Harvard Referencing
Harvard Referencing
Referencing is a vital part of studying at Monaro. All the information you use in assessments must be referenced twice. First, reference everything when you refer to it. In a written assessment, the reference goes straight after you write it. In a presentation, put it at the bottom of the slide. Secondly, add a reference list or bibliography at the end of your writing or on the last slide of your presentation.
Abbreviations and Terms:
Accessed. Read an online source. If you reference anything online, you must include when you accessed it in the reference list.
et al. Latin for “and others.” When a source has up to three writers, tell them all. When there are at least four, say the first name followed by “et al.”
Ed. Editor
edn. Edition
- p. page
- pages
para. Paragraph. Use instead of page numbers when there are none, especially for websites.
Passim. Use instead of a page or paragraph numbers when you refer to the gist or overall theme rather than a single point.
Tips for in-text references:
Generally, use the writer, the year of publication and the page or paragraph number. You can use the name of an institution as an author. Write “no date” if you it does not give a year.
If you name an author in the text, do not name them again in the reference. For example, without naming the author in the text:
“Elders are vital in forming healthy societies (Sayers, 2025, p. 31)”
Naming the author in the text:
“Mark Sayers stresses the role of elders in forming healthy societies (2025, p. 31).”
Both are equally good.
Refer to a chapter of an edited book with the writer’s name, not the editor’s name.
If you refer to more than one source at a time, put them in order from oldest to newest, separated by semicolons. For example:
“The critique of this view has matured intellectually over the last decade (Arndt, 2018, passim; Pearcey, 2023, passim; Maywald, 2025, passim).”
When an author wrote more than one text in the same year, put letters after the year. Include the letters in the bibliography as well. For example:
“The initial research was inconclusive (Kirk, 2022a, p. 25) but a follow-up study (Kirk, 2022b, pp. 17 – 18) proved that…”
Bibliography / Reference List:
Put references in alphabetical order. People’s names are always the surname, a comma, the first initial and a full stop. Be careful about what is in italics, what goes (in parentheses) and what goes “in quotation marks.” If any of this information is not available, just leave it out.
Pattern | Example | |
Book | Author(s). (Year) Book Title: Subtitle. Edition number. City of publication: Publisher. | Freeman, S and Freeman, J. (2010) Financial Accounting: A Practical Approach. 3rd edn. London: Pearson. |
Chapter of an edited book | Author(s). (Year) “Chapter Title: Subtitle” in Editor(s) (ed(s).) Book Title: Subtitle. Edition number. City: Publisher, page numbers. | Kindler, M. (2004) “English in Asia: The Case of Japan” in Sawyer, W. and Gold, E. (eds.) Reviewing English in the Twenty-First Century. 1st edn. Melbourne: Phoenix Education, pp. 159 – 165. |
E-book | Author(s). (Year) Title. Edition. E-book format [e-book reader]. Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: date) | Benson, J., Phelps, H. and Baker, L. (2017) Economic Development. E-book library [online]. Available at: https://www.monaro.com/reference-management/reference-manager (Accessed: 10th September 2025) |
Journal article (paper) | Author(s). (Year) “Article Title: Subtitle,” Journal title, volume (issue), page numbers. | Woolcott, D. (2024) “Project Resourcing in the Fashion Industry,” Australian Journal of Project Management, 13(3), pp. 22 – 31. |
Online Journal article | Author(s). (Year) “Article Title: Subtitle,” Journal Title, volume(issue) [online]. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). | Elshamly, A. and Nassar, S (2023) “Stimulating Growth, Root Quality, and Yield of Carrots,” National Library of Medicine, 13(1) [online]. Available at: Stimulating growth, root quality, and yield of carrots – PMC (Accessed: 15th January 2026). |
Newspaper article | Author(s). (Year) “Article Title,” Newspaper name, day, month, page number(s). | Talbot, J (2026) “Universities Across Australia Launch Major AI Cheating Crackdown,” Sydney Morning Hearld, 26 February, p. 17. |
Website | Author(s). (Year) Title [Online.] Available at: URL (Accessed date). | Masschelein, S (2024) Principles of Strategic Management Accounting [Online.] Available at Principles of Strategic Management Accounting – Open Educational Resources Collective (Accessed 28th February 2026). |
Television show | “Title of Episode” (Year) Title of Show, Series number, episode number. Channel or streaming service, day and month broadcast. | “Stronger Together” (2025) Other People’s Money, Series 1, episode 7. SBS, 13th June. |
AI-generated content* | Organisation (year) Software (version) [format.] Available at: URL (Accessed: date). | OpenAI (2025) Chat GPT (Aug 2025 version) [Large Language Model.] Available at Lecture preparation process (Accessed 28 November 2025). |
* If you use any artificial intelligence in an assessment, you must declare this on the assessment cover page. Include:
? how you used AI (e.g. idea generation, summarising notes etc.).
? exact text of your prompts
? If you refer to it in the assesment, the exact place (page number, paragraph and/or line number).
If you have any questions or doubts, please ask the Academic Skills Advisor, Jason Bolster.
