Harvard style
Harvard referencing style, also known as author-date style, is a generic description for any referencing style that uses in-text citations with an author and date. There is no one authoritative source for the Harvard style. As such, many individual styles describe themselves as Harvard. However, they typically vary from source to source in small details, such as reference punctuation.
The 6th edition of the Style Manual for Authors, Editors, and Printers offers the most common and consistent description. Search for Style Manual for Authors, Editors, and Printers in the Library Discover search.
If your course, department, school or institute has specific conventions, follow their recommendations over these instructions.
In-text citations
Harvard in-text citations are nearly identical to APA citations, but don't put a comma between the author and year of publication.
Example
…common at the time (Jones 2005).
Direct quotations must be accompanied by page numbers.
Example
…without a doubt” (Jones 2005, p. 22).
For secondary sources – works cited inside other works – use both authors' names.
Example
…some uncertainty” (Nguyen, cited in Jones 2005, p. 22).
2 or 3 authors
Example
(Smith & Jones 2010).
As part of a sentence example
Smith and Jones (2010) …
4 or more authors
Example
(Smith et al. 2010).
Smith et al. (2010) …
Multiple sources in same citation
Example
…as well as other studies (Jones 2005; Thompson 2015; Walker 2008).
No author
Where there is no author, use the source title in the place of an author.
Example
(Style manual for authors, editors and printers 2002).
As part of a sentence example
The Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers (2002) suggests that…
Reference list
Separate individual parts of a reference list entry, such as the title and place of publication with a comma. As in APA, alphabetise entries according to author.
Book
Order: Author, Date, Book title, Publisher, Place of publication.
Example
Wallace, A, Schirato, T, & Bright, P, 1999, Beginning university: Thinking, researching and writing for success, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW.
Chapter in an edited book
Order: Author, Date, Chapter title, Editors, Book title, Publisher, Place of publication, Chapter page range.
Example
Amin, A, 2000, ‘The economic base of contemporary cities’, in G Bridge & S Watson (eds), A companion to the city, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 115-129.
Journal article
Order: Author, Date, Article title, Journal title, Volume and (or) issue number, Page range.
Example
Castles, FG, Curtin, JC, & Vowles, J, 2006, ‘Public policy in Australia and New Zealand: The new global context’, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 131-143.
Journal article with DOI
Order: Author, Date, Article title, Journal title, Volume and (or) issue number, Page range.
Example
Castles, FG, Curtin, JC, & Vowles, J, 2006, 'Public policy in Australia and New Zealand: The new global context', Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 131-143, https://doi.org/10.1080/10361140600672394
Web page
Order: Author, Date, Document title, Site controller/sponsor, Location of controller/sponsor, Date of viewing, URL address.
Example
Benson, A, 2006, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, United States Geological Survey, USA, viewed 5 August 2006, http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?SpeciesID=1008
Reference list entries with 3 or more authors
Name all authors. As shown in the examples above, multiple authors are separated by commas, with the last author joined by an ampersand (&).
Legal citations
Law and legal courses at Massey may require you to follow guidelines specific to legal references.
The usual style guides for legal references are the New Zealand Law Style Guide and the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.
Australian Guide to Legal Citation
The following examples outline the basics of legal citation according to the New Zealand Law Style Guide. The complete style guide puts these citations in the footnotes. If your course uses APA or MLA style, put the citations within the text of your assignment instead.
Legislation
In APA style in-text citations, acts of Parliament are referred to by name and year.
Example
Minimum Wage Act 1983
If you refer to the act again, don't repeat the year.
Example
Minimum Wage Act
Acts of Parliament are divided into sections, subsections, paragraphs and subparagraphs. Use ‘s’ before the section number – ‘ss’ if referring to several sections – and put all the other divisions in brackets.
Example
Minimum Wage Act 1983, s 4(1)(b)(ii)
In MLA style in-text citation, refer to acts of Parliament by name. Refer to the page, paragraph or section number, but not the act number or year.
Example
The Resource Management Act (sec. 3) prohibits…
Cases
When citing well-known or old cases, the name of the parties involved is enough.
Italicise the case name.
Example
Westco Lagan Ltd v Attorney-General
Other cases may require a full citation, which includes:
- the year
- the volume number of the source
- the standard abbreviation for the source, for example, New Zealand Law Reports
- the page number
- the citations may also include court identifiers, for example, HC for High Court or CA for Court of Appeal.
Example
Westco Lagan Ltd v Attorney-General [2001] 1 NZLR 40
Legal journals
Legal journals follow a similar pattern to cases. Present the year in round brackets () if the journal is sorted by volume, otherwise use square brackets []. Then, give the standard abbreviation for the journal and the page number.
Example
(1998) 18 NZULR 77
The journal should give additional information on citing for that journal.
Parliamentary debates – Hansard
The Hansard record of parliamentary debates includes the following information: debate date, volume number, NZPD (New Zealand Parliamentary Debates) and page number.
Example
(16 May 2007) 639 NZPD 9284
New Zealand Vet Journal reference style
The New Zealand Vet Journal has its own referencing system. Like all referencing systems, it has particular rules about style and formatting.
NZVA: New Zealand Veterinary Journal
Submit to New Zealand Veterinary Journal: Instructions for authors
Vet journal style
In the reference list, put author names in bold, with the surname first, followed by the first name's initials without intervening punctuation. There should be no full stops or space between the initials. Authors should be separated with a comma.
Alphabetise the reference list according to the surname of the first author. Give all the authors unless there are more than 10 authors. If there are more than 10 authors, use et al. after the 10th author.
References with the same first author follow a listing hierarchy in the reference list:
- single author
- 2 authors alphabetically according to the name of the second author
- 3 or more authors, listed chronologically.
If multiple sources are published by the same first author in the same year, add the letters 'a', 'b' and 'c' to the year.
Journal and book titles should be in italics, title case, and unabbreviated. Journal articles and chapters in edited books should not be italicised or title case. Place the publication year at the end of the reference list entry without a full stop.
In-text citations follow an author-date format. For 2 authors, give both authors' surnames separated by 'and'. For more than 2 authors, give the first author's surname and replace all other authors with an italicised 'et al.' There is no punctuation between the authors and date.
Example
(Smith 2009b)
(Kogan and Bontempo 2008)
(Lund et al. 2002)
Order multiple citations within a single set of parenthesis chronologically and separated with a semi-colon.
Example
(Weese et al. 2005; Strohmeyer et al. 2006; Schlesinger and Joffe 2011)
Use 'Anonymous' if the author is unknown, for example, a website, when only group authors are available.
Mark non-peer-reviewed references like unpublished data or information retrieved from a website with an asterisk in the reference list. Include a footnote to indicate they're not peer-reviewed, for example, *Non-peer reviewed.
Non-peer-reviewed references should be under 2 years old.
Reference list entry format
Journals in the reference list
Order: Authors. Title of article. Full Name of the Journal volume number, first page-last page numbers, year
Example
Haines K, Stern J, Pearce T, Troiano PG, Berringer K, Walker L, Tyson Y, Cuttance J, Leslie JM, Coughlan R. et al. Evidence in practice – a systemic review of companion animal data from New Zealand veterinary clinics. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 54, 43-67, 2019
Smith JC. Estimates of the medical costs of companion animals in New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 37, 23-36, 2010
Smith JC, Lang B, Kraur K. Nutrition and the evolution of cat food. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 49, 4-10, 2010a
Smith JC, Kipper I, Doherty P, Besser L. A review of the impacts of goldfish breeding and the implications for clinical practice. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 61, 40-52, 2010b
Books in the reference list
Order: Authors. Title of Book. Publisher name, Publisher city, State (if applicable), Country, Year
Example
Cuttance J, Haines K, Leslie JM, Coughlan R. Cows and Their Friends. Huia Publishers, Wellington, NZ, 2010
Edited book chapters in the reference list
Order: Authors. Chapter title. In: Editor AB, Editor CD (eds). Book Title. 2nd Edtn. Pp first page-last page numbers. Publisher name, Publisher city, State (if applicable), Country, Year
Example
Hostleter JG, Murray G. Calves. In: Berrigan D, Gates MC (eds). Cows and Bulls. 2nd Edtn. Pp 23-45. Rutgers Publishing, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2009
Websites in the reference list
Order: Authors. Document Title. Full URL of website (accessed Day Month Year). Company, City, Country, Year
Example
*Anonymous. New Zealand Dairy Statistics 2008-09. http://www.lic.co.nz/pdf/dairy_stats/DAIRY_STATISTICS_08-09.pdf (accessed 02 November 2010). LIC and DairyNZ, Hamilton, NZ, 2009
*Non-peer reviewed
Other kinds of reference list entries
Order: Author C, Author B, Author AD, Author E. Title of communication. In: Author A, Author BC, Author D (eds). Name of the Meeting or Symposium. Pp first page–last page. Publisher name, Publisher city, State (if applicable), Country, year
Order: Author A, Author N, Author CAB, Author M. Title of communication. Proceedings of the Conference Title. Pp first page–last page numbers or poster/article number, year
Order: Author M, Author J, Author PE, Author D. Document title. Full URL of website (accessed Day Month Year). Company, City, Country, year
Order: Author M. Title of thesis. Type of thesis, University with English name, University city, State (if applicable), Country, year
Vancouver style
Vancouver style is a type of referencing used in biomedicine. It is not commonly used at Massey. This style uses numbers in-text to refer to specific sources. These sources are listed in the order they appear at the end of the document.
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
Vancouver style is overseen by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Find out about the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals.
The National Library of Medicine: Citing Medicine
The referencing specifics in Vancouver style are detailed in Citing Medicine: The NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers.
Referencing disclaimer
This page is a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school or institute may prescribe specific conventions. Their recommendations supersede these instructions. If your questions are not covered here, ask your course coordinator or ask on our Academic Q&A forum.
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