HARVARD REFERENCING EXAMPLES

RMIT University Library

Updated: 24 June 2016

Important: This is a guide only. To avoid losing marks:

1. Confirm referencing requirements of your school with your lecturer, and

2. Clarify the rules using Snooks & Co 2002, Style manual: for authors, editors and printers, 6th
edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton QLD. It contains more referencing examples.
Harvard is an author-date referencing style. You need to follow this style when acknowledging your
information sources.
Harvard style requires in-text references and the reference list. In-text references appear within the
body of the document. They include the author(s) family name and the year of publication, with extra
details if required, such as page numbers. A reference list provides full details of all in-text references at
the end of the document.

CONTENTS
IN-TEXT REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 3
SINGLE AUTHOR (PARAPHRASING)..............................................................................................................3
SINGLE AUTHOR (DIRECT QUOTE)...............................................................................................................3
TWO OR THREE AUTHORS (PARAPHRASING)................................................................................................3
FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS (PARAPHRASING)................................................................................................3
MULTIPLE CITATIONS IN A SINGLE SENTENCE...............................................................................................3
TWO OR MORE PUBLICATIONS BY THE SAME AUTHOR(S) AND IN THE SAME YEAR...........................................3
SECONDARY CITATIONS..............................................................................................................................4
ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY ENTRY WITHOUT AN AUTHOR......................................................................4
ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY ENTRY WITH AN AUTHOR............................................................................4
PERSONAL COMMUNICATION.......................................................................................................................4
PUBLICATIONS WITHOUT AUTHORS..............................................................................................................4
Dictionary or encyclopedia entries, and newspaper articles...............................................................4
Legal material (case or legislation) and streaming or YouTube videos..............................................4
PUBLICATIONS WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS....................................................................................................5
REFERENCE LIST................................................................................................................................... 5
BOOKS......................................................................................................................................................5
Book – single author.......................................................................................................................... 5
Book – multiple authors..................................................................................................................... 6
Book – no author............................................................................................................................... 6
Edited book........................................................................................................................................ 6
Book with an edition number..............................................................................................................6
Chapter in an edited book (book chapter)..........................................................................................6
e-Book............................................................................................................................................... 6
Encyclopedia and dictionary entries with an author...........................................................................6
JOURNAL AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES..........................................................................................................6
Journal article.................................................................................................................................... 6

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 e-Journals.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Newspaper article.............................................................................................................................. 6
Online newspaper article................................................................................................................... 7
INTERNET SOURCES AND SOCIAL MEDIA......................................................................................................7
Blog................................................................................................................................................... 7
Blog post............................................................................................................................................ 7
Facebook........................................................................................................................................... 7
Podcast/vodcast................................................................................................................................ 7
Streaming video................................................................................................................................. 7
Twitter................................................................................................................................................ 7
YouTube video................................................................................................................................... 7
Website document............................................................................................................................. 7
REPORTS AND STANDARDS.........................................................................................................................7
Company report................................................................................................................................. 7
Industry report.................................................................................................................................... 8
Standard from a database.................................................................................................................8
LEGAL MATERIAL AND PATENTS..................................................................................................................8
Legal material – Case........................................................................................................................ 8
Legal material – Legislation...............................................................................................................8
Patent................................................................................................................................................ 8
OTHER SOURCES.......................................................................................................................................8
Video, film, DVD................................................................................................................................ 8
Lecture notes..................................................................................................................................... 8
Personal communication (interview, phone conversations, letters)....................................................8
Dataset.............................................................................................................................................. 8
Table.................................................................................................................................................. 8

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IN-TEXT REFERENCES
You must acknowledge each author or source of information (print or online) either by paraphrasing or
using a direct quote.
Paraphrasing is when you are expressing the ideas of the author(s) in your own words. When
paraphrasing, use round brackets to add the author(s) family name and the year of publication at the end
of the sentence. Or use the author’s name as part of your sentence, followed by the year of publication in
round brackets.
Direct quote is when you are using the exact words of the author(s). Put direct quotes between single
inverted commas (quotation marks), and add a page number. Do not overuse direct quotes.

Single author (paraphrasing)

It is argued that... (Carroll 2012).

Carroll (2012) argues that…

Single author (direct quote)

‘A major criticism of business is that it abuses its power’ (Carroll 2012, p. 26).

Carroll (2012, p. 26) argues that ‘a major criticism of business is that it abuses its power’.

Two or three authors (paraphrasing)

It is suggested that…(Cabrera & Unruh 2012).

Kuratko, Goldsby and Hornsby (2012) suggest that…

Remember: use an ampersand (&) when listing authors in round brackets. Use the full word ‘and’ when
mentioning authors in a sentence.

Four or more authors (paraphrasing)

It is recommended that… (Chalkley et al. 2012).

Chalkley et al. (2012) recommend that…

Multiple citations in a single sentence

List all citations alphabetically, separated by a semi-colon (;).

It has been claimed that… (Carroll 2012; Chalkley et al. 2012; Kuratko, Goldsby & Hornsby 2012).

Two or more publications by the same author(s) and in the same year
Insert a letter (starting with the letter ‘a’) after the year. In the reference list, include the same letter after
each year of publication.

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 It is argued that... (Jamison 1991a). Jamison (1991b) argues that…

Secondary citations
When you refer to the work of one author cited by another, include the original source of the information
and where you read it. In the reference list, only include the text you read, not the original source.
For example, if an article by Hosany and Martin you are reading cites Heath and Scott, put the Hosany
and Martin reference in the reference list. Your in-text references should look like these:

Early research indicated... (Heath & Scott, cited in Hosany & Martin 2012).

Heath and Scott (cited in Hosany & Martin 2012) claim that...

Encyclopedia or dictionary entry without an author

Add the publication title (in italics) and the date. Do not include these references in the reference list.

The ABO system is… (Dictionary of Biology 2014).

Encyclopedia or dictionary entry with an author

Add the author's family name and the date. Include the full reference in the reference list.

The characteristics of action research include… (Adams 2010).

Personal communication
Add an in-text references for personal communication, such as interviews, phone conversations and
letters, as per below example. Do not include these references in the reference list.

My field placement supervisor commented ‘… ‘ (CM Burns 2014 pers. comm., 20 April).

Ms Merrick (Melville Shire Council CEO) confirmed the details by email on 25 April 2014.

Publications without authors

Publications without authors do not need to be included in the reference list. Here are some examples:

Dictionary or encyclopedia entries, and newspaper articles

The ABO system is … (Dictionary of Biology 2014).

The Age (21 May, p. 12) reports that …

Legal material (case or legislation) and streaming or YouTube videos

The Australian Copyright Council initiated a test case against the University of NSW (University of
New South Wales v Moorhouse and Angus & Robertson (Publishers) Pty Ltd (1975) 133 CLR 1).

Section 55 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) states that ‘ … there is a guarantee that
the goods are reasonably fit for any disclosed purpose, and for any purpose for which the supplier
represents that they are reasonably fit … ‘.

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 Often designers think in terms of products and services rather than about the vision of a company or
organisation (Design & thinking: a documentary on design thinking 2012).

Learn more about what is a Library subject guide (What’s a library subject guide n.d.).

Publications without page numbers

If quoting from a document without page numbers, include the location of the quote using the paragraph
number, or section heading.

‘Optimal immunisation schedules…’ (World Health Organization 2014, para. 3).

‘Deaths due to malaria…’ (World Health Organization 2013, Reported deaths section).

REFERENCE LIST
List publication details of all your in-text references at the end of the document. Use a ‘References’ or
‘Reference List’ heading.
Check with your teacher/lecturer or supervisor if you need to provide a bibliography. The bibliography
lists research sources you have read but not referenced in your document.
Order the reference list entries alphabetically using the author's family name. An author can be an
individual, a company or an organisation, such as a government department.
Include an appropriate format for each publication. The format could be a book, book chapter, journal
article, website, etc.
Punctuation and the order of elements in a reference are important. Here is how you order and
punctuate elements in a printed or PDF publication:

Author’s family name, initial(s) year of publication, Title (in italics), Publication details.

Young, JK 2014, My very important book, University Press, Melbourne, Vic.

And this is how you reference online sources:

Author’s family name, initial(s) year, Title (in italics), source type, viewed date, <URL>.

Webber, S & Boon, S 2006, Information literacy blog, blog, viewed 10 January 2008,
<http://information literacy.blogspot.com>.

Here are more examples:

Books
Book – single author
Carroll, AB 2012, Business & society: ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management, 8th edn,
South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

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Book – multiple authors
List all authors as they appear on the title page of the book. Use an ampersand (&) to separate the last
two authors.

Chalkley, T, Brown, A, Goodman, M, Cinque, T, Warren, B, Hobbs, M & Finn, M 2012,

Communication, new media and everyday life, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic.

Book – no author
Style manual for authors, editors and printers 2002, 6th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld.

Edited book
IM Lubkin & PD Larsen (eds), Chronic illness: impact and interventions, 8th edn, Jones & Bartlett
Learning, Burlington, MA.

Book with an edition number

For a book with an edition number, add the edition number and the abbreviation ‘edn’ after the title of the
book.

Carroll, AB 2012, Business & society: ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management, 8th edn,
South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

There is no need to include edition information if a book is a first edition, or if no edition is mentioned.

Chapter in an edited book (book chapter)

Schirm, V 2013, ‘Quality of life’, in IM Lubkin & PD Larsen (eds), Chronic illness: impact and
interventions, 8th edn, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Burlington, MA, pp. 183-206.

e-Book
e-Books with full-page format/imaging (PDF) are cited the same way as printed books.

Encyclopedia and dictionary entries with an author

Adams P 2010, ‘Action research’, in Encyclopedia of Research Design, NJ Salkind (ed.), Sage
Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Encyclopedia or dictionary entries without an author do not need to be included in the reference list.

Journal and newspaper articles

Journal article
Taylor, CM, Karunaratne, CV & Xie, N 2012, ‘Glycosides of hydroxyproline: some recent, unusual
discoveries’, Glycobiology, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 757-767.

e-Journals
e-Journals from a database with full-page format/imaging (PDF) are cited the same way as print journals.

Newspaper article
Martin, P 2014, ‘Melbourne tops nation’s growth’, The Age, 7 April. p. 2.

In-text references for articles without an author need date and page number. But these articles do not
need to appear in your reference list.

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Online newspaper article
Banks, D 2010, 'Tweeting in court: Why reporters must be given guidelines’, The Guardian 15
December, viewed 25 November 2015, <http://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/dec/15/tweeting-
court-reporters-julian-assange>.

Internet sources and social media

Blog
Webber, S & Boon, S 2006, Information literacy blog, blog, viewed 10 January 2008,
<http://information literacy.blogspot.com>.

Blog post
For a blog post, include the ‘title of post’.

Thesis Whisperer 2013, ‘Wormhole literature’, The Thesis Whisperer, blog post, 3 April, viewed 8
January 2014, <http://thesiswhisperer.com/2013/04/03/the-wormhole-incident/>.

Facebook
Smith, P 2015, Rethinking higher education the team is everything, Facebook, 25 April, viewed 16
June 2015, <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-P-Smith/196037770427320>.

Podcast/vodcast
Isherwood, B 2012, Where ideas come from, podcast, viewed 5 June 2014,
<http//itunesu.rmit.edu.au/node/862>.

Streaming video
Design & thinking: a documentary on design thinking 2012, streaming video, Muris Studio, viewed 23
March 2014, <https://rmit-kanopystreaming-com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/video/design-and-thinking>.

Twitter
Obama, B 2016, It’s time for Senate leaders to put politics aside …, Twitter, 17 May, viewed 19 May
2016, <https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/732589315478290432>.

YouTube video
What’s a library subject guide, YouTube, RMIT University, viewed 18 April 2016,
<https://youtu.be/IXo58MojuKI>.

Website document
World Health Organization 2014, WHO recommendations for routine immunization - summary tables,
World Health Organization, viewed 1 May 2014,
<http://www.who.int/immunization/policy/immunization_tables/en/>.

If a website document doesn’t have an author (individual or corporate), start with the title of the
document in italics followed by the date. If there is no date, use n.d.

Reports and standards

Company report
Wesfarmers Limited 2015, Sustainability report 2015, Wesfarmers Limited, viewed 18 April 2016,
<http://sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au/>.

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Industry report
Schulman, C 2012, Internet service providers in Australia, industry report, IBISWorld, viewed 9
August 2013, retrieved from IBISWorld Database.

Standard from a database

Standards Australia 2010, Residential timber-framed construction - non-cyclonic areas, AS 1684.2-
2010, viewed 28 September 2012, SAI Global database.

Legal material and patents

Legal material – Case
University of New South Wales v Moorhouse and Angus & Robertson (Publishers) Pty Ltd (1975) 133
CLR 1.

Legal material – Legislation

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

Patent
Gupta, BB & Kasapis, S 1997, Water-continuous spread, US Patent 5,614,245.

Other sources
Video, film, DVD
Specify the multimedia format after the date, e.g. video recording. Add any other useful information after
the citation, e.g. directed by…

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky 2010, video recording, Madman Entertainment, Australia. Directed by
Jan Kounen.

Lecture notes
Sample, S 2016, ‘Introduction to your course’, lecture notes, COURSECODE, RMIT University,
viewed 18 April 2016, <https://my.rmit.edu.au/portal/myStudies/#/lecturenotes/week1>.

Personal communication (interview, phone conversations, letters)

Information obtained from personal communication does not need to be included in the reference list.

Dataset
Bureau of Meteorology 2011, High-quality Australian daily rainfall dataset, Australia's high-quality
climate change datasets, data file, Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology, viewed 17
November 2011, <ftp://ftp.bom.gov.au/anon/home/ncc/www/change/HQdailyR>.

Table
Melbourne Water 2012, Weekly water report 5 January 2012: Chart view Daily residential water use
in Melbourne, Melbourne Water, Victoria, viewed 12 January 2012,
<http://www.melbournewater.com.au/waterdata/waterstorages/Weekly-water-update/Pages/Weekly-
water-update-archive.as>.

For more examples on how to reference visual materials, go to the Library’s guide on Harvard
Referencing for Visual Materials [rmit.libguides.com/harvardvisual].

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