How to Reference

The Harvard Referencing System

Yale College, PGCE Year 1 Carys Davies 2007

Why do we need to use reading in our work?

In order to be ‘a reflective practitioner’ (Schön,1991), we need to understand the theory

of education and then reflect on how this informs our practice.

The Harvard Referencing System

When you write an assignment you will need to refer to literature that you have read in order to support your argument or outline a theory. You must acknowledge the source of all works that you refer to by citing references.

Not acknowledging your sources, is called

plagiarism.

The Harvard Referencing System

References are essential for the following reasons:

• To prove that you have researched your topic and that you have considered your ideas in terms of published educational material

• To substantiate your ideas and arguments• To acknowledge the source of your information and ideas• To distinguish between your own opinions and those of

others• To enable your readers to locate the course of your ideas

and study the material themselves

The Harvard Referencing System

This is most commonly used system of referencing:

1. Put the surname and year of the reference in brackets e.g. (Bell, 1999) in the body of your text where you have made use of someone’s work.

2. At the end of your work make a list entitled ‘References’ and give the full reference of all the works your have cited alphabetically: e.g.

ReferencesBell, J. (1999), Doing Your Research Project: A Guide to For First Time

Researchers in Education and Social Science, Third Edition. Buckingham: Open University Press

Bowen, M. and Costello, P.J.M. (1996), The Rights of the Child. Cambridge: Independence Educational Publishers

Follow the punctuation and ordering exactly

Activity -Place the following into a paragraph, and then write it out in the correct format for the reference list:

‘Referencing is incredibly important as it distinguishes what are other people’s ideas and allows us to consider whether we agree or disagree with them.’ Page 2

How to Reference

by

Carys Davies

Published

Yale College Publishers, Wrexham

2008

The Harvard Referencing System: references in the text

Examples of incorporating references in your text:

The original conclusions (Williams, 1990) have now been questioned (Reynolds, 1994).

If the author’s name occurs naturally you can add the date in brackets.

The original conclusions have been questioned by Reynolds (1994) and Roberts (1995).

If you use a direct quote, you must include the page number.

I agree with the views of Roberts (1995, p.363) who suggests that ‘the most significant issue is student behaviour.’

The Harvard Referencing System: references in the text

Where there are 2 authors, both should appear in brackets:

A recent study (Williams and Reynolds, 1996)

If there are 3 or more authors, only the first should appear and you should use the term ‘et al’

In a recent report by Smith et al (1996)

When an author has more than one work in the same year, label the dates with a, b, c etc

Dillon (1999a)

The Harvard Referencing System: references in the text

Internet References should be incorporated into your text as follows:

Teaching Thinking is a journal ‘dedicated to promoting critical and creative thinking’ (Imaginative Minds, 2004, www.teachthinking.com)

The Harvard Referencing System: the reference list

There is a strict convention about how references should appear in the reference list.

• They must be alphabetically listed• The correct punctuation is important• The use of italics is important as it tells us what type of

text the source material is.• No ‘et al’ should be used, the full details of all authors

must be supplied

The Harvard Referencing System: the reference list

Books• Each author’s name and all initials• The year of the publication in brackets, followed by a comma• The title of the book in italics• The edition, if more than the first• The place of publication• The publisher’s name• Use (ed.) or (eds.) if the book has been compiled by an editor or

editors.

Andrews, R. (ed.) (1989), Narrative and Argument. Milton Keynes: Open University Press

Bell, J. (1999), Doing Your Research Project: A Guide to For First Time Researchers in Education and Social Science, Third Edition. Buckingham: Open University Press

Bowen, M. and Costello, P.J.M. (1996), The Rights of the Child. Cambridge: Independence Educational Publishers

The Harvard Referencing System: the reference list

Journals• Each author’s name and initials• The year of publication in brackets, followed by a comma• The title of the article in single inverted commas• The title of the journal in italics• The volume number and part number or month of the

issue• The number of the first and last pages of the article

Castles, J. (2004), ‘Persistence and the adult learner: factors affecting persistence in Open University students’, Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp.166-179

The Harvard Referencing System: the reference list

Internet Sources

Only use internet sources when you know who actually produces it. For example, using TES online (Time Educational Supplement) is a reputable source. A teacher’s blog may not be.

Cite in the usual way but also add the date you accessed the site.

National Primary Trust (undated), Birmingham Children’s University, www.cup.powernet.co.uk

Electronically accessed 3 October, 2006.

Referencing – Good Practice

Referencing is not just about citing the source! e.g. Cohen (1992), studied indoctrination in the classroom

So what! Integrate the argument and use Cohen to support your point, not to provide a point in itself.

The concerns I have regarding imposing my own opinion on students in the classroom are reinforced by Cohen (1982, p.86) who feels that ‘everything that goes on in the ordinary classrooms of apparently liberal societies is in fact indoctrination.’

This is effective reflective writing –using references and reading to illuminate your own teaching practice.

Activity Two

Have a go at amending the paragraph into the Harvard system.

Discuss how the references have been integrated into this paragraph. Why is this style of writing effective?

Integrating the LLUK standards

You will also have to integrate the LLUK professional standards for teaching into your evaluations and reflective journals.

These need to be:• Purposefully used and integrated into the body of the work• Formally referenced at the end

Activity

Example:Paragraph on safety:

Safety at work is an important topic in my vocational area and students study a module on safety at work. I believe that this is an important unit of study but that also our work environments also have to follow these procedures stringently as AS6 Professional Values states that teachers should be ‘committed to agreed codes of practice and the maintenance of a safe environment.’ It is not enough to theorise, students need to see safety procedures in operation in order for them to understand how they work in the vocational environment. AP6.2 also reinforces the importance of this practice, stating that teachers should maintain ‘a learning environment which conforms to statutory requirements.’ This also applies to more broadly to safety as an emotional right, the ‘promotion of equality.’ This is not covered in the core unit of the safety at work module, and I believe it should be as safety can also be interpreted as being free from bullying at work.