Examples on this page:

• Introduction
• In text referencing
• Reference list
• Examples
• Sources of further information

Introduction

The author-date, or Harvard, style of referencing is widely accepted in academic publications, although you may see a number of variations in the way it is used.

The information and examples on these pages are based on the Australian Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th ed. The various editions of this style manual have been produced as a guide for those working within Australian government departments.

This style of referencing requires that you acknowledge the source of your information or ideas in two ways:

• in the text of your work, when you refer to ideas or information you have collected during your research. Each reference is indicated by including the author and date of the publication referred to, or cited.
• in a reference list at the end of your text, which gives the full details of the works you have referred to, or cited.

In text referencing

You may acknowledge the source of your information or ideas within the text of your work in various ways.

Quotation

You may quote the author's exact words to support your argument.

The first example below places more emphasis on the writer, the second on the idea.

Citing example:

Rajaratnam (2001, p.1005) concludes that, 'The cost to the nation's health of working out of phase with our biological clocks is probably incalculable at present.'

'The cost to the nation's health of working out of phase with our biological clocks is probably incalculable at present' (Rajaratnam 2001, p.1005).

Paraphrase

You may paraphrase an author's words or ideas - restating them in your own words, but without altering their meaning or providing your own interpretation of

Citing example:

Rajaratnam (2001, p.1005) argues that, while the notion of biological time is of scientific importance, it is also economically and socially significant at a national level. He points to the health, productivity and social problems which may be attributed to individuals working 'out of phase' with their internal clocks.

Summary

You may summarise - use your own words to present the key points of an author's argument or ideas, without altering the meaning.

Citing example:

In his conclusion, Rajaratnam (2001, p.1005) points to the possible economic and social costs incurred by a nation, when individuals work 'out of phase' with their biological clocks.

Citing page numbers in-text

• Page numbers are essential if you are directly quoting someone else’s words. Insert page numbers after the year, separated by a comma. When paraphrasing or summarising, page numbers may be also be included. Be guided by your faculty or department recommendations.
• If a work being referred to is long, page numbers might be useful to the reader. In this case, include them in the in-text citation, separated from the year by a comma.
• Use the abbreviations p. for single page, and pp. for a page range, e.g. pp.11-12

Reference list

The reference list, normally headed 'References', should appear at the end of your work, and should include details of all the sources of information which you have referred to, or cited, in your text.

Order of items in the list

The items in the reference list are arranged alphabetically by the authors'surname. Where you have cited more than one work by the same author, those items are then arranged by date, starting with the earliest.

Format of citations in the reference list

The details which need to be included in each citation in the list depend on the type of item referred to, e.g. book, journal article, or website.

The details, or elements, which are included in most citations, should be presented in this order: author - date- title of work - title of larger work (if any) - publishing details

Punctuation and spacing in the citation

Some general rules apply:

• Authors' names:
  • Use only the initials of the authors'given names.
  • No full stops, and no spaces, are used between initials.
• Titles of works:
  • Use minimal capitalization for the titles of books, book chapters and journal articles.
  • In the titles of journals, magazines and newspapers, capital letters should be used as they appear normally
  • Use italics for the titles of books, journals, and newspapers.
  • Enclose titles of book chapters and journal articles in single quotation marks
• Page numbering:
  • Books; page numbers are not usually needed in the reference list. If they are, include them as the final item of the citation, separated from the preceding one by a comma, and followed by a full stop.
  • Journal articles: page numbers appear as the final item of the citation, separated from the preceding one by a comma, and followed by a full stop.
  • Use the abbreviations p. for a single page, and pp. for a page range, eg pp.11-12
• Whole citation:
  • The different details, or elements, of each citation are separated by commas.
  • The whole citation finishes with a full stop.

Works by the same first authors, published in the same year

Single author entries come first in the reference list

Example:

Bessant, J 2001, 'The question of public trust and the schooling system', Australian Journal of Education, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 207-226.

Bessant, J & Webber, R 2001, 'Policy and the youth sector: youth peaks and why we need them', Youth Studies Australia, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 43-47.

Robbins, SP 2004, Organizational behaviour, 11th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Robbins, SP & DeCenzo, DA 2004, Fundamentals of management: essential concepts and applications, 4th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Works by the same author, published in the same year.

In your reference list, order these works alphabetically according to the title of the work and use the letters a, b, c ... after the publication date to distinguish between them in your citations.

Reference list:

Example:

Blainey, G 2003a, Black kettle and full moon: daily life in a vanished Australia, Penguin/Viking, Camberwell, Victoria.

Blainey, G 2003b, The rush that never ended: a history of Australian mining, 5th edn, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic..

Scutt, JA 2003a, 'Future access - discrimination and the Disability Discrimination Act', Access, vol. 5, no.3, pp. 6-10.

Scutt, JA 2003b, 'Without precedent: sex/gender discrimination in the High Court', Alternative Law Journal, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 74-77.

Citing example:

Scutt (2003b p.74) looks at the issues arising from the lack of High Court precedents in sex/gender discrimination law.

Examples

• books
• book chapters
• journal articles
• newspaper articles
• conference papers
• government publications
• statistics from ABS
• encyclopedia and dictionaries
• theses
• websites

Print: all Harvard examples

Sources of further information

Style manual for authors, editors and printers. 6th ed. Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons; 2002. library holdings

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