Harvard:
* In-text citation: Generally uses the author's surname and year of publication in parentheses. For example: (Smith, 2023). If there are multiple authors, the first author's surname is followed by "et al." (Smith et al., 2023) after a certain number of authors (usually three or more). Variations exist, some including page numbers in the citation.
* Reference list: The full bibliographic details are listed alphabetically by the first author's surname in a "References" or "Bibliography" section at the end of the document. The style of the reference list itself can vary slightly depending on the specific Harvard variant used (e.g., different journal, university). There's no rigid standardization across all Harvard styles.
* Flexibility: Harvard is known for its flexibility. Different institutions and publications may have slight variations in the formatting of the reference list entries.
Vancouver:
* In-text citation: Uses a numbered superscript citation in the text. For example: ¹. The corresponding full reference is then given in a numbered list of references at the end of the document.
* Reference list: The references are numbered consecutively in the order they appear in the text. This is a crucial difference from Harvard's alphabetical order. There is a more rigid format and standardization within Vancouver, although the specific details depend on the publishing guidelines.
* Emphasis on numbering: The entire system revolves around the sequential numbering of citations. This means that editing the text after the initial referencing can require renumbering throughout the document.
Here's a table summarizing the key differences:
| Feature | Harvard | Vancouver |
|-----------------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| In-text citation | Author-date (Smith, 2023) | Numbered superscript (¹) |
| Reference list | Alphabetical by author's surname | Numbered sequentially as cited |
| Style | More flexible, variations exist | More standardized, less flexibility |
| Ordering | Alphabetical | Numerical |
In essence, Harvard is more flexible but less standardized, while Vancouver is more rigid and standardized but less flexible when it comes to reorganizing text. The best system depends on the specific requirements of the institution or publication.