In one of my earlier blog posts, we looked at how to reference books using the Harvard system, as well as the format for edited books. This time, we will be looking at how to reference ebooks. This is similar to referencing physical books but does differ in a few ways. We will start by considering why referencing is so important in your work, then look at the format that you would use in the full reference list, as well as an in-text citation. Finally, we will look at some of the considerations you should bear in mind when evaluating a source for reliability.
So, why do you need to reference? There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, if you do not reference correctly (or at all), your work could be subject to a plagiarism investigation, which could then lead to you having to repeat the work. It may also damage your professional reputation. Your work has to be your own, not copied from anyone else. Likewise, you have the right to expect that your work will not be used without the correct referencing.
Plagiarism isn’t always just copying exactly what is written – it can also be taking ideas from someone’s work and presenting them as your own. However, even if you do correctly reference your sources, you still can’t copy out large sections. This should be restricted to a reasonable length and you must make it clear that it is a quote.
The other reason to reference is to help your readers. If they are reading your work and see that you have a citation at a certain point, they may then choose to go and look up that reference so that they can understand what you have written in context. Also, it helps them to know that your work is reliable if you have backed up all your major points with a reference they can check.
The basic format for an ebook reference is:
Surname, Initial(s)., Year. Title of book. [ebook type] Place of publication (if known): Publisher. Available at: Source URL [Accessed date].
For example:
Jackson, G., 2016. Geographical formations. [Kindle book] FG Publications. Available at: Amazon.co.uk <https://www.amazon.co.uk> [Accessed 5 March 2017].
We will now look at the individual parts of this reference.
Surname
As you would for a physical book, you should include the author’s full surname as it appears in the ebook. If they have multiple surnames, make sure you include them all.
Initial(s)
You only need the author’s initials, not their full name. If they have multiple names, include them all as initials, for example:
Harris, F.H.
Multiple Authors
If there are multiple authors, you need to include them all in your reference list. Link the authors using commas and an “and”, depending on how many there are.
Harris, F.H., Clover, R. and Iserles, D.
Year
The year that the ebook was published should be written as a four-digit number, i.e. 2020 not just 20.
Title of book
This is the full title of the book, written in italics. Only keep capitals on the first word of the title and any proper nouns, for example, “Tourist Attractions in Paris” would become “Tourist attractions in Paris“.
Ebook Type
Next, include the type of ebook inside square brackets, for example:
[Kindle book]
Place of Publication
If you do know this, include it, but don’t worry if you can’t find it – just move on to the next part of the reference.
Publisher
Write the name of the publisher as it appears in the ebook.
Available at
Add where the ebook can be found and the full web address, written inside angle brackets.
Accessed Date
This is the date that you accessed the ebook for your research, written in the format DD Month YYYY and placed inside square brackets. It is important that you include this, as ebooks can be updated and you need to refer to the correct version.
In-Text Citation
To cite an ebook in the text of your writing, you can either reference it directly or indirectly. A direct reference is where you name the author in the text with the year of publication in brackets after, for example:
This is shown in Harris (2014).
Alternatively, you can use an indirect reference, where both the author’s name and the year of publication are inside brackets, separated by a comma:
(Harris, 2014)
If there are two or three authors, list them in the order they appear in the ebook and separate them with a comma and an “and”.
(Harris, Clover and Iserles, 2014)
If there are more than three authors, write the first one, followed by “et al.”, meaning “and others”.
(Harris, et al., 2014)
Remember that you still need to write the full list of authors in your reference list.
Evaluating Source Reliability
Before you include a source in your reference list, evaluate it for reliability. There are a few factors to consider here, the first of which is how recently it was written. As a general rule, the more recent a source is, the more reliable it is. Make sure all of your sources are truly relevant to what you are writing.
In addition, consider what you know about the author and the purpose of the writing. Is the author known to be trustworthy? A source written purely to inform is more reliable than one aiming to convince the reader of a particular point. If you do have sources that are written to persuade, try to ensure you include some from both sides of the debate.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, you are now more confident about referencing ebooks using the Harvard referencing system. In my next Harvard blog post, we will be looking at how to reference websites, so keep an eye out for that!
Want help proofreading your work? Contact Carmine Proofreading for a friendly, professional service from a qualified proofreader.
Email: CarmineProofreading@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarmineProofed
Carmine Proofreading 