How To: Cite and Reference

How To:
Cite and Reference

Using Harvard

- The purpose of referencing

- Ways of introducing references into text

- Quoting

- Using reporting verbs in text

- Bibliographic referencing

- Other sources of help

- Example of bibliography
Citing and Referencing

Whenever you refer to the work or ideas of someone else, you must acknowledge this in two places – in the main body of the text (citing) and at the end of your work in the alphabetical list of references.This practice iscalled referencing.

Information provided in this document relates to the Harvard System of referencing. The Harvard System uses the author’s surname and date of publication for referencing purposes in the text. Information can be drawn from a wide range of sources including: books, journals, newspapers, videos and the Internet.

Alwayscheck the referencing guidelines provided by your Programme Organiser or Lecturer. If you have a choice to adopt a certain style you must keep to it throughout the assignment.

The purpose of referencing

Referencing allows the reader to verify quotations and data and consult the sources used. Referencing ensures that plagiarism isavoided and demonstrates the range of reading undertaken. Plagiarism is when you use someone’s ideas, thoughts and words without acknowledging the source.

References are required when you:

Quote - use someone’s exact words
Summarise - sum up someone else's arguments or ideas
Paraphrase - put another author's material into your own words
Copy - use illustrations such as: diagrams, tables, charts or maps

Ways of Introducing References into the Text

References can be introduced into the text in various ways and certain rules apply. Ideally this information should be integrated into the text so that it does not break up the flow of the writing.

EXPLANATION / EXAMPLE
Author's name occurs naturally in the sentence, only use the surname and place bracket round the year / Morgan (1997) suggested that ...
Author’s name does not appear naturally in the sentence, place surname and publication inside bracket / A recent study (Smith, 2003) found or
In a recent study it was found… (Smith 2003)
Using two names insidetext use ‘and’ / Harris and Jones (2001) have commented on …
Using two names in the bracket use ‘&’ / (Harris & Jones 2001)
The author is unknown use ‘Anon’
but be wary of unauthored work. / It has been observed ( Anon, 2001) that …
In newspaper articles or websites, ifthere is no author, use the name of the newspaper. In websites where there is no author use the website host address. Often websites do not have a date, but always check the home page of the website.
Be wary of using unauthored work. / A recent study described ... (The Herald, 2011, p4)
The Health and Safety Executive ( 2011) states that…
Occasionally the same author will write more than one article in the same year. Use ‘a’, ‘b’ etc. / In his first article Grayson (1997a) indicates …
Grayson (1997b) further argued that...
EXPLANATION / EXAMPLE
When there are more than two authors use: 'et al' (note italics)
NB: All names should appear in the references. / An additional theory was developed (Hughes et al., 2002)…
If you refer to a source in another text, refer to both sources.For example, you may mention but you need to tell the reader that you have not read Freud’s actual work. / Freud (1888, cited in Smith, 2000)
If you quoteone source in another text, note the actual page you read / Porter (1997, cited in Feeley, 2001, p12)
Journals are often published as ejournals. Cite in text as hard copy using author and year (refer to page 6, Bibliographic referencing). / (Murphy, 2001)

Reporting Verbs

Make the text more interesting for the reader
Make your meaning clearer
Help establish the discussion
Highlights what the author has done

EXAMPLE - THE AUTHOR (YEAR)

EXPLANATION

Analyses/analysed / Examine closely
Compares/compared / Discusses in terms of similarities and differences
Comments/Commented / Give an opinion or reaction
Concludes/Concluded / Bring argument to a close
Criticises/Criticised / Express disagreement
Demonstrates/Demonstrated / Show clearly by giving proof / evidence
Examines / Look at in detail
Discusses/Discussed / Consider and offer opinion
Illustrates/Illustrated / Offer an example/s
Indicates/ Indicated / Offer a explanation
Notes/Noted / Make mention of
Observes/Observed / Note through comments
Points out/Pointed out / Giving an opinion
Suggests/Suggested / Put forward an idea
Summarise/Summarised / Present the main points
Validates/Validated / Prove the accuracy of something
Verifies/Verified / Check the accuracy

Note the tense used depends on the context.

Further reporting verbs can be found at

Quotations are the exact wordsused in the source, whether it be a book, journal, newspaper or website.

Quotes should be used sparingly to make significant points and should be integrated well within the text.

EXPLANATION / EXAMPLE
Short quotations- less than a line, use single quotation marksand incorporate quote into text; use author, year and page number / Burns (2000, p3) explained that ‘Research is a systematic investigation to find answers to a problem’.
If you leave words out then indicate by using three dots … / ‘…most reinsurershave consistently lost money’
Double inverted commas should be used for reporting direct speech. / At the World Economic Forum 2011, Gates talked about ‘polio eradication…which is spearheaded by the World Health Organisation…’
Diagrams, graphs or illustrations should have a title and include the words (adapted from, Author's name, date of publication and page number where possible)
** No page number here as from website /

Graph illustrating natural change

(Adapted from Office for National Statistics, 2007)

Bibliographic Referencing

When writing essays or reports you are expected to include Bibliographic information in a list at the end of the assignment.
You may be asked to produce:

A Reference List - this includes all sources you refer to in your text.
A Bibliography - this lists all materials consulted, including works not cited in the text.
When using the Harvard System references are listed in bibliographies or reference lists alphabetically by authors' names.

EXPLANATION / EXAMPLE
Book
Author's surname, and initials.,
Year of publication.
Title (in italics - you can underline in handwritten work).
Edition - if not the first.
Place of publication:
Publisher. / Angus, S., 1999. A Study Skills Guide.2nd ed. Glasgow: Pierce Press.
Texts by the same author.
List these in chronological order - most recent year first. / Angus, S.,2001, Study Skills Revised. Glasgow: Pierce Press.
Angus, S., 1999. A Study SkillsGuide.2nd ed. Glasgow: Pierce Press.
More than one text has been published by an author in the same year letters should be added to differentiate - (1997a) (1997b). / Grayson, J. (1997a) ‘Place of residence, student involvement, and first year marks’. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education. 27, pp. 1-24
Grayson, J. (1997b). ‘Academic achievement of first-generation students in a Canadian university’. Research in Higher Education 38, pp. 659-676

Reference to a contribution in a book

Contributing author‘s Surname, Initials.,
Year of publication.
Title of contribution followed by In:
Initials. Surname of author or editor of publications followed by editor(s)
Title of book.
Edition - if not the first.
Place of publication:
Publisher,
Page number(s) of contribution. / Banz.CZ., 1995. Social Dimensions of software development. In: J.A. ANDERSON, ed.Annual review of software management and development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 502-510
and/another example is the following:
Barr, T., 1987. Critical Analysis Skills. In: P.W. HOLLOWAY, ed. Developing Skills for Higher Education. London: Palmer Print, pp. 45 - 52.

Government Department or Organisation

Name of body which produced the document.
Year of publication.
Title of publication
Place of publication:
Publisher,
Report No - if relevant. / Scottish Enterprise. 2001. Scottish Economic Growth.Glasgow: Scottish Enterprise, (WW40).

Article in a Journal

Author's surname, and initials.,
Year of publication.
Title of Article,
Title of Journal,
Volume number and (part number),
Page numbers of contribution. / O'Brien, M., 2001. Searching the Internet Successfully. The Internet Journal, 8 (2), pp. 211-219.
Newspaper Article
Author's surname and initials or newspaper article,
Year of publication.
Title of Article.
Title of Newspaper,
Date - day and month,
Page numbers / Column number.
/ Farrar, S., 2004. Cash crises lead to student depression. The Times Higher Education Supplement. 16 April, p. 5
Full text journal or newspaper article from the internet
Author’s surname and initials,
Year of publication.
Title of article.
Title of publication.
[Type of medium in square brackets]
Date of publication.
Available from: URL
[Date accessed in square brackets]
/ Lyons, W., 2004. The 10 trends that will shape 2005. news.Scotsman.com. [online]. Wednesday 22nd December. Available from:

[Accessed 26th August 2005]
Full text journal from a database on the internet
Author’s surname and initials.
Year of publication.
Title of article.
Title of publication.
Volume (Issue Nr).
[Type of medium in square brackets]
Available from: database followed by the URL
[Date accessed in square brackets] / Clancy, P. and Goastellec, G., 2007. Exploring Access and Equity in Higher Education: Policy and Performance in a Comparative Perspective. Higher Education Quarterly. 61 ( 2). [online].
Available from:
[Accessed 10th April 2008]

Reference for a specific web page

Author’s surname and initials.
Year of publication.
Document title.
[Type of medium in square brackets]
Available from: URL
[Date accessed in square brackets] /
Monash University. 2008. Essay Writing. Language and Learning Online. [online]. Available from:

[Accessed 17TH April 2008]
Document in pdf format
Author’s surname and initials.
Year of publication.
Title of document.
[Type of medium in square brackets]
Available from: URL
[Date accessed in square brackets]
/ University of New South Wales. 2007. Transition Signals in Writing. The Learning Centre Homepage. [online]
Available from:
[Accessed 17th April 2008]
E-Book
Author’s surname and initials,
Year of publication.
Title of Book
Edition – if not the first
Place of publication:
Publisher
[Type of medium in square brackets]
Available from: URL
[Date accessed in square brackets] / Chalker, S. and Weiner, E., 1998. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Oxford: University Press. [online]
Available from:
[Accessed on 04.April 2008]
Email Communication
Author’s surname and initials.
Title of the Email
Type of medium in square brackets
Message to: Recipient
Date sent [date accessed]
Personal Communication
/ Wilson, Margaret. Essay Writing Tips for Students. [online]. Message to: Esther Smith. 03.07.07. [02.02.08]. Personal Communication
Blog
Author’s surname and initials.
Year.
Title of the blog entry.
Date when the blog was written
Title of the Blog
[Type of medium in square brackets]
Available from: URL
[Date accessed] / Lisa. 2008. Book Review: the Longman Practical Stylist. 30.01.08 Book Reviews. Humanities and Social Science Library. [online]. Available from:

[Accessed on: 04.03.08]

If there is no author, either corporate or individual,try to avoid using the example as it is difficult to establish authenticity.

Useful sources of additional information

CGU’s website on Refworks

Harvard and Numeric explanations, University of Sussex

Guidelines on reference listing, the Harvard system,University of Thames Valley

Guide to citing references (Harvard, Numeric, Footnotes) and Referencing Software, University of Birmingham

Citing references – The Harvard System and Legal Material, Bournemouth University

Example Bibliography

Baren-Cohen, S., 2003. The essential difference: men, women and the extreme male brain.London: Allen Lane.

Barnes, S., 2001. Questionnaire design and construction. Bristol Institute of Learning and Technology. [online] Accessed on 30 August 2006.

Clancy, P. and Goastellec, G., 2007. Exploring Access and Equity in Higher Education: Policy and Performance in a Comparative Perspective. Higher Education Quarterly. 61 ( 2). [online]. Available from: [Accessed 10th April 2008]

Cottrell, S., 2005. Critical thinking skills. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Effective Learning Service, 2003. Annual questionnaire, 2002/3. Glasgow: Glasgow Caledonian University.

Farrar, S., 2004. Cash crises lead to student depression. The Times Higher Education Supplement. 16 April. p 5

Field, J., 2004. Articulation and credit transfer in Scotland: taking the academic highroad or a sideways step in a ghetto? Journal of Access Policy and Practice. 1 (2), pp. 85-99 [online] Available from: Accessed on 18 August 2006

Gillett, A., 2008. Writing Paragraphs. Using English for Academic Purposes Website. [online]. Available from: [Accessed 10th April 2008]

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), 2002. Good practice guidance for senior managers and practitioners. (November 2002/48) [online]. Available from:

[Accessed on 2nd March 2006]

Illeris, K., 2006. What is special about adult learning? In: P. Sutherland and J. Crowther, eds. Lifelong Learning. London: Routledge, 15-24

Wilding, R. and Morelli, A., 2006. Preparing for Dissertations. 22th November. 2008. Study Zone Blog. [online]. Available from: [Accessed 17th April 2008]