Whether you are undertaking a professional qualification or even a Masters’s degree, many students don’t fully understand why they need to include references in their dissertations and assessments. It’s not just to make your life difficult, or to make sure that you’re spending hours in the library, there are many important reasons for referencing other people’s research in your work correctly. We’ve put together an interactive Harvard referencing guide to help you cite sources in academic assessments.

 

Why Referencing is Important

The main reason that referencing is important for both you and your peers, is that plagiarism is a very real and serious accusation. Ensuring that you are acknowledging someone else’s research and ideas reduces the possibility that you could be accused of this. No matter how appealing it may be to try and pass off someone else’s work as your own, don’t do it! If you like their ideas or have something to say about them, then mention them and include an accurate reference.

Another reason for including references in your work is that a lot of people (probably like yourself) have worked long and hard to formulate certain ideas and opinions, and it’s only good manners to give them the credit and recognition that they deserve. Referencing also enables the reader to follow up and locate the original source if they wish to. You are being assessed or marked on what you know, so you need to show how you know that piece of information by referencing the person or people who first came up with it.

There are many different styles of referencing, such as APA, MLA, Chicago and Vancouver, but Harvard referencing is the most commonly used style in the UK and is especially encouraged for use within marketing qualifications.

Guidelines on Harvard Referencing

Harvard referencing requires students to include two types of citations in their assessment. The first is placing an in-text reference within the main body of work. This is followed up with creating a reference list to state the different sources that have been referred to or quoted in the piece.

Here’s a basic guide on how you can create your reference list using Harvard Referencing  different types of sources:

 

  1. Books:

Format: Author(s) Last name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of the book. Edition (if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.

Example: Smith, J. (2020). Understanding Economics. 3rd ed. London: EconBooks.

 

  1. Journal Articles:

Format: Author(s) Last name, Initials. (Year of publication). ‘Title of the article’, Title of the Journal, Volume(issue), Page numbers.

Example: Brown, L. and Green, T. (2021). ‘Economic Growth in Developing Countries’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 35(2), pp. 89-112.

 

  1. Websites:

Format: Author(s) Last name, Initials. or Organisation Name. (Year of publication). Title of web document/page. [online] Available at: URL [Accessed date: Day Month Year].

Example: World Health Organisation. (2023). COVID-19 pandemic. [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 [Accessed 12 Feb 2024].

 

  1. E-books:

Format: Author(s) Last name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of the book. [e-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Available at: URL or DOI [Accessed date: Day Month Year].

Example: Johnson, K. (2019). Digital Marketing Essentials. [e-book] New York: Digital Press. Available at: https://www.ebooks.com/digital-marketing [Accessed 20 Mar 2024].

 

  1. Reports:

Format: Author(s) Last name, Initials. or Organisation Name. (Year of publication). Title of the report. Place of publication: Publisher.

Example: United Nations. (2021). World Economic Outlook. New York: UN Publications.

 

Some key points to remember

  • Ensure accuracy in author names, dates, titles, and publication details.
  • Use italics for titles of books, journals, and websites.
  • Always reference the specific version of the source you used.

Using In-text citations 

When Harvard Referencing, any citations should be placed in brackets in the main body of your text. In-text citations should include the author’s last name and year of publication, e.g., (Smith, 2020). A page number will also need to be included for a direct quote and when there are more than three authors, the citation can be shortened with ‘et al’. For example, (Smith et al, 2020)

Our Interactive Harvard Referencing Guide

Referencing is an area many students find difficult with their assessments. The Oxford College of Marketing has produced an interactive Harvard referencing guide, that includes examples to help you understand how to reference your work. It also contains an interactive quiz, to help test your knowledge too.

Access our free interactive Harvard referencing guide.