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Leeds Harvard: Reference work

Reference examples

Reference work (physical copy) 

The editor and publisher of a well-known reference work can be omitted, but cite the page numbers consulted:

Title. Edition (if not first edition). Year. s.v. Section heading, page number of your quotation.

Example:

New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 2005. s.v. Microradiography, p.1374.

s.v. stands for "sub verbo". This means "look under" and directs the reader to find it under another heading, in this case the section.

Use p. to reference a single page, and pp. for a range of pages.

Reference work (online) 

Title. [Online]. Edition (if not first edition). Year. s.v. Section heading, page number of your quotation (if available). [Date accessed]. Available from: URL

Example:

Oxford English Dictionary. [Online]. 15th ed. 2005. s.v. Microradiography, p.1374. [Accessed 7 January 2014]. Available from: www.oed.com

Electronic pocket dictionary

Title. [Name of e-dictionary reader]. Year. s.v. Section heading, page number of your quotation (if available).

Example

Oxford Crossword Dictionary. [Seiko ER3200 Oxford Crossword Solver Pocket Dictionary]. 2005. s.v. Microradiography, p.1374.

Citation examples

Reference work

When citing a well-known reference work use the title of the work and the year of publication.

Example

This term originates from the early nineteenth century (Oxford English Dictionary, 2005).

If you use the name of the reference work in the text, only the publication year needs to be mentioned in brackets.

Example

The Oxford English Dictionary (2005, p.216) defines this term as ...

When to include page numbers

You should include page numbers in your citation if you quote directly from the text, paraphrase specific ideas or explanations, or use an image, diagram, table, etc. from a source.

Example:

"It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent" (Jones, 2017, p.24).

When referencing a single page, you should use p. For a range of pages, use pp.

Example:

p.7 or pp.20-29.

If the page numbers are in Roman numerals, do not include p. before them.

Example:

(Amis, 1958, iv)

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: