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Setting out citations – the Harvard way

Part 8: Quotations, in-text citations and useful resources

Quotations and citing in the text

Short quotations

Short quotations of a sentence or two are enclosed with single or double quotation marks (be consistent) and included in the main text.  

In this example, you are  making a direct quotation. Up to two lines can be included in the body of the text and must include the page number.

Smith (2003, p. 11) states that 'Harvard referencing has to be done accurately'

Longer quotations

Longer quotations are separated from the text, placed in their own paragraph, indented from the main text and do not need to be enclosed in quotation marks. Long word for word quotations should be avoided but it is acceptable to include them if they are presented in this way

Cottrell (1999, p. 10) in discussing plagiarism states that

Plagiarism is using the work of others without acknowledging your sources of information or inspirartion. This includes: using words more or else exactly as they have been used in articles, lectures, television programmes, or anywhere else.

Citations in the text

Citing a publication with one author

If the author’s name occurs naturally in the sentence, the year of publication should follow in brackets

Example

Smith (2003) found that…

 

In a recent study Smith (2003) argued that…

If the author’s name would not naturally be included in the sentence, add the author’s name and year of publication in brackets

Example

Recent research in social work (Smith, 2003) has shown that ....

Citing a publication by two or three authors

Example

In a recent study (Smith and Jones, 2003) it was argued that…

 

In a recent study (Smith, Jones and Hill, 2003) it was argued that…

Citing a publication by more than three authors

Example

In a recent study (Smith et al., 2003) it was argued that…

Citing a specific page or pages of a publication

Example

 In a recent study Ndlov (1996, p. 26) argued that….

 

In a recent study Ndlov (1996, pp. 26-30) analysed this theory….

Citing a publication where the name of the author cannot be identified

Example

Figures in a recent survey (Tourism trends, 2003, p. 12) showed that…

Citing a publication where the date cannot be identified

Example

The earliest report (Harvey, no date, p. 231) showed that…

Citing a publication where the name of the author and the date cannot be identified

Example

A survey (Tourism trends, no date) showed that…

Citing a web page

If you are citing a web page, cite by : author and date where possible; by title and date if there is no identifiable author or by URL if neither author nor the title can be identified

Example

The latest study (http://www.libqual.org/, 2005) revealed…

Citing multiple publications published in the same year by the same author

Example

Sometimes you may need to cite two (or more) publications by an author published in the same year. You will need to distinguish between multiple items in the text and in the reference list. You do this by allocating lower case letters in alphabetical order after the publication date

In her study of social work Lishman (2005a, p. 18) argued that social work is a multifaceted activity. Her final analysis on this subject (Lishman, 2005b, pp. 143-152) reinforced her earlier argument.

 

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Useful websites on referencing

In compiling this guide several printed and web resources were consulted and we acknowledge them. Here are some of the most useful ones.

While the general advice on these sites is useful, it is only Cite them right you should use and not any other version of Harvard.

Birmingham City University: Referencing guide http://library.bcu.ac.uk/references.pdf

Oxford Brookes University:

Citing your references using the Harvard system

 http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/skill/skill1d.html

University of Bournemouth:

How to cite references

 http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/how-to/citing-refs.html

University of Leeds:

References and citations explained

 http://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/200232/referencing

British Universities Film & Video Council:

Audiovisual Citation Guidelines

 http://bufvc.ac.uk/avcitation/guidelines

Internet Detective:

Keep on the right side of the law

 http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/thelaw.html

Northumbria University:

Referencing and plagiarism

http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/library/resources/referencing/

 

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Useful publications on referencing

Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study skills handbook. 3rd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (Palgrave Study Skills).

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 8th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (Palgrave Study Skills).

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