There are a number of widely used referencing styles – Harvard being commonly used across health and social sciences, and Vancouver in the medical sciences. However, participants on the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson programme are expected to use the Harvard referencing style to acknowledge their sources.
The main overarching rule when referencing is to stick with the style of referencing that you chose. With regard to Harvard: there is no definitive version of this referencing style – if you compare different style guides you will notice some variation particularly with regard to punctuation or typography within a reference. So there are some basic formatting rules that apply to specific types of material, and beyond these it is consistency that counts.
Referencing guides
The University of Birmingham provides a guide to both the Harvard and Vancouver referencing styles – these two will be the most relevant for those carrying out research in health and social sciences disciplines.
If you require more detail on how to reference certain types of material in Harvard style, then the online guide produced by the Anglia Ruskin University library is extremely helpful. Current students may obtain detailed guidance on referencing from Cite them Right Online.
Referencing software
Keeping on top of the material used for larger-scale research projects can be a challenge – and the use of referencing software a great help. For example, these applications
- save references from a variety of sources: bibliographic databases, catalogues, electronic journals
- create bibliographies in the referencing style you require
Popular ones include Endnote and Refworks – and we can help you to utilize these packages upon request.