What is the Harvard style?
Harvard is an author/date style of referencing and it consists of two main elements outlined below.
In-text Citations: These appear in the body of your text referring to a particular author’s work or source of information. Citations consist of an author’s surname and a year in parenthesis – there is no numbering system used. If using direct quotations "" you also need to provide the page number(s), or paragraph number for web pages.
References or the Reference List: A list giving the complete details of all documents, books, journals articles or websites referenced in the text, arranged in alphabetical order. This is not included in the word count.
You may also be asked to produce a bibliography which lists both the references and all other sources you consulted as background reading (but check the project requirements).
|
Example of in-text citations are included below. If the author's surname is part of the sentence you only put the date in brackets: In a study by Smith (1997) coping with illness was investigated... or According to Smith (1997) coping with illness... If the author's surname is not part of the sentence, place both author's surname and date in brackets: this journey of coping with illness and the composite effects (Smith, 1997) - note that you separate the author's name and year with a comma, i.e., (Smith, 1997). |
FOUR or MORE authors: You may italicise et al., or leave it in normal script.
| Reference elements | Author (Year) Title, Place of publication:Publishers |
| Reference | Murray, P.R., Rosenthal, K.S. and Pfaller, M.A. (2009) Medical microbiology, Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier. |
| Reference elements | Author (Year) Title [e-book reader name], Edition, Place of publication:Publisher |
| Reference | Chiu, A., Palmer, J.N. and Adappa, N.N. (2019) Atlas of Endoscopic Sinus and Skull Base Surgery [ClinicalKey], 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier. |
| Reference elements | Author (Year) 'Title of Chapter' in Editor, Title of book, Place of publication:Publishers, pp. XX-XX |
| Reference | Weir, P. (1995) ‘Clinical practice development role: a personal reflection’ in K. Kendrick et al., eds., Innovations in nursing practice, London: Edward Arnold, pp. 5- 22. |
1. With DOI:
| Reference elements | Author (Year) 'Title', Title of Journal, Vol(Issue), pp. XX-XX, DOI |
| Reference | Schwitzgebel, V.M. (2014) ‘Many faces of monogenic diabetes’, Journal of Diabetes Investigation, 5(2), pp. 121-133, doi: 10.1111/jdi.12197. |
2. Without DOI:
| Reference elements | Author (Year) 'Title', Title of Journal, Vol(Issue), pp. XX-XX, Available at: http:// [accessed: Day Month Year] |
| Reference | Roham, P., Keane, K., Nason, G.J. and Caulfield, R.H. (2018) 'Is The Consent Process Appropriate - The Interns’ Perspective?', Irish Medical Journal, p. 111(4), Available at: http://imj.ie/is-the-consent-process-appropriate-the-interns-perspective/ [accessed: 10 April 2019]. |
1. Print version:
| Reference elements | Author (Day Month Year) 'Title of article', Newspaper, p. xx |
| Reference | White, M. (18 May 1998) ‘£68m to cut NHS waiting lists’, The Guardian, p.8. |
2. Online version:
| Reference elements | Author (Day Month Year) 'Title of article', Newspaper. Available at: http:// [accessed: Day Month Year] |
| Reference | Malhortre, A. (30 Aug 2018) ‘Why modern medicine is a major threat to public health’, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/30/modern-medicine-major-threat-public-health [accessed: 22 March 2019] |
| Reference elements | Author/Owner of the Image (Year) Title [type of image] Available at: http://www … [accessed: Day Month Year] |
| Reference |
Southern California Orthopedic Institute (2021) Fracture of the Talus [image]. Available at: https://www.scoi.com/specialties/ankle-doctor [accessed: 04 November 2023] |
| Reference elements | Author A (Day Month Year) Title or your own descriptive title of class/topic [type of medium], Full name and code of unit, Name of University. |
| Reference |
Nelson, S. (20 April 2015) Human resource management: topic 2 [PowerPoint slides], Human Resource Management MNG00724, Southern Cross University.
In-text citation: (Nelson 2015) OR (Nelson 2015, slide 2) |
| Reference elements | Creator’s surname, Initials or Corporate author (Year or release date) Title of app (version number) [Mobile app/App]. Available at: URL (accessed: Day Month Year) |
| Reference |
NHS Choices (2023) Change4life smart recipes (Version 2.1.2) [Mobile app]. Available at: https://change4life-smart-recipes.en.softonic.com/android (accessed: 28 May 2013)
In-text citation: (NHS Choices, 2023) |
You are advised to use a reference management tool to assist you with referencing. Endnote is the system that RCSI promotes and there is a library guide available to consult.
N.B. If you are using EndNote, you are advised to choose:
"Cite Them Right-Harvard", to be sure of referencing following the RCSI Harvard rules.
**This guide is up to date as of August 2024