Harvard Referencing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide for Business Students
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The Harvard referencing system — also called the author-date system — is built on a simple principle: in your text, you cite the author's surname and the year of publication. In your reference list at the end, you provide full details for every source you cited. That's it. Everything else is just formatting.
In-Text Citations: The Basics
Every time you use an idea, argument, or piece of data from a source, you cite it in the text. The citation appears in parentheses and includes the author's surname and year: (Porter, 1990). If you mention the author's name in your sentence, you only include the year in parentheses: "Porter (1990) argues that competitive advantage stems from..."
For direct quotations, you also include the page number: (Porter, 1990, p. 47). Always use direct quotations sparingly in business dissertations — paraphrase and synthesise instead. Over-quoting suggests you haven't fully digested the material.
Two Authors: Use both surnames, joined by "and": (Smith and Jones, 2021).
Three or More Authors: Use the first author's surname followed by "et al." (which means "and others"): (Chen et al., 2019). Note: et al. is italicised in some university styles but not others — check your specific guidelines.
Multiple Sources in One Citation: List sources alphabetically by first author, separated by semicolons: (Barney, 1991; Porter, 1990; Wernerfelt, 1984).
Same Author, Same Year: If you cite two works by the same author from the same year, add a letter after the year: (Kotler, 2016a) and (Kotler, 2016b).
The Reference List: The Foundation
Your reference list appears at the very end of your dissertation, titled "References" (not "Bibliography" — a bibliography includes sources you consulted but didn't cite; a reference list includes only sources you cited). Entries are listed alphabetically by the first author's surname and formatted with a hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented).
Journal Articles
The format is: Author(s) (Year) 'Article title', Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages.
Example: Barney, J. (1991) 'Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage', Journal of Management, 17(1), pp. 99–120.
Note the single quotation marks around the article title. The journal name is italicised. Volume and issue numbers use this format: Volume(Issue). Page ranges use an en dash, not a hyphen.
Books
The format is: Author(s) (Year) Title. Edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher.
Example: Porter, M.E. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: Free Press.
The book title is italicised. If it's a later edition, include the edition number: 2nd edn. Place of publication comes before the publisher, separated by a colon.
Edited Books (Chapters)
When citing a specific chapter in an edited book: Author(s) (Year) 'Chapter title', in Editor(s) (ed./eds.) Book Title. Place: Publisher, pages.
Example: Johnson, G. (2017) 'Strategic leadership', in Rumelt, R. (ed.) Perspectives on Strategy. London: Sage, pp. 45–72.
Websites and Online Sources
Author(s) or Organisation (Year) Title [online]. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example: McKinsey & Company (2023) The State of AI in 2023 [online]. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/state-of-ai-2023 (Accessed: 15 March 2024).
Note the capitalisation of "Available at" and "Accessed." The access date is essential for online sources because web content can change or disappear.
Reports and Grey Literature
Report Author(s) (Year) Title. Report number (if applicable). Place: Publisher.
Example: Deloitte (2022) Global Human Capital Trends 2022. London: Deloitte Insights.
Common Errors to Avoid
Inconsistent formatting is the most common problem — mixing citation styles, sometimes using page numbers and sometimes not, varying how you format journal names. Consistency is non-negotiable.
Citing sources you haven't read is academically dishonest. If you've only read a secondary source's description of a primary work, cite the secondary source and acknowledge this.
Using reference management software — Zotero, Mendeley, or Cite This For Me — can help enormously, but always double-check the output. These tools are imperfect and sometimes produce formatting errors that can cost you marks.
Finally, remember that your university's Harvard referencing guide is the ultimate authority. Slight variations exist between institutions. When in doubt, check your specific guidelines — and when still in doubt, ask your librarian. That's what they're there for.
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