Harvard referencing style guide for HRFIN81 students

The purpose of this style guide is to provide HRFIN81 students with examples of how to use the
Harvard referencing style in their assignments. There are several versions of all the various referencing
techniques, and this style guide provides greater certainty about how you should reference using the
Harvard method.

What is referencing?

Since research requires an evidence-based approach, any author needs to acknowledge the different
sources used to support his/her academic argument. Referencing is standard practice in academic
writing in which the reader discloses to the readers which evidence are from other sources and where
the confirmation may be found. By citing and referencing sources used, one also prevents any
accusations or suspicions of plagiarism.

When should you reference?

“Every time you include words, ideas or information from a source – whether it’s a website, book or
journal article – in your assignment, you must include an in-text reference to show that this content
has been gathered from somewhere else. In-text references must be included whenever you:

• paraphrase someone else’s ideas in your own words

• summarise someone else’s ideas in your own words

• quote someone else’s ideas in their exact words

• copy or adapt a diagram, table or any other visual material.

For each source that you reference in-text, you must also create an entry in the reference list at the
end of the assignment” (UniSA, 2015).

There are several referencing tools available, such as Mendeley, Refworks, EndNote and EasyBib, that
could assist you with your referencing. You may find more details about some of these at the Unisa
Library guides at https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/c.php?g=478830&p=5006457

However, should you prefer using manual referencing, then this guide will provide you with some
examples of how to apply the Harvard referencing technique consistently in your HRFIN81
assignments.

References

Burger, M. 2010. Bibliographical style & reference techniques. Pretoria: Unisa Press.

University of Cape Town Libraries. 2016. UCT author-date reference guide: based on the Harvard
referencing style. Cape Town: UCT.
http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/25/UCT%20Author-date-
referencing-guide.pdf [2020, July 8].

University of Southern Australia. 2012. Harvard referencing guide. Adelaide: UniSA.

https://lo.unisa.edu.au/pluginfile.php/438774/mod_book/chapter/39173/HRG%20January%202015
%20final%20version.pdf [2020, July 8].
 Type In-text reference examples References list examples Additional explanations
… lacked personal financial management
Masilo, K.M. & Marx, J. 2016. Assessment of debt
knowledge (Masilo & Marx, 2016:204). This reference is for an article
counselling services: a case of Gauteng, South
Journal article published in a hard copy of the Journal
Africa. Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences.
According to Masilo & Marx (2016:198) debt of Economic and Financial Sciences.
9(1):194-208.
counselling …
… high cost of information collection (Brewer, A digital object identifier (DOI) is used
2007:43). Brewer III, E. 2007. On lending to small firms. for internet documents to provide
Journal article from a Journal of Small Business Management, 45(1):42- certainty that the text will be found
DOI site Brewer (2007: 42) found that lending to small 46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540- permanently at the DOI. Therefore, no
firms is difficult. 627X.2007.00197.x date of accessing the article must be
provided.
Lopa, N.Z. & Bose, T.K. 2014. Relationship between
… competencies for future performance (Lopa entrepreneurial competencies of SME Unlike a DOI website, web pages may
Journal article from a & Bose, 2014:1). owners/managers and firm performance. A study be updated, deleted or reorganised.
world wide web (www) on manufacturing SMEs in Khulna City. Journal of Therefore, one must indicate the date
site Lopa & Bose (2014:1) collected data from 100 Entrepreneurship and Management, 3(3):1-12. accessed after providing the web page
owners … Available: http://www.publishingindia.com/ [2020, details.
July 8].
Small businesses make up 98% of all companies
Financial Mail. 2020. The virus is killing small
in South Africa and they are the most
business. 26 March. Available:
vulnerable (Financial Mail, 2020). In this case, the article was published
Magazine article https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/features/cover-
on 26 March and read on 8 July 2020.
story/2020-03-26-the-virus-is-killing-small-
The Financial Mail (2020) regards small
business/ [2020, July 8].
business …
Research could either be of a quantitative or
Van Zyl, L.E. 2014. Research methodology for the
Handbook with 1 qualitative nature (Van Zyl, 2014:28). Page numbers not verified and used
economic and management sciences. Cape Town:
author for illustrative purposes only.
Pearson.
Van Zyl (2014:28) classifies research as …
Defines a small business in the USA as …
(Cadden & Lueder, 2012:6).
Cadden, D. & Lueder, S.L. 2012. Small business
Handbook with 2 or 3
management in the 21st century. Minneapolis, MN:
authors Cadden & Lueder (2012:7) classifies small
Saylor Foundation.
business in the USA according to turnover or
number of employees.
 Type In-text reference examples
… measures the strength of a relationship
(Anderson et al., 2018: 157).
Handbook with 4 or
more authors
Anderson et al. (2018: 156) define the Pearson
correlation coefficient as …
According to the African Union Commission
(n.d.) …
Book with no date
… economic growth benefits from small
business (African Union Commission, n.d.)
… is said to be technically insolvent (Gitman,
2014:585).
2nd or later edition of a
book
According to Gitman (2014:9) the primary goal
is to …
Starting a business has plenty of barriers
(Maphai, 2020:3).
Newspaper article
Maphai (2020:3) emphasises that there are
barriers to starting a business …
Starting a business has plenty of barriers
(Maphai, 2020:3).
Online newspaper
Maphai (2020:3) emphasises that there are
barriers to starting a business …
… individual skills and their congruence on
performance (Hamilton et al., 2019:241).
Conference paper
Hamilton et al. (2019:240) suggest the use of
case studies …
References list examples Additional explanations
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J., Williams, T.A. &
Camm, J.D. 2018. Essentials of modern business
statistics with MS Office Excel. 7th edition. Boston,
MA: Cengage.
Africa Union Commission. n.d. Accelerating
economic growth by means of small business in the Please note this is a fictitious example.
Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Gitman, L.J. 2014. Principles of managerial finance:
global and southern African perspectives. 2nd
edition. Cape Town: Pearson.
Maphai, K. 2020. Opinion: An injection of youth to
Page number not verified and used
revitalise small business. Business Report
for illustrative purposes only.
(Johannesburg). 30 June: 3.
Maphai, K. 2020. Opinion: An injection of youth to
revitalise small business. Business Report. 30 June.
Available: https://www.iol.co.za/business-
report/opinion-an-injection-of-youth-to-revitalise-
small-business-50013300 [2020, July 9].
Hamilton, L., Motsepe, P., Ntshavheni, K.P.S. &
Metcalfe, M. 2019. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual
Please note this is a fictitious example.
academic conference. 14-16 February 2019.
Orlando, FL: Small Business Institute.
 Type In-text reference examples
Compliance was regarded as an additional
competency (Fourie, 2020: 163).
Masters dissertation or
doctoral thesis
Fourie (2020:160) evaluated 12 competencies
of small business owners.
… from descriptive to interpretive (Marx, 2020).
Lecturer notes, slides
or recordings According to Marx (2020) the research proposal
must be convincing.
Small businesses make up 98% of all companies
in South Africa and they are the most
vulnerable (Financial Mail, 2020).
Website
The Financial Mail (2020) regards small
business …
© Unisa 2020
References list examples Additional explanations
Fourie, C., 2020. The development of a small
business owner competency model. MCom
dissertation. University of Stellenbosch. Available:
http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/108132
[2020, July 8].
Marx, J. 2020. ‘Honours research project in It is in order to cite lecturer notes,
Financial Management’, HRFIN81, University of slides or recordings in your
South Africa, Pretoria, 6 July 2020. assignments.
Limit the use of websites. Anyone can
Financial Mail. 2020. The virus is killing small publish anything on a website,
business. Available: without any peer-review. Articles
https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/features/cover- published in peer-reviewed journals
story/2020-03-26-the-virus-is-killing-small- ensures accountability and reliability
business/ [2020, March 26]. in the transfer of knowledge. Do not
use Wikipedia or Investopedia.