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Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right)

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There are different versions of the Harvard referencing style. This guide is a quick introduction to the commonly-used Cite Them Right version. You will find further guidance available through the OU Library on the Cite Them Right Database .

For help and support with referencing and the full Cite Them Right guide, have a look at the Library’s page on referencing and plagiarism . If you need guidance referencing OU module material you can check out which sections of Cite Them Right are recommended when referencing physical and online module material .

This guide does not apply to OU Law undergraduate students . If you are studying a module beginning with W1xx, W2xx or W3xx, you should refer to the Quick guide to Cite Them Right referencing for Law modules .

Table of contents

In-text citations and full references.

• Secondary referencing
• Page numbers
• Citing multiple sources published in the same year by the same author

Full reference examples

Referencing consists of two elements:

• in-text citations, which are inserted in the body of your text and are included in the word count. An in-text citation gives the author(s) and publication date of a source you are referring to. If the publication date is not given, the phrase 'no date' is used instead of a date. If using direct quotations or you refer to a specific section in the source you also need the page number/s if available, or paragraph number for web pages.
• full references, which are given in alphabetical order in reference list at the end of your work and are not included in the word count. Full references give full bibliographical information for all the sources you have referred to in the body of your text.

To see a reference list and intext citations check out this example assignment on Cite Them Right .

Difference between reference list and bibliography

a reference list only includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text

a bibliography includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text AND sources that were part of your background reading that you did not use in your assignment

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Examples of in-text citations

You need to include an in-text citation wherever you quote or paraphrase from a source. An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author(s), the year of publication, and a page number if relevant. There are a number of ways of incorporating in-text citations into your work - some examples are provided below. Alternatively you can see examples of setting out in-text citations in Cite Them Right .

Note: When referencing a chapter of an edited book, your in-text citation should give the author(s) of the chapter.

Online module materials

(Includes written online module activities, audio-visual material such as online tutorials, recordings or videos).

When referencing material from module websites, the date of publication is the year you started studying the module.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

OR, if there is no named author:

The Open University (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Rietdorf, K. and Bootman, M. (2022) 'Topic 3: Rare diseases'. S290: Investigating human health and disease . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1967195 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).

The Open University (2022) ‘3.1 The purposes of childhood and youth research’. EK313: Issues in research with children and young people . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1949633&section=1.3 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).

You can also use this template to reference videos and audio that are hosted on your module website:

The Open University (2022) ‘Video 2.7 An example of a Frith-Happé animation’. SK298: Brain, mind and mental health . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2013014&section=4.9.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).

The Open University (2022) ‘Audio 2 Interview with Richard Sorabji (Part 2)’. A113: Revolutions . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1960941&section=5.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).

Note: if a complete journal article has been uploaded to a module website, or if you have seen an article referred to on the website and then accessed the original version, reference the original journal article, and do not mention the module materials. If only an extract from an article is included in your module materials that you want to reference, you should use secondary referencing, with the module materials as the 'cited in' source, as described above.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of message', Title of discussion board , in Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Fitzpatrick, M. (2022) ‘A215 - presentation of TMAs', Tutor group discussion & Workbook activities , in A215: Creative writing . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=4209566 (Accessed: 24 January 2022).

Note: When an ebook looks like a printed book, with publication details and pagination, reference as a printed book.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title . Edition if later than first. Place of publication: publisher. Series and volume number if relevant.

For ebooks that do not contain print publication details

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of book . Available at: DOI or URL (Accessed: date).

Example with one author:

Bell, J. (2014) Doing your research project . Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Adams, D. (1979) The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy . Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 23 June 2021).

Example with two or three authors:

Goddard, J. and Barrett, S. (2015) The health needs of young people leaving care . Norwich: University of East Anglia, School of Social Work and Psychosocial Studies.

Example with four or more authors:

Young, H.D. et al. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.

Note: You can choose one or other method to reference four or more authors (unless your School requires you to name all authors in your reference list) and your approach should be consistent.

Note: Books that have an editor, or editors, where each chapter is written by a different author or authors.

Surname of chapter author, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of chapter or section', in Initial. Surname of book editor (ed.) Title of book . Place of publication: publisher, Page reference.

Franklin, A.W. (2012) 'Management of the problem', in S.M. Smith (ed.) The maltreatment of children . Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference.

If accessed online:

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference. Available at: DOI or URL (if required) (Accessed: date).

Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326.

Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326. Available at: https://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/log... (Accessed: 27 January 2023).

Barke, M. and Mowl, G. (2016) 'Málaga – a failed resort of the early twentieth century?', Journal of Tourism History , 2(3), pp. 187–212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2010.523145

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference if available. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Mansell, W. and Bloom, A. (2012) ‘£10,000 carrot to tempt physics experts’, The Guardian , 20 June, p. 5.

Roberts, D. and Ackerman, S. (2013) 'US draft resolution allows Obama 90 days for military action against Syria', The Guardian , 4 September. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/syria-strikes-draft-resolut... (Accessed: 9 September 2015).

Surname, Initial. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Robinson, J. (2007) Social variation across the UK . Available at: https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/social-variation... (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

The British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct . Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct (Accessed: 22 March 2019).

Note: Cite Them Right Online offers guidance for referencing webpages that do not include authors' names and dates. However, be extra vigilant about the suitability of such webpages.

Surname, Initial. (Year) Title of photograph . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Kitton, J. (2013) Golden sunset . Available at: https://www.jameskittophotography.co.uk/photo_8692150.html (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

stanitsa_dance (2021) Cossack dance ensemble . Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/COI_slphWJ_/ (Accessed: 13 June 2023).

Note: If no title can be found then replace it with a short description.

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• A Guide To UK Referencing Styles
• Posted:  September 21, 2023
• To:  Essay Writing

When writing any assignment for your studies, you will need to ensure you are properly referencing the points you make. In the UK, several different referencing styles are used. As such, you will need to know the right referencing style to use, and how to use it both in text and in your sources list at the end of your essay. Here is everything you need to know about UK referencing styles, and how to use them to ensure you are given the best grade on your work.

Table of contents

Why is referencing so important, what referencing styles are used in the uk, how referencing is done, references at the end of your essay, referencing faq.

Why is referencing your work so important in any assignments? Firstly, you will see that properly referencing your work will count towards your final grade. Good references are looked for when professors are marking your work, so you want to make sure that you are referencing evidence correctly to get the best grade possible. You should see this in the grading guides that comes with your syllabus, so make sure you read this carefully. This will show you exactly what your professors are looking for.

Proper referencing is also important, as if you are doing it correctly, it shows the marking professor that you are taking the work seriously. If there are errors in the way you are referencing a source, it can reflect badly on the rest of the work you have done.

As well as this, it’s also vital to reference your work correctly because you do not want to be accused of plagiarism. Right now, it’s never been easier for students to try and take shortcuts and plagiarize their work from other sources. Of course you won’t be doing that because you want to get the best grades, but even if you are writing your own work, it’s easier than you think to be accused of plagiarism.

Most education institutes now will use some form of plagiarism detection software. This software is advanced enough it can see if work is plagiarized even if a student has taken care to hide that fact. However, if you are not citing your sources correctly when writing, it will also pick this up as plagiarism. This means that you will be pulled up on plagiarism and you will have to defend your work from this accusation. Of course you don’t want to have to do this, so knowing how to reference your work is absolutely essential.

Finally, you also need to be citing your sources, as you need to be showing where you have got the evidence for the points you make. This is vital to your education, as citing sources shows that you’re not only can make the points you want to make, but you can also back them up with relevant evidence. This ties into the first point about getting the best grades, as proper citation shows professors that you know the source material when you’re writing.

These are just a few reasons why you need to properly reference and site your sources in text. Now that you know this you’ll need to know how to use the proper referencing style for your university, and use it correctly to get the grade you want.

With all this in mind, you now need to know what referencing style your university uses. There are several referencing styles that are used with UK universities and each university will have a different one that they expect you to use.

If you are a brand new student you should have been informed of what referencing style you will be expected to use in all your work. If you’re not sure which one you should use, then you can look up which referencing style is requested of you in your syllabus or your university documents.

There are several different styles that you may be asked to use as a student. These include the following:

Harvard : The Harvard style is the most common referencing method used by universities right now in the UK. You may see it referenced as the ‘author date’ system. In text, typically you will just use the author and the date in brackets to reference the work you’re using, and the full details are only put in the bibliography at the end.

MRHA : The MRHA, or Modern Humanities Research Association style, will use numbers in the text, and these are linked to footnotes or end notes in your essay. These are most commonly used in English literature and similar essays. Alternatively, you may see name and year in text citations used, which is often done by film and theatre and television students in their essays.

MLA : The MLA, or Modern Languages Association Referencing style, is typically used for subjects that cover languages such as English. You may also see it used in any humanities subject. Like the Harvard system, it also uses the author and page number in text, while the full citation will be in your referencing list at the end of the essay.

Oxford : The Oxford referencing style is one that’s also very common in UK universities. Unlike the Harvard system, Oxford referencing will use footnotes at the bottom of the page as opposed to the in text citation style you’ll see here. As such, you will need to add superscript numbers to insert them alongside the authors work that you are referencing in text.

Once you know the referencing style that you should use your essays, you now need to know how you can use it in your essay itself. There are actually several ways that you can reference of the works by other authors, so you will need to decide which way is best for you that works with the citation style that you are required to use.

There are three main ways you may reference another person’s work in your essay, these include:

Quoting the author: You may want to directly quote the author in this evidence you’re using, to bolster a point that you are making in your own writing. This method allows you to directly show the reader what that author said, so you can then use that to to show the evidence behind the point you are making.

If you do choose to quote the author, it’s important that you only choose the quotes that directly supports your points. As such a quote that is around two or three lines long is usually best. Don’t be tempted to add in more and more detail from that quote, even if it’s very tempting to bolster your word count. You directly need to pull out the quotes that support your points with no extra ‘fluff’.

Paraphrasing the author: Another option you have is to paraphrase the author, rather than quoting them directly. This is often a good idea if using a quote from your author would be too long to add into an essay.

Instead, you will take that quotes and boil it down to the most important points. This is why citation is so important, as without it this could appear to plagiarism software as if you’re taking the idea and presenting it as your own.

Referencing the main point of the author: Finally, rather than paraphrasing the author as you did in the above point, you may wish to just reference their main points.  For example, you may want to point out one authors idea, while comparing it to another author’s.

As such, you will still need to cite that source when you make that reference to the author. Depending on the citation style you are using, that may be just adding the author and the year of publication in brackets. Whichever reference style you use, you will need to make sure that you are doing this.

As well as in text citations, you will also need to reference all the sources you have used at the end of your essay. You will see this list either referred to as a reference list or a bibliography. While they may look like the same thing, there’s actually some differences that you need to be aware of.

A reference list will actually list all the sources that you have used in your essay. If you have cited a source in your writing it will need to be included here. A bibliography on the other hand, will be a list of all the different sources that you consulted as you were writing your essay . That includes anything you cited in the essay, and anything else you read to properly understand the subject at hand.

You will need to check whether you are required to write a reference list or a bibliography at the end of your work. This should be made clear in the assignment brief you are given, but if you are not sure you check with your professors.

With these basics in mind, you’ll now need to know exactly how to use these referencing styles. Here is your guide to the most common referencing styles in the UK right now, and how you are to use them in your essays.

It’s hard to overstates just how important it is, that you use citations in your essay writing. As noted above, there are many reasons why your professors will expect you to use citations. Using citations correctly will show that you have done the research for your essay, and know how to credit authors correctly.

It’s also essential that you cite your essays correctly, to avoid accusations of plagiarism. As universities use anti-plagiarism software to look for plagiarism, if you are not citing sources correctly, that can flag your essay as being plagiarized, even if it isn’t. Using citations correctly is essential for you to get the best possible grade on your work.

While there are lots of different citation styles out there, your university will typically have one that they use for all their written work. This should have been made clear to you when you began as a student at your university. If you are not sure which citation style you should be using, you can check your syllabus which should list it. You can also talk to your professors if you’re not sure. Remember that you should only be using one citation style throughout all of your writing work.

If you are a new student, there are some issues around citations that may be confusing. If you are paraphrasing what an author has written i.e. putting it in your own words, then it may feel like you’re plagiarizing it rather than referencing it.

However, it’s very common to reference work in this way in your essays. In some cases come out it will make more sense to paraphrase the author, rather than quoting them directly. As long as you are adding the correct citation after your paraphrasing, then you are referencing that author correctly.

The difference between in-text citations and reference list citations lies in where they are used. With in-text citations, you are putting those references in the body of the essay itself. These are used to show which ideas are from different authors, and to show where you have done your research.

With reference lists or bibliographies, these are designed to show all of the sources that you have used in writing your paper. In a reference list, you will list all the sources that are directly referenced in text, and did a bibliography, you will list all the sources that you use whether they are in text or were used as research during the research part of your essay writing.

Both in text citations and footnotes are used to site sources within your paper. You will typically only use one or the other, and which one you use depends on the citation formats that you’re using.

In text citations are used with the Harvard referencing system and the MLA system. Footnotes on the other hand, are used in the Oxford referencing system and the MRHA system.

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IOE Writing Centre

Referencing FAQs

As Hyland (1999) describes, referencing is central to academic writing.

"Reference to previous work is virtually mandatory in academic articles [...] as a strategy for supporting current claims" (Hyland, 1999, p. 362).

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the purpose of referencing? When do I need a reference? What if I use paraphrasing? Are there other reasons to reference? What about my own ideas? How much referencing do I need? What if I use an author who is mentioned by another author? What if I can't find a reference for the exact point I want to make? How do I do it correctly?

What is the purpose of referencing?

The simplest way to think of referencing is to imagine that your reader might want to find out more about a piece of information, or check the facts for themselves. Your reference shows them  where to look .

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When do I need a reference?

It is important to provide correct references for  any information  which you give in your essay.  Information could include ideas, facts, phrases, or anything else.

This means that you need to  include references for all information , even if it is from something which you do not consider 'academic', such as an unregulated website.  (Technically, it is probably best to avoid these sources of information anyway).

What if I use paraphrasing?

You need to provide a reference  whether or not  you are using the exact words.  Even if you change the words, someone might want to find out more about the information you are referring to.

If you use the same words as the original, you need to use quotation marks around this section, followed by the reference.  If you do not use the same words, you do not need the quotation marks, you only need the reference itself.  Make sure you include a list of references at the end of your essay. See the referencing guidelines for how to do all of this.

Further reading: Beginner's Guide to Paraphrasing

Are there other reasons to reference?

Referencing makes your point  more convincing .  Your reference shows that this information has been published somewhere, and you did not just make it up.  If it is an opinion, your reference shows that other people writing in this area also share your opinion, which makes the opinion  more interesting  for your academic reader.

What about my own ideas?

Sometimes you might want to think of your opinion as unique. It might be a coincidence that someone else thought of the same idea as you. Even if it is a coincidence, and you thought of the opinion by yourself, putting a reference to someone who also thought this way makes your opinion seem  more valid  to the academic community, as it is not simply one person's idea. Sometimes, it might be the case that you are the first person to have thought of an idea.  If that is the case, you need to show how your idea is different from another person's idea.   In all of these situations, you still need references!

Further reading: Beginner's Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism

How much referencing do I need?

It is a good idea to have a reference for every claim you make, if possible. Do not worry about using referencing too often. As a general rule, it is better to use the references too often than not enough. This does not refer to the number of different authors/texts, but the frequency of citing those authors. It should be high-frequency overall.

You may have been given some advice not to use too many references. This advice means you don't need to have a long list of authors that you didn't read properly. Instead, it is better to use fewer texts, but read them in more detail.

You may follow the examples on this site, or you may use a slightly different format. The most important aspect is to be consistent and use the same format for all your references.

What if I use an author who is mentioned by another author?

In this situation, you need to use 'cited in'. It is often useful to describe the secondary quotation a little more, and show how it fits in with the first author. Here is an example. The writer had read Gray et al (2011) but wanted to mention another reference they used.

Example: Secondary citation

To further support their argument , Gray et al (2011:866) summarise a number of other studies which reported positive evaluations of coaching by coachees , including statistics such as "participants estimated return on investment of 5.7 times the initial cost" (McGovern et al, 2001, cited in Gray et al, 2011:866). Studies such as these appear to indicate that coaching can be worthwhile for the individual and the organisation.

Source: Anonymous UCL Institute of Education student (2013)

In this example, only Gray et al (2011) will appear in the reference list at the end of the assignment, as this is the only one that the student has read as a primary source.

What if I can't find a reference for the exact point I want to make?

You can often say that something is similar to an author's point, or connected to an author's point. You can even say that something contradicts an author's point. Using a reference doesn't only mean showing exactly where the information came from. It can also mean showing how information is connected to something that is published. It could also mean showing how an author's statement may be applied in a different context.

Here is an example of something similar to this:

Example: Using a reference to show connections

As some of Bion's (1961) work has shown , groups can be particularly resistant to learning, preferring (if we can speak of a group as having a "preference") to preserve itself. As learning often means movement and change, it can be resisted by a group. Whether or not an 'organisation' can be considered equivalent to a 'group' in this context is outside the scope of this discussion, but insights such as those from Bion's work have been applied very usefully to analyses of the way that organisations may function in particularly conservative ways (see, for example, Armstrong, 2005). It can be useful to remember this when working with various staff members within an organisation.

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How do I do it correctly?

Please refer to the links in the left hand menu for guidance.

Further reading: Reference Effectively and Avoid Plagiarism

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Rules for referencing and citation

Why  reference essays.

Referencing your work properly is one of the most important ways that you can establish the authority of your ideas, and allows you to situate your own ideas and arguments in relation to those of other scholars.

Referencing is also an important way of acknowledging your debts to other scholars. Properly referencing your work is one of the best ways of avoiding plagiarism.

You can find out more about referencing by browsing the university's  academic integrity pages

How to reference essays

The English department requires that you reference your essays in accordance with either the Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Style guide.

The university produces handy guides to these referencing systems, which you should consult:

For instructions how to reference a wide variety of different sources, consult the examples collected in the university's academic integrity site:

This article is available to download for free as a PDF for use as a personal learning tool or for use in the classroom as a teaching resource.

Department of English and Related Literature University of York , York , YO10 5DD , UK Tel: work +44 (0) 1904 323366 | [email protected]

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English faculty library services: referencing guide.

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Who is this for?

This resource is designed for students writing dissertations and portfolios, as well as those looking for tips on best practice for their weekly essays. 

Important Links

• English Faculty Guide to Referencing Portfolios and Dissertations Distilled Official Faculty Guidance for Referencing in MHRA. Will cover a lot of what you need.
• MHRA Referencing Guide The official publication for MHRA Referencing. Section 11 will have most information relevant to writing your papers.
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• Cite Them Right A database/eBook that helps demonstrate ways of referencing different items in different citation styles.

Second References

The majority of items listed on this guide give examples of what you might do for the first reference of a source in your writing. The first time you reference a source in your footnote you give all of the bibliographic information for it. In subsequent references to the source you can use a shortened form, as long as it clearly points to the source you are referencing. 

Generally acceptable is some form of:

Author Surname,  Shortened Title of Work , page number.

Introduction to MHRA Referencing

So you’ve chosen to reference in MHRA Style, eh? Splendid choice! The first thing to remember is: 

DON’T PANIC. 

The following guide addresses some of the most common questions and approaches for any material you may want to reference. The point is to clearly convey the information of the item you are referencing so that you both acknowledge the work of others and make it as easy as possible for other academics to find the work themselves.    Most references are laid out in about the same way, answering the following questions:   

Who did it? 

What did they do? 

Is it part of a larger work? 

Who else significantly contributed to it? 

What are the Where/Who/When of its production? 

Is there a specific part to which you are referring? 

What format did you find it in? 

Something to remember is that MHRA is a guide . It can not cover all of the wibbly-wobbly strangeness of every type of resource you may want to use on your epic academic journey. What it does offer is a fairly consistent pattern of how you can accurately describe every reference, but many things will need to be tweaked, adapted, or jumbled around a little to fit the most accurate pattern.

The two most important things to focus on are  consistency and clarity . Reference the same type of material consistently throughout your document and remember that at the end of the day it is someone else who is reading your work, so make things clear for them. If you do both of those then you will be well on your way to being right. 

Presenting your Essays

There is no official formatting convention for undergraduate work to be presented in. As a general rule, it is good to make things as consistent and easy-to-read for your markers as you can. Essays presented using double line-spacing, 12 pt letter sizing, and a clear font like Times New Roman or Arial would follow this idea. 

Contact the Library

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Contact the Library with your Referencing questions at  [email protected]

Bibliography

A bibliography is a compilation of all of the works which have contributed ideas to or which you have consulted in writing your academic work. Generally speaking the works listed in your bibliography will need to be separated in 3 separate sections:

• Primary Sources -  Novels, poetry, works of art, or anything which you are writing directly about. If you are writing your paper on Jane Austen's  Mansfield Park , then you would put that novel in your primary texts section.   
• Secondary Sources  - Critical works which comment on or are also writing about other works. If in your paper you read  The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen , then you would put that in the secondary sources section.   
• Works of Reference -  Works which give broad or general information, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia. 

Bibliographic entries are mostly like your full first reference. The main difference is that the order is reversed for the author's name, so that it is surname, then first name. The bibliography is presented in alphabetical order, so this will group all of the works by the same author together by their surname. If there are multiple authors, only the first one is reversed. Bibliography entries also don't contain citation pages, or a full stop at the end of the entry.  For example: Russ, Joanna,  How to suppress women's writing ( Austin: University of Texas, 2018), de Gruyter eBooks Russ, Joanna, ‘Somebody’s Trying to Kill Me and I Think it’s my Husband’,  Journal of Popular Culture , 6.4 (March 1973),  666-691  Russ, Joanna,  To write like a woman: Essays in feminism and science fiction  (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995)  

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Scribbr Harvard Referencing Generator

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Cite Them Right 12th ed.

Scribbr's Harvard Referencing Generator supports the most commonly used versions: Cite Them Right (12th edition).

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Sorting, grouping, and filtering

Organize the reference list the way you want: from A to Z, new to old, or grouped by source type.

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Stay organized by creating a separate reference list for each of your assignments.

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Explanatory tips help you get the details right to ensure accurate citations.

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Your work is saved automatically after every change and stored securely in your Scribbr account.

• Introduction

Reference examples

Missing information, citation examples, tools and resources, how to reference in harvard style.

Harvard referencing is a widely used referencing style (especially in UK universities) that includes author-date in-text citations and a complete reference list at the end of the text.

There are many versions of Harvard referencing style. Our guidance reflects the rules laid out in Cite Them Right: The Essential Referencing Guide (12th edition) by Richard Pears and Graham Shields.

Scribbr’s free reference generator can create flawless Harvard style references for a wide variety of sources.

• Cite a webpage
• Cite a book
• Cite a journal article

Harvard reference entries

The reference list appears at the end of your text, listing full information on all the sources you cited. A Harvard reference entry generally mentions the author , date , title , publisher or publication that contains the source, and URL or DOI if relevant.

You’ll include different details depending on the type of source you’re referencing, as some information is only relevant to certain kinds of publications.

The format of a reference entry varies based on source type. Apart from the information included, formatting details such as the use of italics also depend on what you’re referencing. The tabs below show formats and examples for the most commonly referenced source types.

The suggested information won’t necessarily all be available for the source you’re referencing. To learn how to work around missing information in your references, check the table below.

Harvard Referencing Generator

Generate accurate Harvard style references in seconds

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Harvard in-text citations

Harvard referencing style uses author-date in-text citations, which means including the author’s last name and the publication year of the source, like this: (Smith, 2019). This citation points the reader to the corresponding entry in the reference list.

Always include an in-text citation when you quote or paraphrase a source. Include a page number or range when available and relevant to indicate which part of the source you’re drawing on. Using material from other sources without acknowledging them is plagiarism.

In-text citations can be parenthetical (author and date both in parentheses) or narrative (author name mentioned in the sentence, date in parentheses). A source may also have more than one author. If there are four or more, name only the first, followed by “ et al. ”

As with reference entries, it’s good to be aware of how to deal with missing information in your in-text citations.

Scribbr offers a variety of other tools and resources to help with referencing and other aspects of academic writing:

• Referencing generator : Scribbr’s free referencing generator can also create flawless citations in other styles, such as APA and MLA .
• Free plagiarism checker : Detect and fix plagiarism issues with the most accurate plagiarism checker available, powered by Turnitin.
• Proofreading services : Make sure your writing is clear and professional with the help of an expert editor.
• Guide to Harvard style : Understand the rules of Harvard referencing style, and learn how to cite a variety of sources.
• Guides and videos : Explore our Knowledge Base, our YouTube channel, and a wide variety of other educational resources covering topics ranging from language to statistics.

Referencing guide at the University of Manchester: Home

• Harvard Manchester
• American Psychological Association APA
• Modern Humanities Research Association MHRA
• Referencing Software
• EndNote online

Specialist Library Support

The Library provides expert support to students, staff and researchers in the specialist areas of business data, copyright, maths and statistics, referencing support, advanced searching and systematic reviews. This includes:

• Online resources

If you’ve tried our online resources and workshops and need more help, you can get expert help via our online help pages , attending a drop-in session, giving us a call or arranging a consultation.

What is referencing?

Referencing is a vital part of the academic writing process. It allows you to:

• acknowledge the contribution that other authors have made to the development of your arguments and concepts.
• inform your readers of the sources of quotations, theories, datasets etc that you've referred to, and enable them to find the sources quickly and easily themselves.
• demonstrate that you have understood particular concepts proposed by other writers while developing your own ideas.
• provide evidence of the depth and breadth of your own reading on a subject.

What is a reference list?

This is your list of all the sources that have been cited in the text of your work. The reference list includes all the books, e-books, journals, websites etc. in one list at the end of your document.

What is a bibliography?

The bibliography includes items which you have consulted for your work but not cited in the main body of your text. The list should appear at the end of your piece of work after the list of references. This demonstrates to the reader (examiner) the unused research you carried out.

Always check with your School if you need to produce a bibliography.

Word count and referencing

Generally, the word count of your work will include everything that is in the main text (citations, quotes, tables, lists etc) but will not include what is in the reference list/bibliography.

As always, you need to check the referencing advice given in your course handbook usually found in your Blackboard space, as rules can change from school to school.

• When to cite?
• How to cite?
• Citing secondary sources

Whenever you quote, paraphrase or make use of another person’s work in your own writing, you must indicate this in the body of your work (a citation) and provide full details of the source in a reference list (all the sources you have referred to directly in your work) or a bibliography (all the sources you have read in the course of your research, not just those you have cited).   

Your reference list should include details of all the books, journal articles, websites and any other material you have used.

You do not need to reference:

• your own ideas and observations
• information regarded as ‘common knowledge’
• your conclusions (where you are pulling together ideas already discussed and cited in the main body of your work).

Understanding when to cite references is an important part of your academic progression.

The way that you cite references will depend on the referencing style you are using. There are many different referencing styles and you must ensure that you are following the appropriate style when submitting your work.

Getting started with referencing  - is a MLE resource that explores the principles behind referencing, highlighting why it is good academic practice.

Check with your course handbook or supervisor to be sure that you are following the specific guidelines required by your school.

Commonly used referencing styles at The University of Manchester include Harvard, APA, MHLA, MLA and Vancouver.

These referencing pages will provide you with a useful introduction to the principles of referencing in various styles.

There are cases when an author discusses the research of another author in their work. When you are unable to track down the original research document you can cite them as a secondary source. In the citation include the (primary) source and where it was cited (secondary).

Only secondary cite when you cannot gain access to the primary source

In Harvard style: (Author, Date)

In-text citation:

Use either 'quoted in' or 'cited in' depending on the included detail.

 Anderton places the importance of taste squarely at the feet of the regurgitated... (2016, cited in Stevenson, 2017).

"It is the regurgitated that I lay complete blame"... (2016, quoted in Stevenson, 2017).

For referencing purposes, only include the research you did consult because you did not read the original document and are taking any inference on the work from that author.

Stevenson, M. (2017). The genius in action: tales from the reference world , Oxford University Press: Oxford.

In Vancouver (numeric) style:

According to Anderton as cited in Stevenson (3) importance of taste is squarely at the feet of the regurgitated...

"It is the regurgitated that I lay complete blame"... Anderton quoted in Stevenson (3).

3. Stevenson, M. The genius in action: tales from the reference world. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2017.

Quote, paraphrase and summarise

There are several ways in which you may want to utilise other people’s ideas in order to add substance to your work. The most common ways to accomplish this are to quote, paraphrase or summarise.

When using quotations, remember to make sure they are relevant and thoughtfully used. Short and direct quotations provide the most succinct and direct way of conveying the ideas of others in support of your work.

• Use single quotation marks to indicate direct quotations and the definition of words.
• In quoted passages follow the original spelling, punctuation etc.
• Short quotations (usually less than 40 words) should be enclosed in single quotation marks (‘…’) and be part of the main text.
• Longer quotations should start on a separate line not italicised, with no quotation marks, and indented throughout.
• Double quotation marks (“…”) are used for a quote within a quote.
• Always include page numbers when using direct quotations to point the reader directly to the relevant point.

It is worth remembering that direct quotations count as part of your overall word count and excessive use can affect the flow of your work when reading.

Burroughs provides a great examples of the synthesis between the 'I' as author and the 'you' as reader  'You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative' (1959, p. 184)

Longer quotations should form their own paragraphs and be indented. Quotation marks are not a prerequisite when paragraphs and indentation are used.

Anderton describes the changes in societal landscape in his own inimitable way:  

In a time of turbulent war and electrical fascination, rise a group of people with a different ideology to what had previously been commonplace. They became the new masters of their domain and the overlords of a world I no longer related to, nor understood. (Anderton, 2017, p. 1)

Non-English quotations should follow the same rules but always be displayed in the original source language.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the expression of someone else’s thoughts or ideas in your own words. One of the benefits of this is that you can better describe the intentions of the author and your understanding, while maintaining your own writing style.

Although this is a way of manipulating text, you must not betray the original meaning of the author you are paraphrasing.

Original Text:

Paraphrased:

Anderton (2017, p. 1) discusses the turbulence of this era of war and the new onset of electrical fascination, he continues on the theme that these changes resulted in people becoming the owners of this new domain acting as overlords of a world he no could no longer fathom.

Summarising

When summarising, you condense in your own words the relevant points from materials such as books, articles, webpages etc.

Summarised:

Anderton (2017, p. 1) promulgates his feelings in relation to the turbulence of war and man's changing ideologies and his disenfranchised view of this new world landscape.

Additional online resources

Online resources:.

• EndNote desktop: getting started
• EndNote desktop: collecting references
• EndNote desktop: organising your references
• EndNote desktop: formatting your references
• EndNote desktop: YouTube playlist
• EndNote online: YouTube playlist

Other resources

• Introducing reference management tools
• EndNote desktop workbook for windows
• EndNote desktop workbook for MacOS
• EndNote online workbook
• Mendeley workbook

www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/learning-objects/sls/packages/referencing/

My Learning Essentials

My Learning Essentials i s the Library’s programme of skills support, including both online resources and face-to-face workshops to help you in your personal and professional development. Workshops offer a relaxed group environment where you can try out new strategies while learning from and with peers. The online resources cover everything from referencing, to managing your procrastination, to writing a CV and you can access them through the Library website from wherever you are, whenever you need to!

Further help

The information contained within these pages is intended as a general referencing guideline.

Please check with your supervisor to ensure that you are following the specific guidelines required by your school.

• Next: Referencing Styles >>
• Last Updated: Mar 25, 2024 12:20 PM
• URL: https://subjects.library.manchester.ac.uk/referencing

• Free Tools for Students
• Harvard Referencing Generator

Free Harvard Referencing Generator

Generate accurate Harvard reference lists quickly and for FREE, with MyBib!

🤔 What is a Harvard Referencing Generator?

A Harvard Referencing Generator is a tool that automatically generates formatted academic references in the Harvard style.

It takes in relevant details about a source -- usually critical information like author names, article titles, publish dates, and URLs -- and adds the correct punctuation and formatting required by the Harvard referencing style.

The generated references can be copied into a reference list or bibliography, and then collectively appended to the end of an academic assignment. This is the standard way to give credit to sources used in the main body of an assignment.

👩‍🎓 Who uses a Harvard Referencing Generator?

Harvard is the main referencing style at colleges and universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. It is also very popular in other English-speaking countries such as South Africa, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. University-level students in these countries are most likely to use a Harvard generator to aid them with their undergraduate assignments (and often post-graduate too).

🙌 Why should I use a Harvard Referencing Generator?

A Harvard Referencing Generator solves two problems:

• It provides a way to organise and keep track of the sources referenced in the content of an academic paper.
• It ensures that references are formatted correctly -- inline with the Harvard referencing style -- and it does so considerably faster than writing them out manually.

A well-formatted and broad bibliography can account for up to 20% of the total grade for an undergraduate-level project, and using a generator tool can contribute significantly towards earning them.

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's Harvard Referencing Generator?

Here's how to use our reference generator:

• If citing a book, website, journal, or video: enter the URL or title into the search bar at the top of the page and press the search button.
• Choose the most relevant results from the list of search results.
• Our generator will automatically locate the source details and format them in the correct Harvard format. You can make further changes if required.
• Then either copy the formatted reference directly into your reference list by clicking the 'copy' button, or save it to your MyBib account for later.

MyBib supports the following for Harvard style:

🍏 What other versions of Harvard referencing exist?

There isn't "one true way" to do Harvard referencing, and many universities have their own slightly different guidelines for the style. Our generator can adapt to handle the following list of different Harvard styles:

• Cite Them Right
• Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
• University of the West of England (UWE)

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Referencing at UWS: Welcome

• In-Text Citations
• Reference List
• Books and Chapters
• Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles
• Web Pages/Sites
• Conferences
• Official Publications
• Government and Statutory Agency Policies
• Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias
• Patents, Standards and Technical Publications
• Law Reports
• Broadcasts, Films and Videos
• Theatre/Musical Theatre
• Social Media
• Other Referencing Styles
• Cite Them Right Online
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is referencing and why do I have to do it?

Referencing is the method we use to acknowledge the work of other authors.

It serves three principal aims:

• To support your arguments with evidence. Referencing demonstrates that your own arguments are grounded in a body of existing research and have been developed through an examination of the relevant literature.
• Referencing is an important means by which we credit other authors for any ideas, arguments, quotations, and other forms of intellectual property which are not your own. Not providing an acknowledgement for the work of others is considered plagiarism (note that plagiarism can be both intentional and unintentional). You must always provide a citation when you use another author's intellectual ideas, whether you are paraphrasing (putting it into your own words), summarising, or directly quoting from the source.
• Referencing shows the reader where they can access the original sources you have used (the evidence) to verify or fact check. It also helps the reader to carry out additional research of their own.

Bibliography:  a comprehensive list of all material consulted when preparing your work (whether cited or not).

Citation:  a citation within the text of your own work indicates that this information is taken from another source - citations link directly to the reference list at the end of your work.

Quotation:  if you are using the exact words from the original source then you must enclose these in quotation marks "  ".

Paraphrase:  putting the ideas, theories, research of other people into your own words - if you choose to do so then please remember that a citation to acknowledge the original work must be given.

Plagiarism:  taking the work of others, such as words, graphs, data, or images and passing this off as your own by failing to acknowledge the original source.

Reference list:  a comprehensive list of references at the end of your work relating directly to the sources that you cited.  

Referencing powerpoint presentation

This PowerPoint presentation has been created by one of the Academic Librarian Team and provides an excellent introduction to the principles behind referencing, an overview of the process and information on how to access help and support.

• Referencing at UWS

What referencing system does UWS use?

The standard referencing style at UWS is Cite Them Right Harvard - this is sometimes shortened to CTR Harvard . If you study Law or Psychology , or with the Scottish Baptist College , you will use different styles - please see the Other Referencing Styles tab for more details.

If you have studied at UWS before you may be used to our previous referencing style - UWS Harvard.  From the beginning of Academic Year 2021 - 2022 UWS Harvard should no longer be used .  CTR Harvard is now the accepted referencing style.

Cite Them Right Textbook

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019)  Cite them right: the essential referencing guide.  11th rev. edn. London: Red Globe Press.

• Print and electronic copies are available from UWS Library.  Access to the ebook is available from both on and off campus - use your UWS username and password to log in.
• Print/Kindle copies can also be purchased from Amazon.

There is a newer edition of this book:

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2022)  Cite them righ t: the essential referencing guide.  12th edn. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

• Print copies are available at all campus libraries:
• Cite Them Right 12th edn from Amazon UK

At the moment both editions are being used as much of the information in the 11th edition remains valid.

12th edition - Major change: journal articles and doi/url

There is a major change in the 12th edition that relates to the way in which the doi/url is used when referencing journal articles.  Please see the example for journal articles provided in this guide for more information.

Other updates in 12th edition

The 12th edition also provides more detail on the basics of referencing and includes information on the following:

• how to source high-quality evidence that is suitable for use in an academic assignment
• how to improve the way in which you manage the information that you have found
• how to effectively paraphrase/summarise/quote directly 
• how to understand the concept of plagiarism and what you can do to avoid it

Additional benefits of referencing

Although the main reason, and the most important, for providing references is to  acknowledge  and  give credit  to others, it also has additional benefits:

• Identifying sources : including appropriate references in your own work demonstrates your ability to critically assess a question and identify relevant sources of information.
• Subject knowledge : referencing allows you to demonstrate your awareness of the literature (and therefore research) already published in a particular subject area.
• Evaluation skills : providing appropriate references demonstrates that you can assess the validity of sources and are able to select material that is appropriate to the subject, level of study and the assignment (essay, report, dissertation or thesis, for example).
• Presentation skills : referencing also shows that you can present information in a consistent way.

What support is available from UWS Library?

UWS Library offers the following range of options:

Referencing at UWS:  a 45-minute presentation (part of the  Library Skills Online  programme) delivered as a pop up session at various times throughout the academic year. These are advertised on the UWS Library web site and Twitter feed so please check those for more details.

Academic Librarians  also deliver teaching/instruction on Referencing as part of a formal teaching session, such as a lecture, seminar or tutorial.  Academic staff can request this for groups of students at all levels.  Please contact the Academic Librarian for your School or email:  [email protected]

Academic Librarians are  happy to arrange individual, one-to-one sessions for both staff or students and can also see students in small groups .  These are delivered online (via Microsoft Teams or Zoom) or on campus.

Book an appointment here:   Academic Librarian Appointments

• UWS Library
• UWS Library Twitter

Academic Skills Advisers

The  Academic Skills Team  offers support with a wide range of academic skills, including r eferencing and avoiding plagiarism.

Students can access academic skills resources and book a  30 minute appointment  with an  Academic Skills Adviser  via the  UWS Student App.

Please note!

Referencing is an essential, integral and accepted part of academic study and practice and must be used in the vast majority of academic assignments within all subject areas and at all levels of study.

Everyone, from Level 7 students to published academic researchers, will be required to reference throughout their academic career.

• Next: In-Text Citations >>
• Last Updated: Oct 13, 2023 12:29 PM
• URL: https://uws-uk.libguides.com/referencing

• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides
• Cite This For Me™ Premium

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Cite smarter, worry less with cite this for me premium, upgrade to save your work, check with plagiarism, and more, welcome to cite this for me™, about cite this for me™.

Cite This For Me™ was launched in October 2010, we began with the mission of helping students quickly create citations. Since then, the Cite This For Me™ citation generator has assisted millions of students across the world including in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, and beyond. Our tools are designed to help you quickly prepare an entire bibliography or reference list. Even if you know very little about references, our forms and automatic citation features can help guide you through the process and tell you what information is needed. This means less guessing for you and an easier citation process! Nearly any style you can think of is supported by the Cite This For Me™ citation generator, including Harvard referencing, APA (American Psychological Association) style, MLA (Modern Language Association) style, Chicago style, Vancouver, and thousands of others.

Why citing matters

Citing isn’t something you usually think about, but it’s important nonetheless. You already do it in your everyday life without realising it. Have you ever said, “I heard on XYZ News that . . . “, or “I read in XYZ that those two celebrities are dating”, or even “Mom said that you can’t do that”. By saying where you got your information, you are casually citing a source. We do this because it gives credibility to what we say, but also because it credits the originator of the information. It also allows others to follow up if they need more information. Formal citing done for papers and projects takes this a step further. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, citing sources in academia provides evidence of your research process and helps you avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is a word you never want to hear describing your work. You’ve probably seen headlines in the news and heard stories in school about the negative consequences of plagiarism. It’s not good but it is preventable. By creating references and citations with Cite This For Me™ tools you’re taking steps to help avoid this.

Start citing easily with Cite This For Me™

Click the button “Create citations” to begin. You’ll be prompted to choose a source type and guided through the rest of the citing process. For source types like websites, journal articles, and books, the Cite This For Me™ citation generator automatically tries to find your source’s information based on details you provide. That could be anything from the author’s name to the source’s URL to the article’s DOI number. This makes citing more efficient and helps you easily create references and citations for your paper in a timely manner.

Citation guides: Understanding it all

Beyond simply creating references or citations, most citation styles have additional guidelines about paper formatting, in-text citations, and other details. Cite This For Me™ citation guides cover a lot of this additional information, so your paper is more properly prepped and less likely to get points taken off for these details. The guides cover several citation styles, but the most popular are Harvard referencing , APA format , MLA format , and Chicago style .

Looking for more? Check out Cite This For Me™ Premium

A good paper references several sources. Multiply that with the several papers most schools assign in a year, and you get dozens of sources that will need to be cited within your academic career. That’s a lot of references to create, sort through, and keep track of. That’s where Cite This For Me™ Premium comes in. With a premium account you can cite as many sources as you want, organize the sources into bibliographies, and save ALL of those bibliographies so you can easily refer back to your references. It’s a great way to manage your bibliographies and cite with confidence.

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Example essay extract with citations and references list: Home

Example essay extract with citations and references list.

Below is an example essay, complete with citations and references.

Please remember this is a fictional essay purely designed to demonstrate how and when to reference. 

Embedding experiences and voices in research can “challenge [the] studied ignorance” around race (Arday and Mirza, 2018, p.v) and the academy’s role as gatekeeper of what is considered “relevant knowledge” (Lillis, 2003). Academic conventions around skills such as writing can be excluding, forming “constructions of difference […] that deepen misrecognitions and inequalities” (Burke, 2018, p.366). Lillis (2003) and Arday et al. (2021) both use narrative to listen to the ways in which black students’ experiences are ignored and the marginalising effect of a refusal to validate multiple ways of knowing.

References:

Arday, J., Belluigi, D. Z. and Thomas, D. (2021) Attempting to break the chain: reimaging inclusive pedagogy and decolonising the curriculum within the academy.  Educational Philosophy and Theory .  53 (3), pp.298-313.

Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.) (2018) Dismantling race in higher education:  racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy . London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Burke, P. J. (2018) Trans/forming pedagogical spaces: race, belonging and recognition in higher education. In: Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.) Dismantling race in higher education: racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy . London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.365-382.

Lillis, T. (2003) Student writing as ‘academic literacies’: drawing on Bakhtin to move from critique to design. Language and Education. 17 (5), pp.192-207.

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