Effectve Citing

Harvard style of citing and referencing
September 2008

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Introduction
During your studies you will need to prove that you have some knowledge of other people’s work or ideas. These ideas may be taken from: a book, a statistical table in a journal article, an illustration on a web site, spoken on the radio, broadcast on TV, code in a program etc. It is important that you do not give the impression that these ideas are yours. If you did, it would be plagiarism or cheating. When you use (paraphrase, or directly quote, draw, code etc) someone else’s work you must both cite and reference it to: • • • • Demonstrate the body of knowledge on which you have based your work Acknowledge the work of other writers and researchers Enable other researchers to trace your sources easily and lead them on to further information Avoid accusations of plagiarism

There are a number of systems for referencing but at Leeds Met we recommend the Harvard System. There are two elements to this system: you need to use citations in the body of your text and corresponding references in your bibliography. For both of these elements the system specifies the: bibliographic detail, its formatting and punctuation.

Language explained
• • • • Citing means formally recognising, within your text, the sources from which you have obtained information. Citation is the passage or words quoted or paraphrased within your text, supported with evidence of the source. Bibliography is the list of sources you have used, normally located at the end of your document. Reference is the detailed description of the source from which you have obtained your information.
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