Harvard Referencing Summary of a Basic Reference

In my recent blog posts, we have been looking at the correct format to cite different sources using the Harvard referencing system. In this blog post, we will be looking at the more general format used in the reference list which forms the basis for all the other types of reference. You can also use this, adapting it as appropriate, for any type of source that does not have an established format.

In this blog post, we will first of all look at why you need to reference your work and the benefits it has for your readers. We will then consider the outline of a basic format before looking at each element of this in turn.

So, why do you need to reference? There are two main reasons. This first is a matter of ethics. If you do not correctly cite all the sources you have used, your work will be the product of plagiarism. Every author, including you, has the right to be listed as the creator of their work, whether this is a book, journal article, photograph or any other source. Not referencing can also have consequences for you. For example, you may have to redo some or all of the work. For more severe or repeated infractions, you could even be asked to leave your course.

The other reason to reference is to help your readers. If they see that you have cited a source to support a particular point, they can then go and check what this source is and understand what you have written in the context of this. Additionally, readers can make sure your writing is trustworthy by looking at where you got your information. Finally, having references means that your readers can then follow them up for further reading if they are interested in the topic.

Basic Format

The basic format that you can use as a starting place for all sources is:

Author surname, Author initials. Year. Title. Edition. [format] Place: Publisher, numbers. Additional information. [Accessed date].

We will now look at each part of this in turn.

Author’s Name(s) and Initial(s)

Write the author’s surname followed by a comma, then their initials. For example:

Jenson, W.P.

In your reference list, you must list all the authors of the work, separated by commas and an “and”. For example:

Jenson, W.P., Liu, X.R., Barley, R. and Rycroft, O.

If there is an exceptional number of authors on a source, you may be allowed to cite a limited number – ask your institution.

If there is no individual author, you can cite the organisation that produced the source as the author.

Year

Write the year out in full, as four digits. For example, 2015 is correct, but just 15 would not be, as this could be 1915 or even earlier.

Title

For the title, only keep capitals on the first word and any proper nouns. For example, “A Travel Guide to Delhi” would simply be written in the reference list as “A travel guide to Delhi“. The title should also be written in italics. Make sure you write it out in full, including anything after (for example) a colon, as there can sometimes be a more detailed description of the title here.

Edition

To ensure that your readers are looking at the correct version of a particular book, include details of the edition, as there can be some major changes between them. For example, the third edition of a book would have “3rd ed.” written in the reference, without the quotes. However, if a book is the first edition, it is not necessary to include details of the edition.

[format]

Include details of the format the source is in, for example, a photograph or sound recording. This should be inside square brackets and without any capitalisation, except for acronyms like CD or DVD where they would be incorrect without capitals.

Place

You might not always be able to find information on the place that the source was published but try to include it if possible. You can usually find this on the copyright page of a book, for example. The place of publication must be a town or city, not a country.

Publisher

This should be relatively easy to find – write it exactly as it is written in the publication details.

Numbers

If you are referencing a journal article, you should always have numbers to denote the volume and issue. However, you may also have them for a book, if you need to give particular page numbers for quotes. A single page number is just written as “p.145”, without the quotes. A range of pages is referenced as “pp.145–52”, again, without the quotes.

Additional Information

Depending on what type of source you are referencing, you may need to include some more details. For example, a translated book should give details on the original language and the translator’s name. If you are referencing a webpage, include the full URL.

Date Accessed

If you are referencing web sources, you need to supply the date you accessed the source, as this type of source can be updated and might no longer make sense to your readers. Write this in the format “[Accessed DD Month YYYY]”, without the quotes.

Wrapping Up

I hope this helps you to reference your work using the Harvard system. In my next blog post, we will be looking at in-text citations, so come back in two weeks for that!

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