In-text references (textual references or citations) - Harvard System

• When writing an essay, it is sometimes necessary to make a reference within your text to a specific author and work.

• This is called an in-text reference - or a textual reference or citation. It shows at each pointwhere your information or quotation has come from.

Why do we use bibliographies and in-text references?

They show that you have researched your topic using various resources and they help your readers identify where your information comes from. They also show readers that your ideas are supported – you have not made them up nor plagiarised them.

Here are some examples of the Harvard system of citation for linking research material to an entry in a bibliography.

Examples:

Follow the in-text material with the surname and year of the document, followed by the page number.

A recent study (Miles 2014, p. 23) reveals that students regularly …

Or: Miles (2014, p. 23) reveals that students….

Technology has “increased students’ access to information and motivation to learn” (Don 2014, p.21).

Rhodes (2012, pp. 95-100) notes that glaciers are retreating around the world.

Website with an author

Smith (2012) found that dancing is great exercise that can be a greater aerobic workout than swimming.

In the bibliography:

Smith, K. 2012, The health benefits of dancing, viewed 7 February 2014, <www.dancingfun.net/>

Website with no author

World of warcraft is one of the most played online computer games (Gamer info 2014).

In the bibliography:

Gamer info 2014, viewed 2 May 2014, <www.gamerinfo.com.au/records>

Author within another source

McKenzie (in Cato 2012, p. 46) found that….

In the bibliography:

Cato, T. 2012, Festivals, Kino, Sydney.

More than 3 authors? Use ‘and others’ or ‘et al’.

This trend was noted by Bowers and others (2012, p. 8).

In the bibliography:

Bowers, E. and others 2012, Reflection, Magnus, London.

Two authors with the same surname

Woods B. (2012, p.7) states that....

Woods K. (2012, p.64) notes that...

Two documents published in the same year by the same author

....during the summer (Clarke 2014a, p.5).

.....at any time of year (Clarke 2014b, p. 86).

No date? Write n.d.

These short stories deal with themes of loneliness and fear (Campbell n.d.).

In the bibliography:

Campbell, J. n.d., Myself, Roni, Perth.

If the quotation is lengthy, use a block quotation:

Seligman (2011, p. 20) notes that other people are the best antidote to the downs of life:

Very little that is positive is solitary. When was the last time you laughed

uproariously? The last time you felt indescribable joy? The last time you

felt enormously proud of an accomplishment? All of them took place around

other people.

Sample Bibliography / Reference List

List all the resources you have used in alphabetical order. Indent the second line.

Bowers, E. and others 2012, Reflection,

Magnus, London.

Gamer info 2014, viewed 2 May 2014,

<www.gamerinfo.com.au/records>

How your memory works 2009, television program, ABC,

Canberra, 15 May.

Pink Floyd 2011, The dark side of the moon, CD,

Parlophone, London.

Smith, K. 2012, The health benefits of dancing, viewed 7 February 2014,

<www.dancingfun.net/>

Zimmer, C. 2014, ‘Secrets of the brain’, National Geographic,

February, pp. 28-58.

These websites have many other examples:

Harvard citation style (University of Western Australia Library)

Harvard (author-date) style examples (Monash University Library)

Harvard: a guide to referencing (Victoria University)