Leeds Harvard: Social media
Reference examples
General principles
Author
Use the author's real name if it is known or provided. If the author’s real name is unknown, use the author’s username.
Copy the author's username as you see it. Do not capitalise the username as if it were a name.
Title
If the post does not have a title, you can use the text of the post as a title. If a post is longer than 20 words, write the first 20 words and then use […] to indicate that extra words have been omitted.
Images
If you find an image on online platforms, such as Pinterest and Tumblr, or on an online search engine, then click through to find the original source of the image.
If this is not possible (for example, because the account holder posted the image without a link to its source), then using a Reverse Image Search tool like TinEye or Google Image Search might help to track the original image.
For details on how to cite and reference specific types of social media, see under type of social media website or application:
Common issues
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
- URL web addresses
- Multiple authors
- Editors
- Corporate author(s) or organisation(s)
- Multiple publisher details
- Editions and reprints
- Missing details
- Multiple sources with different authors
- Sources written by the same author in the same year
- Sources with the same author in different years
- Two authors with the same surname in the same year
- The work of one author referred to by another
- Anonymising sources for confidentiality
- Identifying the authors’ family name (surname)