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Be organised. Whenever you consult a source, make a note of all the details you need for a reference
Allow yourself time to compile your reference list
Be consistent in the style and layout of your references
Make sure your references include all the information needed to locate it
Be thorough. Check the details of any source carefully for accuracy.
Use the online tutorial on Harvard Referencing and come along to the Succeed@Tees workshop 'How to use references'
Consult Cite them Right
Consider using RefWorks – see http://libguides.tees.ac.uk/refworks.
You need to learn how to reference accurately in order to acknowledge your sources and to demonstrate that your writing is based on evidence. There are two parts to referencing:
*If you are quoting directly or using ideas from a specific page or pages of a work, you should include the page number(s) in your citations. Insert the abbreviation p. (or pp.) before the page number(s) e.g. (Harris, 2023, p. 56) . If your citation refers to a complete work or to ideas that run through an entire work, your citation would simply use the author and date details e.g. (Harris, 2023). Websites do not have page numbers, therefore, are not required in your in text-citation e.g. (BBC, 2023).
Different styles of referencing use different formats for both in-text citations and reference lists. You need to learn which referencing style is used by your subject area - this will be the style included in the 'How to reference' tab of your subject libguide. The next tab in this box ('Which referencing style?') gives guidance on which style is used for each School.
A frequently used referencing style is Harvard. At Teesside University, the Harvard style is taken from Cite them Right.
If you follow the appropriate guidance in Cite them Right, your referencing will be correct.
If you would like more help on this topic - please use the materials on this page or book a tutorial with your Subject Librarian or contact libraryhelp@tees.ac.uk.
School of Arts and Creative Industries
School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies
School of Health & Life Sciences
School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law
Teesside University International Business School
The book 'Cite Them Right' by Pears and Shields details the Harvard referencing standard used by Teesside University.
Click here for the online version of
Click on the book image below for location details of paper copies in the Library.
Harvard is an author-date referencing style. This means that in the text of your work, you just need to include the author's surname (family name), the year, and page number if you are referring to a specific page or pages e.g. (Godwin, 2014, p. 15). This is called an in-text citation.
This format is the same regardless of whether the source is a book, journal article or website.
If there isn't an individual author, you may need to use an organisation instead - this frequently occurs with websites, e.g. (BBC, 2015).
For four or more authors, you should use the first named author, followed by et al.
There are two styles of in-text citation - each style has advantages and disadvantages:
1. the author is part of the sentence, so the year goes into brackets, e.g. "Norman (2012) states that ..."
Advantages/disadvantages:
2. the author is not part of the sentence so both the author's name and the year go in brackets at the end of the sentence, e.g. (Norman, 2012).
Advantages/disadvantages:
Paraphrasing means putting an author's writing into your own words, without changing the meaning.
You need to paraphrase within academic writing to demonstrate to your lecturer that you understand the material.
Paraphrasing also allows you to summarise the evidence so that it fits in with the case you are making, and improves the flow of your assignment.
In academic writing, your lecturers will want you to limit the number and length of quotations you use, restricting them to key phrases. Instead, you should develop your skills in paraphrasing.
Remember you still need to reference any material you have paraphrased.
There is a temptation when you find one author quoting (or citing) another to just lift the quote and use it:
BUT
SO
Example.
Imagine you’ve read a book by Chalmers (1999) and on page 141 it cites a piece of work by Worrall (1985) and has the full reference to it in the reference list.
You too would also like to refer to the work done by Worrall, but cannot locate his original work, only the reference to it in Chalmers.
The solution, in the text of your work, cite the original author ‘cited in’ then the author of the work you have read. BUT in your reference list only reference the work you have read – do not mention the original at all.
So our example would read as follows.
•In-text citation
(Worrall, 1985, cited in Chalmers, 1999, p. 141)
•In the reference list
Chalmers, A.F. (1999) What is this thing called science? Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Your reference list should be presented in one list in alphabetical author order, regardless of whether the reference is to a book, journal article, website or any other kind of source.
If there is no author, the item should come under the title (in italics).
The list should Include everything referred to in the text of your work.
References need to be:
There are many tools available to help you with referencing. At Teesside, we support RefWorks which enables you to create and manage your own personal database of useful references. You can then use these to quickly compile a reference list .
Whichever tool you use, you'll need to adjust your references to make sure that they fit in with the appropriate style required for your subject, for example as Harvard Style outlined in Cite them Right.
You can also use Turnitin as a tool to help you prevent plagiarism in your writing. It is available from Blackboard - see the link to 'Check your work for plagiarism'.
Online tutorial on the basics of Harvard referencing
Online tutorial on using in-text citations
Online tutorial on creating a reference list
Online tutorial on paraphrasing
Online tutorial for Cite them Right
Pears and Shields (2022, p. 20) or (Pears and Shields, 2022, p. 20)
Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2022) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 12th edn. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
(Young et al., 2015, p. 46) or Young et al. (2015, p. 46)
Young, H.D. et al. (2015) Sears and Semansky's university physics. 10th edn. San Francisco: Addison-Wesley.
(Macmillan and Crelman,1991, cited in Wickens, 2002, p. 37)
Wickens, T.D. (2002) Elementary signal detection theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press
An ebook that includes all the same elements as the print version e.g. page numbers, edition, publication details, should be referenced as though it was a print book.
If the ebook is available on an edevice (Kindle, smartphones and tablets) the elements might not be the same as the print version. If this is the case you need to use the information you do have e.g. loc or %
(Adams, 1979, loc 876) or Adams (1979, loc 876)
Adams, D. (1979) The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Downloaded: 28 August 2013).
(Parton and Fleming, 2008) or Parton and Fleming (2008)
Parton, S. and Fleming, H. (2008) 'Academic libraries and learning support in collaboration', New Review of Academic Librarianship, 13(1), pp. 79-89. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13614530802021698
(Norrie et al., 2012) or Norrie et al. (2012)
Norrie, C. et al. (2012) 'Doing it differently? A review of literature on teaching reflective practice across health and social care professions', Reflective Practice, 13(4), pp. 565-578. Available at: https://doi-org.ezproxy.tees.ac.uk/10.1080/14623943.2012.670628
Barke, Mowl and Shield's study (2010) ....
Barke, M., Mowl, S. and Shields, G. (2010) 'Malaga - a failed resort of the early twentieth century?', Journal of Tourism History, 2(3), pp. 187-212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2010.523145
* a doi (Digital Object Identifier) is used to identify individual digital (online) sources, such as journal articles and conference papers. No accessed date is needed.
An example cited by Dutta and Marjit (2016, p. 120).
Dutta, M. and Marjit, S. (2016) 'Intra-country technology transfer', Indian Economic Review, 51(1/2), new series, pp. 117-127. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44376239 (Accessed: 27 May 2021).
BBC (2018) or (BBC, 2018)
BBC (2018) News. Available at:
(Accessed: 14 May 2018).
Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019, c. 24. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/24/contents (Accessed: 23 November 2023).
Section of an Act:
In-text citation
As outlined in section 20(2) of the Act (Children and Families Act 2014)....
Reference List
Children and Families Act 2014, c. 6. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents (Accessed: 23 November 2023).
It is important to remember that submitting material generated by GenAI as your own work is an offence and would be dealt with using the academic misconduct regulations and so will incur strict penalties. However, using AI to support your learning can be beneficial, if used responsibly and with integrity. Check if your module allows the use of AI.
You need to acknowledge any use of generative AI output in your work. You should provide a full and proper citation and reference list entry where possible.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT GenAI chatbot is the most well-known of the generative AI technologies but others (such as Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic Claud, DALL-E or Midjourney) also exist and require referencing to avoid plagiarism. Types of material that might be generated by AI include:
• Text
• Images
• Code
• Video
Anything that is not your original creation or thoughts should be appropriately referenced.
Please note:
This is provisional advice and may be subject to change as official guidelines for various referencing styles are still in the process of being created. Please also consult guidance from your Department or School on using generative AI for your academic work
We have 2 workshops designed to help you with different aspects of referencing, from how to reference correctly to how to incorporate references into your academic writing:
1. How to reference … books
Become more confident about your referencing skills. This 30-minute workshop outlines how to create Harvard references for the books you use when writing your assignments.
We explain how to create references for books when:
This workshop is not subject specific and is suitable for any student who needs help with the basics of referencing.
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How to reference books (Download the slides) |
How to reference journal articles
We also have a presentation on how to reference journal articles. This includes:
What to do when there is more than one author
When to use italics
The slides are not subject specific and are suitable for any student who needs help with the basics of referencing.
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How to reference journal articles (Download the slides) |
2. How to use references
This session will improve your skills in using references in your writing. The workshop will show you how to:
incorporate references into your writing
identify the different styles of in-text citation and when to use them
develop techniques in paraphrasing
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Forthcoming workshops You do not have to book onto the workshop as attendance is on a first come first served basis.
If you need further information or any adjustments to fully access the workshop, please contact libraryhelp@tees.ac.uk in advance. Please complete the feedback form after you have attended.
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How to use References presentation (slides with notes) |
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How to use references |
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Harvard Referencing Video 1: What referencing is and constructing basic references |
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Harvard Referencing Video 2: Paraphrasing and using citations |
If you have any comments about this skills guide, we would love to know them.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
