With publishers & universities adopting cross-reference technology to determine the authenticity of the research article, giving credit to the original authors has become even more critical. The main reason for citation is to acknowledge the use of other authors’ work. This is not limited to taking a sentence or paragraph, but also includes adopting figures, tables, or graphs. Besides giving credit to the original authors, citing sources demonstrates reliability of information, enables readers to locate sources and more importantly avoids plagiarism.
In academics, citation styles are of different types. However, the prefered style depends on the type of research domain. For instance, APA is most often used in social science & psychology, MLA is used in humanities and Harvard in economics.
Harvard citation style is a system which enables researchers, professionals, writers to include quotes and ideas from other authors’ work without breaching the writing ethics. Harvard citation includes two major factors: (1) the author or editor of cited work (2) publication year of the cited work.
So how do you cite sources in Harvard style?
Citing books with one author - The structure for citing books with one author is simple. The format to be followed is, last name, first initial. (Published year). Title. Edition (if the book is not the first edition) place of publication: Publisher, page(s).
For example, John, M. (2004). Writing thesis. Washington: high publications
For a book that is not first edition, John, M. (2004). Writing thesis. 5th ed. Washington: high publications
Citing books with two or more authors - When citing sources with two or more authors, organize the names in the same order as on the source. Use “and” to separate the author names. The format to be followed is last name, first initial. and last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Title. City: Publisher, page(s).
For example, Deepak, L. and Ramesh, K. (2005). Crafting proposal. Jaipur, India: Little publications, p.130.
Nithin, M., Nisha, T. and Gagan, J. (2004). Evolution of computers. New York: Learning publication, pp. 394-478.
Citing chapters from edited books - When citing a single chapter from an edited book, it is a must to include page range (pp.) and the edition of the book. The format followed here is, last name, first initial. (Year). Title of the chapter. In: name/s of the editor (ed/s) Book title. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher. Page/s.
For example, John, S. (2009). The best guides. In: James, L., ed., Best guides, 1st ed. France: Arch publications, pp.20-50.
Citing multiple works by the same author - The citations must be organized by year when there are multiple works by the same author. If the works are published in the same year, then arrange them in alphabetical order by title. The structure to be followed is given as, last name, first initial. (Year). Title. Edition (include only if the book is not 1st edition). Place of publication: publisher.
For example, Brown, H. (2002). Undetected approach. NewYork: Little publication.
Citing journal articles accessed on database - Citing journal articles that are accessed via website or database follows the format, last name, first initial. (Year). Title of the article. Name of the journal, Vol (issue), Page/s. Available at: URL. [accessed date].
For example, John, S. (2003). Journey to the Moon. Space, Volume 1 (3), pp. 45-50. Available at: www.abcd.com [Accessed: 5 November 2018].
Citing print magazines - The structure for citing print magazines is last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Title of the article. Magazine, (Volume), Pages (s).
For example, Itkin, F. (2017). Six ways to filter toxins. Healthy life, (11), pp. 31-43.
Citing eBooks - When citing eBooks, it is a must to include edition (including 1st ed). Incorporate URL and accessed date at the end of citation. The structure followed here is, last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Title. Ed. [format] Place of publication: Publisher, page(s). Available from: URL [Accessed date].
For example, Jack, R. (2001). Stream of chocolate. 2nd ed. [eBook] Washington: little publisher. Available from www.abcde.com [Accessed 18 May. 2003].
Harvard style provides guidelines for citing images, TV programme, etc. To know more about citing guidelines, visit https://www.mendeley.com/guides/harvard-citation-guide.
