Detailed Harvard Referencing Style Guide

Significance of Using Harvard Style Appropriately

Using Harvard style requires complete awareness of all details. Otherwise, failing the task of formatting your paper is quite easy. Being fully familiar with the peculiarities of Harvard citation style, you will be able to not only arrange your academic work properly but also demonstrate that you’ve done thorough research on the topic.

Provide only Original papers

Making correct Harvard style citations and references is essential for several reasons:

1. Giving credit to the authors of the sources you’ve used, you avoid accusations of plagiarism and show that you treat other experts’ work with respect.
2. Using Harvard style citations and references in the right manner, you make it easy for readers to find the needed resource as well as the provided statements and ideas. This is particularly important in the areas related to technology and science.
3. Using Harvard citation style properly, you show that you know modern standards and your work can be considered a reliable source of information.

Before continuing describing Harvard writing style, we’d like to admit that you can entrust your assignment to our experts and forget your worries. Our proficient specialists know that using Harvard style requires scrupulous attention and great skills, and they are ready to apply their profound knowledge to help you organize your papers in Harvard format in the right manner.

General Specifications of Harvard Referencing Style

Common Harvard format requirements are the following:

• Font: Arial or Times New Roman
• Size: 12 pt
• Content: Double-spaced and aligned to the left
• Indent: 0.5" indent applies to the first line of a paragraph
• Margins: 1" on all sides

Harvard style requires applying a special mode to a title page, headings, and a reference list. Below, you will find detailed information about formatting the mentioned items.

Major Characteristics of Harvard Citation Style

To know how to cite sources in Harvard style, one should know the core features of the mentioned format.
So, draw your attention to the following list:

• In-text citations. A specific author-date mode is used. After a direct quote, in parenthesis, there has to be the author’s last name and a publication date. This allows readers to identify the cited source quickly without going to the reference list.
• Reference list. Complete sources information is provided on this page that is created at the end of a paper. In Harvard style, a list of references has to contain the author’s name, paper title, publication year, and other data.
• Consistent citations and references. All citations and references throughout a paper should be formatted in the same way.

Making Quotations in Harvard Writing Style

To have a clear understanding about how to cite different sources in Harvard style and not to spend much time surfing the Net looking for the needed information, we have prepared some tips for you. So, consider the points provided below:

• Quoting a website, indicate a number of a paragraph instead that of a page because many sites lack division of content into pages.
• Direct quotes require using quotation marks and a page number in parenthesis.
• In case the author’s name in a quote is provided, it doesn’t have to be placed in brackets. Only a page number and a year should be given.

Recommendations on Arranging References

The following are the requirements for making references. First, we’ll describe the basic book format:

1. Put a comma and initial after the author’s last name.
2. In case of several authors, use a comma to separate their names. The last one has to be separated by “&”.
3. Then, place a publication year.
4. An italicized complete book title is to be provided next.
5. Then, publisher’s name follows.
6. After that, indicate a city and a country the book was published in.

Example:

Smith, C. & Brown, M. 2021, Book Title, Publisher’s name, New York, US.

Now, let’s see how to cite other types of sources in Harvard:

• Make a reference to an edited book placing “(ed.)” or “(eds)” after the name(s) of editors.
• In case a book was translated, add “Translated by translator’s First Initial and Last name”
• When referring to an article in a journal or book, place an article title in quotation marks. No italics required.
• Referring to a website, add Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

Harvard Style Citation and Referencing: Core Points to Consider

It goes without saying that references and citations have to be formatted in a proper manner, i.e. according to the established guidelines. Wondering what those instructions are? Pay attention to the listed steps to know what to start with and how to give credit to the authors of the sources you’re referring to in your academic work:

Top-Notch Academic Writing

• 1. Learn the basics

  Make sure you do understand the basic citing criteria related to Harvard referencing style. If not, find a good style guide to make everything clear.

• 2. Gather sources of information

  The first thing you need to do is gather the source you need to cover the assigned topic. Then, write down the data related to each source such as the author’s name, title, publication data, and the publisher.

• 3. Create in-text citations

  When using someone’s ideas in your paper, it’s necessary to cite them correctly. An in-text reference has to appear at the end of a specific sentence.

• 4. Make a list of references

  In Harvard style, a list of references is located at the end of a paper. It includes the data about the used sources and the citation that contains the author’s name and publication year. The author’s last name and the first initial are placed at the beginning the entry. The first word of the source title and proper nouns are capitalized. If the entry includes four or more authors, only the first is to be listed. In this case, it’s necessary to add “et al.” after mentioning the first author.

The final step is to check whether you’ve done everything right. To avoid some doubts or misunderstandings, you’d better consult a reliable style guide. In case you lack time or knowledge to format your paper, delegate this task to our professionals. They have great experience in formatting papers in different citation styles.

References or Bibliography?

Getting ready for writing your academic work, you’ll browse numerous sources to gather the material needed to cover your topic. Providing just a bibliography is not a way out since it may confuse readers making it hard for them to connect some of the expressed ideas with the sources they were taken from. Using references is a better option.

Making an in-text reference, you show the connection between the ideas/statements and their authors. In-text references make your piece of writing easy for comprehension and help readers quickly trace some passages of your work back to the original source. Additionally, they show the amount of source material used in your paper and that of your own ideas.

If you find it hard to properly arrange a title page of your writing project on your own, turn to us for assistance. Our experts can easily format a cover page in Harvard. You just need to give us detailed information so that we know what data your title page has to include.

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Setting a Header

A header is an essential thing to use in Harvard style. This item will be shows on all pages except for the cover page. You need to create it once and then it will automatically appear on each page.

Headers should include the following data:

• Page number placed in the top right-hand corner.
• Right-aligned shortened version of a paper title provided to the left form a page number. No capitalization is needed.

Concerning the title of your work, it’s important to use it’s condensed version since the header space is limited. One more thing to keep in mind is to put 5 spaces between a title and a page number in a header.

Typical Mistakes to Be Avoided

Dealing with Harvard format may seem hassle-free, but there are several typical mistakes which students should mind not to reduce the quality of their papers.

• No page numbers

  When making references, some students forget to add this item. However, in Harvard, page numbers are to be added when making direct quotes or paraphrasing information from an original source. If no page numbers are added, it may be hard for readers to identify the cited data what may lead to a lower grade.

• Incorrectly formatted references

  Depending on the source type, specific formatting is applied. If the established directions are not followed, you will hardly get a high score.

• Discrepancy in formatting

  In-text references, list of sources, and other elements have to be arranged in the same style throughout the document. Using different modes can make the text look careless and hard for reading.

• Use of online generators

  Using online programs that can help you cite in Harvard can be rather tricky since they may not be updated to the latest rules and standards.

Top-Notch Academic Writing

If the question “What is Harvard citation style and how to manage it?” keeps bothering you, use the guidelines provided in this article to format your papers. In case you lack time to do it on your own or find this specific formatting style very complicated or confusing, delegate your assignment to us. Our professionals are well aware of the ins and outs of this style and can give you expert assistance anytime.