How to Write Reports According to the Harvard Style

The Harvard Style of Referencing for reporting writing requires following a certain set of rules for citation and reference notations to avoid the possibility of plagiarism. There are two main principles: (1) a citation appears in parenthesis with the author name, publication year and page numbers, and (2) the reference list gives all the details for the citation appearing in the main text. The last rule also shows how to reference material from a conference paper.

Things You'll Need

  • Harvard Style of Referencing Manual
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine the best way to make the citation. The citation requires two ways of notating the source and it depends on whether citing the author's name in the sentence interferes with the flow. If the name can be used in the sentence, it appears like this: "In the course of the discussion, Barker and Johnson (2010) noted the absence of true arguments for the prosecution." Then it is put in the reference as follows. Baker, S. & Johnson, L., 2010. The Anatomy of a Murder (title in italics).

    • 2

      Put the citation in parenthesis if it will interfere with the sentence flow. The sentence and reference appears as follows. "The prosecution in Dealy vs U.S. (Baker, S. & Johnson, L., 2010) was not able to show true guilt of the crime by the defendant." The reference is still the same as above: Baker, S. & Johnson, L., 2010. The Anatomy of a Murder (title in italics).

    • 3

      Use the quotation in its entirety. If you need to use a quotation, and if it is a single sentence or shorter, it is enclosed in quotation marks. For example: "Johnson (2010) said of the verdict, "It was a total farce." In the reference, we use the same as above: Johnson, L., 2010. The Anatomy of a Murder: Part II (in italics).

    • 4

      Indent the paragraph when using a passage of text as the full statement. The text is indented on both sides with attribution at the end.

      The prosecution could not come up with enough evidence to fully prosecute the

      defendant, therefore he was released from jail and absolved of all charges. People

      waiting outside the door, mobbed the suspect when he came out the door. That's

      when all the shooting started.

      (Johnson, 2010)

      The reference entry will read as follows: Johnson, L., 2010. The Anatomy of a Murder: Part II (in italics).

    • 5

      Use the Harvard Style to reference the conference paper in your report. Follow the structure listed here.

      -Author's surname followed by a comma.

      -Author's initials in capitals, with full-stop after each and a comma after the final full-stop.

      -Year of publication followed by full-stop.

      -Full title of conference paper - not in italics - with capitalization of first word and proper nouns only - followed by full-stop unless there is a sub-title. If there is a sub-title, this follows a colon at end of full title, with no capitalization except for proper nouns - followed by full-stop.

      -Full title of conference, in italics, with capitalization of key words - followed by comma.

      -Location followed by a comma.

      -Date followed by a comma.

      -Publisher (company name) followed by colon.

      -Place of publication (town or city name) follow by full-stop.

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