Compiling References and the Bibliography- Harvard Referencing System

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Compiling References and the Bibliography

There are a number of officially accepted formats that can be used to reference your work. The style that most departments/faculties within the university specify you should adhere to is the Harvard Referencing System. The Harvard Referencing System, also known as the name and date system (British Standard, 1990, p. 3), was developed in the USA, and has arguably become the most common system internationally is use. This booklet is a short guide that has been produced by the Library and Learning Resources. You will, however, find that there are a few variations within the Harvard method of referencing so if your faculty/department has produced a guide of their own, it is recommended that you use this in preference to the Library guide. For more guidance, check your course handbooks or ask your tutor for advice. For a longer version of this guide, please see the referencing tutorial on Blackboard entitled ‘Basic guide to Referencing (Harvard)’. You can find this by clicking ‘Library Communities’ under the Communities tab.

Harvard is a fairly simple method of referencing both for the author and reader. It comprises two parts – every time you quote, paraphrase or summarise an idea within your assignment you must include in the text basic details of the source (author, date and page number). A corresponding entry is then included in a single reference list cited alphabetically at the end of the document where the full publication details are stated in a standardised format. Footnotes, chapter references etc. are not used in Harvard.

Citing references within the text

To indicate to your reader that you are drawing your ideas from the work of others, you must generally insert three basic details in brackets after each reference in your text:

* Author (may also be an editor or an organisation)

* Year of publication

* Page number

(Smith,...