How to Cite and Write A Bibliography in Harvard Referencing Format?

The need for acknowledging the sources of information and inspiration is a core aspect is a key ethical aspect of any written document. The Harvard referencing format is a very popular way of writing in-text citations and listing bibliographies.

 The ‘Harvard ‘style is a generic term used to refer to any referencing style that uses the (Author, Date) in-text citations and a bibliography that’s organises references by author name & year of publication.

This article lays down the core rules for citing and creating bibliographies in the Harvard style.

Bibliography

A Harvard format bibliography lists different types of references in the following format.

1.  Book

One author= Author Surname, First Name Initials, Year, Italicised or Underlined Title, Publisher, Place of Publication

Two or more authors= Author Names in alphabetical order, Year, Italicised or Underlined Title, Publisher, Place of Publication

Note: Editors and editions are to notified using (ed/eds) and (nth edn.) respectively.

2.   Articles

Journal Article= Author, Date, Article Title, Journal Title, Volume, Issue, Pages

Newspaper Article= Author, Year, Article Title, Newspaper title in Italics, Date, page number

3.  Websites and other electronic sources

The format followed is similar to that of printed media. Besides name, title, publication date ad edition, the site address and date of viewing are necessary in these cases.

In-text Citations

Citations and bibliographies not only help prevent plagiarism but help showcase the thoroughness of one’s research. Reference lists are also an excellent tool for conducting future research. Here are the rules for writing in-text citations in the Harvard referencing format,.

•  If an author’s name is used in the text, then the years of publication must follow it in parentheses.

For example,

Mueller (2007) inferred that statistical models could be excellent...

•  If the work is referred to directly in the paper, the author’s name should come last along with the publication year.
•  In cases where a writer quotes, paraphrases or summarises a paragraph from literature, she/he needs to mention the page number along with the author and publication year.

When page numbers are not available, then section or volume number can be given. If no identifying information is available, then n. p. (no page) is to be written.

•  If a quote is less than 30 words, then it should be enclosed within single quotes.  When the quotation comprises more than 30 words, it is to be displayed in a double spaced, indented block (1.3 cm.) without quotation marks.
•  When a statement refers to more than one source, then one needs to write both alphabetically within parentheses and separate them using semicolons.

Summary

The Harvard referencing format is a commonly used citation style used across institutions. This article summarises the essential rules of citing and writing bibliographies in the Harvard format.

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ryecarter Joined: June 16th, 2020