Why bother with

Harvard Referencing?

Jeannie Alderdice

ACES

2011-12

Why bother with referencing?

Shows you are disciplined

Universally acknowledged as desirable

practice (everyone, everywhere uses a

referencing system if they are engaged

with higher level education)

Demonstrates your capability to research

Combats plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

Copying directly from a text, word-for-word

Using an attractive phrase or sentence you have found somewhere

Using text downloaded from the Internet

Paraphrasing the words of a text very closely

Borrowing statistics from another source or person

Copying from the written work or the notes of another student

Downloading or copying pictures, photographs, or diagrams without acknowledging your sources

Source: http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/plgrsm.htm

‘But what I’m

reading is already

really good and I

can’t write this better

than the author!!’

You need to show you are developing your own

ideas and arguments and learning to express

them.

You are showing that you have learned about

and can use other people's work.

These conventions allow you to use other

people's work to illustrate and support your own

arguments - but you must be honest about it.

You must show which parts are your own work,

and which parts belong to somebody else.

Source: http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/plgrsm.htm

What is a citation?

A citation tells readers the source for

information you have included in your

writing, such as your textbook, a reference

book, a website or an article published in a

journal. A citation should guide readers to

the List of References where the readers

can find the full bibliographical information

on the source.

What is a bibliographic reference?

This is all the details of a book/journal etc

Author(s) and/or Editor(s)

Year or Date

Title

Edition/ Volume/ Number etc

Publication details

NB: You don’t usually need the ISBN number unless you want to

order a book from a bookshop.

Citations looks like this…

Bloggs (2007, p.36) has stated that ‘it

can sometimes be confusing to

understand the differences between

citations, references and

bibliographies’, however, James

(2008) has argued that it really is not

difficult at all.

List of References

The citations within your writing should correspond with the references - so if you have used a citation from Bloggs and James you might have these references;

BLOGGS, C., 2007. The Art of Good Student Writing. 3rd edn. London: Pudding Books.

JAMES, F., 2008. Creative Academia. Oxford: OUP.

List of References

This comes at the end of your piece

of work

you should list everything that you

have cited from (in your writing)

You give each a full bibliographic

reference

List the references in alphabetical

order

When to use page numbers

Use page numbers in your citations when you

quote directly

Don’t use page numbers when you paraphrase

Bloggs (2007, p.36) has stated that ‘it can

sometimes be confusing to understand the

differences between citations, references and

bibliographies’, however, James (2008) has

argued that it really is not difficult.

What is a paraphrase?

A paraphrase is where you want to use a

person’s ideas but not their words so you

rewrite what they have said in your own words.

While Bloggs (2007) claimed this was not

the case, James (2008, p.116) stated he

could ‘categorically without any doubt’

argue against this ‘preposterous story.’

PLEASE NOTE: Any words you use that are the

same must be shown as quotations – using

‘inverted commas’ and (Author, Year, page)

What is a bibliography?

A bibliography is a list of books that you have

read but not cited in your work

The bibliography comes after the list of

references

You won’t need a bibliography if you have cited

from everything you have read

Some examiners do not like bibliographies

because you can’t prove you have read what is

on your bibliography (check with your tutor)

Finally!

Use the NCN Harvard Referencing booklet

as a template for your citations and

references.

You DO NOT NEED to learn this off by

heart – you just need to keep the booklet

handy as you write your assignments.

Any questions?

Get in touch with ACES (Academic

Coaching an Study Skills team)

Jeannie Alderdice 07909990725

Adams Building, City Campus

Via HE and International Office

Email aces@ncn.ac.uk

Ask a librarian!