may apply. Staff will advise
students if this is the case. However, if you in doubt PLEASE ASK a member of staff.

Flagging references in your text

The flag is usually presented in the following form: a set of brackets containing
the surname of the author to whom you are referring followed by the year of
publication of the source document. For example:

The original conclusions (Williams, 1990) have now been questioned

(Reynolds, 1994).

If the author‟s name appears naturally in the text, add only the date in
brackets. For example:

The original conclusions have now been questioned by both Reynolds (1994)
and Roberts (1995).

Where there are 2 authors, both should appear in brackets. For example:

A more recent study (Williams and Reynolds, 1996) disproved the earlier
findings.

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

If there are 3 or more authors, only the first should appear, followed by the
term “et al.” (A shortened form of “et alia”, the Latin for “and others”). For
example:

In a recent report, Smith et al. (1996) have* suggested yet another solution.

(* note the use of the plural for „Smith et al.‟)

When an author has published more than one work in the same year, the
works should be identified with lower case letters (a, b, c, etc. – in the order
used) after the date. For example:

Further studies (Smith, 1995a) agreed with the initial findings (Smith, 1995b).

Citing references at the end of your document

Your list of references appears alphabetically by author at the end of your

document. The information provided for each (known as “a bibliographic
citation”) must comply with a strict set of requirements that would enable any
of your readers precisely to locate the source items to which you refer. The
format of the citation varies slightly according to the type of material it relates
to. You should note that the punctuation used and the emphasis given to
sections of the typeface is of great importance. For instance, the use of italics
or bold or underlined text where specified, is essential because it
conventionally serves to identify the type of source material (e.g. book or
journal). The bibliographic information, which must be cited for different types
of reference source, is described below. One point to note is that bibliographic
citations include the names of all authors of a source, no matter how many;
the term „et al.‟ is not used

Books:
each author‟s name and initials
the year of publication in brackets
the title of the book in italics, or bold text or underlined text

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

 the edition, if more than the first
the exact page number(s) at which the reference is located within the source text
the place of publication
the publisher‟s name

For example:

Carnall, C.A. (1999) Managing change in organizations (3rd edn.), p38.

London, Prentice Hall.

Rudestam, K.E. and Newton, R.R. (1992) Surviving your dissertation: a

comprehensive guide to content and process, pp120-125. London, Sage
publications.

For more than one reference taken from the same source, the full
bibliographic details are cited only once but the different page numbers are
entered alongside the appropriate lower case letter used in the flags in your
main text. For example:

Phillips, M. (1995) The search for truth. London, Sage publications.

(a) p37
(b) p44

NB. Page numbers can also be given in the body of the text. Please check
with your tutor for advice.

For different works in the same year by one author, the lower case letters used in the
flags are included

Carson, P. (1990) Gender issues today, p55. London, Macmillan Press.

Carson, P. (1995) The world of work, pp17-18. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
Dawson, R. (1999a) The politics of the family, p171. London, Hugo
Publications.

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

Dawson, R. (1999b) Working women, p90. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

For edited books, cite under the editor‟s or editors‟ names and include the
term (ed. or eds.) For example:

Morgan, D. and Stanley, L. (eds.) (1993) Debates in sociology. Manchester,

Manchester University Press.

If you are directly quoting an author who has contributed to an edited book,
cite the name of the chapter (in single inverted commas) written by that author,
then, following the word „in‟ cite the bibliographic details of the source book.
For example:

Roberts, H. (1993) „The women and class debate‟ in Morgan, D. and Stanley,
L. (eds.) Debates in sociology, p55. Manchester, Manchester University
Press.

Journals:
each author‟s name and initials
the year of publication in brackets
the title of article in single inverted commas
the title of journal, in italics, or bold or underlined text
the volume number and part number or month of issue where appropriate
the number of the first and last pages of the article

For example:
Weiner, B. (1985) „An attributional theory of achievement, motivation and
emotion‟. Psychological review, vol. 92, 548-73.

(NOTE the distinguishing difference between the format of citations for books
and for journals. With the former, it is the name of the book that appears in
italics, bold or underlined text; with journals, it is the title of the journal. Note

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

also, that you should use a consistent style in your choice of either italics, bold
or underlined text.)

Audio-visual material:
For audiovisual materials, include the author or director, title, format, date and
publisher. For example:

Robinson, P. (Director) (1982) Making your case [videocassette]. London,

Video Arts Ltd.

British Standards:
The citation should include the following details:
the words “British Standards Institution”
the date of publication in brackets
British Standard number and year (separated by a colon)
the title and subtitle (if any) in italics, bold or underlined text
the place of publication (if known)
the name of publisher using the abbreviation “BSI”

For example:

British Standards Institution (1990) BS 5605:1990 Recommendations for

citing and referencing published material. Milton Keynes, BSI.

Conference papers:
As a general rule, list as much information as possible, including dates and the
body responsible for publication. For example:

Kregel, J.A., et al. (1989) Factors in business investment [paper presented

to a conference held at the Science Centre, Berlin, September 1987]. Berlin,
the Science Centre.

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

Corporate authors:
Works of corporate authorship are works produced by national bodies,
groups, government departments, committees, etc. Such publications are
often casually referred to by the name of the chairperson, but this name
should not be used as the author. However, you can give the name of the
chairperson in brackets after the title. For example:

Great Britain, Department of Health and Social Security (1980) Report of the
working party on inequalities in health [Chairperson: Sir Douglas Black].
London, HMSO.

Exhibition catalogues, etc.:

Where there is no author, use the Gallery or Museum. For example:

Sunderland Art Centre (1978) Craftsmanlike [exhibition catalogue].

Sunderland, Ceolfirth Press.

Government publications:
These are usually of corporate authorship, and should be listed according to
the department responsible for publication. However, the citation should
always commence with the words “Great Britain”. For example:

Great Britain, Home Office (1990) The Hillsborough Stadium, 15 April 1989
: inquiry by Lord Chief Justice Taylor: final report. London, HMSO.

Internet sources:
There is not yet a standard related to referencing Internet sources. As a
general rule, it is unwise to use Internet references unless they are from
reputable sources, which could also be reliably located by means other than
the Internet. Remember that one of the purposes of referencing is to enable
others to locate the original source of your ideas. As we all know, many
Internet sources are ephemeral (“here today, gone tomorrow”). Also, it is often
far from clear who the publisher is for many Internet sites.

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

We should not be beguiled into thinking that a web-site address has any
permanence or even any authenticity. After all, where would you physically
find “www.magic-solutions-for-business.com”? A so-called “web-site
address” is not really an address at all. What we need to know from a
reference is who actually publishes the site and where to find them for
purposes of verification, etc.; this is a long way from knowing merely a web-
site address.

With these points in mind, it may be better not to use such a source unless
you know who actually produces it. If you do know who produces (i.e.
publishes) it, then you should include this information as part of the
bibliographic citation. But, don’t use ephemeral or trivial Internet sources.

However, for credible Internet sources follow the general rules for Harvard
referencing by citing the author(s), the date, the title, a web-site address, AND
enough information to locate the publisher of the site so that you might be
able to obtain hard copy. A note of the date you accessed the site may also
be useful. For example:

Dover, R. (1996) Blake’s poetry. http://io.glyndwr.ac.uk/rdover/blake/poetry.

Internet source produced by Dover, R., at North East Wales Institute of Higher
Education, UK. [Electronically accessed 21st May 2002.]

Research reports:
If possible it is important to include the subtitle and series information

author‟s name

date of publication in brackets

title and subtitle (if any) in italics, bold or underlined text

research report number

place of publication (if known)

publisher

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

For example:

BRECSU, Building Research Establishment (1996) Drawing a winner:

energy efficient design of sports centres. Good practice guide no. 211.
London, Department of the Environment.

Theses and dissertations:

author‟s name
year of publication in brackets
title and subtitle (if any) in italics, bold or underlined text
type of document, e.g. Ph.D. thesis, degree dissertation
place of publication if not clear from the institution name (e.g. Bristol,
University of the West of England)
awarding institution

For example:

Ferguson, M.W. (1998) Photophysical and photochemical properties of

photosensitisers for the photodynamic therapy of tumours. Ph.D. thesis,
North East Wales Institute of Higher Education.

Unpublished material:
You may refer to items which you found useful, but which are not officially
published, for example pamphlets, internal working papers. They should be
referenced in the same way. For example:

Jones, A. (1996) Guidelines for writing. Unpublished report. Liverpool,

Smith Institute.

You may even wish to reference a useful interview or conversation you have
conducted. For example:

Roberts, A. (1996). Personal communication.

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

Second-hand references:
Whenever possible, you should quote from original sources. If this is not
possible, use the term “cited by...” followed by the reference for the work in
which it is quoted.

For example:

Newby, M. (1989) Writing: a guide for students. Cambridge, Cambridge

University Press. Cited by Smith, A. (1992) Students‟ writing skills. London,
Kogan Page.

Direct quotations:
If your quotation is less than 2 lines long, you should include it in your text in
inverted commas. For example:

Many academics have pointed to the need to develop students‟ writing skills.
It has been argued that “writing is like talking: a natural ability - once you have
learned how to do it” (Newby, 1989). However, the debate seems never
ending . . .

Remember then to add Newby to the list of references.

If your quotation is longer than 2 lines, indent the whole quotation as a new
paragraph; reduce the point size of the text and close the line spacing to single
line spacing (if you have been using a more open spacing for your main text).
You do not need to use inverted commas. Add the page number(s) where the
quote is taken from, and use 3 full stops to indicate any word(s) you have
missed out. For example:

Many academics have pointed to the need to develop writing skills in

students. Newby (1989) asserts:

Writing is like talking: a natural ability - once you have learned to do it. It
develops with use in the right environment. You can learn how to write

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

 better ... don‟t give up hope: the chances are that you can still improve
considerably (p 5).

Personal additions:
Sometimes you may wish to append personal notes to a citation or to a bibliographic
entry in your reference list. This is often best done by using square brackets, e.g.
for conference papers [paper presented to a conference held at the Science Centre,
Berlin, September 1987.]

Compiling a bibliography
A bibliography is different from a list of references. It is a list of various
sources – in addition to those you have cited in your list of references – which
you have used during the process of studying for, and writing, your
assignment. The purpose of including a bibliography is to assist others who
may wish to study a similar topic. It therefore does not require page numbers
since you are generally referring to whole works for background reading
purposes rather than isolated quotes or ideas.

However, a bibliography is sometimes considered as an “optional extra”. You

should take advice on whether or not to add a bibliography at the end of
your work. If you decide to do so, remember that it is more useful to list
unusual or unlikely sources rather than the obvious ones. Listing well-known
textbooks or newspapers, and so on, might be considered rather pointless
and a distraction from the main aim of pointing the reader towards material
they might not have otherwise considered. For the same reason, don‟t bother
repeating citations of works already appearing in your list of references.

A bibliography should be arranged alphabetically by the author‟s surname and

by date within that if there is more than one work by the same author. Follow
the same bibliographic rules as for your reference list.

Good practice in the use of references and quotations

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

There are a number of simple principles concerning best use of references
and quotations in academic writing. The more important ones are as follows:

a) the effective use of a reference usually involves a bit more than simply
citing the source!

The following, for instance, is not very helpful in supporting an argument you
are making:

The studies carried out by Robinson (1998) have provided some interesting
new ideas about change in organizations.

A better use of the reference would involve briefly describing Robinson‟s

studies, and saying something about his „new ideas‟, e.g.:

Robinson (1998), in his studies of business strategy in small engineering

firms, found that both „technology push‟ and „consumer pull‟ were important
drivers of organizational change.

In the first example you are giving the reader no actual evidence that
Robinson‟s studies support your argument. The reference is thus of virtually
no use to anyone; we are left to guess what his work was about.

Good practice, therefore, involves saying something about each reference t

that you use so that the reader can judge its relevance to your argument.

b) Always make it clear which precise part of your discussion is attributable to

ideas from other sources. The practice of tagging a reference on at the
end of various paragraphs in your assignment is not usually adequate. It
leaves the reader unclear about exactly which ideas are yours and which
come from elsewhere. You should try, wherever possible, to cite the
reference at the start or in the middle of the material actually referred to.
For instance:

Wilson (1991) argued that . . .

Or,

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08

More recent studies of personality traits in social workers (Goodyear, 2001)
have shown that

c) The use of direct quotations in work which you are submitting for
assessment should be fairly limited. It only really makes sense to use a
quotation where the words or the phraseology of the original writer convey
the meaning in an exceptional or memorable way. Broadly speaking you
should use your own words wherever possible to describe or explain the
work of others

Thus when using verbatim quotations from other sources you should not
normally use excerpts more than three or four lines long. Nor should you use
too many quotations overall. (As a guide, no more than 5% of the total word
count of your work should normally be made up of direct quotations.)

In general, make use of paraphrasing or précis as much as possible. This will best
demonstrate your own understanding of the issues involved. (Remember that you
still need to acknowledge the source of ideas by citing references even when
paraphrasing the work of others. Not to do so would be plagiarism.)

C:\zips\_New guidelines\gl78 - referencing using Harvard.doc 19.8.08