A guide to the Harvard referencing

system
Maureen Dwyer
The Harvard system is a popular referencing system for academic works and is
often referred to as the 'author/date' system, distinguishes it from the Vancouver
or 'numerical' system. To e more specific, it is a system!
'...in which names and dates are given in the body of the text and the
references alphabetically at the end of the paper' (Royal Society, !"#$.
%hat is a reference&
" statement in a te#t should e linked to the iliographical details of the
document that supports that statement. This is done via the use of a citation
when $uoting or alluding to a work that the author has consulted.
'itation
" citation consists of the author's/s' surname%s& and year of pulication of the
document, referred to in parentheses. 'f $uoting directly or referring to a specific
piece of information within a document, the page numer should also e given
(after the year of pulication and within the parentheses. "ll citations given in the
essay, thesis, article, etc. are listed alphaetically y surname in a reference list
at the end of the work. )ull iliographical details are added to each citation, the
result eing a complete reference for each work that the author has consulted
and to which he/she has referred.
't is important to note that the reference list consists only of those works
specifically referred to in the te#t. *e shall take a reference to include!
(uotation) " set of data descriing a document or part of a document,
sufficiently precise and detailed to identify it and to enale it to e relocated.
'itation) %+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution, -../, p. 0&.
Reference) +ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %-../& 1ecommendations for 2iting and
1eferencing 3ulished Materials. +, 45/4! -../. 6ondon! +ritish ,tandards
'nstitution.
%hy is it important to reference in an approved manner&
1eferencing is a way of giving credence to the su7ect eing studied. 't enales
the author to honour certain responsiilities that the process of communicating
scholarly knowledge places upon him/her. 'n addition to the professional courtesy
of acknowledging sources used, referencing allows the work to e checked and
verified and prevents criticisms regarding plagiarism. 'ntellectual property rights,
as defined in the form of copyright laws, are also honoured.
1
How&
The first step is to otain correct iliographical details. Do not depend on the
cover of a document, unless no other information can e found. 2onsult the title
page and the ack of the title page for the details set out elow. These guidelines
are ased largely on +, -58.!-.9. %+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %+,'&, -.9.&:
information taken from any other standard is noted.
*ibliographical details
"uthor! The name%s& of the person%s& responsile for the document, i.e. a single
author, multiple authors or corporate author. The corporate author, such as the
editor of a collection of works, or the pulishing ody where no identifiale author
e#ists, can e used.
Date! ;ormally the year is sufficient, ut for some items, e.g. a newspaper or
patent document, the month and day can e supplied. 'f there is no date, ut one
can e ascertained, it should e supplied. 'f an e#act date is not known, an
appro#imate date followed y a $uestion mark can e given, e.g. %-5th century<&.
*here no date is given or can e found, %;o date& or the areviation %;D&
should e stated.
Title! "lways use the title on the title page. =ive the full title, although the
inclusion of the sutitle is optional. >ournal titles should e given in full, with
areviations used only in accordance with +, ?-?9 %+,', -.94&. 'f referring to a
whole 7ournal ( not 7ust an article within it ( give the 7ournal name and its
'nternational ,tandard ,erial ;umer %',,;&, e.g. >ournal of @cology, ',,;
//88(/?AA.
@dition! 't is important to state second or further editions. 'n a reference to a
reprint, the date of the reprint can e given after the date of that particular edition,
e.g. %-A.5, reprinted -9-/&. The reprint date is often ignored.
;umeration! *here the document has more than one volume, this must e
stated, e.g. Vol. '', or for a 7ournal! Vol. 5 %0& pp 84(85, 89, 0/(00.
3ulisher! =ive the place/town of pulication, followed y the pulisher's name.
>ournal articles and ooks are treated slightly differently. The elements of a ook
and 7ournal article reference, as outlined in +, 45/4!-../ %+,', -../& are given
elow.
+ook details
o "uthor's/s' surname%s& plus initials
o Bear of pulication
o Title, underlined or in $uotation marks
o Material designation, if necessary, e.g. map, illustration
o @dition
o Volume numer, if the ook has more than one volume
o 3lace of pulication
o 3ulisher's name
2
o 6ocation element %for unpulished works&.
+xample) 2itation! %6lewellan(>ones, -.95&. 1eference! 6lewellan(>ones, D
%-.95& )undamentals of Cstetrics and =ynaecology. ?th ed. ,uffolk! 1ichard
2lay %The 2haucer 3ress& 6td.
Article details
o "uthor's/s' surname%s& plus initials
o Bear of pulication
o Title of article
o Title of 7ournal, underlined
o Volume numer/paft numer/date of issue
o 3agination
+xample) 2itation! %Dickinson, -..-&. 1eference! Dickinson @> %-..-& Duality
hospitals! the role of medical audit. =eriatric Medicine 8-! 8A(9, 0-(8.
'itations in the text
o Ese only the author's/s' surname%s& and year of pulication, with the addition of
page numer%s& if re$uired, e.g. %,wann, -.9-, p. -/&.
o *here sense demands, the name of the author%s& can e incorporated into the
te#t, e.g. ,trauss and Fiegler %-.A4& outline the main goals of the Delphi tech(
ni$ue, with Turoff %-.A/& identifying four secondary goals.
o 'f two or more works y the same author%s& have the same pulication date,
they should e distinguished y adding lower case letters after the date, e.g.
%Tschudin, -..8&.
,inalised reference list
The Harvard system's reference list consists only of those works cited within the
ody of the te#t. Details of additional reading should not e mi#ed with cited
works. 1eferences should e set out in a list in the alphaetical order of the
author's/s' surname%s& and thereafter y initials, and then chronologically y date
of pulication. @nsure that full iliographical details are given for each item
listed and that letters used to distinguish works y the same author%s& with the
same pulication date are included.
@#amples!
+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %-../& 1ecommendations )or 2iting and
1eferencing 3ulished Material %+, 45/4!-../&. 8nd ed. 6ondon! +ritish
,tandards 'nstitution.
+urnard 3, Morrison 3 %-../& ;ursing 1esearch in "ction! Developing +asic
,kills. 6ondon! Macmillan.
,tocking + %-.99& 'ntroducing innovation ( overcoming resistance to change. 'n!
" +owling, ed. The ;urse in )amily 3ractice. 6ondon! ,cutari 3ress! 4A(54.
Tschudin V %-..8a& @thics in ;ursing. 8nd edn. C#ford, +utterworth(Heinemann.
Tschudin V %-..8& Values! " 3rimer for ;urses. 6ondon! +ailliGre Tindall.
3
-ossible difficulties
.oint authors
" work y two or more authors should e referred to y up to two names and
there(after with the use of the first(named author followed y 'et al', meaning 'and
others'.
+xample) " citation would .read as follows! %+rown and ,mith, -.9.& or
%"tkinson et al, -../&. '@t al' may e used in the reference list, ut for
thoroughness, all authors can e listed.
'ollection of wor/s by various authors
" work consisting of contriutions y different authors is referenced under the
edi(or's name. The word editor goes efore the year of pulication.
+xample! 1eference! +owling ", ed. -.99 ;urse in )amily 3ractice. 6ondon!
,cutari 3ress. 2itation! %+owling, -.99&.
Duotations from an article pulished as part of a collection should e referenced
under the author of the particular article or chapter, followed y the year and title
of the article/chapter. The word 'in' should immediately follow these details,
followed y the full iliographical details of the ook itself, with the addition of
page numers of the particular article.
@#ample! 1eference! ,tocking " %-.99& 'ntroducing innovation ( overcoming
resistance to change. 'n! +owling ", ed. ;urse in )amily 3ractice. 6ondon!
,cutari 3ress! 4A(54. 2itation! %,tocking, -.99&.
'orporate authorship
1eports that are not the responsiility of an individual%s& should e listed under
the name of the ody responsile for pulica(tion.
@#ample! 2itation! %)ederal 1eserve +ank of +oston, -.55&.
1eports should not e listed under the name of the chairperson, although thH
chairperson's name may e included in s$uare rackets after the title.
@#ample! 'The ,almon 1eport'. 1eference! Ministry of Health, ,cottish Home and
Health Department %-.55& 1eport of the 2ommittee on ,enior ;ursing ,taff
,tructure I2hairperson! +. ,almonJ or I,almon 1eportJ. 6ondon!
HM,C. 2itation! %Ministry of Health, ,cottish Home and Health Department,
-.55&.
-seudonyms
Ese the pseudonym. 3ut the real name in s$uare rackets after if this is desired
%+,', -.9.&.
@#ample! 2itation! %Crwell, -.9?& I3seudonym of @ +lairJ.
Anonymous wor/s
)or cited documents with no originator 'anon' should e used %+,', -../&.
Enpulished works Enpulished works often present pro(lems. Try to otain as
many iliographi(cal details as possile, paying particular attention to location
information of an item and to otaining written permission to use papers and
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letters. 3apers printed in pulished proceedings of meetings or con(ferences are
referenced as chapters/articles in a ook %,ee '2ollection of works y various
authors' aove&. +elow are the ele(ments of a reference for an unpulished work,
as outlined in +, 50A-!-.90 %+,', -.90&!
-. )irst term of the descriptive element
8. Date
0. 1emainder of descriptive element
?. 6ocation element.
,irst term of the descriptive element)
This should detail the originator of the work and can e a name, a person's title
or office, or the organisation y or for which the document was originated.
+xample) 3ym, >: Tra$uair, @arl of: Treasury, ,ecretary to, @ast 'ndia 2ompany.
0ate) 'f no date %;o date& or %;D& should e used.
Remainder of the descriptive element)
Title! Ese the official title given either on the document, or the title given y the
repository or the popular title. 'f no title is availale, a supplied title can e given..
This should at least contain the name, place or su7ect of the document and/or
an indication of the type of document, such as a diary, will or letter.
+xample) 6etter to Mar$uess of Hamilton. 6ease of land in Hog 6ane, Holorn.
Material designation! microfilm, grave(stone, photocopy.
6ocation element! this should contain the data re$uired to otain access to the
document, i.e. the place, the repository and the
call numer. The place will e the name of the city, town, village, etc. and where
the document is kept: the repository is the name of the individual or institution
owning, or with custody of, the cited document. )ull name and postal address
should e given. The call numer entails a code numer, or if none is assigned
y the custodian, a description to aid location within the repository.
" document may, of course, contain full iliographical details. 'n this case, if
con(sent to use has een given, reference as a pulished work, ut include the
name of a lirary or other repository known to hold a copy as the location
element.
@#amples! @ast 'ndia 2ompany, writers' petitions, petition of "le#ander Dalrymple
- ;ovemer -A48! 6ondon: 'ndia Cffice 6irary and 1ecords. >/-/-, )ol. 0?-(0?8.
>ones 1 %-.A5& @cological ,tudy of the =lens. 3hD Diss. +elfast! Eniversity of
"ntrim! Department of =eology.
Second1hand references
This prolem area is not addressed in any of the +ritish ,tandards relating to
referencing. =enerally, the rule followed is that, wherever possile, $uote from
original sources. However, if this is not possile, use the following criteria as
found in +urnard and Morrison %-../& and the 1oyal ,ociety %-.54&. *hen citing
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in the te#t, use the term 'cited y' followed y the reference for the work in which
it is $uoted.
2itation e#ample! %,chweer, cited y Harrison, -..8, p. AA?&. 'n the reference
list, the entry will e made for the Harrison pulication. 1eference e#ample!
Harrison T %-..8& 2reativity in nurse education. +ritish >ournal of ;ursing 5 %-4&!
AA?(AAA.
'onclusion
Cther methods of citing pulications y iliographical references are availale.
The Vancouver, or 'numerical' system, is another very well(known method. Many
editors re$uire a writer to follow their own particular in(house method. *hatever
system is chosen, it is important to use it in a consistent manner. *riters
emarking on research or writing for pulication should record references in full
at the time of consultation. This will prevent having to acktrack at a later date
when the reference list is eing compiled.
+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %-.90& +ritish ,tandard
1ecommendations for 2itation of Enpulished
Documents. +, 50A-!-.90. +ritish ,tandards
'nstitution, 6ondon
+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %-.94& "reviation of Title *ords and Titles of
3ulications. +, ?-?9!-.94. +ritish ,tandards institution, 6ondon
+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %-.9.& +ritish ,tandard
1ecommendations for 1eferences to 3ulished
Materials. +, -58.!-.9.. +ritish ,tandards
'nstitution, 6ondon
+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution %-../&
1ecommendations for 2iting and 1eferencing
3ulished Materials. +, 45/4!-../. 8nd edn.
+ritish ,tandards 'nstitution, 6ondon
+urnard 3, Morrison 3 %-../& ;ursing 1esearch in
"ction! Developing +asic ,kills. Macmillan,
6ondon
1oyal ,ociety %-.54& =eneral ;otes on the 3reparation of ,cientific 3apers. 8nd
ed. 1oyal ,ociety, 6ondon
6