Referencing or citing your sources is an important part of academic writing. It allows you to properly acknowledge the ideas or words of others if you use them in your work while safeguarding against plagiarism.
Referencing also demonstrates that you've read relevant literature in the area and can provide authority for statements you make in your assignments.
Referencing styles or systems vary according to subject or discipline. However, Marian College uses a modified Harvard author-date system, unless your teacher has directed you otherwise.
The Harvard citation style can vary in minor details such as punctuation, capitalisation, abbreviations, and the use of italics. The following guides may be useful.
Harvard Referencing Guide - University of South Australia
Referencing Roadmap (Harvard) - University of South Australia
You will often see a reference list used interchangeably with a bibliography. However, there is a distinction.
A reference list includes only those references that you cited in your work. A bibliography includes background and uncited sources. Your teacher may expect that you include all material you have consulted.
Visit the Ergo site for some excellent information on how to write a bibliography and properly acknowledge sources.
http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/essay-writing-skills/bibliographies
There are two components to referencing: in-text citations in your paper and the reference list at the end of your paper.
The in-text citation:
Harvard is an 'author/date' system, so your in-text citation consists of author(s) and year of publication.
In-text citation of a book (the same format applies for a journal article)
If you quote directly from an author or paraphrase a specific idea or piece of information from a source, you need to include the page number of the quote or passage in your in-text citation.
The reference list:
All in-text citations should be listed in the reference list at the end of your document.
Reference list entry for a book
Reference list entry for a journal
Reference list entries contain all the information that someone needs to follow up your source. Reference lists in Harvard are arranged alphabetically by first author's surname.
Reference list entry for a new edition of a book
Hayward, S 2005, Cinema studies: the key concepts, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.
Reference list entry for an edited book
Schulman, BJ & Zelizer, JE (eds) 2008, Rightward bound: making America conservative in the 1970s, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Reference list entry for a chapter in an edited book
Boyer, P 2008, 'The evangelical resurgence in 1970s American Protestantism,' in BJ Schulman & JE Zelizer (eds), Rightward bound: making America conservative in the 1970s, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 29-51.
Reference list entry for a newspaper article
Cuthbertson, D 2014, 'Seminal figure in Australian culture,' The Age, 22 October, p. 5.
Reference list entry for a newspaper article from a website
Shields, B 2020, '"A recession of historic proportions": Europe's economic hit will be long-lasting', Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May, viewed 7 May 2020, <https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/a-recession-of-historic-proportions-europe-s-economic-hit-will-be-long-lasting-20200506-p54qj6.html>
Reference list entry for a website
Australian Library and Information Association 2020, Planning toward the 'new normal' for libraries, Australian Library and Information Association, viewed 7 May 2020, <https://www.alia.org.au/news/21278/planning-toward-%E2%80%98new-normal%E2%80%99-libraries>.