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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.

Introduction

When writing an academic paper, you should clearly indicate which ideas and information have been taken from other sources or authors. Otherwise, plagiarism – a type of theft – is committed.

Plagiarism may involve presenting a document produced by someone else as your own, but also quoting or paraphrasing other sources without specifying the author.

In Spain, copyright is protected by the Intellectual Property Act. You can find more information about plagiarism and copyright on the Intellectual Property web page produced by the Library.

By properly citing the sources consulted for your work, you:

  • Acknowledge the work done by other authors.
  • Avoid plagiarism.
  • Make it easier for anyone to locate the sources of information cited in the work.
  • Make sure your work is credible and consistent.

There are different citation styles. Some are specific to certain disciplines and others are used only in certain scientific publications.

 

The Harvard style was developed at Harvard University in the 1950s. At first used mainly in Physics and the Natural sciences, in recent years it has become common in the Human and Social sciences as well (Central Library of the University of Piura, 2011).

This style, also known as the author-date system, provides guidelines on how to cite sources in the body of the text and list bibliographic references at the end of the work, so that the sources used and cited by the author are acknowledged.

This module will describe the characteristics of the Harvard citation and referencing style. Specifically, this material is based on the document produced by the University College Dublin Library, the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems and Anglia Ruskin University.

 

Outline that answers the question : when should I cite ?: 1. Am I copying a text verbatim? Put the text in inverted commas in italics or another font and cite the source; 2. Am I paraphrasing a text? Cite the source; 3. Is it someone else's idea or theory? Do not cite when the facts or data are generally known or are the result of your own ideas.

In order to elaborate your work, you need to be clear about some basic concepts such as:

  • the citation.
  • the bibliographic reference.
  • the difference between a list of references and a bibliography.

 

We recommend that you check the section Citation and bibliographic Reference on the BUA website.
You can also access the different citation styles available on the same page.
If you want to find out how to manage your bibliographic references, see the Managers of Bibliographic Reference section of our website.