How To Format Using The Harvard Citation Style

Harvard Citation Style Format

The Harvard referencing style uses the ‘author-date’ approach. If your lecturer or department does not require you to use any specific style then you can use Harvard. The Harvard citation style is easy to learn and simple to use.

How To Write Citations Using The Harvard Style

A number of rules relate to the Harvard citation style. The rules depend on the number of authors of a work, and if you are citing a quotation.

Citing One Author

A recent study investigated the effectiveness of using Google Scholar to find medical research (Henderson, 2005).

or

Henderson (2005) has investigated the effectiveness of Google Scholar in finding medical research.

Citing Two Or Three Authors

If the work has two or three authors, include all names in your citation.

Recent research indicates that the number of duplicate papers being published is increasing (Arrami & Garner, 2008).

Evidence shows that providing virtual laboratory exercises as well as practical laboratory experience enhances the learning process (Barros, Read & Verdejo, 2008).

Citing Four Or More Authors

If the work has four or more authors/editors, use the abbreviation ‘et al’ after the first author’s name. It is also acceptable to use ‘et al’ after the first author if the work has three authors.

Social acceptance of carbon capture and storage is necessary for the introduction of technologies (van Alphenet al, 2007).

Citing Works By The Same Author Written In The Same Year

If you cite a new work, that has the same author and written in the same year as an earlier citation, you must use a lower case letter after the date to differentiate between the works.

Communication of science in the media has increasingly come under focus, particularly where reporting of facts and research is inaccurate (Goldacre, 2008a; Goldacre, 2008b).

Citing From Chapters Written By Different Authors

Some books may contain chapters written by different authors. When citing work from such a book, cite the author who wrote the chapter and not the editor of the book.

Secondary Referencing

Secondary referencing occurs when an author refers to another author’s work and the primary source is not available. When citing such work cite the author of the primary source and the author of the work it was cited from.

According to Colluzzi and Pappagallo (2005) as cited by Holding et al (2008) most patients given opiates do not become addicted to such drugs.

Note that you should avoid secondary referencing wherever possible and you should always try to find the original work.

Citing A Direct Quotation

If a direct quote from a book, article, etc., is used you must:

• Use single quotation marks (double quotation marks are usually used for quoting direct speech)
• State the page number

Simons, Menzies and Matthews (2001) state that the principle of effective stress is ‘imperfectly known and understood by many practicing engineers’ (p.4).

Citing an image/illustration/table/diagram/photograph/figure/picture

You should provide an in-text citation for images, illustrations, photographs, diagrams, tables or figures that you reproduce in your work, and provide a full reference as with any other type of work.

Treat them as direct quotes in that you acknowledge the author(s) and page numbers shown; both in your text where the diagram is discussed or introduced, and in the caption you write for it.

In-Text Citation:

Table illustrating checklist of information for common sources (Pears and Shields, 2008:p.22).

Or

‘Geological map of the easternmost region of São Nicolau’ (Ramalho et al, 2010:p.532).

Citing From Works With No Obvious Author

If you need to cite a piece of work, which does not have an obvious author, use a ‘corporate’ author. For example, most online publications will not have individually named authors, and in many cases, the author will be an organization or company.

The number of dementia sufferers in the UK has been recently estimated at 570,000 (Department of Health, 2008).

If you are unable to find either a named or a corporate author, you should use ‘Anon’ as the author name. Be careful: if you cannot find an author for online work, it is not a good idea to use this work as part of your research. It is essential that you know where a piece of work has originated, because you need to be sure of the quality and reliability of any information you use.

Citing From Multimedia Works

If you need to cite a multimedia work, use the title of the TV programme (including online broadcasts) or

Video recording, or title of the film (whether on DVD, online, or video) as the author. This includes, for example, videos posted on YouTube or other video-streaming web services. Therefore, your citation should use the title that you identify as the author.

Citing From An Interview Or Personal Communication

Always use the surname of the interviewee/practitioner as the author.

How To Write A Reference

To write your own references you need different bits of information about each item that you read when you are researching a piece of work. These bits of information are known as ‘bibliographic’ information.

For all types of references the key bits of information you need to start with are:

1. Author or editor
2. Date of publication/broadcast/recording
3. Title of the item

This will form the basis of each reference you have to write. You may find that some items are not as straightforward as others are. Therefore, you should consider the following:

1. Author/editor: This means the primary (main) person who produced the item you are using. If you are using a website or web page, without an author, you can use what is called a ‘corporate author’. That is the name of the organization or company.
2. Date of publication/broadcast/recording: This means the date the item was produced. It is usually a year, but if you `are using a newspaper article, an email, or a television recording, you will have to include a full date (day/month/year) in your reference.
3. Title of the item: This means the primary (main) title of the item you are using. Those sounds obvious but look at web pages and try to work out what the main title is. Identify the key piece of information that describes what you have used, and will allow the reader of your work to identify that information.