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Harvard

Getting started

This guide offers advice on using the Harvard referencing style, which is an author-date style.  The Harvard style used at Monash University is based on the Australian Government’s Style Manual, referred to throughout this document as the Style Manual.  The Style Manual was updated in 2020 and is available online. 

Our interactive online tutorials can help you understand the basics of citing and referencing, and why it's important.

Elements of citing and referencing in Harvard style

Two of the main reasons why we use referencing styles are to acknowledge our sources and to give readers the information they need to find the sources for themselves. This requires two elements: citations and a reference list. 

1. In-text citations

In an author-date style such as Harvard, citations within the text include the author’s surname and the publication year. Each in-text citation has a corresponding entry in the reference list.

2. Reference list

The reference list entries include the author’s name and the publication year, the title, and the publication details. More guidance and examples related to Harvard citations and references are included in the following pages of this guide.

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