The Harvard Citation System Academic writing always acknowledges the source of ideas. This is done by citing within the body of your writing. And by compiling a bibliography. By doing this you: Place your writing within a frame of reference of the work that has already been done in your field. Avoid plagiarism, Plagiarism Is the use of another’s work without acknowledgement. Drawing on somebody else’s work is not in itself plagiarism – the problems start if you use somebody else’s Ideas or research as if they were your own.
Allow your reader to check your sources – a reader should be able to find your resources by referring to your bibliography. Variations on Harvard are legion. It Is most Important to: Be consistent. For example, if you use the ‘&’ symbol when referring to works with more than one author, for example (Chatty & Winds, 1997) then do so every time you need to refer to a multi-authored work. Include in your bibliography every source that you have consulted, it does not matter whether or not you have quoted directly from them. What to include? Any source you use when writing an assignment should be acknowledged.
Even if you do not quote directly from a book, article or website etc within your assignment, It should be included at the end In your bibliography. The In-text citation when you refer to a source within the text of an assignment, It should be accompanied by a short reference, using the name/date system. You should place the reference within the text in a way that allows your writing to flow naturally. For example: To refer to an author’s ideas without directly quoting: Chadwick (1996) reassesses the place of women In the history of art. Off The importance of women in the Renaissance is now being re-evaluated: ‘That the women artists of Bologna were exceptional is without question’ (Chadwick, 1996, p. 2) The full bibliography The full bibliography is a list at the end of an assignment which gives a full reference for each source used in the writing of the assignment. In the bibliography, each item is in alphabetical order according to the first author’s surname. Formatting references in your bibliography The order of reference for books in the Harvard system is: 1.