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Doing Research

Writing References


Harvard System

Harvard System - our house style

Note that you may see slight variations in the Harvard Style depending on the source describing it, for example different institutions, publications and departments within the University may differ in the use of punctuation and other conventions.  This guide follows the house style of Information Services.

When you are citing references and compiling bibliographies you should first find out if there is a particular referencing style you should be using, and whether a particular house style is being used.  Then, whatever style you use, it is very important that you apply it consistently, using the same conventions throughout your work.

Reference in Text

The list of references, or bibliography, is arranged in alphabetical order of author's surname, followed by the date of publication. Therefore the author's surname and year of publication appear in the text.

If the reference does not contribute to the sense of the statement, put the whole thing in brackets. If, on the other hand, it is part of the statement put the date only in brackets.

e.g. "There is some evidence (Smith 1995) that these figures are incorrect"
or "Smith (1995) has provided evidence that these figures are incorrect"

If you are giving direct quotations or referring to particular sections of a document you should identify the page numbers. These appear after the date within the brackets, use either a comma , or colon : to separate the date and page numbers. The abbreviations are: page (p.) pages (pp.), section(s.) or sections (ss.).

e.g. It has been reported that: "Coherence and consistency in teaching, and a safe orderly climate, are positively associated with educational achievement" (Smith 1996, p.151).

When an author has published more than one cited document in the same year these are distinguished by adding lower case letters after the year within the brackets.

e.g. "There is some evidence (Smith 1995a) that these figures are incorrect"

If more than one citation is referred to within a sentence, list them all in the following form, by date (earliest first) and then alphabetically:-

e.g. There is growing evidence for the link between these two factors (Alton 1995; Jones 1995; Smith 2000)

For cited documents where the originator is unknown Anon (for Anonymous) should be used.

e.g. There has been a report of this type of behaviour (Anon 2005)

 

Harvard System - book, journal reference, chapters

Listing References

The list of references is arranged in alphabetical order of author's surname, followed by the date of publication (earliest first). Then if more than one item has been published during a specific year by letter (1995a, 1995b, etc). The title of the publication should either be in italics or underlined.

  1. Books - Items for inclusion:
    • Name of author/s (Surname followed by initials or forename/s)
    • Year of publication (in brackets)
    • Title of publication (in italics or underlined)
    • Edition (if not first edition)
    • Place of publication
    • Publisher

    e.g. Leggett, J. (2000) The carbon war: global warming and the end of the oil era.
    2nd ed. London, Penguin

  2. Journal articles - Items for inclusion:
    • Name of author/s (Surname followed by initials or forename/s)
    • Year of publication (in brackets)
    • Title of article
    • Title of periodical (in italics or underlined)
    • Volume number
    • Part number (in brackets)
    • Month or season of the year (if given)
    • Page number/s of article

    e.g. Ledwith, S. and Manfredi, S. (2000) Balancing gender in higher education - a study of the experience of senior women in a 'new' UK university. European Journal of Womens Studies, 7 (1), pp. 7-33

  3. Chapters/ Sections of books contributed by individual authors - Items for inclusion:
    • Author/s of the chapter/ section (Surname followed by initials or forename/s)
    • Year of publication (in brackets)
    • Title of chapter/ section followed by 'In:'
    • Author/s or editor/s of book (If editor put 'ed.' after the name
    • Title of book (in italics or underlined)
    • Edition (if not first edition)
    • Place of publication
    • Publisher
    • Page number/s of chapter/ section (abbreviated to p. or pp. for plural)

    e.g. Brennan, A. A. (1993) Environmental decision making. In: Berry, R. J. ed.
    Environmental dilemmas: ethics and decisions. London, Chapman & Hall, pp. 1-19

Multiple authors/ Corporate authors/ Unknown author

Multiple authors

Where there are two or three authors give all their names

e.g. Ledwith, S. and Manfredi, S.

e.g. Elliott, B., Matthews, R. and Schreiber, D.

Where there are more than three authors give the name of the first author only, followed by et al. (abbreviation for et alii : Latin for 'and others').

e.g. Brown, A. et al.

Corporate authors

If no person is named as author, and the title page implies that an organisation or group of persons acting as a body is mainly responsible for the book, then treat the group or organisation as the author.

e.g. World Bank. African development indicators 1998/99. Washington, DC., World Bank, 1999

Unknown author

If no person is named as author, and there is nothing to imply a particular group or organisation is responsible then use Anon (for Anonymous).

e.g. Anon (2005) Brain Storm. New Scientist, 5th March, p. 43

 

 

page last modified 21 November, 2007