In this week’s Harvard blog post, we will be considering how to reference TV programmes in your work. These can be a very useful source, helping you to vary your research, so it is important to know how to reference them. We will start by asking why you need to reference your sources, then look at how to include a TV programme in your reference list. We will also consider the correct format for an in-text citation and how to analyse your sources for reliability.
So, why do you need to reference? There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, you could be accused of plagiarism if you don’t correctly and accurately cite all of the sources you have used, as all creators (including you) have the right to be referenced when their work is used. Even if you don’t specifically reference the source anywhere in the text, you still need to acknowledge in your reference list that you have used it in your research.
If you fail to correctly acknowledge your sources, your institution may find that your work is the product of plagiarism and take steps to deal with this. This can have serious consequences for you, from having to redo the work affected to being asked to leave your course. If you ever intend to write for journals or similar, an accusation of plagiarism will also be damaging to your professional reputation and career.
The other reason to reference is to help your readers. Having the full list of the sources you have used helps to show that you are reliable and conscientious. Also, if you make a point which you then back up with a reference to a particular source, your readers can look at this source for themselves to consider the context of your writing.
In the Reference List
The basic format to reference a TV programme using the Harvard system is:
Series name, Year broadcast. Series and episode details. Broadcasting organisation, Channel, Date and time transmitted.
For example:
Big cats, 2018. Series 1 episode 1. [TV programme] BBC, BBC One, 11 January 2018 20:00.
We will now look at each part in turn.
Series name
This should be the full series name, written in italics. However, you should remove all capitalisation except for on the first word and any proper nouns. For example, “The Animals of India” would become “The animals of India”.
Year Broadcast
The year broadcast should be written as four digits, i.e., 2013 not just 13. Make sure you have the date of the original broadcast, not just a repeat.
Series and Episode Details
As you can see in the example above, this can be as simple as the series and episode numbers. However, if the episodes have official titles, use these in preference to just the numbers, written out in full.
This should be the type of medium that the source is, placed inside square brackets. Remove all capitalisation, except on acronyms such as TV and DVD.
Broadcasting Organisation
If the organisation is commonly referred to by an acronym, for example, BBC or ITV, it is fine to just give the name as this acronym. Make sure you have the whole broadcasting organisation, not just the channel. For example, BBC is the organisation, which has multiple channels available.
Channel
This is the channel that the TV programme was on, which should belong to the broadcasting organisation.
Date and Time Transmitted
Again, make sure you use the date of the first transmission. The date should be written in the format DD Month YYYY followed by the time, using the 24-hour format with a colon between the hours and minutes.
In-Text Citation
To cite a TV programme, give the series title and the year of broadcast. There are two different ways to make an in-text citation – direct and indirect.
A direct citation mentions the series title in the text, followed by the year in brackets, for example:
This can be seen in Big Cats (2018).
Alternatively, an indirect citation puts both the series title and the year in brackets, separated by a comma, for example:
(Big Cats, 2018)
Evaluating Sources
Before you include a source in your work, it is a good idea to assess it for reliability. There are a few things to check for, starting with how recently the TV programme was broadcast. More recent programmes will likely be more relevant, especially if they are documentaries. Do also try to check any facts given – this gives you a better idea of how reliable the source is.
Consider what the purpose of the TV programme is. It will be more reliable if it is purely informative than if it is trying to persuade the watcher of a particular point of view. What do you already know about the broadcasting organisation and channel? Are they known to be trustworthy?
Wrapping Up
I hope this helps you to feel more confident about referencing TV programmes. In my next blog post, we will be looking at how to reference music, so come back in two weeks for that!
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