The author-date referencing method is known as the Harvard reference style. It is utilized to cite sources in written work all around the world.
The Harvard system should therefore be understood at a basic level by every college student.
In this article, I will cover how to Harvard reference a website, book, article, and YouTube videos.
How To Harvard Reference A Website
In Harvard referencing a website, there are three cases that would be touched on in this section. Let’s look into those cases.
Case 1: When Citing A Website In A Text (i.e., Author’s Name And Date Are Available)
You must include the author’s last name and the year of publication when citing a website using Harvard reference style.
For illustration:
Ayo became an atheist in 1999
(Wale, 2000).
However, if the author has already been identified in the main text, there is no need to repeat this detail in the citation. Instead, you can just provide the author’s name following the year of publication in brackets.
For instance, if Wale have been identified already in your text already, just follow this sample below:
Ayo became an atheist in 1999
Wale (2000).
In addition, you won’t typically need to provide a precise citation when using an internet source, as websites don’t have page numbers.
Of course, you know that an internet source such as a website don’t have page numbers so it is sometimes challenging to cite from them.
To solve this problem, you might insert a paragraph or section number for lengthy or complex texts (use “para.” to denote a paragraph). Therefore, in order to reference a webpage like this, we would use the following format:
According to Wale (2000 p 2.0), Ayo became an atheist in 1999.
Case 2: When Citing A Website In A Text (i.e., Author’s Name And Date Are Not Available)
The ideal method to cite a website that does not identify its author is often to use a corporate author instead. This will be the business or group that manages the website. Take for instance:
We would catch you anywhere, anytime (EFCC, 2020).
Website Reference List Citations
All websites should be listed in a reference list at the end of your paper, just like any other sources in it.
The details you require are as follows:
Author Father’s Name, First Letter Of His Name. (Year Published/Last Update On The Article) Title of Web Post [Online]. Available at: Link [Date Accessed].
Therefore, in actuality, the website’s reference list entry would resemble this:
Wale, E. (2000) Slavery [Online]. Available at: pdfdrive.com [Accessed 01 December 2019].
Of course, the reference list should also state if the webpage lacks a named author or a date of publication:
EFCC (n.d) Slavery [Online]. Available at: pdfdrive.com [Accessed 01 December 2019].
How To Harvard Reference A Book
You can learn how to Harvard reference an book by closely observing these 2 cases below
Case 1: When Author’s Name Is Not In Text
Author-date citations are used in Harvard referencing. When referencing a source, use the author’s last name and the publication date in parentheses:
Real Madrid are European Champions (Fabrizio, 2022).
By providing the reader with this knowledge, you make it easier for them to grasp your influences and show that you are familiar with the field.
Case 2: When Author’s Name Is In Text
You only need to include the publication year in the supporting citation when the author is specifically mentioned in the text. This needs to be written right after the author’s name:
Fabrizio (2022) claims that Real Madrid are European Champions
Book Page Numbers
When citing a work, Harvard referencing style demand page numbers for the pertinent part in addition to the author’s last name and the year of publication:
According to Fabrizio (2022, p. 64),”Real Madrid Are European Champions”
The citation (with page numbers) follows the quotation when the author is not specifically credited in the text:
“Real Madrid Are European Champions”(Fabrizio, 2022, p. 64).
Book Reference List
The reference list is another crucial part of Harvard referencing, in addition to in-text citations. This section at the conclusion of your essay is where you give complete bibliographic information for each source you’ve used (listed alphabetically by author surname).
For a print book, the information you must provide is as follows:
Last Name, First Letter Of His Name. (The Year Published) Title Of The Book, Location of publication, Author.
How To Harvard Reference An Edited Book
Parenthetical referring is a style that uses Harvard referencing. Accordingly, you should cite sources by putting the author’s last name and the date of publication between brackets.
And if you’re directly quoting from a source, you should also add the page number in your citation (s).
For example:
Football is“more of a craft than a sport” (Dolf, 2011, p. 17).
Don’t mention the author again in the citation if you already did so in the text. Cite the year and any page numbers instead, right after:
Dolf (2011, p. 17) asks us to consider whether “football is really a craft.”
Keep in mind that you should typically cite the author of the chapter or essay. If you’re referencing the entire book, only cite the editor(s)’ name(s).
How To Harvard Reference An Article
You can learn how to Harvard reference an article by closely observing these 2 district cases
Case 1: When Author’s Name Is Not In Text
The author’s last name and the date of publication are included in Harvard citations, as suggested by the term “author-date”:
Barcelona Are A Great Team (Rooney, 2015).
Case 2: When Author’s Name Is In Text
Only the year of publication must be stated if the author is already identified in the text:
According to Rooney (2015), Barcelona Are A Great Team.
Book Page Numbers
When directly quoting a source, you must also include the pertinent page numbers in your citations:
Rooney (2015, p. 89) says Barcelona Are A Great Team.
More Than One Author
If a book has three or more authors, just the first one should be mentioned in the citation, followed by “et al.” (which means “and others”).
Pep Guardiola was the reason behind Barcelona’s success (Scholes et al., 2015).
Book Reference List
Use the following format when referencing list:
Author Last Name, First Letter of Author’s Name. (Year Published) ‘Article Heading’, Full Title of Article, Vol No., Issue Number, Page Numbers.
How To Harvard Reference A YouTube Video
In general, YouTube videos are not the most reliable academic sources, therefore it would be preferable to find a book or journal article that discusses the same subject.
You can Harvard reference a YouTube video by mentioning the video as you would any other source if you feel that it is sufficiently rigorous to use in your work.
Since a YouTube video does not require an author’s last name in the citation, the procedure is slightly different. Cite the title and the year the file was uploaded instead. For instance:
Channels TV wins the Best TV Station of the Year (Channels TV, 2022)
Additionally, you won’t be able to mention any page numbers if you need to directly quote a YouTube video.
However, you can include a timestamp for the section of the video that you’re citing, like in the example below:
According to Channels TV, Channels TV wins the Best TV Station of the Year (2022, 00:00:20), “For the fourth consecutive year.”
This demonstrates that the remark was taken from the video’s first 20 seconds. After that, the reader might Google up the video and go straight to the mentioned segment.
YouTube Video Reference List
Any YouTube video that is mentioned in your essay should be listed in the reference section at the end. Here, a YouTube video is formatted as follows:
Heading of the YT video (date) YouTube video, added by username used [Online]. Available at YT Link [Accessed date].
