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Harvard Biblographic Style Guide

Guide of the University Library of the University of Alicante on the Harvard citation style (4th edition 2025) developed by Harvard University and used in the fields of Physics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Economics.

Documents in electronic form

Basic tips:

  • It is advisable to print the first page of every web page you use.
  • Whenever possible, when citing a website or online article, indicate the author and date. If this is not possible, the title of the article, web page, etc. should be given. If it is not available either, provide the full URL and the date you accessed the website.
  • Remember that not everything on the Internet has the same academic and scientific validity: check each source before using it.
  • Some electronic documents have a DOI or Digital Object Identifier, which is a unique and permanent identifier that can be used instead of the format data, location and date of access. You will see an example of how to use it when referencing e-journal articles.

 

Remember to follow the guidelines provided in the In-text citations section.
     

We will distinguish three types of e-books: those that can be accessed from the UA Library (because they have been obtained from one of our databases); those available online as open access PDF files, for example, in Google Books or repositories; and those that require a special e-reader, such as a Kindle device. 

 

E-BOOKS ACCESIBLE FROM THE LIBRARY

FORMAT

Surname(s) of author(s), initial(s) (year) Book title. [E-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: library name URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

If the book has multiple authors in collaboration with an editor or coordinator, it will be as follows:

Surname(s) of editor(s), initial(s) (Ed.). (Year) Title of the book. [E-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: library name URL [Accessed: day-month-year].


Below is an example of the second case, taken from the Springer Nature Link database:
EXAMPLE

Rüdiger, K., Peris Ortiz, M. and Blanco González, A. (Eds.). (2014) Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Crisis: Lessons for Research, Policy and Practice. [E-book] Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer Cham. Available from: University of Alicante Library http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-02384-7 [Accessed: 04-09-2019].

Image of a table with the bibliographic data of the e-book "Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Crisis: Lessons for Research, Policy and Practice".

 

If you have downloaded the book from a database, for example, instead of Accessed you can write Downloaded followed by the date in square brackets.

 

OPEN  ACCESS E-BOOKS AVAILABLE ONLINE
These are books available on platforms such as Google Books, on the author’s website or in open access repositories.


FORMAT

Surname(s) of author(s), initial(s) (year) Book title. [E-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: source from which the book has been obtained and URL [Accessed: day-month-year].


Likewise, if the book has an editor or coordinator, this information must be provided as in the previous example.
Let’s look at an example taken from Google Books:

EXAMPLE

Córdoba Padilla, M. (2015) Mercado de valores. [E-book] Bogotá: Ecoe Ediciones. Available from: Google Books https://books.google.es [Accessed: 11-09-2019].

Image of a table with the bibliographic data of the e-book "Mercado de valores".

 

If you have downloaded the book from a database, for example, instead of Accessed you can write Downloaded followed by the date in square brackets.
In the case of PDF documents such as government publications, reports, etc., you can also use the above structure. Note, though, that within the square brackets you must indicate [PDF] instead of [e-book]. Then, provide the URL of the PDF file.

 

E-BOOKS FOR SPECIFIC E-READERS
These are books in Kindle or Nook format, for example.


FORMAT

Surname(s) of author(s), initial(s) (year) Title of the book. [Type of e-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: source from which the book has been obtained and URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

Likewise, if the book has an editor or coordinator, this information must be provided as in the previous example.

Let’s suppose that the above book is in Kindle DX format and was obtained from Amazon.


EXAMPLE

Córdoba Padilla, M. (2015) Mercado de valores. [Versión Kindle DX] Bogotá: Ecoe Ediciones. Available from: Amazon.es http://www.amazon.es [Accessed: 11-09-2019].

Image of a table with the bibliographic data of the e-book "Mercado de valores".

 

If you have downloaded the book from a database, for example, instead of Accessed you can write Downloaded followed by the date in square brackets.

If a part of the book is cited without giving the page number (e.g. because it is not available), provide the title of the chapter or section, so that readers can more easily find the citation in the document.

FORMAT

Surname(s), initials of the author(s) of the chapter(s) (year) “Chapter title”. In: Surname(s), initial(s) of editor ed(s). Title of the book. [E-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: library name URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE

Arzubiaga, U. and Iturralde, T. (2014) “Entrepreneurial Orientation and Innovation in a Context of Crisis: Some Relevant Factors in the Case of Family Firms”. In: Rüdiger, K., Peris Ortiz, M. and Blanco González, A. Eds. Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Crisis: Lessons for Research, Policy and Practice. [E-book] Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer Cham. Available from: University of Alicante Library http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-02384-7 [Accessed: 23-09-2019].

Image of a table with the bibliographic dataof the e-book chapter "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Innovation in a Context of Crisis: Some Relevant Factors in the Case of Family Firms".

 

Note that we have indicated Available from and the UA Library because, here, the book has been accessed from the e-book portals subscribed to by the UA Library. In other words, as seen above, the reference structure will vary depending on whether the source is an open access PDF file, an e-book for a specific e-reader or, as in this case, a document available from a library.
 

  

FORMAT

Surname(s) of author(s), initial(s) (year) “Title of the article”, Full title of the electronic journal, volume (issue/part number), page numbers if available preceded by pp. Available at: URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE

Fernández Allés, M.T. (2011) “El análisis del entorno político y legal en el marco de la planificación estratégica en el sector turístico y hotelero”, Cuadernos de Gestión, 11(2), pp. 37-52. Available at: http://www.ehu.es/cuadernosdegestion/documentos/100210mf.pdf [Accessed: 21-09-2023].

Image of a table with the bibliographic data of the e-journal article "El análisis del entorno político y legal en el marco de la planificación estratégica en el sector turístico y hotelero".

 

As mentioned above, some digital objects, such as articles or e-book chapters, may have a DOI. This article does have a DOI: 10.5295/cdg.100210mf. Instead of the URL, you can provide the DOI of the article. As the DOI is a permanent identifier of the document, it is not necessary to indicate the date you accessed the article.
This is how the reference would be worded:
EXAMPLE 
Fernández Allés, M.T. (2011) “El análisis del entorno político y legal en el marco de la planificación estratégica en el sector turístico y hotelero”, Cuadernos de Gestión, 11 (2), pp. 37-52. 10.5295/cdg.100210mf [Accessed: 21-09-2023].

In some cases, the DOI is provided as a URL, like this: http://dx.doi.org/10.5295/cdg.100210mf. 

 

For online newspaper articles, the reference must include the following elements:

FORMAT

Surname(s) of author(s), initial(s) (year) “Title of article”, Title of newspaper, day and month of publication. Available at: URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE 
Delgado, C. (2014) “La Audiencia ordena a Coca-cola a readmitir a los despedidos del ERE”, El País, 21 November. Available at: https://elpais.com/economia/2014/11/21/actualidad/1416565260_572101.html [Accessed: 21-09-2023].

Image of a table with the bibliographic data of the digital newspaper article "La Audiencia ordena a Coca-Cola readmitir a los despedidos del ERE".

 

 

 

 

FORMAT

Surname(s) of the author(s) of the web page, initial(s) (year of publication / last update) Title of the web page. Available at: URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE
European Central Bank (2019) Organisation. Available at: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/orga/html/index.en.html [Accessed: 25-09-2023]. 

Image of a table with the bibliographic data of the web page "Organisation".

 

In the following section you will see how to reference a whole website (that is, not an individual web page). Two examples are the websites of the University Library or the University of Alicante.

 

FORMAT

Author(s) of the website (year of publication/last update) Title of the website. Available at: URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE

UOC. Biblioteca y Fundación Telefónica (2013) Manuel Castells: producción científica. Available at: http://www.manuelcastells.info/es [Accessed: 25-09-2023].

Image with a table of the website's bibliographic data "Manuel Castells: producción científica".

 

 

Bear in mind that the author of the website can be either a person or an organisation, institution, company...
Also note that the titles are not in italics. 

 

 

 

 

 

FORMAT

Surname(s) of the author(s) of the blog, first name (year of publication on the blog/last update) “Title of the post or entry”, Title of the blog, day and month of publication of the post or entry. Available at: URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE 

Polo, A. and Casado, R. (2019) “Nuevos escenarios para Brexit y libra“, Solo Brexit, 25 September. Available at:
https://www.expansion.com/blogs/solo-brexit/2019/09/25/nuevos-escenarios-para-brexit-y-libra.html [Accessed: 25-09-2023].

Image with a table of the blog's bibliographic data "Solo Brexit".
 

 

 

 

Let's look at the format to be used to cite a Wikipedia entry. 

FORMAT

Wikipedia (year) Title of the entry. [Media type]. Date the entry was edited/created. Available at: URL [Accessed: day-month-year].

 

EXAMPLE

Wikipedia (2023) Behaviorism. [Online].  2 October. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Behaviorism&oldid=1178254280 [Accessed: 05-10-2023].

Image with a table of the bibliographic data of the Wikipedia entry "Behaviorism".

 

If possible, the archived version used in the work should be cited. In the View history tab of the Wikipedia entry you will find the version and its publication date.
If the encyclopaedia does not provide a permanent link to the archived version, the URL and the date of consultation will be included.