General guidelines, layout and punctuation
The purpose of a reference list is to enable sources to be easily traced by another reader. Different types of publication require different amounts of information but there are certain common elements such as authorship, year of publication and title
The Harvard Style lays down standards for the order and content of information in the reference. Some variations of layout are acceptable provided that they are used consistently.
All Items should be listed alphabetically by author or authorship, regardless of the format, ie. whether books, websites or journal articles etc. Where there are several works from one author or source they should by listed together but in date order with the earliest work listed first.
Books for reference
Use the title page, not the book cover, for the reference details. The required elements for a book reference are:
Author, Initials/First name., Year. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher.
Redman, P., 2006. Good essay writing: a social sciences guide. 3rd ed.
London: Open University in assoc. with Sage.
Baron, David P., 2008. Business and the organisation. 6th ed.
Chester (CT): Pearson.
Please note
Author: Surname with capital first letter and followed by a comma.
Initials: In capitals with full-stop after each and comma after full-stop of last initial.
Year: Publication year (not printing or impression) followed by full-stop.
Title: Full title of book/thesis/dissertation in italics with capitalization of first word and proper nouns only. Followed by full-stop unless there is a sub-title.
Sub-title: Follows a colon at end of full title, no capitalization unless proper nouns.
Follow by full-stop.
Edition: Only include this if not first edition and use number followed by abbreviation ed. Followed by full-stop.
Place of publication: Town or city, follow by colon. If there may be confusion with UK
place names, for USA towns include the State in abreviated form, eg. Chester(CT).
Publisher: Company name followed by full-stop.
Books with two, three or four authors
For books with two, three or four authors of equal status the names should all be included in the order they appear in the document. Use an ampersand (&) to link the last two multiple authors.
The required elements for a reference are:
Authors, Initials., Year. Title of book. Edition. (only include this if not the first edition) Place: Publisher.
Barker, R. Kirk, J. & Munday, R.J., 1988. Narrative analysis. 3rd ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Books with more than four authors
For books where there are more than four authors, use the first author only with surname and initials followed by et al.
The required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year. Title of book. Edition. (only include this if not the first edition) Place: Publisher.
Grace, B. et al., 1988. A history of the world. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Books which are edited
For books which are edited give the editor(s) surname(s) and initials, followed by ed. or eds.
The required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year. Title of book. Edition. (only include this if not the first edition) Place: Publisher
Keene, E. ed., 1988. Natural language. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
Silverman, D.F. & Propp, K.K. eds., 1990. The active interview. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Allouche, Jose. ed., 2006. Corporate social resposibility, Volume 1: concepts, accountability and reporting. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chapters of edited books
For chapters of edited books the required elements for a reference are:
Chapter author(s) surname(s) and initials. Year of chapter. Title of chapter followed by “In:”
Book editor(s) initials and surnames with ed. or eds. after the last name. Year of book. Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher. Chapter number or first and last page numbers followed by full-stop.
Smith, J., 1975. A source of information. In: W. Jones, ed. 2000. One hundred and one ways to find information about health. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ch.2.
Samson, C., 1970. Problems of information studies in history. In: S. Stone, ed. 1980. Humanities information research. Sheffield: CRUS,
pp.44-68.
Multiple works by the same author
Where there are several works by one author and published in the same year they should be differentiated by adding a lower case letter after the date.
Remember that this must also be consistent with the citations in the text.
For multiple works the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Year. Title of book . Place of publication: Publisher.
Soros, G., 1966a. The road to serfdom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Soros, G., 1966b. Beyond the road to serfdom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
This also applies if there are several authors with the same surname. As an alternative their initials can be included in the citation.
Works by the same author should be displayed in chronological order, earliest first.
Books which have been translated
For works which have been translated the reference should include details of the translator, the suggested elements for such references are:
Author, Year. Title of book .. Translated from (language) by (name of translator) Place of publication: Publisher.
Canetti, Elias., 2001. The voices of Marrakesh: a record of a visit. Translated from German by J.A.Underwood. San Francisco: Arion.
For major works of historic significance, the date of the original work, may be included along with the date of the translation.
Kant, I., 1785. Fundamental principles of the metaphysic of morals. Translated by T.K. Abbott., 1988. New York: Prometheus Books.
E-books
For e-books the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Year, Title of book. [type of medium] Place of publication: Publisher. Followed by “Available at:” include e-book source and web site address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator) and routing details if needed. [Accessed date].
Fishman, R., 2005. The rise and fall of suburbia. [e-book] Chester: Castle Press.
Available at: University Library/Digital Library/e-books https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk / E-books
[Accessed 5 June 2005].
Carlsen, J. & Charters, S., eds. 2007. Global wine tourism. [e-book] Wallingford: CABI Pub.
Available at: University Library Catalogue/ https://oscar.lib.anglia.ac.uk/F/F95IURDNARA89KU3SBA5FNN9MSPXKN2KQ6U47XYS7R4Q1PI12J-18026?func=full-set-set&set_number=002001&set_entry=000059&format=999
[Accessed 9 June 2008].
For a pdf version of a Government Publication or similar:
Authorship, Year, Title of book. [type of medium] Place of publication: Publisher. Followed by “Available at:” include address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator) and routing details if needed. [Accessed date].
Department of Health, 2008. Health inequalities: progress and next steps. [pdf] London: Department of Health.
Available at:
https://dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_085307
[Accessed 9 June 2008].
N.B. the URL should be underlined.
Journal articles
For journal articles the required elements for a references are:
Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal, Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page numbers.
Boughton, J.M., 2002. The Bretton Woods proposal: an in depth look. Political Science Quarterly, 42 (6), pp.564-78.
Perry, C., 2001. What health care assistants know about clean hands. Nursing Times, 25 May, 97(22), pp.63-64.
Please note
Author: Surname with capital first letter and followed by comma.
Initials: In capitals with full-stop after each and comma after full-stop of last initial.
Year: Publication year followed by full-stop.
Title: Full title of article NOT in italics with capitalization of first word and
proper nouns only. Followed by full-stop unless there is a sub-title.
Sub-title: Follows a colon at end of full title, no capitalization unless proper nouns.
Followed by full-stop.
Journal title: Full title of journal, in italics, with capitalization of key words.
Followed by comma.
Volume number:
Issue/Part number: In brackets, followed by comma.
Page numbers: Preceded by pp. for a range of pages and p. for a single page.
Followed by full-stop.
Journal articles from an electronic source
For journal articles from an electronic source the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal, [type of medium] Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page numbers if availalble.
Available at: include web site address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator) and additional details of access, such as the routing from the home page of the source. [Accessed date].
Boughton, J.M., 2002. The Bretton Woods proposal: an in depth look. Political Science Quarterly, [Online]. 42 (6),
https://pol.upenn/articlesAvailable at: Blackwell Science Synergy
[Accessed 12 June 2005].
Hamill, C., 1999. Academic essay writing in the first person: a guide for undergraduates. Nursing Standard, [Online] 21 Jul., 13 (44), pp. 38-40. Available at: https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/ejournals/333
[Accessed 12 June 2005].
Jenkings, R.,1989. Clashing with caching. ARIADNE, [Online]
10 September, Issue 21.
Available at: https://ariadne.ac.uk/issue21/web-cache/
[Accessed 2 December 2004].
N.B. the URL should be underlined.
Journal abstract from a database
For a journal abstract from a database where you have been unable to access the full article, the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Journal, [type of medium] Volume number (Issue/Part number), Page numbers if available, abstract only.
Available at: include web site address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator) and additional details of access.
[Accessed date].
Boughton, J.M., 2002. The Bretton Woods proposal: an in depth look. Political Science Quarterly, [e-journal] 42 (6). Abstract only.
Available at:BlackwellScienceSynergydatabase
https://pol.upenn/articles, Blackwell Science Synergy
[Accessed 12 June 2005].
N.B. the URL should be underlined
Every effort should be made to read the article in full if you intend to use this work as supporting evidence in an academic submission.
Newspaper articles
For newspaper articles the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials., Year. Title of article. Full Title of Newspaper,
Day and month before page number and column line.
Slapper, G., 2005. Corporate manslaughter: new issues for lawyers. The Times, 3 Sep. p. 4b.
Online newspaper articles
For newspaper articles found in online newspapers, the required elements for a reference are:
Author or corporate author, Year. Title of document or page. Name of newspaper, [type of medium] additional date information.
Available at: include web site address/URL(Uniform Resource Locator) and additional details of access, such as the routing from the home page of the source.[Accessed date].
Chittenden, M., Rogers, L. & Smith, D., 2003. Focus: ‘Targetitis ails NHS. Times Online, [internet] 1 June.
Available at: https://timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,11-1506-669.html
[Accessed 17 March 2005].
N.B. the URL should be underlined
