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Using the Harvard System for Referencing
The Nottingham University Business School uses the Harvard System (author
and date) for citations and referencing sources for assignments and coursework.
GLOSSARY
• Appendix (or appendices) consists of supplementary material that is collected
and appended at the end of a dissertation/coursework/essay/report.
• Citation: An in-text (e.g. in your assignment) acknowledgement recognising a
source of information or reference.
• Reference: A source of information used in your assignment.
• Reference List: List of sources that have informed your assignment which
have been directly cited.
• Bibliography: List of sources that have informed your assignment but have
not been directly cited in your text.
• Plagiarism: Passing off someone else’s work as your own – including work
done by other students, an example of poor academic practice or misconduct.
• Paraphrasing: Re-writing information that you have read in your own words.
Why Do You Need To Reference Your Sources?
You are required to reference any information, ideas or data that are not your
own, including when you have:
• quoted another author, word for word
• paraphrased or summarised information
• defined terms
• used tables, statistics or diagrams from a source
Accurate referencing is considered good professional academic practice. It also
demonstrates that you have engaged with and used appropriate academic
sources for the assignment. Evidence of good use of academic sources indicates
your understanding of the topic.
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If you do not correctly reference your sources in your work then this
could be considered as potential plagiarism (passing off other people’s
work as your own work) by the assessment team for the module.
Please note that Turnitin is used by the University of Nottingham to
check students’ assignments and coursework.
USING THE HARVARD SYSTEM IN YOUR TEXT
(Assignment/Essay/Coursework)
The purpose of citing in the text is to provide brief information about the source,
so that readers can find full details about the source in the reference list (the list
is at the end of your assignment).
The Harvard System does not use footnotes or endnotes. It is not necessary to
use Latin phrases such as ibid or op. cit.
In your text, use the surname(s) (i.e. the last name or family name) of the
author(s) and the year of publication. References should then be listed
alphabetically by author at the end of the work, with the year of publication
placed immediately after the author's name (see below). When referencing more
than one work by the same author in your text you can distinguish between
them by adding letters after the year e.g. (Smith, 1989a) and (Smith, 1989b).
When citing a particular or direct quote you must put quotation marks around
the quotation. You must also include the page number(s) of the quotation, e.g.
formal meetings "can support good organizations" (Smith, 1989b: 10).
Only use direct quotations when necessary. It is usually preferable to re-word
(paraphrase) information.
As an example, a typical piece of text might read:
In addition, one has to remember that as a researcher, you are the one
that is intruding into the existing social world of the respondents and
therefore you must have a flexible research schedule and availability
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(Yin, 1989). The researcher is often dependent on the goodwill of
gatekeepers, who have the power to control access to the research site
and may have their own views about the purpose and outcomes of the
research (Whitley, 1984: 375).
Harvard System: Examples of Using Citations in the Text
Citations to references should be designated throughout your text by enclosing
the authors' names and year of the reference in parentheses (round
brackets).
If the author's name is in the text, follow it with the year in parentheses (i.e.
round brackets)
Example:
Perrow (1986) described…
If the author's name is not in the text, insert it and the year in parentheses
(round brackets)
Example:
...institutional theory (Tolbert and Zucker 1996)....
Page numbers, to indicate a passage of special relevance or to give the source of
a quotation, follow the year and are preceded by a colon.
Example:
Zbaracki (1998: 615) explained....
Tolerance for ambiguity has been defined as "the tendency to
perceive ambiguous situations as desirable" (Budner 1962: 29).
Multiple citations are listed in alphabetical order and separated by semicolons.
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Example:
Several studies (Adams 1974; Brown and Hales 1975, 1980; Collins
1976a,b) support this conclusion.
If the work has two authors, cite both names every time the work is cited in the
text. If the work has more than two authors, cite all authors the first time the
reference occurs in the text; in subsequent citations of the same work, include
only the surname of the first author followed by "et al." and the year.
Example:
Few field studies use random assignment (Franz, Johnson, and
Schmidt 1976). [First citation] … even when random assignment is
not possible (Franz et al. 1976: 23). [Second citation]
Citing a Source Discussed in Another Source (Secondary Source)
Sometimes an author writes about research that someone else has done, but
you are unable to track down the original research document or you have not
read the original document. In this case, only include the source you did consult
in your references because you did not read the original document. Use
the words 'cited in' in the in-text citation to indicate you have not read the
original research. In the list of references, record the publication you actually
sourced/read.
General Format
In-Text Citation: (Author Surname, cited in Author Surname Year)
References: Reference the work of the author who has done the citing.
Example 1 Book : In-Text Citation
The source: (Watson, cited in Bertram 1997)
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Watson’s 1987 study (cited in Bertram 1997) found that older students’ memory
can be as good as that of young people, but this depends on how memory is
tested.
Do not include Watson (1987) in your reference list but do include
Bertram (1997).
References
Bertram, F. (1997). The Tragedy of Youth. 2nd edn. New York: Macmillan.
Example 2 Journal article: In-Text Citation
The source: Lister (2007)
In-Text Citation:
Susan Smith’s simple definition of social justice (1999, cited in Lister 2007: 113)
sums up ……
Do not include Smith in your reference list but do include Lister (2007).
References
Lister, R. (2007), 'Social Justice: Meanings and Politics', Benefits, 15/2: 113-25.
REFERENCES LIST
Please always check with the Module Convenor in case of specific
requirements for your assignment. The details can usually be found on the
Moodle page for the module. However, usually your list of references should
begin on a new page, with the word “REFERENCES” centred in caps and boldface
above the section.
References (and for the assignment as a whole) for NUBS assignments using
Turnitin are usually (unless otherwise advised) 1.5 line spaced, Verdana font size
11.
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The reference list at the end of your text should only contain works that you
have personally read. The original reference should only be included in your list
of references if you have read it yourself.
Please cross-check your text with your reference list to make sure that every
reference you cite in one appears in the other and that each reference is
complete. Also, you should double-check the spelling of authors' names. This is
very important. You should check that titles of book or articles etc. have been
correctly cited.
Please note that in your list of references you need to include all the references
(e.g. books; chapters in books, articles etc.) that you have used in your
assignment.
This should be in a single list, listed in alphabetical order of the author(s)’
surname (family or last name) and include the initial of the first name (or given
name) e.g. for K. E. Weick:
Weick, K. E.
If there is more than one author then use the first author or the editor, or by the
corporate author (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau), or periodical name (e.g., Wall
Street Journal) if there is no indication of individual authors or editors.
Do not separate your list of references into the lists of books, journal
articles, etc. In the examples given below, the references from different types
of sources are listed separately only in order to make it easier for you to find an
appropriate reference format.
For two or more references by the same author(s), list them in order of the year
of publication.
For two or more references by the same author(s) from the same year, list them
in alphabetical order by title, distinguishing each reference by adding letters (a,
b, c, etc.) to the year or to “Forthcoming” (e.g., “1992a” or “Forthcoming a”).
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World Wide Web sources must be acknowledged following the basic rules for
conventional sources. A reference to a Web page should include the
author(s)/editor(s) name (if known), the last update or copyright date, the
document (Web page) title, the site title, the full URL, and the access date.
Harvard System: Examples of How to Set Out Your References at the
End of Your Assignment
Books
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Watson, T.J. (1995). Sociology, Work and Industry. 3rd. Edn. Oxford: Routledge.
E-book
Cox, J. and Carlile, N. (2008) Participatory Research in Educational Settings
[online]. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Available at:
http://www.mylibrary.com/Browse/open.asp?ID=75623 [Accessed 10 August
2012].
Translated Books
In-text citation: (Author, year of publication)
Example for in-text citation: (Foucault 1991) or Foucault (1991) says
Example of Organization of Reference:
Author, A. (year of publication of translated version [year of publication of
original work if available]) Title of Book (trans. A. Translator), Place of
publication: Publisher.
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Examples:
Foucault, M. (1991 [1977]) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (trans.
A. Sheridan), London: Penguin.
Golomstock, I. (1990) Totalitarian Art in the Soviet Union, the Third Reich,
Fascist Italy and the People’s Republic of China (trans. from Russian by R.
Chandler), London: Collins Harvill.
NOTE: If there is information available about the original language and it would
be helpful for you to include that, you can format your reference as shown in the
second example above. Include the edition after the title of the book if it is not
the first edition.
Chapters in Books
Weick, K. E. (1977), ‘Enactment Processes in Organizations’, in B. M. Staw and
G. Salancik (eds.), New Directions in Organizational Behavior. Chicago: St Clair,
267–300.
Articles in Academic Journals
Nahapiet, J. and Ghoshal, S. (1998), ‘Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the
Organizational Advantage’, Academy of Management Review, 23/2: 242–66.
Pettigrew, A. M. (1979), ‘On Studying Organizational Cultures’, Administrative
Science Quarterly, 24: 570–81.
Dissertations
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Charles, M. (1990). ‘Occupational Sex Segregation: A Log-Linear Analysis of
Patterns in 25 Industrial Countries.’ Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology,
Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Magazine/Periodical Articles
Economist (1998), ‘Driven by Fiat’. The Economist, April 25, 95–6.
World Wide Web Sources
Department of Education (Victoria, Australia). (1996). ‘Using the Internet for
Research’. Learning with the Internet. http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/loti/page1.htm
(Accessed: 14 February, 1997).
Format to Reference Lecture Notes and PowerPoint Presentations
The Basics of a Reference List Entry for Lecture Notes
•
Author (or authors, lecturer. First initials follow the surname).
•
(Year).
•
Title (in single quotation marks, italics).
•
Description of format.
•
Module code and module name.
•
University.
•
Date lecture was delivered.
Example:
Smith, S. (2018). Lecture 7: ‘Transforming organisations: strategy, structure &
design’. Lecture notes. BUSI 11111 Strategy and Organisation Change
Management, Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham,
delivered 21 May 2018.
Indirect Citation or Secondary Source.
In-text examples:
Miller (cited in Smith, 2018) found …
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or
… it was found (Miller cited in Smith, 2018).
References List Example
Smith, S. (2018). Lecture 7: ‘Transforming organisations: strategy, structure &
design’. Lecture notes. BUSI 11111 Strategy and Organisation Change
Management, Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham,
delivered 21 May 2018.
PowerPoint Presentations
•
Author (Lecturer/ tutor).
•
Year of publication (in round brackets).
•
Title of presentation (in single quotation marks, italics).
•
[PowerPoint presentation].
•
Module code and module title.
•
Available at: Moodle.
•
(Accessed: date).
In-text citation Example:
The great presentation (Smith, 2018)…
Reference List Example:
Smith, S. (2018). ‘Transforming organisations: strategy, structure & design’
[PowerPoint presentation]. BUSI 11111 Strategy and Organisation Change
Management, Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham,
Available at: https://moodle.nottingham.ac.uk. (Accessed: 18 October 2018).
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The University of Nottingham School of Education “Use Of Harvard
Referencing” (2013)
MORE EXAMPLES OF HARVARD REFERENCING
WHEN THERE IS NO AUTHOR
Anon. (1999) Round Table Discussion. The Class Size Debate. Issues in
Education 5(2): 14-16.
REFERENCING ELECTRONIC MEDIA
TV OR RADIO BROADCAST
The truth about teachers (2001) Panorama (broadcast date 1 March 2001)
[television programme]. London: BBC.
FILM BROADCAST
Running with scissors (2007) Directed by: Ryan Murphy. Los Angeles, USA.
[35mm film]. LA: Sony Pictures.
PODCAST OR MUSIC OR VIDEO DOWNLOAD
Childcare: has it become less affordable? (2007) Women’s Hour (released 5
February 2007) [podcast: radio programme]. London: BBC. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/listen/ [Accessed 8 February 2007].
YOUTUBE VIDEO
CoreEducationNZ (2010) Globalised learning. [video online] Available
at:<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=porLT0xIkR4> [Accessed 25 February
2013].
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NOTE: CoreEducationNZ is an example of a contributor's username.
RECORDED MEDIA
Cognitive development (1998) [video: VHS] Abingdon: Educational Video Ltd.
NOTE: If the media is part of a series, then the series title should go before the
date in plain text (see TV or radio broadcast), with the specific title placed after
the date in italicised text. If known, the director’s name should follow the date
(see films).
PHOTOGRAPHS
Davidson, C. (2000) Indian classroom [photograph]. Available at
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl [Accessed 12 February 2005].
NOTE: If from a book, “[photograph]” should be followed by “In:” followed by
the book’s details (see appropriate book format). If viewed in a collection,
“[photograph]” should be followed by “Held at:” and then the details of the
collection.
CD/DVDroms
Corbyn, J.C. (2002) In: WebLines: the Internet education resource [CD-ROM].
Utah: University of Utah.
REFERENCING ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
INTERNET SOURCE WITH AUTHOR OR ORGANIZATION
Department for Education (2009) Managing classroom behaviour [online].
Available at: http://publications.education.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DFERE084.pdf [Accessed 23 July 2010].
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NOTE: Include the date when the site was created or last updated. If no
creation/update date can be found, write (undated) after the
author/organization. Date of access should always be included.
INTERNET SOURCE WITH NO AUTHOR
Anon. (2007) Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory – visual, auditory,
kinaesthetic. [Online]. Available at: http://www.businessballs.com [Accessed 20
October 2010].
NOTE: Include the date when the site was created or last updated. If no
creation/update date can be found, write (undated) after the
author/organization. Date of access should always be included.
INTERNET SOURCE WITH AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER
Wertsch, J. V. (1985) Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press. [Online]. Available at:
http://coe.ksu.edu/jecdol/Vol_3/articles/Wang.htm. [Accessed 22 November
2010]
NOTE: Include the date when the site was created or last updated. If no
creation/update date can be found, write (undated) after the
author/organization. Date of access should always be included.
ONLINE JOURNAL ARTICLE WITH DOI (Digital Online Identifier)
Wilens, T. E., & Biederman, J. (2006). Alcohol, drugs, and attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder: a model for the study of addictions in youth.
Journal of Psychopharmacological Studies, [online] 20(2): 580-588. Available at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881105058776.x [Accessed 17 June 2008].
NOTE: Most online journal articles now have a unique have a Digital Object
Identifier (DOI), usually found on the webpage before you access the full text.
The DOI is converted into a URL by placing http://dx.doi.org/ in front of it.
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ONLINE JOURNAL ARTICLE WITHOUT DOI
Noakes, J. (2000) Enabling young people to express their views on school
exclusion. Journal of Education [online] 21(3):124-141. Available at:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/1154278654401/PDFSTART
[Accessed 16 September 2011].
ONLINE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS OR ABSTRACTS
Carter, S. and Campion, L.M. (2002) Evaluating learning resources for
reusability. 20th INVICTA conference proceedings [online]. Available at:
http://www.invicta.org.my/conferences/kualalumpur02/proceedings/papers/451
pdf [Accessed 12 November 2012]. BLOG
French Mariner (2006) Trying to explain. Borderline Teacher 22 January 2006
[online]: weblog]. Available at: http://www.purplepiranha.blogspot.com/
[Accessed 17 January 2009].
EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS
Thompson, P. (paul.thompson@nottingham.ac.uk 12 January 2010). Re: Web
2.0 [email message]. To: T.Westrik (tanny.westrik@hotmail.com) [Accessed 13
January 2010].
REFERENCING GOVERNMENT AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
DOCUMENTS PRODUCED BY ORGANIZATIONS
The Commission on Children at Risk (2003) Executive summary of "Hardwired to
connect: the scientific case for authoritative communities". London: CCR.
NOTE: If there is no individual author, the name of the organization is used as
the author and publisher.
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GOVERNMENT REPORTS
Department of Health (1999) Saving lives: our healthier nation. Cmnd 4386.
London: HMSO.
NOTE: This Government Report is a Command paper and, in this case, you
should list the Command number with the abbreviation ‘Cmnd’.
ACTs OF PARLIAMENT
Adoption of Children Act 2002 (c.30). Great Britain. London: HMSO.
NOTE: You need to include the chapter of the act in brackets. The country that
produced the act should also be included.
REFERENCING OTHER RESOURCES
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE – PAPER VERSION
Gent, J. (2001) Exam chaos to come. Times Educational Supplement. 13th
February, p.15.
NOTE: If the article is an editorial or no author can be identified, use the title of
the newspaper followed by the date for in-text citation and reference list
purposes.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE – ONLINE
Jackson, D. (2003) A question of faith. The Guardian. 17th December [online].
Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/parents/story/0,3605,1108387,00.html
[Accessed 21 January 2004].
NOTE: If the article is an editorial or no author can be identified, use the title of
the newspaper
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CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
International Bakhtin Conference (2006) Proceedings of the XII International
Bakhtin Conference, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, 24-31 July 2005.
Department of Languages, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
NOTE: The date in brackets is the date of publication. This may be different from
the conference date. You should include both. If proceedings are unpublished,
the word ‘unpublished’ should replace publishers’ details.
CONFERENCE PAPER OR ABSTRACT
McArdle, G. and Monahan, T. (2008) Using virtual reality to learn and socialise
online. In: Montgomerie, C. and Seale, J. (Eds.) Proceedings of Ed-Media 2007,
25-29 June 2007, Vancouver BC, Canada. Chesapeake, VA: Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education, p.76.
NOTE: The date in brackets is the date of publication. This may be different from
the conference date. You should include both. If proceedings are unpublished,
the word ‘unpublished’ should replace publishers’ details.
PERSONAL OR PRIVATE COMMUNICATION
EITHER Sharma, N. (2010) Private communication
OR Sharma, N. (2010) Personal communication (appendix 3).
NOTE: This relates to unpublished written or verbal communications. You should
obtain permission from the originator of the communication. If possible, include
a copy of the communication as an appendix and reference as shown in the
second example.
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When To Use An Appendix Or Appendices
An appendix (or appendices) comprises supplementary material that is collected
and appended at the end of a dissertation/coursework/essay/report.
It is supporting evidence for your work. It is material added to aid the reader in
understanding your points (e.g. more data). It is usually material that is not
central to your argument or cannot easily be worked into the text because it
would unbalance your work or exceed the word count. It maybe that the
information may provide useful background information or context for reader.
If you choose to include an appendix in your work, it should be at the end of
your paper after the References page. The word Appendices is the plural form of
Appendix. The Appendices go after the References list.
Each appendix is a separate item and goes on a separate page. They are given a
letter, presented alphabetically and not numbered e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B
and so on. Any tables or figures in an appendix take their caption from that
appendix, e.g., in Appendix A, the table would be Table A1; likewise for a figure,
Figure A1 and so on.
In-Text Citing of the Material Contained in an Appendix or Appendices
In the main body of your coursework/report/essay/assignment, you should
indicate when you are referring to an appendix by citing it in parentheses. For
example in the text:
The interviews show that most people like hot chocolate in the winter (see
Appendix C).
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