ARU Harvard

Any in-text reference should include the authorship and the year of the work. Depending on the nature of the sentence/paragraph that is being written, references to sources may be cited in the text as described below:

Additional support on academic writing is available from Student Support on their Canvas page.

When making reference to an author's whole work in your text, it is sufficient to give the name followed by the year of publication of their work:


However, where you are mentioning a particular part of the work, and making direct or indirect reference to this, a page reference should be included:


An indirect reference

If you make reference to a work or piece of research without mentioning the author in the text then both the author's name and publication year are placed at the relevant point in the sentence or at the end of the sentence in brackets:

Where reference is made to more than one author in a sentence, and they are referred to directly, they are both cited:

When there are two or three authors for a work, they should be noted in the text

Directly using an and



Or indirectly



Other examples using two or three authors........





When there are two or three authors for a work they should all be listed (in the order in which their names appear in the original publication), with the name listed last preceded by an and.

Where there are several authors (four or more), only the first author should be used, followed by et al. meaning and others:


or indirectly:

List these at the relevant point in the sentence or at the end of the sentence, putting the author's name, followed by the date of publication and separated by a semi-colon and within brackets.

Where several publications from a number of authors are referred to, then the references should be cited in chronological order (i.e. earliest first):

If more than one publication from an author illustrates the same point and the works are published in different years, then the references should be cited in chronological order (i.e. earliest first):


or indirectly:

If you are quoting several works published by the same author in the same year, they should be differentiated by adding a lower case letter directly, with no space, after the year for each item:


If several works published in the same year are referred to on a single occasion, or an author has made the same point in several publications, they can all be referred to by using lower case letters (as above):

References to the work of an author that appears as a chapter, or part of a larger work, that is edited by someone else, should be cited within your text using the name of the contributory author not the editor of the whole work.


In the reference at the end of your document, you should include details of both the chapter author followed by the details of the entire work

If the work is by a recognised organisation and has no personal author then it is usually cited under the body that commissioned the work. This applies to publications by associations, companies, government departments etc. such as Department of the Environment or Royal College of Nursing.

It is acceptable to use standard abbreviations for these bodies, e.g. RCN, in your text, providing that the full name is given at the first citing with the abbreviation in brackets:

1st citation:
Author's name used in the sentence
Author's name not used in the sentence 2nd citation:
Author's name used in the sentence
Author's name not used in the sentence

Note that the full name is the preferred format in the reference list. These should provide the full name...



Some reports are written by specially convened groups or committees and can be cited by the name of the committee:
Note there are some exceptions to this such as:

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
BBC News

where the abbreviations or initials form part of the official name.

If the author cannot be identified use 'Anonymous' or 'Anon' and the title of the work and date of publication. The title should be written in italics. Every effort should be made to establish the authorship if you intend to use this work as supporting evidence in an academic submission:

For items with no date

The abbreviation n.d. is used to denote this:


or indirectly:


Every effort should be made to establish the year of publication if you intend to use this work as supporting evidence in an academic submission.

For further advice see References with missing details

Finding the year if there are Editions or Revisions of a book

Use the year of the latest edition of a book, this is generally stated on the back of the title page. After the author, state the year in the in-text citation. Include the number of the edition in your full reference, after the title. Do not include this if it is the 1st edition. Books which don't show an edition number are the first edition.

Treat Revisions as a new edition. Use the year of the revision as the date. In your full reference add rev. after the edition number eg. 3rd rev. ed.

For further advice see Books with multiple authors.

Including the page numbers of a reference will help readers trace your sources. This is particularly important for quotations and for paraphrasing specific paragraphs in the texts:


or indirectly:


Please note page numbers: preceded with p. for a single page and pp. for a range of pages.

If you want to include text from a published work in your essay then the sentence(s) must be included within quotation marks, and may be introduced by such phrases as:


or


In order for a reader to trace the quoted section it is good practice to give the number of the page where the quotation was found. You may also indent quotations, but should consult your Faculty, for guidance and the relevant Academic Regulations.

You may come across a summary of another author's work in the source you are reading, which you would like to make reference to in your own piece of work, this is called secondary referencing.

A direct in-text reference:


In this example, Brown is the work which you wish to refer to, but have not read directly for yourself. Bassett is the secondary source, where you found the summary of Brown's work.

An indirect in-text citation would be:


It is important to realise that Bassett may have taken Brown's ideas forward, and altered their original meaning. If you need to cite a secondary reference it is recommended that, where possible, you read the original source for yourself rather than rely on someone else's interpretation of a work. For this reason it is best to avoid using secondary referencing.

The reference list at the end of your document should only contain works that you have read. In the above example you would only list the work by Bassett.

When using selected information from a table or diagram, or reproducing an entire table or diagram, a reference must be made to the source.

In the following example, information is from a table found on p267 of the book Management in the media: decision makers by Robert Brown published in 2005. The original source of the data used in the table in Brown's book was the National Statistics Office, 1985.

If you quote from this table in the text of your essay - treat as secondary referencing:


If you reproduce the table in your essay: replicate the whole table, and add a citation below the table to acknowledge where the table was found

Television ownership in England and Wales (Percentage of households)
Year	1970	1980
Percentage	60	70
Source: National Statistics Office, 1985

Finally include the full details of the source, in this case the book in your reference list:

To cite material found on a website, you need to identify who is responsible for producing it - the authorship.

This may be a named individual or a corporate author (an organisation, institution or company).

If you cannot see a named author, look for a corporate author. This could be in the website name, the About Us section or in the URL or web address.

The date for a website may not be obvious. Look around the page if it is not in the headline information - it might be at the bottom in the copyright statement.



In this example the authorship would be Mundasad and the date 2016.

An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

The purpose of a reference list is to enable sources to be easily traced by another reader. Different types of publication require different amounts of information but there are certain common elements such as authorship, year of publication and title, which should be included.

The Harvard style lays down standards for the order and content of information in the reference. Some variations of presentation are acceptable provided that they are used consistently.

All items should be listed alphabetically by author or authorship, regardless of the format, whether books, websites or journal articles etc. Where there are several works from one author or source they should by listed together, in date order, with the earliest work listed first.

Use the title page, not the book cover, for the reference details. Only include the edition where it is not the first. A book with no edition statement is most commonly a first edition.

The required elements for a book reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of book. Edition. (only include this if not the first edition) Place of publication (this must be a town or city, not a country): Publisher.

Reference
where 1st edition


where 3rd edition
An in-text reference for the above examples would read:


*Place of publication can generally be found on the back of the title page in the address of the publishing company. Where there are several locations, choose the UK one in preference to other. Please note where there is likely to be confusion with UK place names; for USA towns include the State in abbreviated form e.g. Birmingham, Alabama would be... Birmingham, AL.

For books with multiple authors, all* the names should all be included in the order they appear in the document. Use an and to link the last two multiple authors.

* Additional Advice for documents with very large numbers of authors.
Some documents have very large numbers of authors, particularly in certain disciplines. There may be a very large numbers of authors and a wish not to include them all in a reference list. In these cases it is recommended that advice from the Faculty is sought, to establish if it is permitted to cite only a reduced number.

The required elements for a reference are:

Authors, Initials., Year. Title of book. Edition. (only include this if not the first edition) Place: Publisher.

Reference



An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

For books which are edited give the editor(s) surname(s) and initials, followed by ed. or eds..

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., ed., Year. Title of book. Edition. Place: Publisher.

For chapters of edited books the required elements for a reference are:

Chapter author(s) surname(s) and initials., Year of chapter. Title of chapter followed by In: Book editor(s) initials first followed by surnames with ed. or eds. after the last name. Year of book. Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher. Chapter number or first and last page numbers followed by full-stop.

References


An in-text reference for the above example would read:

Where there are several works by one author and published in the same year they should be differentiated by adding a lower case letter after the date.

Remember that this must also be consistent with the citations in the text

For multiple works the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initals., Year followed by letter. Title of book. Place: Publisher.


Works by the same author should be displayed in the order referenced in your assignment, earliest first (as above).

An in-text reference for the above example would read:


This also applies if there are several authors with the same surname. As an alternative their initials can be included in the citation.



So in the above example, if you have sources written by George Soros and also by Manuel Soros. In the full reference list you would list them in alphabeticsl order.

Where ther are several works by one author, published in different years, these should be arranged in chronological order, with the earliest date first.

For works which have been translated the reference should include details of the translator, the suggested elements for such references being:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of book. Translated from (language) by (name of translator, initials first, then surname) Place of publication: Publisher.


For major works of historic significance, the date of the original work may be included along with the date of the translation:


For works in an another language, reference these in the same manner as an English language work but provide a translation. Students should check with their Faculty the validity of including original language works.

For works which are reprints of classic original works, the reference should include details of the original date of the work and reprinting details, the suggested elements for such references being:

Author, Initials., Original Year. Title of book. (Imprint/reprint and then year). Place of publication: Publisher.


An in-text reference for the above example would read:


For classical works which have been abridged or introduced by a noted writer.



An in-text reference for the above example would read:


With a recommendation to mention Darwin and the original date in the text, but including Leakey as the in-text citation.

E-books available through the University Library

For e-books accessed through a password protected database from the University Library the required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year, Title of book. [e-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Followed by Available through: ARU Library website <https://library.aru.ac.uk> [Accessed date].


For an open access e-book freely available over the internet such as through Google books

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of book. [e-book] Place of publication (if known): Publisher. Followed by Available at: e-book source and web address or URL for the e-book [Accessed date].



For an e-book from specific e-readers and other devices such as Kindle, or Nook

The required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year, Title of book. [e-book type] Place of publication (if available): Publisher. Followed by Available at: e-book source and web address [Accessed date].


If you include a quotation from an e-book without page numbers, use the section heading or chapter heading as a guide to locating your quotation, if available.

For a pdf version of, for example, a Government publication or similar which is freely available:

The required elements for a reference are:

Authorship, Year. Title of documents. [type of medium] Place of publication (if known): Publisher. Followed by Available at: include web address or URL for the actual pdf, where available [Accessed date].

Use these guidelines for print articles, those you get through InterLibrary Loan, and online articles that have a print equivalent.

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal, Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page number(s).

Reference an e-journal article as print if it is also available in a print version of the journal. This is usually the case where you access an article in pdf format and it uses sequential journal page numbers.

For articles accessed through a password protected database from the University Library:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal, [type of medium] Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page numbers if available. Available through: ARU Library website <http://library.aru.ac.uk> [Accessed date].


An example of a Cochrane Review


An example of an early view article from the BMJ

Articles from web based magazines or journals, including Open Access articles found in institutional repositories.

Authors, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal or Magazine, [online] Available at: web address (quote the exact URL for the article) [Accessed date].

You can choose to use the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) instead of the format/location/access date. The DOI is a permanent identifier and replaces a permanent web address for online articles. (These can appear with the preface http://dx.doi.org/). They are often found at the start/end of an article or on the database landing page for the article. Not all articles are assigned a DOI. If an article does not have a DOI, use one of the other e-journal article formats.

Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal,[e-journal] Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page numbers if available. DOI.

For a journal abstract from a database where you have been unable to access the full article, the required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal, [type of medium] Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page numbers if available. Abstract only. Available through: Source [Accessed date].


Every effort should be made to read the article in full if you intend to use this work as supporting evidence in an academic submission.

For newspaper articles the required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of article or column header. Full Title of Newspaper, Day and month before page numbers and column line.


(In the page reference. p.4b - "4" indicates that the article is on the fourth page of the newspaper, columns of print on a page are labelled left to right alphabetically, so in this example "b" indicates that this is the second column of newsprint across the page from left to right.)

An example of corporate authorship where the newspaper article authorship is not stated.

For newspaper articles found in online newspapers, the required elements for a reference are:

Author or corporate author, Year. Title of document or page. Name of newspaper, [type of medium] additional date information. Available at: <url> [Accessed date].



An in-text reference for the above examples would read:



It is good practice to keep in your files a copy of the first page of any web pages you use

The required elements for a reference accessed online:

Short Title including year (chapter number). [online] Available at: <URL> [Accessed date]

For Acts prior to 1963, the regnal year and parliamentary session are included:

Road Transport Lighting Act 1957. (5&6 Eliz. 2, c.51). London: HMSO.

For a direct in-text reference:

For a indirect in-text reference:

If you need to refer to a specific section and paragraph, include the section, paragraph number and subsection.

Finance Act 2007. s.45(9)(b).

The required elements for a reference are:

Statutory Instrument

Short title (with key words capitalized). Year. the abbreviation 'SI' followed by the year of publication and the SI number. Place of publication: Publisher.

For an in- text reference:

Code of Practice

For an in-text reference:
When discussing a Code of Practice linked to legislation, refer to the code of practice within the text of your writing and cite the piece of legislation to which is attached

Full reference

For an in- text reference:

Full reference

The required elements for a reference are:

Authorship, which may be part of the title, Year. Title, in italics if a separate element, offically assigned number such as a Command number as it is on the document, within brackets. Place of publication: Publisher.

It is recommended that you follow accepted legal citation, which is not part of the Harvard system. For this the required elements for a reference are:

Name of the parties involved in the law case, Year of reporting (in square brackets where there is no volume, or round brackets as indicated by the reference you are using) abbreviation for the law reporting series, part number/case number/page reference if available.


In the last example you should only quote the two law reports if you have used them.

An in-text reference for the above example would read:

The required elements for a reference are:

Corporate author, Year. Full title of annual report, Place of Publication: Publisher.


For an e-version of an annual report. The required elements for a reference are:

Author or corporate author, Year. Title of document or page, [type of medium]
Available at: include web site address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator)
[Accessed date]


It is good practice to keep in your files a copy of the front page of any website you use containing reference details

If you have used material from archives or special collections, the required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of document. [type of medium] Collection, Document number. Geographical Town/Place: Name of Library/Archive/Repository.


An in-text reference for the above example would read:

The required elements for a reference are:

Corporate author, Year of Publication. Identifying letters and numbers and full title of Standard, Place of publication: Publisher.



The required elements for an e-version are:

The required elements for a reference are:

Corporate Authority, Year of Publication. Full title of regulation and edition. [format] Place of publication: Publisher. Available through: ARU Library website <http://library.aru.ac.uk> [Accessed date].

(This example is for an Online version from CIS):

The required elements for a reference are:

Inventor name, Initials., Assignee, Year. Title. Place. Patent number (status, if an application).

Example:

The required elements for a conference report are:

Authorship, Year. Full title of conference report. Location, Date. Place of publication: Publisher.



The required elements for a conference paper are:

Author, Initials., Year. Full title of conference paper. In: followed by editor or name of organisation, Full title of conference. Location, Date. Place of publication: Publisher.

The required elements for a reference are:

Authorship/Organisation, Year. Full title of report. Place: Publisher:


The required elements for an e-version are:

Authorship/Organisation, Year. Full title of report. [type of medium] Place: Publisher. Available at: include web address/URL [Accessed on date]

The required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year of publication. Title of dissertation. Level. Official name of University.



The required elements for an e-version are:

Author, Initials., Year of publication. Title of dissertation. Level. Official name of University. Available at <url> [Accessed on date]

Following EU conventions, examples of various EU documents are given below:

The required elements for a reference are:

Title (includes Legislation type, initials of regulating body, year/legislation number), Year. Official Journal [online] Series letter and issue number, page number(s). Available at: <URL> [Accessed date].

An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

It is important to check with the lecturer who has given the lecture that they are in agreement with course material being included in any Reference List. If they are in agreement, and if it is not a publicly available document, it is important to provide a copy in the Appendix of your work. The citation to the course material in your Reference List should then also refer to the Appendix.

It would also be advisable to follow up any sources mentioned in your lecture and read these for yourself.

Course material / lecture notes - print version

The required elements for a reference are:

Lecturer/Author, Initials., Year. Title of item, Module Code Module title. HE Institution, unpublished.



An in-text reference for the above example would read:


Course material - electronic

The required elements for a reference are:

Lecturer/Author, Initials., Year. Title of item, Module Code Module Title [online via internal VLE], HE Institution. Available at: web address if available over the internet, otherwise indicate if available through Canvas, SharePoint or other virtual learning environment address. [Accessed date]


An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

When reviewing a number of different plays it is essential to cite the title of the plays. If reviewing one play (for example Twelfth Night), it is not necessary to repeat the title in your citations.

Published plays may contain line numbers, particularly in classic texts such as Shakespeare. If they exist it is good practice to include the line number. Act and Scene numbers must always be included.

Classic plays are available in edited editions and the editor's name should be included with your reference.

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year (of edition). Title of play. Edited by (name of editor, initials first, then surname). Place of publication: Publisher.


In-text:

After the date, add Act.Scene: line number(s). Line numbers may not be available, Act.Scene should always be included.

The required elements for a reference are:

Name of play, Year of performance. [live performance] Written by initial. family name and Directed by initial. family name . (location, date seen).

The required elements for a poem are:

Poem author(s) surname(s) and initials., Year of poem if given/or publication date. Title of poem. In: Book author/compiler/editor(s) initials first followed by surnames with ed. or eds. after the last name if edited book. Year of book. Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher. First and last page numbers followed by full-stop.

Where you have conducted an interview - using a primary source. You are recommended to check with your Faculty Office for detailed guidance on what you may include.

Where you are conducting the interview, it is important to check with the person being interviewed that they will be in agreement with a transcript of the interview being made available. Since this will not be a publicly available document, it may be included as a transcript within an Appendix in your piece of work.

The citation for this interview should refer to the Appendix.



In the Appendix you should include details such as:

Interviewee's name. Year of interview. Title of interview. Interviewed by ...name. [type of medium/format] Location and exact date of interview . Together with the transcript.

Where you are using an interview from a source such as a television programme

The suggested elements for a reference are:

Interviewee name, Initials., Year of Interview. Title of Interview. (or Interview on ..name of programme) Interviewed by ...name (first name and surname). [type of medium/format] Name of Channel, Date of transmission, time of transmission.



An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

These may be print or electronic.

For a print press release:
Corporate author of press release, Year. Title. Press release, date.


For an electronic press release:

Corporate author of press release, Year. Title. [press release] date. Available at: web address [Accessed date].

When you are quoting from a sacred text e.g. the Bible, the Torah or the Quran, the suggested elements for a citation are:

Name of religious text, Book. Sura or Chapter: Verse

An in-text reference for the Bible could look like this...



Convention dictates that you do not use page numbers with religious texts

The required elements for a full reference are:
Full title, Year. Place of publication: Publisher.



For other sacred texts, it is important that you clearly identify the location of the text that you cite using the appropriate numbering system.

When you are quoting a definition from a dictionary, use the publisher as the author.

The required elements for a citation are:

(Publisher, Year)


For the reference

The suggested elements for a reference are:

Dictionary publisher, Year. Full title of dictionary. Place of Publication: Publisher.


When using subject specific or non-generic dictionaries, the author/editor can be used as author, and the referencing guidelines for a book can be followed.

Where data is extracted from a data source such as Isurv or FAME, both the source with the year of currency for that data, should be acknowledge in an in-text reference. Complete details should be included in the reference list.



Where you have gathered and manipulated data from a data source like FAME or OECD and placed this in a table of your own making, we recommend that you give the source and year of currency for the data, as the in-text reference and include a note to an appendix. In the appendix you can reproduce the source tables you have used to create your table and include adequate details of how you generated the table you have used in your work.

For a computer program downloaded from the internet, the required elements of a reference are:

Authorship/Organisation, Year. Title of program. (Version). [computer program] Distributor/Publisher. (if available) Available at: <web address/URL> [Accessed date]


Computer Games

Developer, Year. Title of game (version). [format] Place of publication: publisher.


An in-text reference for the above example would read:

Title of exhibition, Date. [exhibition] Location. Date of exhibition.


In text:

To maintain confidentiality in a written piece of work it may be necessary to anonymise references and citations to avoid the possible identification of individuals. The required elements for a reference are:

Authorship/Organisation, Year. Full title of document. Publisher.

For websites found on the internet the required elements for a reference are:

Authorship or Source, Year. Title of web document or web page. [type of medium] (date of update if available) Available at: include web address/URL * [Accessed date].




*URL means Uniform Resource Locator - an address identifying the location of a file on the Internet

If a URL is exceedingly long, or the result of a personal search on a website, you can give the website's home page address with the routing or web path, showing your reader how to get from the home page to the specific page you have referenced.

It is good practice to keep in your files a copy of the first page of any web pages you use.

For publications found on the internet the required elements for a reference are:

Author or corporate author, Year. Title of document. [type of medium] Place: Producer/Publisher. Available at: include web site address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].



It is good practice to keep in your files a copy of the first page of any web pages you use

Particular care needs to be taken if you are quoting from these as they may include personal email addresses and be from a restricted source.
Permission should be sought before these sources are quoted.

For email correspondence or discussion lists the suggested elements for a reference are:

Name of sender, email address, Year. Message or subject title from posting line. [type of medium] Recipient's name and (email address). Date sent: Including time. Available at: URL (e.g. details of where message is archived) [Accessed date].


Copies of such correspondence should be kept, as these may need to be submitted as an appendix in an academic submission

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of individual blog entry. Blog title, [medium] Blog posting date. Available at: include web site address/URL (Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].


Blog comments

The required elements for a reference are:

Comment Author, Year. Title of individual blog entry. Blog title, [medium] Comment posting date. Available at: include web site address/URL (Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].


An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initial., Year. Subject line, Title of Mailing List. [online] date of message. Available at: include web site address/URL (Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].

The required elements for a reference are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of page. [Social Media Type] Day/month post written. Available from:<URL>[ Accessed date].


Author, Initials., Year. Full text of tweet. [Social Media Type] Day/month tweet written. Available at: <URL> [Date accessed].

The required elements for an app are:

Authorship, Year. Full text of app article. [mobile app type] Date/month written. Available at:<URL>[Date accessed].

The required elements for a reference are:

Full title of DVD or video. Year of release. [type of medium] Director. (if relevant) Country of origin: Film studio or maker. (Other relevant details).


For a film the suggested elements should include:

Title, Year of release. [medium] Director. Country of origin: Film studio.


For film accessed via a streaming service:


An in-text reference for the above example would read:

For a broadcast where you would like to refer to a named episode, the suggested elements should include:

Episode name, Year of broadcast. Series title and number (if relevant). [type of medium] Broadcasting organisation and Channel, date and time of transmission.



If the episode is not named, the suggested elements should include:

Series title, Year of broadcast. Series and episode number if known. [type of medium]. Broadcasting organisation and Channel, date and time of transmission



For a broadcast series:

Series Title, Year of broadcast. [type of medium] Broadcasting organisation and Channel, date of transmission.



For a broadcast obtained through Box of Broadcasts:



For a broadcast accessed via a streaming service:

The suggested elements for a reference are:

Artist/Photographer's name (if known), Year of production. Title of image. [type of medium] Collection Details as available (Collection, Document number, Geographical Town/Place: Name of Library/Archive/Repository).



When using an image from a book or journal article, an in text reference should be included and a full reference included at the end of the piece of work. Look for the name of the image creator - either beneath the image, in the text, or in a list of figures, or copyright statement. If there is no author or artist given for the image, it is fair to assume the image was created by the author(s) of the book or journal article.

For an image with a creator who is not the author of your source.

In-text


The full reference


For an image created by the author(s) of the book or article.

In-text


Include the page number in your in-text citation. The full reference would be the reference to the book or journal article you found the image in.

For images found on the internet the required elements for a reference are:

Author, Year (image created). Title of work. [type of medium] Available at: include web site address/URL (Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].

Where the author is not known, begin the reference with the title of the work.

Where none of the usual details are known, (such as author, date, or image title) try to find the filename of the image (for example by right clicking and looking at the properties of the file). If none of the above is available begin the reference with the subject and title of the work.



An in-text reference for the above examples would read:

The required elements for a reference are:

Map maker, Year of issue. Title of map. Map series, Sheet number, scale. Place of publication: Publisher.



The required elements for Digimap are:

Map publisher (origin), Year of publication. Created map title, Scale. Source [online] Available through Library website <http://library.aru.ac.uk> [Accessed date].



The suggested elements for Google Earth are:

Google Earth version (if applicable), Year data released. Image details - location, co-ordinates, elevation. Data set (if applicable) [online] Available through: URL [Accessed date].

The required elements for a reference are:

Broadcaster/Author, Year. Programme title, Series Title. (if relevant) [type of medium] date of transmission. Available at: include web site address/URL (Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].

The required elements for a reference are:

Screen name of contributor, Year. Video Title, Series Title. (if relevant) [type of medium] Available at: include web site address/URL (Uniform Resource Locator) [Accessed date].


An in-text reference for the above example would read:

The general required elements for a sound recording are:

Name, Initials(s) (of originator/composer), Year. Title. [medium] Name of recording artist/performer/conductor. Place of distribution: Record Label.

The required elements for a sleeve note are:

Author, Initials., Year. Title of sleeve notes. In: Title of recording. [sleeve notes] Place of Distribution: Distribution company.

The required elements for a score are:

Composer surname, Initials., Year. Title of score. Notes. Place of publication: publisher.

The required elements for lyrics are:

Author, Initials., year. Title of lyrics. [lyrics] Place of distribution: distribution company.

The required elements for a CDs are:

Artist, year. Title of recording. [CD] Place of distribution: Record label.

The required elements for a vinyl are:

Artist, year. Title of recording. [vinyl] Place of distribution (if known): Distribution company.

The required elements for a download are:

Artist, year. Title of recording. [download] Available at: [Accessed date]

Pavarotti, L., 2005. Nessun Dorma. [download] Available at: < http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/?id=366639665> [Accessed 12 June 2005].

For Streaming:

Lizzo, 2019. Truth hurts. [online] Available through: Spotify [Accessed 12 August 2020].

The required elements for a compilation album are:

Artist, Year. Title of song. In: Artist, Year if different, Title of recording [medium] Place of Distribution: Record Label. Track Number

The required elements for a complete album are:

The artist. Year. Title of album. [medium]. Place of distribution: Record Label

The required elements for a live performance are:

Family name, Initial(s) (of originator/composer). Year written. Title. [live performance]. Name of performing artist. [Location, Date seen]

You may occasionally have access to a document before it is published and may therefore not be able to provide full details:

For informal publications, such as class handouts and leaflets, provide what details you can:

Where you refer to a more informal personal communication, e.g. letter, email, phone call or conversation, provide as much detail as possible and note the nature of the communication.

Permission should be sought before these sources are quoted, and a copy retained for reference.

Where there is no obvious publication date, check the content and references to work out the earliest likely date, for example:

1995?	probable year
ca. 1995	approximately 1995
199-	decade certain but not year
199?	probable decade

Occasionally it may not be possible to identify an author, place or publisher. This applies particularly to what is known as 'grey literature', such as some government documents, leaflets and other less official material.

Anon	author anonymous or not identifiable
s.l.	no place of publication (Latin: sine loco)
s.n.	no named publisher (Latin: sine nomine)
n.d.	no date

Information such as place and publisher not found on the document, but traced from other sources, should be placed in square brackets.

You should, however be very cautious about using as supporting evidence material where you cannot identify the author, date or source.

If you understand the reasons for referencing it is evident why you should not pass off work of others as your own. Failing to reference appropriately could result in your assessors thinking you are guilty of plagiarism - the act of using somebody else's work or ideas as your own. You will find information on academic offences on MyARU - Learning and Assessment.

Student handbooks and module guides for both undergraduate and postgraduate students refer to the University Library Harvard Guide for guidance on Harvard referencing. If a different referencing style is required, students should check the relevant guidelines for their subject within the Faculty.

For more information see the University Library section on referencing.

For guidance on academic writing, please visit the Study Skills Plus Canvas page.

Why reference?
You need to provide references in your work so you can:
Demonstrate that you have read widely and deeply.
Show your understand a topic and who is responsible for its development.
By providing the original source you are acknowledging that you have read the work and recognise the original author(s) ideas.
Help the reader locate where you obtained each quote or idea.
A reference list is always required when you cite other people's work within your assignment.

What is referencing-Evidence?
In academic writing, to support and provide evidence for your arguments, you cite the material you have used. You do this by referring to, or citing, the authors responsible for the information. This information can come from journal or newspaper articles, government reports, books or specific chapters of books, research dissertations or theses, or be material over the internet etc.

When you cite someone's work in the text of your assignment (an in-text citation), you also need to create a full reference. This goes at the end of your work. This gives the full details for the information source so that it can be traced by anyone who reads your work.
Evidence must be from authoritive sources!

The Harvard System
There are many systems for the citation of references.
Most Faculties at Anglia Ruskin University expect students to use the Harvard style of referencing -which is an author and date system.

A two part reference system
In-text - citing within the assignment script- author's surname and year of publication
Reference list at the end of the assignment- full details of the document eg a book

In-text citation

Reference list

Remember is to be consistent in the way you record your references.

Reference List or Bibliography: What's the difference?
A Reference List includes details for everything that you cite in within your assignment. It should be in alphabetical order by author with all the different types of material in one sequence (See Section 3.1 for further details). A Reference List is always required when you cite other people's work within your assignment. Sometimes the terms reference list and bibliography are used interchangeably. Make sure you know what is required for your assignment. Check the module guide before you complete your assignment.

Some Departments may ask you to produce a Bibliography. This is a list of relevant items that you have used to help you prepare for the assignment but which are not necessarily cited in your assignment eg. general background reading to familiarise yourself with the topic.

An annotated bibliography includes the full reference to sources with the addition of notes, which summarise and evaluate the source and will be of variable length, depending on the assessment this may be an independent project or part of a larger research project.

Is referencing included in the Word Count?
Check the Academic Regulations section 6.69 for details of what is excluded from the word count of a submission. These can be accessed on the University website under the section for the Academic Office.

Additional help
We have also produced a Harvard Quick Guide (.pdf) which covers the basics of Harvard Referencing. If you are using this guide in conjunction with Refworks select the output style "Anglia Ruskin Harvard Style v6.1".

The University Library has released this fifth edition of the Guide to Referencing in the Harvard Style. This is written by Library staff at Anglia Ruskin to support students' information skills, researchers and academic staff, and complies with the ARU Academic Regulations August 2020.

Some changes introduced since the last edition are:

• Referencing of e versions of academic /peer reviewed journal articles
• New guidance on using quotations

This guide has been compiled with reference to a number of British Standards. The most recent being BS ISO 690:2010 Information and documentation - guidelines for bibliographic references and citations to information resources and Harvard style conventions currently being followed in UK Universities.

If you wish to re-use the Guide you may do so under the terms of the Creative Commons licence as long as your use is restricted to non-commercial purposes and the source is acknowledged. If you wish to re-use the Guide please contact us first.