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Leeds Harvard introduction

Common issues when using Leeds Harvard

When you're referencing with Leeds Harvard you may come across issues with missing details, multiple authors, edited books, references to another author's work or online items, to name a few. Here are some tips on how to deal with some common issues when using Leeds Harvard.

Skip straight to the issue that affects you:

Online items

You should reference the actual version of the item that you have read. This is especially important for items which are published both online and in print/paper format, as page numbers and other information may be different. 

These three pieces of information should be included whenever you reference something you read online:

  • [online]
  • the DOI, or the URL if there is no DOI available
  • the date you accessed the article.

Example for an online book:
Hollensen, S. 2011. Global marketing: a decision oriented approach. [Online]. 5th ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. [Accessed 5 September 2024]. Available from: https://www.vlebooks.com/Product/Index/1999706

If you download or read a PDF from a website, you must reference the actual document type, for example a book chapter, a government report or a leaflet, not the file format (PDF).

URL web addresses

Ensure that you are using the URL (web address) of the actual source document, and not the URL of the Library search result or other search engine (ie Google). URLs from Library search results have the words "primo.exlibrisgroup" in them.  

If you are using a reference manager such as EndNote or Mendeley, it is important to check the URL on items you have imported from databases or search engines, and amend it to the URL of the source document (rather than the database or search engine) where necessary. 

Multiple authors

You should include all author names in the reference. Where a source has a very long list of authors, eg in the case of some scientific articles, you might wish to consult your tutor on whether to use "et al." in place of some author names.

Two authors

If the source has two authors, you should include both authors in the reference, with their names separated by "and".

Format your reference as Family name, INITIAL(S). and Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title. Edition (if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Example reference:
Ahmed, T. and Meehan, N. 2012. Advanced reservoir management and engineering. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Gulf Professional Publishing.

In the citation, both names should be given.

Example citation:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Ahmed and Meehan, 2012).

If you have already named the authors in the text, only the year needs to be included in brackets.

Example citation:
Ahmed and Meehan (2012) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent.

Three or more authors

If the source has three or more authors, you should include "and" before the final author name.

Format your reference as: Family name, INITIAL(S)., Family name, INITIAL(S). and Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title. Edition (if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Example reference:
Clayden, J., Greeves, N. and Warren, S. 2012. Organic chemistry. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

In the citation, if a source has three or more authors, the name of the first author should be given, followed by the phrase “et al.”

Example citations:

  • It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Jones et al., 2011).
  • Jones et al. (2011) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent.

Editor(s)

If you are referencing a book with an editor rather than an author, this should be indicated in the reference.

Family name, INITIAL(S) (of editor). ed. Year. Title. Edition (only if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Crandell, K.A. ed. 1999. The evolution of HIV. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.

Wexler, P., van der Kolk, J., Mohapatra, A. and Agarwal, R. eds. 2012. Chemicals, environment, health: a global management perspective. Boca Raton, FL: CRC.

For an edited book with chapters written by different authors, see Book chapter (in an edited book).

Corporate author(s) or organisation(s)

If the item is produced by an organisation, treat the organisation as a "corporate author".

This means you can use the name of the organisation instead of an individual author. This could include government departments, universities and companies. Use them in the citation and reference in the same way as you would an individual author.

When you don't mention the corporate author name in your text, cite the author and the date of publication in brackets, often at the end of the sentence:

Example:
According to a recent report, flu jabs are as important as travel vaccines (Department of Health, 2011)

If you have already named the author in your text, you only need to include the year in brackets.

Example:
According to the Department of Health (2011), flu jabs are as important as travel vaccines.

Abbreviations or acronyms

You can use abbreviations or acronyms if you need to cite a corporate author several times. You might mention the same document a number of times, or refer to documents written in different years by the same corporate author, eg (NHS, 2017) and (NHS, 2016).

The first time you cite the corporate author use the full name followed by the standard abbreviation or acronym in square brackets, but before the year.

In your reference list or bibliography, use the corporate author name in full.

Example:
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2011). When you cite from the same source again just write the abbreviation. For example: (OECD, 2011).

Example:
The National Health Service [NHS] (2017) reported... For later citations, use the abbreviation and year. For example: (NHS, 2017).

Locating publisher details

The name of the publisher of a book can usually be located on the front cover or spine of the book.  Further publisher details including their location can usually be found on the copyright page near the beginning of the book. 

This is frequently the case for other documents such as conference proceedings or reports, although the publisher details can sometimes also be found on the back page of the document.  

If you can’t see the place of publication on the document itself, you may need to search for the publisher’s website to find out where their headquarters or main office is. Use that location as the place of publication.

Multiple publisher details

If multiple publishers are listed, you should include only the first publisher listed, or the British one if it is a choice between a UK and an overseas publisher, in your reference list or bibliography.

Multiple places of publication

If multiple places of publication are listed, you should use the first place name given when writing your reference list.

If there is a town and county/state on the title page, you should just give the town. However, if there is more than one well-known town of that name you might want to give the state as well to make it clear.

Example:
Stern, D.N. 2002. The first relationship: infant and mother. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Editions and reprints

You should reference the year your edition was first published. Don't include any subsequent reprint dates, unless the publisher has changed, in which case you should reference the first date of publication of the new publisher's edition.

Example of a book reprinted by a different publisher (see the different editions in the library catalogue):
Achebe, C. 2006. Things fall apart. London: Penguin.

Missing details

No author

First check whether there is a corporate author. If there is no individual or corporate author, it is acceptable to use “Anon” in your reference.

You should also use “Anon” in your citation.

No date

If you are referencing a book which has only a copyright year, you can use this date preceded with a "c", eg c2008.

If there is no publication date and no copyright date, use [no date].

Example reference:
Jones, M. [no date]. Citations and referencing. London: Longmans, Green and Co.

Example citation:
Jones (no date) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent.

Approximate dates

If you are referencing something with an approximate date of publication/creation, use the date preceded by ca.

Example reference:
Le Sueur, E. ca. 1648-9. Alexander and his doctor. [Oil on canvas]. At: London: National Gallery. NG6576.

Example citation:
Le Sueur (ca. 1648-9) told the story of Alexander the Great in his painting.

No page numbers

Page numbers are only included in your reference list or bibliography for a few types of reference, eg journal articles, newspapers, chapters in edited books. If the source has no page numbers, use [no pagination].

Example:
Pajunen, K. 2008. Institutions and inflows of foreign direct investment: a fuzzy-set analysis. Journal of International Business Studies. 39(4), [no pagination].

In the citation, use (no pagination).

Example:
"It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent" (Jones, 1998, no pagination).

If you are citing specific information from a website that does not have page numbers, you do not need to include anything to indicate this in the in-text citation.

No publisher or place of publication

If you are unable to identify the publisher or the place of publication, use [no publisher] or [no place], as appropriate.

Multiple sources with different authors

If you need to refer to two or more sources at the same time, these can be listed, separated by semicolons (;). The sources should be ordered by year of publication with the oldest first. If you have a source with no date, put it last.

Example:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Smith et al., 1998; Roberts, 2005).

If more than one item was published in the same year, they should be listed alphabetically by author surname.

Example:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Andrews et al., 1998; Jones and Baker, 1998; Salmon, 2001).

Sources written in the same year by the same author(s)

If two or more sources have the same author(s) and are from the same year, they should be distinguished by adding a lower-case letter after the year (a, b, c, etc.).

Example:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Jones, 1998a). In a work published later that year, Jones (1998b) proposed that...

If you want to make a single reference to multiple sources from the same year by the same author, you can cite the sources together using the lower-case letters.

Example:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Jones, 1998a; Jones, 1998b).

Each citation should have a matching reference in the reference list.

Examples:

  • Jones, M. 1998a. How to write academically. Leeds: Academic Press.
  • Jones, M. 1998b. Advanced writing tips. Leeds: Academic Press.

Sources written by the same author(s) in different years

If you need to refer to two or more sources by the same author in different years, there is no need to keep repeating the author's surname in the citation.

Include the surname and the oldest year first, then separate the other years by semicolons (;). The sources should be ordered by year of publication, with the oldest first.

Example:
(Smith, 2001; 2005; 2013)

You must include all of the sources separately in your reference list or bibliography.

Sources written by two authors with the same surname in the same year

If two or more sources have authors with the same surname and were written in the same year, they should be distinguished by including the authors' initials in the relevant citations.

Example:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (R.F. Jones, 1998). In a work published later that year, C.B. Jones (1998) proposed that...

The work of one author referred to by another

You should always try to track down the original work, but if this is not possible and you intend to cite the ideas of one author that you have found in the work of another, your in-text citation must include the author of the ideas you are using, the source in which you found them, and the page number.

Example:
It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Jones, 1998, cited in Carol, 2001, p.9).

In your reference list or bibliography, you should only give the details of the source in which you found the ideas. In the above example, you would include the work by Carol, 2001.

If the reader wants to find the full reference details of the original work by Jones, they should be available in the list of references in Carol's work.

Anonymising sources for confidentiality 

You should always use the specific template for the format you are using eg report / leaflet / interview etc but sometimes it may be necessary to anonymise sources to maintain confidentiality. For instance, sensitive medical reports, identity of school placements, or legal sources. In some circumstances you could use terms such as ‘Pupil B’ or ‘Placement school’ instead of actual names. The anonymised part of the institution and title should be in square brackets to indicate substitution.

Example reference:

NHS Trust (Name withheld). 2016. Costs and implications of project beta in intensive care. Unpublished confidential document.

[Placement school]. 2019. [Placement school] examination criteria for pupils with dyslexia. Leeds: [Placement school].

Example citation:

The records they produced (Placement school, 2019) …

Identifying the authors’ family name (surname)

If you are not sure how to reference someone’s name correctly, take a look at our helpful tips.