The Harvard referencing style is the most commonly used reference style in the National College of Ireland. It is also known as the ‘author date’ system. The Harvard style records the author surname and publication year within the text of the written work and then provides the full bibliographic details in the list of references at the end, which is titled Bibliography.
See the Harvard section of the NCI Library Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism LibGuide for further details on how to use the Harvard referencing style.
APA and IEEE may be used by your course - please consult with your lecturer to confirm which style they require you to use.
Harvard referencing consists of two components:
The examples given below are for books with a single author.
In-text citations:
When using the Harvard referencing style, a reference needs to be made at the point at which a source is referred to in the text of your work. This consists of a short, basic reference (Author, Year) inserted every time you use or refer to someone else’s work in-text.
|
Paraphrase/summary |
Reidy (2015) suggests that it may be difficult to fill some vacancies as the role may be thought to be low paid or considered to be difficult. |
|
Direct quote |
“Some vacancies are difficult to fill due to the nature of the job itself. It may be perceived to be unpleasant, dangerous, badly paid or too stressful” (Reidy, 2015, p. 46). |
NB: When a direct quote is used, include the page number(s) the quote was taken from and add it to the in-text citation as show above. If you are paraphrasing, you do not need to include the page number(s) in your in-text citation.
Bibliography reference:
When using the Harvard referencing style, a reference needs to be made in your bibliography at the end of your work. A bibliography provides comprehensive details of the sources used throughout your written work.
| Example | Reidy, L. (2015) Make that grade: Human resource management. 4th edn. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. |
As an NCI Student you have access to the online referencing tool CiteThemRight. To get started check out the following links:
*NB: You will need to login to CiteThemRight when first accessing the links above.
| Take the steps below when logging into CiteThemRight for the first time: | |
| 1 |
Go to the CiteThemRight homepage here |
| 2 |
Select 'LOGIN' button on the top right of the page |
| 3 |
Select 'National College of Ireland' from the list of institutions |
| 4 |
Use your college email as your username (x12345678@student.ncirl.ie) and your network password to sign in |
Need advice for your assignments or research?
The Library Help Centre is here to help!
We offer in-person and online appointments, remote assistance via email and a drop-in service.
For more details about how we can help you, see here.
 |
 |
 |
| Keith Brittle |
Cory Newbigging |
Shannon Mallon |
Whilst every possible effort has been made to accurately and consistently reflect the APA, Harvard and IEEE styles in the examples provided, small errors may occur. This LibGuide is regularly revised and any errors which are identified will be rectified immediately. Please note, there are also variations within these styles regarding certain details – should your reference vary slightly from an example contained within this LibGuide, it is important that you are consistent with the variation when presenting and formatting your references, as long as it does not follow a contrary style to the one you should be using.
Keep up to date on any library news and resources by following @NCILibrary on    |
| Communications from the Library: Please note all communications from the library, concerning renewal of books, overdue books and reservations will be sent to your NCI student email account. |
