Introduction to Referencing

The Harvard Referencing Guide

Quick Tips

  • The School of Creative Arts have our own style, based on the Harvard system. Don’t trust external websites to get it right! We have a comprehensive guide to help you.
  • Anything you state as a fact should have citable evidence to back it up
  • Every citation should have a matching reference and vice versa.
  • You only need put an author’s initials after the surname in the reference not the full name, e.g. (Bloggs, J., 2017). If there is no identifiable author then use the title, e.g. (Study Skills Guide, 2017)
  • Titles of books and journals, newspapers, films and so on should be capitalised for the first word only and put in italics.
  • If you use a direct quote from a source, put it in single inverted commas e.g. ‘This is how to signify a quotation in the Harvard system’, (Walden et al, 2010, p.45).
  • If in doubt ask your tutor, or one of the key contacts at the bottom of this page.

In short, in your submitted work you must clearly show when you are making reference to an existing piece of work, whether it’s a book, film journal article, website or anything else. You do this by providing a citation detailing the work you are referencing, where possible this should detail the author, year and provide a page reference. This is the same whether you are using a direct quote, or discussing the text more broadly.

For example:

Direct Quote
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry is described as having ‘jet-black hair that was always untidy’ (Rowling, 1998, p.4)

Indirect Reference
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry is described as having a scruffy appearance (Rowling, 1998, p.4)

Short Breakdown

Here’s a quick an easy example of how to cite a text in the body of your essay, and within your references list.

Key Contacts

For further help or advice feel free to contact your tutor, or:

Lewis Harrison-Barker – Student Engagement and Skills Lead

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