How to Reference
There are many different referencing styles that are acceptable to use at university level. MLA, Chicago and Harvard are some of the most popular ways to cite sources in your essays. Of course, which style you are encouraged to use may vary depending on your field of study, but my personal preference is the Harvard style of referencing. This is because it is simple, quick and easy to use, and won’t eat up as many words as other referencing styles (*cough* Chicago *cough*). This post will walk you through how to write Harvard style in-text citations, and how to write your list of references at the end of your essay.
In-text citations: The Basics
Ah, Harvard. How I love your compact brackets. The main thing you need to know about using Harvard referencing in the main body of your essay is that it is made up of three elements: the author’s last name, the date of publication, and the page number you’re referring to. These elements are put into parentheses at the end of a sentence that includes either a direct quotation from the author, or a paraphrased version of their words/ideas. A comma should separate the author’s name from the date of publication, and a semicolon should separate the date from the page number. For example, if I were to write an essay on the declining popularity of green eggs and ham, I may argue that Dr. Seuss (1960) conveys Sam-I-Am’s distaste for said dish by stating that he does not want it “in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse.” (Seuss, 1960; 14)
A few other things should be noted about the example I have just given. Firstly, after I mentioned my source for the first time, I put the date of the publication I was referring to right after his name. Always do this after you refer to an author for the first time in your paper. After you have done this once, you do not have to do it again. And secondly, the quotation I used flowed directly into my sentence. The transition between your own words and the words of the author you are quoting should make grammatical sense. Try not to separate your argument from isolated quotations; embedding quotes into your sentences makes for a more convincing and readable essay.
In-text citations: More than one author?
If the work you are citing has two authors, you simply add the second author to the format we have already laid out, so:
(Watson & Holmes, date; page number).
You will continue to refer to them this way throughout the essay.
To reference work with three or more authors, the first citation would look much the same as with two authors:
(Potter, Weasley & Granger, date; page number)
However, after the first citation you can then just write the name of the first author (which is chosen based on alphabetical order unless the author’s names appear in a different order in the original work) and use ‘et al’ in place of the others.
E.g. (Potter et al, date; page number)
In-text citations: Non academic source?
Though the majority of your sources should be made up of academic works, it is totally okay to use non academic sources, like newspaper and magazine articles, to bring current examples into your essay. These sources will not have page numbers so you can write the author’s name and the date of publication, both of which should be at the top of the article that you are quoting from, followed by the paragraph that the quote is from.
E.g. (Seuss, 1960; para. 3)
Reference list:
A reference list comes at the end of your essay, and consists of all the literature and sources you have referenced in the paper. The Dr. Seuss example when entered into your reference list would look like this:
Seuss, D. (1960) Green Eggs and Ham. Random House, p. 16.
Now let’s dissect the important elements of this example:
The author’s name comes first and then the initial of their first name. (Yes, I am aware that Dr. Seuss’ first name is not ‘Dr’, but for the purposes of the example it is.)
The date of publication follows the author's name in brackets.
The title of the work is in italics. It is followed by the original publisher. This can be omitted if you are unable to find the publisher.
The pages that are referred to in the main body of the essay are then cited. If you only cite one page, as I did in this ‘essay’, then you just write ‘p’. However, if you have referred to multiple pages, then you write ‘pp’. For example, if I had referenced pages 16 to pages 19 of the work in the main body of my ‘essay’, then I would write ‘pp. 16-19.’
If ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ had been published in an academic journal, we would put the name of the journal where the publisher usually goes, followed by the details of the volume and the number of the journal. The number of the journal is put in brackets after the volume number. This type of reference would look like this;
Seuss, D. (1960) Green Eggs and Ham. The journal of controversial foods, 13 (4), p. 16.
If ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ was an online article, blog or website (classified as a 'non academic source') you would have to make a few changes. As non academic articles do not contain page numbers you do not need to include any in your reference. You must include the website name, the link to the website, and the date you accessed the website. It should look like this;
Seuss, D. (1960) Green Eggs and Ham. Seuss.com, www.thisisnotareallink.com. (Accessed January 10th 2022).
If the author of the article is not listed (you’ll see this a lot from organisations like the WHO or Amnesty international) then just put the name of the organisation. e.g. ‘BBC News’ where the author’s name would go.
Other referencing rules:
If your source has more than one author you must name them all. They can all be written in the same style as you write the first author.
Always alphabetise. Your reference list should begin with the author whose surname is the closest to A. Then, the rest of your references should continue through the alphabet in order. If you are referencing two authors whose last names have the same first letter, use the second letter to guide your ordering.
If you have cited multiple works by the same author they should appear in the order of publication year. So a Seuss work from 1954 would come before a Seuss work from 1960 in your citation list.
Do not include sources in your final reference list that you haven’t cited in the body of your essay. Wider readings should only be cited in a ‘bibliography’. You should clarify with your professor if they want you to write a reference list or a bibliography, but more often than not they will just want a reference list. Similarly, you should always include page numbers and only reference the pages that you have cited in your essay.
Finally, It is important to note while reading other works that referencing can differ from author to author, even if they are using the same style. There is always the possibility of variation and you shouldn’t let this cause doubt in your own way of applying your chosen style. If you decide to put the title of the book in quotation marks, rather than in italics, that’s okay, just make sure that all of your references follow that same format. The important thing is consistency.
