Quick guide to Harvard ReferencingB204-15J

Why Reference?

Referencing has some key functions:

• To acknowledge when ideas you are using were created by another author

• To support claims which you make in your text• To show you are knowledgeable about relevant research

in this topic you are using• To enable the reader to find sources to which you have

referred easily and quickly• It is required in writing a university assignment!• …and to improve your mark

Why Do We Reference ?

Therefore references must:

• Be accurate in the details they give about the authors work

• Be in a standard format• and contain enough information for a reader to trace the

item

Failure to reference sources upon which you draw on is PLAGIARISM

• PLAGIARISM is defined as taking, using and passing off as your own, ideas or words of another

• There are other ways of plagiarising which are treated very seriously eg copying and submitting work which has previously been submitted by someone else

• Any of these are a serious academic offence and can result in an assignment fail. Depending on the severity and intention of the plagiarism, then an investigation and consequences can follow.

PLAGIARISM has increased a lot in the last few years...

• Students search online for past assignments, and assume they can copy the words, format or ideas, and submit these as their own.

• You may be approached by businesses offering to write your assignment for you. These have usually been sold to other people too.

• You may be tempted to pay for a ‘proofreader’ to check your assignment. We have found they will often then sell your work on to other people in the same module, without you knowing.

• Every assignment submitted electronically is checked for simple and complex forms of plagiarism, using specialist software. It shows us a % level of plagiarism in every piece of work you submit. It shows where plagiarised work was copied from in the world, and when.

• The investigation which follows can be stressful if you are accused.

So to avoid being accused of plagiarism, write your own assignments, never share electronically, and reference your sources thoroughly.

Here’s how you do it. When..

Referring to someone else’s work in a sentenceGrint (2005) states that learning to lead is a complex phenomenon and one that remains controversial.

Quoting the actual words of another person“Learning to lead is a complex phenomenon and one that remains controversial”. (Grint 2005, p.3)

Most people at this stage, should avoid using more than one long quotation like this in an assignment.

How Do We Reference ?

In the Harvard System there are two essential parts to a reference:

• 1. Brief reference within the text of your work acknowledging where you have used or made direct quotations from other people’s work. This is called a citation, or in-text citation.

• 2. An alphabetically ordered (by surname) reference list at the end of your work, that includes essential bibliographic information for each of the references you have made in your text.

How Do We Reference ?

Referencing within the text requires:

• Author’s Surname• The year their work was published (in brackets)• Page number/s (Use “p.” for a single page or “pp.” for

multiple pages) if you use a specific choice phrase or short quotation.

These details should appear within, or at the end of the sentence in which you have quoted,

paraphrased or summarised their work.

How Do We Reference ?

When you have paraphrased someone else’s words or ideas

Integrating the reference into the sentence…Ramsey (2013) asserts that inquiry involves a continual testing and retesting of emerging sensemaking.

Use the reference to support a statement you are making…

In conducting a scholarly inquiry, it is best to regularly test and retest your emerging sensemaking. (Ramsey, 2013)

This second phrasing is stronger, as you are asserting the idea yourself as part of your answer.

How Do We Reference ?When you quote the actual words of another person

Integrate the quote into a sentence…Ramsey (2013) suggests that triangulation ‘is a process by which you can test out some information that you’ve been given’.

Use a quote to support a statement…“Triangulation (…) is a process by which you can test out some information that you’ve been given”. (Ramsey, 2013 p130)

Note, these quotations are actually rather long for quoting from a book, and quotations marks should be restricted just to choice phrases.

Reference any author once in each paragraph, the first time you refer to their work in that section.

Secondary Referencing in B204Authors quoting other authors

You may want to cite an author who is himself citing another source that you haven’t seen. You must make it clear that you have not seen the original source yourself, to avoid misleading the reader. This then absolves you from any transcription errors made by the secondary author.

Within your text, you cite the original author, followed by the author of the secondary source.

Examples: According to Sandberg (2001 in Billsberry, 2009), in the last two decades the label

‘social constructionism’ has been applied.

The general tenet is that reality is not objective and given but is socially constructed. (Sandberg, 2001 in Billsberry, 2009).

In your reference list at the end, you can just list the book you actually saw (Billsberry in this example) because you have listed the original author and the page it is in Billsberry.

E.g.: Billsberry, J. (ed) (2009) Discovering Leadership, Basingstoke, Palgrave

Macmillan/Milton Keynes, The Open University.

How Do We Reference ?General Guidelines…

• Quotations should be restricted to ‘choice phrases’ only eg Kellerman (2007 in Billsberry 2009) introduces ‘isolates’ and ‘bystanders’ in her theory of followership.

• Try to explain the points the author makes in your own words to show stronger understanding. A patchwork of quotations shows poor understanding at this level.

• Mention the author once in each paragraph, then use she, he, they or another suitable personal pronoun that makes sense. This reads better and avoids using up your word count with lengthy citations!

• When leaving words out of a direct quotation use three full stops (…)

• When adding words to a direct quotation add them within [square brackets]

How Do We Reference ?For electronic sources

• If you are citing a journal source, then just reference it as such to the journal publication. The electronic version is just another copy of the real publication.

• If you are referencing a website, then use the same citation format, and same structure for the long reference. A guide will show you to note the URL and then date accessed. Check your TGF or ask your tutor.

• Sources form private meetings can be cited in the same format. Check your TGF or ask your tutor how to show this in the reference list at the end. My tutor groups will have a 20 page PDF I use in the tutor group forum online. Please look through this to know what it contains.

What’s the difference between the Reference and Bibliography Lists?

• Reference List - A list of references used and referred to in your text

• Bibliography - A list of books you have read in your research but not directly used. They have informed your thinking.

• Remember each citation within the text should point to a reference within the alphabetical reference list at the end of your work.

FinallyEarly in your B204 module, try to collect the accurate references you

will need for the module, and have an easy method for capturing new ones you use. A word document can suffice.

This is then an easy part of your routine to add to it, as you encounter new resources.

As you approach every assignment deadline, you will be relieved you don’t have the added difficulty of finding and formulating references at short notice!

Referencing can be tricky to learn at first, but perseverance does pay off with better marks for you. It becomes easy, honest!

Good luck