Library Assist: Answers

Harvard references consist of two parts:

1) an in-text citation that goes in the body of your work at the point you are referring to a source, and

2) a full reference containing all the details of the source, which goes in your reference list

Cite Them Right (CTR) is the online guide the University Library subscribes to for Harvard style. This FAQ summarises the most common formats of material you will be including in your reference lists - Books, Journal Articles and Webpages.

If you have a question about in-text referencing/citations, please see the separate FAQ - How do I cite in-text. The following examples are for items in your reference list only.

Much more information is available:

1. Other FAQs are available with more examples - go to the bottom of this page or search by keyword in the 'Type your question' box above.
2. The CTR website contains full advice for all source types/formats, as well as videos and tutorials. If you have any problems logging in to the site, please see our How do I login to Cite Them Right FAQ.
3. An introductory 'quick' guide based on the 12th edition of CTR is available for download in word and PDF formats on our Referencing web page. There is no "full" guide written by the Library for you to save or print, however...
4. ... The CTR website is based on an actual book, so if you would like to borrow a print copy or read the eBook instead, please search for "pears cite them right" on the LibrarySearch Library catalogue. The most recent version is the 2022 12th edition.
5. A short video tutorial is available - scroll down to the end of this FAQ to view it.

Books - print, or accessed as an eBook via the University Library

General rules to remember:

• CTR says that if you access a book online and it is an exact scanned version of the original print book, there is no requirement to include online access details in your reference. However, always check with your tutor as individual marking preferences can vary.
• The University’s preference is to name all authors in the full reference. If in doubt please check with your tutor.

Include the following information: 

Surnames and initials of all authors (Published Year) Title of book: including any sub-title. Edition (if later than 1st). Place of Publication (which should be the UK Town not the County or Country): Publisher.

Example of book with one author: Storey, N. (2013) Electronics: a systems approach. 5th edn. Harlow: Pearson.

Example of book with two authors: Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2022) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 12th edn. London: Bloomsbury.

Example of book with three authors: VanPutte, C.L., Regan, J.L. and Russo, A.F. (2023) Seeley's anatomy and physiology. 13th edn. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Example of book with multiple authors: Epstein, O., Perkin, G.D., Cookson, J., Watt, I.S., Rakhit, R., Robinson, A.W. and Hornett, G.A.W. (2008) Clinical examination. 4th edn. Oxford: Mosby Elsevier.

What if the book lists more than one place of publication?

Use the most local place, preferably the UK one. For example, if a book lists Oxford, Dublin and New York as the locations, you would choose Oxford.

What if the book doesn't have a UK Town for the place of publication?

That's fine, you can still use the publication Town of where it has been published. If it is a place in the USA, remember that you need to also include the abbreviated initials of the State that the Town is in. For example, a book published by Harvard University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is written as - Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. - so that it is clear it is the Cambridge in America and not the Cambridge in the UK.

What if the book has editors instead of authors?

Write the surname and initials as usual, but add (ed.) if one editor or (eds) if more than one editor after the name(s) and before the published Year. For example: Pecht, M. and Kang, M. (eds) (2018) Prognostics and health management of electronics: fundamentals, machine learning, and the internet of things. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

What if it is a book on an e-reader e.g. a Kindle?

If you have a personal copy of a book downloaded to a device, these items will have different pagination to the corresponding print item because the device will display them differently. Please refer to the full Cite Them Right online (login required) guide for advice.

Journal articles

General rules to remember:

• The University’s preference is to name all authors in the full reference. If in doubt please check with your tutor.
• Some Journals have a print and corresponding online version, others may only be available online or only available in print. Reference the version of the article you are using regardless of whether the same item is available in different formats.
• If you have accessed it online rather than in print you will need to include some extra information in the reference:

• Always look for a DOI number - if it has one, include it.
• Because the DOI is the permanent identifier for the source, it is not necessary to include an accessed date.
• If there is no DOI, include the URL and an accessed date.

If you have used a printed journal article, include the following information:

Author(s) (Published Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, Volume number (issue number or other issue information), Page numbers of whole article.

Example: Kirwan, B. and Leather, C. (2011) ‘Students’ voices: a report of the student view of dyslexia study skills tuition’, Support for Learning, 29(1), pp. 33-41.

If you have used an electronic journal article with a DOI number, include the following information:

Author(s) (Published Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, Volume number (issue number or other issue information), Page numbers of whole article. Available at: full doi link starting 'http'.

Example: Cho, S., Qi, L., Fahey, G. and Klurfeld, D. (2013) 'Consumption of cereal fiber, mixtures of whole grains and bran, and whole grains and risk reduction in type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease', The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 98(2), pp. 594–619. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.067629.

If you have used an electronic journal article with a URL (no DOI number), include the following information:

Author(s) (Published Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, Volume number (issue number or other issue information), Page numbers of whole article. Available at: web address (Accessed: date).

Example: Mylrea, M., Gupta, T. and Glass, B. (2015) 'Professionalization in pharmacy education as a matter of identity', American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 79(9), pp. 1–9. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.wlv.ac.uk/docview/1771233424?accountid=14685 (Accessed: 19 May 2020).

Webpages

General rules to remember:

• It is usually preferable to give the named authors over an organisation, if there are any stated.
• If you are using a generic web site such as Gov.uk, always check carefully for a departmental or organisational author to use.
• If you are not sure who to use as your author, please Contact the Library for advice.
• These examples refer to text/information that you have taken from an actual webpage, not a PDF or other document that has been uploaded to a webpage for you to download. Items downloaded from a webpage will need to be referenced depending on what they are, e.g. a research report, guidelines, etc.

Include the following information:

Author or Organisation (Published Year) Title of webpage. Available at: web address (Accessed: date).

Example of a webpage with a named author: Triggle, N. (2019) Pledge to end smoking in England by 2030. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49079515 (Accessed: 26 May 2020).

Example of a webpage with an Organisational author: Public Health England (2020) Guidance - childhood obesity: applying All Our Health. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-obesity-applying-all-our-health/childhood-obesity-applying-all-our-health (Accessed: 26 May 2020).

CTR also covers other referencing styles if your Faculty does not use Harvard style, please see the CTR website for full details of the following:

• American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition
• The Chicago referencing system
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA)
• Modern Languages Association (MLA) 9th edition
• Oxford University standard for the citation of legal authorities (OSCOLA)
• The Vancouver referencing system