Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

A guide to the Harvard system of referencing

Please note before you read this help sheet:
Some fields such as Psychology, History, English and Philosophy require you to use
a different referencing system from Harvard. Please check your field guide or ask
your field leader if you are unsure which is the preferred style.
You should use citations and references in your academic work. To do this, your Faculty
expects you to follow the Harvard referencing style in the 2013 edition of Cite them right by
Richard Pears and Graham Shields. This guide is consistent with the Harvard style in Cite
them right and gives examples from the main types of literature that Arts and Social
Sciences students use.

What does citing and referencing mean?

Citing: Acknowledging the contribution of a specific individual or organisation as a source of
a particular statement, view, argument or decision.
You cite the author and year of publication for any source you use whether you are
directly quoting from the text or paraphrasing. You do this at the point where you use the
source within the text of your essay (in-text citation).

Referencing: Referencing ensures that whatever you have cited can be identified precisely.
The references will normally appear at the end of your essay or assignment. These should
be listed in alphabetical order of authors surname, under the heading References. This
allows your reader to trace your sources for interest or for further examination and also
credits the original author(s).

Why should I do this?

You cite and reference your work correctly in order to avoid the charge of plagiarism, which
means using the work of others without acknowledging your source of information or
inspiration. Plagiarism is treated very seriously, and plagiarised work is normally
disqualified.

How to cite references in your text

You cite sources in your text by giving the author's surname and the year of publication. If
you have copied words directly from your source, this is a quote. The words you have copied
must be in quotation marks and your citation must include the page number(s) of the
quote. For example:
Shuker (2008, p.1) has stated that to study popular music is to study popular culture.

If the author's surname doesnt occur naturally in the text, then insert the name along with
the year and page number in round brackets at the end of the quote.
To study popular music is to study popular culture (Shuker, 2008, p.1).
Short quotations (up to three lines) can be included in the body of the text. Longer
quotations should be indented in a separate paragraph. Be consistent in your use of
quotation marks, whether you choose to use single or double quotation marks.
If you take specific information from your source and put it into your own words, this is a
paraphrase. You do not need quotation marks but you should still indicate which page you
got the information from:
Shuker (2008, p.1) explains that the study of popular music is inextricably linked with the
wider issues of culture in contemporary society
If you have summarised the whole argument of your source then there is no need to include
the page number as the information you are using comes from across the whole source:
The author can be a person or an organisation. If it is an organisation, use their name as the
author. If you use a source that has two or three authors, include all of their surnames in
your citation. For a source with four or more authors, you can cite the first author listed in
the work followed by et al., which means and others. There are examples of this later in
this guide.

How to reference at the end of your assignment

References should be listed at the end of your assignment in alphabetical order by the first
author's surname (family name), or the name of the organisation where the author is an
organisation. You do not need to number or bullet-point your references. If you have used
more than one work published by the same author, list them by date with the earliest first.
If more than one work has been published by the same author during one year, then list
them by letter (2008a, 2008b etc.). If you are unable to identify an author use the title of the
work. If you cannot identify a date, use (no date).
Full references are made up in different ways, depending on the type of material you have
used. The examples in this guide show what to include in the references for the most
commonly used types of material in the Arts and Social Sciences, including when to use
italics and abbreviations.
If an example you require is not included below you should refer to the following
publication:
Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 9th edn.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Study skills 808.024 PEA).

How to cite and reference different types of material

1. Books & e-books
For referencing, it makes no difference if you have borrowed the book as a print book from
our shelves or accessed it as an e-book from our online catalogue. In both cases, the
reference will be the same, using the details of publication for the print book, which will be
displayed on the e-book.
Book or e-book by a single author:
Author's surname, initial. (year of publication in round brackets) Title of book in italics.
Edition if it is not the 1st edition. Place of publication: publisher.
In-text citation:
Heywood (2007, p.4) explains that political ideas and ideologies can act as a form of
social cement.
Reference list:
Heywood, A. (2007) Political ideologies: an introduction. 4th edn. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Book or e-book by two or three authors:
Author's surname, initial., author's surname, initial. and author's surname, initial. (year of
publication in round brackets) Title of book in italics. Edition if it is not the 1st edition. Place
of publication: publisher.
Reference list:
Dornbusch, R., Fischer, S. and Startz, R. (2007) Macroeconomics. 10th edn. London:
McGraw-Hill.
Book or e-book by four or more authors:
Note: For a book - or any other source - by four or more authors, cite the first
author followed by et al. (meaning and others). Then include all of the authors in the
reference so that they all receive credit for their work.
Author's surname, initial., author's surname, initial., author's surname, initial. and author's
surname, initial. (year of publication in round brackets) Title of book in italics. Edition if it is
not the 1st edition. Place of publication: publisher.
In-text citation:
Bilton et al. (2002, p.101) suggest that
Reference list:
Bilton, T., Bonnett, K., Jones, P., Lawson, T., Skinner, D., Stanworth, M., and
Webster, A. (2002) Introductory sociology. 4th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

 Chapter/section of an edited book or e-book:

Author of the chapter/section's surname, initial. (year of publication in round brackets) Title
of chapter/section in single quotation marks, in author/editor's surname, initial. (ed.) Title
of book in italics. Edition if it is not the 1st edition. Place of publication: publisher, page
numbers of chapter (prefixed by pp.).
In-text citation:
Hall (2007, p.479) discusses broadcasting structures
Reference list:
Hall, S. (2007) Encoding, decoding, in During, S. (ed.) The cultural studies reader. 3rd
edn. London: Routledge, pp. 477-487.

2. Journals & e-journals

Author's surname, initial. (year of publication in round brackets) Title of article in single
quotation marks, Title of journal in italics, volume number (issue number in brackets), page
numbers (prefixed by pp.).
In-text citation:
Bustamante (2004, p.814) explains
Reference list:
Bustamante, E. (2004) Cultural industries in the digital age: some provisional
conclusions, Media, Culture and Society, 26(6), pp. 803-820.
You can reference a journal article the same way whether you accessed it in print or online.
If you accessed the journal article online you could add the unique digital object identifier
(doi) for the article to the end of the reference. For example, for the reference above, this
would be doi: 10.1177/0163443704047027. You could do this if you can easily see the doi
on the screen. But it is optional - it is not required.

3. Newspapers (print & electronic)

Newspaper articles can also now be referenced in the same way whether you access them
in print or online.
Authors surname, initial. (Year of publication in round brackets) Title of article in single
quotation marks Title of newspaper in italics, day and month, page numbers (prefixed by
pp. or p. if the article is on a single page).
In-text citation:
Hopkins (2011, p.39) describes
Reference list:
Hopkins, K. (2011) Households feel the pain as cuts take effect The Times, 18 April,
p.39.

4. Government documents
Government department publication:
Name of Government department (year of publication in round brackets) Title in italics.
Place of publication: publisher. (series - if applicable).
In-text citation:
The report Criminal justice: the way ahead (Great Britain. Home Office, 2001)
Reference list:
Home Office (2001) Criminal justice: the way ahead. London: The Stationery Office.
(Cm 5074).
If the publication is taken from the internet you should replace the publication details with
the following: Available at: URL in full (Accessed: date).
Act of Parliament:
A major change in the citation of UK legal sources took place in 1963. For pre-1963
examples, please refer to Cite them right. For post-1963 statutes, use the following format:
Name of act in italics including year and chapter number. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
In-text citation:
In chapter 21 of recent offender legislation (Offender Management Act 2007)
enables
Reference list:
Offender Management Act 2007, c. 21. Available at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/21/contents (Accessed: 13 September
2013).

5. Theses and Dissertations

Thesis, dissertation or project:
Authors surname, initial. (Year in round brackets) Title of dissertation/theses in italics.
Unpublished type of dissertation/theses. Name of institution.
In-text citation:
Research by McCarthy (2010)
Reference list:
McCarthy, S. (2010) The process and reception of book to film adaptations.
Unpublished M.A. dissertation, Kingston University.
If viewed online you should add: Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

6. Websites
Organisational internet site or Personal internet site:
Organisational name OR Authors surname, intial (year that the site was published / last
updated in round brackets) Title of Internet site in italics. Available at: URL in full (Accessed:
date).
In-text citation:
The BBC (2013) defines their purpose as
Reference list:
British Broadcasting Corporation (2013) BBC About the BBC. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/purpose/ (Accessed: 13 September 2013).

7. Virtual Learning Environment (StudySpace)

If you use a document produced by a lecturer for your module, then you should reference it.
Include the author and year, the title of the document and the module code and module
name. The reference ends with the address of StudySpace and the date you accessed it.
StudySpace Tutors notes:
Author or tutors surname, initial. (year of publication in round brackets) Title of item in
single quotation marks. Module code: module title in italics. Available at:
http://studyspace.kingston.ac.uk (Accessed: date).
In-text citation:
In her document on qualitative research, Richards (2013) outlines
Reference list:
Richards, M. (2013) Lecture 3: what is qualitative research. RE4001: Research
Methods. Available at: http://studyspace.kingston.ac.uk (Accessed: 13 September
2013).

8. Visual and audiovisual material

DVD:
Title in italics (year of distribution in round brackets) Directed by name of director [DVD].
Place of distribution: distribution company.
In-text citation:
Bill Murrays performance as Don Johnston (Broken flowers, 2006)
Reference list:
Broken flowers (2006) Directed by Jim Jarmusch [DVD]. UK: Momentum Pictures.
For Blu-ray replace [DVD] with [Blu-ray], for video cassettes replace with: [Video cassette]

 Film:
Title of film in italics (year of distribution in round brackets) Directed by name of director
[Film]. Place of distribution: Distribution company.
In-text citation:
Moores critique of the United States post 9/11 (Fahrenheit 9/11, 2004)
Reference list:
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) Directed by Michael Moore [Film]. Santa Monica,
California: Lions Gate Films.
Television/radio programme recorded off-air:
Title of programme in italics (year of broadcast in round brackets) Series number, episode
number if appropriate, name of channel, recorded off-air on day and month. [Video
cassette/DVD].
In-text citation:
In the documentary Looking for the revolution (2007) it is suggested that
Reference list:
Looking for the revolution (2007) BBC4, recorded off-air on 9 October. [Video
cassette].
NB: If an episode of a series has its own title you should replace the programme title and
year of broadcast with the following:
Title of episode in single quotation marks (year of broadcast in round brackets) Title of
series in italics
Television/radio programme viewed online (e.g. via BBC iPlayer, BOB etc.):
Title of programme in italics (year of broadcast in round brackets) Series number, episode
number if appropriate, name of channel, day and month of broadcast. Available at: URL
(Accessed: date).
In-text citation:
In discussing the life of Holst (Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter, 2011)
Reference list:
Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter (2011), BBC4, 24 April. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ (Accessed: 27 April 2011).
Audio CD:
Composer or artist. (year of distribution in round brackets) Title in italics [CD] Place of
distribution: distribution company.
In-text citation:
As can be found in Mozarts Don Giovanni (1986)
Reference list:
Mozart, W. A. (1986) Don Giovanni [CD] Berlin: Deutsche Grammophon.

 Downloaded audio track:

Composer or artist. (year of distribution in round brackets) Title in italics. Available at: URL
of website from which it was downloaded (Downloaded: date).
In-text citation:
Gnarls Barkleys single Crazy (2006)
Reference list:
Barkley, G. (2006) Crazy. Available at: http://www.hmvdigital.com. (Downloaded: 19
April 2011).
Streamed recording from Naxos:
Composer or artist. (year of distribution in round brackets) Title in italics. Available at:
http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com (Streamed: date).
It may be difficult to determine the date of the recording, in which case you should state no
date.
In-text citation:
Beethovens Chamber music for winds (no date)
Reference list:
Beethoven, L. (no date) Chamber music for winds. Available at
http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com (Streamed: 19 April 2011).

9. Musical scores, lyrics and performances

Printed scores (and sheet music):
Composer. (year of publication in round brackets) Title of the score in italics. Details of
editor, arranger etc. Place of publication: publisher.
Reference list:
Verdi, G. (1963) Aida. A. Ghislanzoni (ed.), translated by W. Ducloux. New York:
Schirmer.
One piece within a collection of printed music:
Composer. (year of publication in round brackets) Title of composition in single quotes [any
added details], in editor's surname, initial. (ed.) Title of collection in italics. Place of
publication: publisher, page numbers (prefixed by pp.)
Reference list:
Wolfe, J. (2001) Earring, in T. Myers (ed.) Spectrum 3: an international collection of 25
pieces for solo piano. London: ABRSM, pp.31-33.

 Song lyrics:
When you are particularly quoting the lyrics of a song rather than the sound, you should
acknowledge the lyricist, which may not be the same person(s) as the composer of the music.
Lyricist. (year of distribution in round brackets) Title of the song in italics. Place of
distribution: distribution company
Reference list:
Lennon, J & McCartney, P. (1967) A day in the Life. London: Parlophone.
Musical performance:
Name of piece / performance in italics by composer (year of performance in round brackets)
Names of performers and conductor. [Venue, place of performance. Date seen]
Reference list:
Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg (2007) Jane Manning (soprano), Janes Minstrels,
Roger Montgomery (conductor). [Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. 20 October].
Theatrical performance:
Title of Play in italics by author (year of performance in round brackets) Directed by director.
[Venue, place of performance. Date seen].
Reference list:
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (2010) Directed by Peter Hall. [Rose
Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames. 20 March].
Dance performance:
Composer or choreographer. (year of premiere in round brackets) Title in italics. [Venue,
place of performance. Date seen].
Reference list:
Marston, C. (2002) The Go Between. [Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London. 14 May
2002].

10. Secondary Referencing

Occasionally you may want to quote a piece of work that has been referred to in a book that
you have read. This is called secondary referencing. Wherever possible, you should always
read the original work but if you are not able to do so and you still wish to refer to it, your
text must make it clear that you have not read the original.
Example:
Benedict Anderson (1983), as cited by Bertrand and Hughes (2005, p.26), proposed
In your list of references at the end of your assignment you should only include the
reference to the work you have read, in this case the book by Bertrand and Hughes. You
should not include details of the work you have not read. Your reference would therefore
be:
Bertrand, I. & Hughes, P. (2005) Media research methods: audiences, institutions, texts.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

For more information

This is just a selection of referencing examples. If the source you are referencing is not
included you should refer to Cite them right (Pears & Shields, 2013). The University
subscribes to online access to the full text of this book.
Reference
Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 9th edn.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Study skills 808.024 PEA).
Music students can also refer to Herbert, T. (2001) Music In Words: A Guide to Researching
and Writing about Music. London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. (Copies
are available to borrow from the Nightingale Centre 780.7 HER

Kingston University, Information Services

September 2013