A guide to citing references

using the Harvard System

2012 - 2013
Why Cite References?
Having done your research you have found a wealth of material and you would like to refer to
the ideas or concepts that you have found.
Anyone reading your work needs to know where you found the information so they can read
more details if they wish.

So referencing is to show the breadth of your research and to detail your sources.

There are set rules about how to do this both in the body of your work and in the reference list.
A reference list is a list of all the sources your have referred to, a bibliography is all the
sources you have read including those that you have not quoted but whose ideas you have
absorbed.
Creating a bibliography can be a good way of showing how much research you have done but
ensure you only add what you have actually read!

Follow the rules below, unless you are told otherwise by your lecturer – where possible always follow
guidance given by the awarding body for your course. But whichever system you decide to use, stick
to it and be consistent!

Visit referencing.port.ac.uk for an online help tool

Harvard System

In the main body of your assignment you should refer to references by the author’s surname(s), year
of publication and page numbers. NOTE: Use p. to refer to one page and pp. to refer to several
pages.

If you mention the author’s name in your assignment, give the year, and page numbers if needed,
in brackets.
The chemical was first identified by Jacobsen (1905). Sharpe, Woodhouse and Carson (1989,
pp.302-350) have recently shown that it is useful in treating pre-senile dementia.

If you don’t mention the author’s name in your text, give name, year, and page numbers if needed,
in brackets.
th
The chemical was first identified in the 19 century (Jacobsen 1905) and it has been recently
shown to be useful in treating pre-senile dementia (Sharpe, Woodhouse and Carson 1989,
pp.302-350).

If there are two authors you must use both their surnames. If there are more than two authors
write all their surnames the first time, but after that use the first surname only followed by ‘et al’ but
you must list all of them in your bibliography. If the author is not named, use the corporate author,
e.g. Charity Commission, or use ‘Anon’, except if it is a newspaper or magazine article with no named
author, in which case use the name of the newspaper.

A paper published last year (World Bank 2004, pp.15-19) declared that…
In a recent study on world poverty child labour has been shown to be increasing (Anon 2005)
Contrary to popular perception, violent crime has been shown to be decreasing (Economist
2003, p.21)

If you refer to a book that has been quoted in another work, then cite both in the text.
The first study of juvenile criminal behaviour (Pirro 1926, cited by McNish 2000, p.47)
demonstrated that…
But only list the work by McNish (i.e. the work that you have actually read) in your bibliography.

If you refer to something that someone has told you just put the details in the text. As you have no
documentary source, there will be no reference in your bibliography.
Local people refer to Holy Well as the Starwell (S. Hunt, pers. comm., 24th June 1994).

Writing the Bibliography or reference list

For a reference list use only the references you have used in your essay. When referring to more
than one book or article by the same author list them in date order (earliest first). If they were
published in the same year, add a, b, c, etc. after the year, e.g. 1976a, 1976b (put this letter in the
citation in your text too).
Bibliography If you are asked to list other works that you have read but not cited in your text, then list
them under Bibliography in exactly the same way as in the reference list

A basic rule is that if it is a book the title is in italics if it is a journal the journal title is in
italics

Books
Author’s surname/s, initials. Year. Title. Edition (if it is not the first). Place of publication:
Publisher.
E.g. Hill, D., 1999. German for beginners. London: Routledge.

If the book has editor(s) instead of author(s) add ‘ed’ or ‘eds’ after their name(s).

Editor/s, initials. Year. Title. Edition (if it is not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.
th
E.g.Ecclestone, B. and Moseley, M., eds., 2005. How to fail at crisis management. 10 ed.
Harmondsworth: Penguin.

If the book has a corporate author and no individual authors

corporate author, Year. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.
nd
E.g. Open University, 1979. Electricity generation. 2 ed. Bletchley: Open University
Press.
OR use the title
E.g. The Koran. 1934. London: Tamarind Press.

If a book is better known by its title alone rather than by its authors or editors then just use the title
instead.
Title, Year. Edition (if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.
e.g. Oxford English dictionary, 1989. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

If you are quoting from one article from a collection in a book

Surname of article’s author, initials., Year. Title of article. In: initials. surname of author/editor of
book, followed by ed. or eds. if relevant. Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher, page
numbers of paper.
E.g. Montoya, J.P., 1967. The films of Woody Allen. In: M.Webber, ed. Modern American
humour. London: Butterworth Heinemann, pp.143-183.

Journal and Magazine articles

Journal titles need not be abbreviated, but if you do, remember that there are international standards
on abbreviations which must be followed. Correct abbreviations can be found at
www.bath.ac.uk/library/guides/abbreviations.html

The volume number, issue number or date must be included for journals.
Author’s surname, initials., Year. Title of article. Title of journal, Volume number (part), page
numbers.
E.g. Harpo, T.H., 1933. Carbon monoxide poisoning in social housing. Industrial and engineering
chemistry, 41(3), p.25

Newspaper article
Author’s surname, initials. (or newspaper title if author unknown), Year. Title of article.
Title of newspaper, Day and Month, page number/s and column letter.
E.g.
Kristensen, T., 2004. The Le Mans legend. Guardian, 20 June, p.30b.

Independent, 1992. Picking up the bills. Independent, 4 June, p.28a.

DVD
Title, Year. Material designation. Place of publication: Publisher.
E.g. The history of Le Mans, 1997. DVD. London: Duke Marketing.

Film
Title, Year of release. Material designation. Subsidiary originator (usually director: SURNAME
in upper case). Production details i.e. Place: Organisation.
E.g. Macbeth, 1948. Film. Directed by Orson WELLES. USA: Republic Pictures.

Webpages and e-books

author’s surname, initials., Year (if known). Title [online]. (Edition if known). Place of
publication: Publisher (if known). Available from: URL [Accessed date].
E.g. Holland, M., 2002. Guide to citing internet sources [online]. Poole: Bournemouth
University. Available from:
http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/using/guide_to_citing_internet_sourc.html [Accessed 4
November 2010].

E-journal articles (treat PDF versions of print journal articles just like print journals – see above)
Author’s surname, intials., Year. Title. Journal title [online], volume (issue). Available
from: URL [Accessed date].
E.g. Williams, F., 2005. Engine development – how far can we go?. Autosport [online],
5. Available from: http://www.autosport.co.uk/issue5/fwa/ [Accessed 18 Jun 2011].

Sound recording – Audio CD, Cassette, Vinyl Records

Artist – surname, initials (Year of publication ). Title in italics or underlined [Material
type–in square brackets]. Place of Distribution: Distribution Company.
E.g. Dylan, B. (2001). Love and Theft [CD] UK. Columbia Recordings.

Reference to a TV programme

Programmes and series: Title, the number and title of the episode should normally be given, as well
as the series title, the transmitting organisation and channel, the full date and time of transmission.

e.g. Downton family episode 1, Disaster strikes, 2010. TV, BBC1. 2010 Jan 16. 2000 hrs.

Contributions: individual items within a programme should be cited as contributors.

e.g. Cameron, Tony, 2011. Interview. In: Ten o’clock news. TV, ITV 1. 2011 Feb 29. 2200 hrs.

Computer Games/Programs
Originator/author. (year of publication). Game or program title - in italics or underlined.
[Medium of item - in square brackets]. Series information and any dates or numeric
information - if necessary. Place of Publication: Publisher

E.g. Electronic arts. (2003). The Sims. [DISC] PlayStation2. London: Electronic Arts

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is when you deliberately present another person’s work as if it were your own. This doesn’t
just mean copying a whole essay; if you take information or ideas from anywhere and include them in
your own work without referencing them, you might be accused of plagiarism and serious misconduct.

Cite your sources systematically and fully every time you refer to them in your text to ensure that you
do not accidentally plagiarise anybody else’s work.
Please see the LRC research skills page
http://www.wiltshire.ac.uk/learning_resources/research_skills.asp for more advice on avoiding
plagiarism.
Latin Abbreviations You may come across these in references in academic publications. With the
possible exception of ‘et al.’ and ‘ibid.’ their use is not recommended when quoting literature
references.
ibid. = in the same place. It is used in a bibliography to avoid repetition of an immediately preceding
publication.
op. cit. = in the work [previously] quoted
loc. cit. = in the [identical] passage [previously] quotedet al. = and others