Faculty of Health

Harvard-style Referencing Guidelines

Contents
Introduction
Citation and References
Confidentiality
Citing
Multiple Authors and et al.
Direct Quotations
References List and Appendices
Bibliography
Where to find the relevant details
Referencing
a book
an e-book
a journal article
Secondary references
Chapters within edited books
Forum postings
Maintaining confidentiality of source material
Anonymous works
Government or Official Publications
Law Reports
Statistics
Internet and WWW publications
A home page
Moodle
Powerpoint
An example Reference List

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Introduction
The Harvard style (also known as the author-date system) is the most commonlyused style of referencing worldwide. Citing references is a way of letting your reader
know where you found your information. It is standard academic practice and you
must do this in all your assignments. We use the term "citing" as a quick way of
referring to citing references, but there are actually two inter-related parts in the
process.

Citation
A citation is essentially a marker you put in your text to show that you are referring to a
source, for example, you may have given a direct quotation or summarised the ideas from the
source. The marker you use links to the reference.
Reference
A reference gives full details about a source you have cited in your text. References are
listed, in alphabetical order, at the end of your assignment, before any appendices.
Referencing is an essential part of academic scholarship, and ethical values demand that
authors identify the sources used in their work.
You are referencing in order to:

Acknowledge an intellectual debt to another author where you have drawn from his or
her published work or ideas, either explicitly or implicitly.

To support specific facts or claims which you make in your text.

To enable your reader to find sources to which you have referred easily and quickly.

Failure to identify sources upon which you draw is plagiarism, a serious academic offence.
(To see the Universitys Student Disciplinary Policy follow this link
http://diglib4.bcu.ac.uk/webservices/jawsopendoc.aspx?id=77411
Confidentiality
Confidentiality must be maintained within referencing as well as your written work.
The following statement of confidentiality can be found in the Facultys Guidelines:
Guide to Academic Procedures: Confidentiality in Learning, Teaching and Assessment.
If a patients/clients name or that of a member of staff is included in any part of your work
including appendices (if they are not available to the general public), you will fail. The work
will be deemed a technical fail and will receive a mark of 1% only. Success in the
resubmitted work will be subject to capping, as for any resubmission. See the full policy in
your student handbook for further guidance.
Guidance is provided in these referencing guidelines regarding the maintenance of
confidentiality of source material.
Citing - Referring to or summarizing an authors viewpoint in your text
If you are referring to the general theme of the book, page numbers are unnecessary. If the
authors surname occurs naturally in the text, the year follows in round brackets. If not, insert
the name and year in round brackets at the end, e.g.:
Carlson (1981) obtained results which...
In a recent study (Carlson 1990)...
Where you are quoting or referring to figures or data, page numbers must be included, e.g.:
Schon (1991, p.17) found that several factors contributed to the emergence of
professional pluralism" which shows that
In some professions, awareness of uncertainty, complexity, instability, uniqueness,
and value conflict has led to the emergence of professional pluralism (Schon 1991, p.
17).

Multiple Authors
If there are up to three authors, all surnames should be given before the date, e.g.:
Weyham, Reheman and Dee (2006) suggest that.
If there are more than three authors, include the surname of the first, followed by et al.,
e.g.:
Nursing involves careful observation at all times (Jackson et al., 2004.)
If an author has published more than one paper in a year, lower case letters, a,b,c, etc., follow
the date:
Example: Bradshaw (2006a) argues that

Bradshaw (2006b) shows that

Direct quotations
When taking a direct quotation, you must give the documents author, year of publication and
the page number(s) on which the quote appears. Quotations of up to 4 lines should be placed
in double quotation marks within your text. You can place the name, date and page numbers
before or after the quote, e.g.:
Roberts et al. (2004, p.342) say that Patterns of organization and methods of
research vary across different disciplines and faculties.
Longer quotations are usually introduced by a colon followed by two empty lines, indented
five spaces from the left margin and typed with single spacing but without quotation marks.
The authors surname, date and appropriate page number(s) appear at the end, e.g.:

Critical reading requires you to focus your attention much more closely on
certain parts of a written text, holding other information in mind. As it
involves analysis, reflection, evaluation and making judgments, it usually
involves slower reading than that used for recreational reading or for gaining
general background information. As you develop critical reading skills, these
reading skills will become faster and more accurate. (Cottrell, 2005, p.147)
References List
These are the full details of all writing by author(s) or organizations to which you have
referred, or from which you have quoted in your work. They are collected together in
a list at the end of the complete text. Arrange the list of references alphabetically by
the authors surname, year and letter (if there is one). For an organisation (e.g. the
NMC) the first letter of the corporate author is used.

Examples:

MORTON-COOPER, A. (2000). Action Research in Health

Care. Oxford: Blackwell.
RANDLE, S. (2004). Being an Advocate for your Clients in the
Antenatal Period. Midwifery Matters. Winter (103), pp.4-6.
ROGERS, J. (2001). Adults Learning. 4th ed. Buckingham: Open
University Press.

For an example References List, please turn to page 10 of this publication.

Appendices
If you include an appendix, this should come after the reference list. Works cited in the
appendices should still be included in your reference list.

Bibliography
This is a list of books, journal articles and other items which you have used for background
reading to inform your opinion, but which you have not referred to or quoted from directly. As
with the list of references, (see above) these should be listed alphabetically in the same
format as references, and should be placed after the list of references at the end of your
completed work.
Where to find the relevant details
Reference details should be taken from the publication itself. In a book, they will
normally be found on the title page or back of the title page or equivalent.
Referencing a book
Author(s) or editor(s) in capitals, surname, comma, then initial(s). Full stop.
Date (rounded brackets) Full stop.
Title as printed on title page, in italics or underlined, with first letter of significant words in
capitals, full stop.
Edition (if applicable). Full stop.
Place of publication colon. (Include country or state if location of place is unclear.)
Publisher full stop.
Example:

COTTRELL, S. (2005). Critical Thinking Skills. Developing Effective Analysis

and Argument. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

e-Books
Author(s) or editor(s) in capitals, surname, comma, then initials. Full stop.
Date (rounded brackets) Full stop.
Title as given on title page, in italics or underlined, with first letter of significant words in
capitals, full stop.
Edition (if applicable). Full stop.
Type of medium [square brackets]. Full stop.
Place of publication colon. (Include country or state if location of place is unclear.)
Publisher, full stop.
Available at: include e-Book source. Full stop.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator the web address) <diamond brackets> Tip: Cut and paste
the URL into your document.
Access date (round brackets). Full stop
Example:

PEATE, I. (2006). Becoming a Nurse in the 21st Century. [electronic

resource]. Chichester: John Wiley.
Available at: Birmingham City University Library Catalogue.
<http://www.myilibrary.com/browse/open.asp?ID=51894> (Accessed 29th
October 2008).
ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. (2008). Osteoarthritis: National Clinical
Guideline for Care and Management in Adults. [electronic resource]. London:
Royal College of Physicians.
Available at: Royal College of Physicians Website.
<http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/contents/d87b4537-b333-4b8a-a2d85e96b7f4b65a.pdf>. (Accessed 30th October 2008).

Journal articles
Author(s) in capitals, surname, comma, and then initials.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title of article as given on page. First letter of significant words in capitals, the rest in lower
case. Full stop.
Title of journal, first letter of significant words in capitals, the rest in lower case, in italics, or
underlined, full stop.
Volume no space.
Issue (rounded brackets), comma.
Page numbers in the form of p. for one page or pp. for more than one. Full stop.
Example:

HENDRY, C. and FARLEY, A.H. (2006). Essential skills for students who are
returning to study. Nursing Standard. 21(6), pp. 44-48.

Secondary references
Whenever possible, use references from original (primary) sources and avoid secondary
referencing. When this is not possible for example, when the original is unpublished, or for
some other reason is not available the original author and date appear in the text.
Example: The work of Maslow (1970) has become an established theory
To indicate that Maslow (1970) is a secondary reference in the references list at the
end of your work, use the term In followed by the full reference to the work in which
it was found, thus:
MASLOW, A. (1970). Motivation and Personality. In: KIGER, A. (2004)
Teaching for Health. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, p.34.
Chapters within edited books
Author(s) of chapter, in capitals, surname, comma, then initials. Full stop.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title of chapter as printed on title page of chapter, with first letter of significant words in
capitals, full stop, followed by In (in italics or underlined). Colon.
Editor(s) of book in capitals, surname, then initials, followed (ed.) for one editor or (eds.) for
more than one (in parenthesis).
Then follow instructions for book reference from Title to Publisher, comma, and then Page
numbers (optional) in the form of p. for one page or pp. for more. Full stop.

Example:

SHAW, T. (2005). Leadership for Practice Development. In: JASPER, M. and

JUMAA, M. (eds.) Effective Healthcare Leadership. Oxford: Blackwell, pp.
207-221.

Forum Postings
When referring to forum posts, include the full details of the forum post within your reference
list so that the forum post can be identified on the Moodle page (see example below). You do
not, however, have to paste the whole forum post into your reference list.
Examples:
In text:

Jarvis (2007) said that communication through a forum is

difficult.
Communication through an on-line forum is difficult (Jarvis
2007).

In reference list:

JARVIS, S. (2007). Patch 1 - Action Learning Set Support

Forum. Fri 26th October 2007, 11:17am.

Maintaining confidentiality of source material (please also see p.2)

If Trust documents are being used for example, policies, procedures or care plans it is
important that the name of the trust is never divulged, because these documents are not
available to the general public.
Example: In text:

This action was taken in accordance with the NHS Trusts

(Name withheld, 2005) disciplinary policy.

In reference list: NHS TRUST (Name withheld, 2005) Disciplinary Policy

For documents available to the general public, for example patient information leaflets
produced by the Trust:
In text: The information provided by the Trust about this service is written in several
languages (Appendices 1-3).
In Appendix: Documents labelled as Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Appendix 3.
Citations for works with no author or anonymous author(s):
When a work has no author, or if the author is anonymous, the in-text citation consists of the
word Anonymous, or Anon, followed by the year. In the Reference List, the full details of the
publication will be given, preceded by ANONYMOUS.
In text: This injection policy was apparently not followed in other clinical areas
(Anonymous, 2006).
In Reference List: ANONYMOUS. (2006). A third of needlestick injuries easily
avoidable, expert says. Nursing Standard, 21(6), p.10.

Government or Official Publications

Government department/organization for which report etc was produced in capitals. Full
stop.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title as given on title page, with first letter of significant words in capitals, the rest in lower
case, in italics or underlined, full stop.
Official reference number (if there is one), comma.
Place of publication, colon.
Publisher followed by
Name of chairperson followed by Report, if there is one, in round brackets. Full stop.
Example:

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. (1994). Report of the inquiry into the care and
treatment of Christopher Clunis. Cmnd. 9543, London: HMSO (Ritchie
report).

Law Reports
When citing and referencing Law Reports, case names and all details should be in italics,
e.g.:
Murphy v Brentwood District Council [1990] 2 ALL ER 908.

Case
Year in [Square] brackets.
Volume number, if applicable.
Abbreviation for name of report and first page of report.
When referring to a case for the first time, give its full name (exactly as it appears in the
report). However, in subsequent references, a case can be referred to by a shortened name,
e.g. Murphy v Brentwood District Council may be referred to as the Murphy case.
Further examples:

In the case of Broom v Cassell & Co [1972] AC 1027 the Court of Appeal refused to
follow the decision made in Rooks v Barnard [1964] AC 1129 on the circumstances in
which exemplary damages could be awarded

When a particular passage is being quoted or referred to, the specific page reference
must be included, e.g.
The facts of the case outlined in Jones v \Tower Boot Co Ltd [1997] 2 ALL
ER 406 at 411 show that

When the judge is being quoted or referred to in a particular passage, the judges
name should be provided as part of the citation, e.g.
That was the opinion of Lord Mackay LC in Pepper v Hart [1993] 1 ALL ER
42 at 47

Use open punctuation (i.e. no full stops) when abbreviating a law report series for
example: ALL ER not All. E.R., FAM LR not FAM. L.R.

Statistics
Government dept/organization for which report etc. was produced in capitals.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title as given on title page, with first letter of significant words in capitals, the rest in lower
case, in lower case, italics or underlined, fullstop.
Official reference number (if there is one), comma.
Place of publication, colon,
Publisher, full stop
Table, figure or other identifying information, comma.
Page numbers in the form of p. for one page or pp. for more, full stop.

Example:

WEST MIDLANDS REGIONAL OBSERVATORY. (2004). Real Lives, Real

Issues. A State of the Region Report 2004. Birmingham: West Midlands
Regional Observatory. Figure 27, p.56.

Internet & WWW publications

Author or responsible organization in capitals, surname, comma, and then initials.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop. If no date is given use (n.d.) in round brackets.
Title as given on screen with first letter of significant words in capitals, the rest in lower case,
in italics or underlined, full stop.
Place of publication if included, colon.
Publisher (if given).
Available at: include webpage source. Full stop.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator the web address) <diamond brackets>
Date of update where given, then date of access (round brackets) Full stop.

Example:

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2004). Home Oxygen Therapy Service:

Service Specifications. London: DOH
Available at: Department of Health Website.
<dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics> (updated June 2004, accessed
26th October 2006).

In the text: The Department of Health (2004) provides specifications for . . .

Referencing a home page

Organization in capitals. (If applicable, add a comma and the sub-section of the
organization). Full stop.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title of home page with first letter of significant words in capitals, the rest in lower case, in
italics or underlined. (If no title, place Home page in italics or underlined in square brackets
as a description not in the original source, i.e. [Home page], full stop.
URL <diamond brackets>.
Date of update (if given) and access (round brackets) Full stop.
Example:

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY. (2007). Student Services: main

menu. <http://www.ssv.bcu.ac.uk/index.htm>. (updated 2006,
accessed 27th October 2007).

Moodle
Author(s) where given, in capitals, surname, comma, then initials. Full stop.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title as given on module page cited, in italics or underlined, with first letter of significant
words in capitals. Full stop.
Place of publication: colon.
Publisher. Full stop.
Available at: include web page source. Full stop.
Module number. Full stop.
URL (Uniform resource Locator the web address) <diamond brackets>
Date of update where given, then the date of access (round brackets). Full stop.

Example: Known author

BLOGGS, F. (2008). Dementia Care.
Birmingham: Birmingham City University.
Available at: Birmingham City University Faculty of Health
Moodle Site. Module GM6196.
<http://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/health/course/view.php?id=1356>.
(accessed 2nd January 2009).
Example: Unknown author
BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY. (2008). Dementia Care:
A framework. Birmingham: Birmingham City University.
Available at: Birmingham City University Faculty of Health
Moodle Site. Module GM6196.
<http://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/health/course/view.php?id=1358>.
(accessed 2nd January 2009).

PowerPoint Presentations
Author(s) or editor(s) in capitals, surname, comma, then initials. Full stop.
Date of presentation (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title as given on PowerPoint title page, in italics or underlined, with first letter of significant
words in capitals. Full stop.
Type of medium [square brackets]. Full stop.
Presentation details. Full stop.

Example:

SMITH, J. (2009, January 9th). Hand washing for the beginner.

[PowerPoint slides]. Presented at a GM1234 lecture at
Birmingham City University.

PowerPoint embedded in Moodle and other web sites.

Author(s) where given, in capitals, surname, comma, then initials. Full stop.
Date (rounded brackets). Full stop.
Title as given on module page cited, in italics or underlined, with first letter of significant
words in capitals. Full stop.
Type of medium [square brackets]. Full stop.
Place of publication: colon.
Publisher. Full stop.
Available at: include web page source. Full stop.
Module number. Full stop.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator the web address) <diamond brackets>
Date of update where given, then the date of access (round brackets). Full stop.
Example:

SMITH, J. (2009). Hand washing for the beginner. [PowerPoint

slides]. Birmingham: Birmingham City University.
Available at: Birmingham City University Faculty of Health
Moodle Site. Module GM1234.
<http://moodle.bcu.ac.uk/health/course/view.php?id=1356>
(accessed 2nd January 2009).

And finally
No guide can hope to instruct you in every conceivable possibility in referencing your sources.
Some materials are frequently problematical. By applying these guidelines and by using your
own judgment and common sense (bearing in mind the need to give enough information for
interested teachers and readers to locate an item) you should be able to construct a proper
reference for any item which you have consulted.

Further Reading
GASH, S. (1999). Effective literature searching for students. 2nd ed. London: Gower.
GOPEE, N. (1999). Referencing academic assignments. Nursing Standard, 13(27), pp.37-40.
NEVILLE, C. (2007). The complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism.
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS (2003). The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.

Example References List

References
ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF OBESITY (2004). The prevalence of obesity in the UK.
Association for the Study of Obesity. Available at: ASO Website.
<http://www.aso.org.uk/portal.aspx?mlmenuid=1990&TargetPortal=36&ApplicationID=116>
(accessed 21 April 2007).
BARLOW, S. E., and DIETZ, W.H. (1998). Obesity Evaluation and Treatment: Expert
Committee Recommendations. Pediatrics, 102(3), pp. 29.
BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION (2000). Couch kids, the growing epidemic: looking at
physical activity in children in the UK. London: British Heart Foundation.
BURNIAT, W. et al. (eds). (2002). Child and adolescent obesity: causes and consequences,
prevention and management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
CHINN, S., and RONA, R.J. (2001). Prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity in three
cross-sectional studies of British children, 197494. BMJ, 322(7277), pp. 24 26.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2005). Obesity among children under 11. London: Department
of Health.
MACNAIR, T. (n.d.) Obesity in children. London: BBC.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/obesity2.shtml>. (accessed 3rd January 2008).
McCARTHY, H., ELLIS, S.M., and COLE, T.J. (2003). Central study of overweight and
obesity in British youth aged 1116 years: cross-sectional surveys of waist circumference.
BMJ, 326(7390), pp. 624.
McCARTHY, H., JARRETT, K., and CRAWLEY, H. (2001). The development of waist
circumference percentiles in British children aged 5.016.9 y. European Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 55(10), pp. 902 907.
Maloney v Brighton & District Health Authorityl [1990] 2 ALL ER 908.
PEATE, I. (2006). Becoming a Nurse in the 21st Century. [electronic resource]. Chichester:
John Wiley. Available at: Birmingham City University Library Catalogue.
<http://www.myilibrary.com/browse/open.asp?ID=51894>. (Accessed 29th October 2008).
SCOTTISH INTERCOLLEGIATE GUIDELINES NETWORK (2003). Management of obesity in
children and young people. Edinburgh: SIGN.
SMITH, A. (2004a). The consequences of poor diet in children of school age. Nutrition
Review, 12(3), pp. 29-33.
SMITH, A. (2004b). Why good food matters. Child Health Review, 2(4), p19.

Further information about Harvard-style referencing, including details of how to cite your
sources, as well as other hints and tips, can be found on the Faculty of Healths Moodle website.
Go to the Library Content section, and click on the Study Success With Less Stress module.

Philip Dee, Peter Ebrey, Annmarie Lee, Walter Riggans. Revised 08/09

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