Introduction

This guide outlines how to reference using the ‘Harvard’ or Author-Date method according to Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2016) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 10^th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave. This is not the only standard of referencing but is commonly used in the Social Sciences. Using this method usually means that citations in the text should give the author’s name with the year of publication. All references should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of your paper or dissertation. Bibliographical references should contain sufficient information so that someone else can trace the item when following up your work. It is very important to be consistent and accurate when citing references. Good referencing is also important for good academic practice and the avoidance of plagiarism.

Harvard method of citation in the text

Statements, opinions, conclusions etc. taken from another writer’s work should be acknowledged. It does not matter if the work is directly quoted, paraphrased or summarised. Here are examples of how cited publications are referred to in the text:

Single author

Varian (2014) suggests the first thing we should do is consider the budget constraint…

When an author has published more than one cited document in the same year these are distinguished by adding lower case letters after the year with brackets

Goyal (2014a) finds that incorporating information about co-author networks leads to a modest improvement in the accuracy of forecasts on individual outputs

Two authors

In the book by Kavanagh and Morris (1994) the role of trade unions is discussed…

More than two authors

Begg et al (2014) conclude that…

If more than one citation is referred to within a sentence, list them all in the following form by date and then alphabetically:

In the Marxist school of economics it is argued that ‘production is the basis of social order’ … (Marx, 1847; Engels, 1880; Kautsky, 1899; Luxembourg, 1913)

Harvard method of quoting in the text

When quoting directly in the text use quotation marks, as well as acknowledging the author’s name, year of publication and page number of the quotation in brackets. Short quotations of up to 2 lines can be included in the body of the text:

Chang states, “Capitalism would not have developed the way it has without the development of the financial system.” (2014, p.310)

Longer quotations should be indented in a separate paragraph:

Shaw et al. (1997) discuss the theory of the Phillips curve:

“The existence of a Phillips-type relation appeared to offer policy makers a straight choice between inflation and unemployment. One could trade off more of one for less of the other. Furthermore, once the curve was identified the rate of unemployment which was consistent with zero inflation could also be identified. Although a good deal of empirical support was identified for the Phillips relation in the mid-1960s, after 1968 the relation was seen to consistently under predict the rate of inflation.” (p.231)

If part of the quotation is omitted then this can be indicated using three dots:

Varian states that “the Internal Revenue Service distinguishes two kinds of asset returns for purposes of taxation. The first kind is the dividend of interest on return…the second kind of returns are called capital gains.” (2014, p.24)

Secondary referencing

Secondary referencing is when one author refers to the work of another author and the primary source is not available. You should cite the primary source and the source that you have read e.g. Laffan (1992 cited in Geddes, 2013, p.42)

Secondary referencing should be avoided if at all possible.

Harvard method of listing references at the end of the text

References should be listed in alphabetical order by author’s name and then by date (earliest first) and then if more than one item has been published in a particular year list by letter (2010a, 2010b etc.). Whenever possible details should be taken from the title page of a publication and not from the front cover, which may be different. Each reference should include the elements and punctuation given in the examples on the right. Authors’ forenames can be included if given on the title page. The title of the publication should be given in italics.