The Harvard style is a generic term for any referencing system that uses author-date references in the text of the document, either within or at the end of a sentence. In Harvard style, the full reference details are listed alphabetically at the end of the document.
There is no definitive style guide for the Harvard style. The key to using the system is consistency throughout your document. A number of universities and organisations base their Harvard style on the Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS) guide.
Many Australian universities are now transitioning away from Harvard style, but students in some ANU courses may still be asked to use it.
Harvard style guides
- Style manual for authors, editors and printers (physical copy / online version)
- University of New South Wales
- Griffith University
- University of Southern Queensland
Referencing in Harvard
Let's go through the steps of how to use a style guide to reference in Harvard, using the UNSW guide to Harvard referencing
The reference list entry
Start by doing the reference list entry. If you get this right early on, it will save you a lot of time.
1. Identify what the source is, where it's from, and who it's by.
Is it a book? A journal article? A government report? A podcast? A blog post? Did you access it online? How many authors does it have? The source's characteristics influence how to reference it.
2. Find a matching example in your style guide.
The aim is to find the closest example possible in your chosen Harvard style guide. For the following example, we're using the UNSW guide to Harvard referencing.
3. Write out the reference following the style guide examples.
Your aim at this point is to make the information you have match the order and formatting of the example in the style guide. This includes details such as punctuation, italicisation, and case (e.g. Title Case).
If you're unsure about how to cite a particular source, remember that the person marking your assignment cares most of all about consistency and having enough information to be able to locate the source themselves. Check over your references to make sure they're following the same principles and formatting.
In-text citations
When you use Harvard, you need to use citations in the body of your work to show where the information comes from. These in-text citations should include the author surname and publication year.
If the author is relevant, you might cite the source as part of your sentence (author prominent). This is known as a narrative citation.
If your focus is the information in the source, then you can instead put the in-text citation at the end of the sentence in parentheses (information prominent). This is called a parenthetical citation.
Whenever you have a direct quote, specific data or a paraphrase, you should also include the relevant page numbers from that source in your in-text citation.
If you are summarising the main idea of the source (e.g. a book or journal article), you don't need a page number.
Check your guide
Always remember to have your chosen style guide open while you are referencing, even if you use referencing software. It's useful to look out for inconsistencies and to make sure that you have all the right information in the correct order and format. Check out the Harvard style guides listed above.
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