SH4053QA
Week 6
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC TEXTS
HARVARD REFERENCING
Session overview
Today,we will look at the nature and
application of academic texts
We will go through the key aspects of Harvard
referencing
Let’s start with a quiz…
Academic texts
Academic texts’ can be defined as objective texts with clear
structure, based on evidence, written by experts or scholars
within a field
Journal articles and textbooks are good examples of academic
texts
Academic texts often provide overviews of key topics and theory
with a field, or present current research
Academic texts are used for…
Learning about the key principles, theories and models
surrounding your field of study
Completing your weekly, individual tasks or working in study
groups
Preparing for weekly lectures and seminars
Researching for your assignments, and ultimately writing
for your coursework/presentations
These are usually referred to as ‘sources’ or ‘evidence’
Once you have identified the sources you
want to use for an assessment, you must…
Record what sources you have found through noting their:
Title
Author
Year of publication
Publisher or publishing organisation
The process of recording this information when researching for or
writing up your assignments, is usually referred to as:
Referencing (references)
Citing (citations)
Why do you need to record this information?
Why referencing?
Referencing is a a way of demonstrating the research you
have undertaken in order to write your assignment
It is a way of showing that your arguments are credible
It enables others to trace your work and investigate the
sources of your arguments
Referencing acknowledges the work of the authors you used
to find your information and form your ideas
It ensures you avoid accidental plagiarism
A key feature of
referencing is
ensuring that
what you claim,
is backed up by
evidence
How to reference?
London Metropolitan University uses the Harvard Referencing
system, with referencing through:
In-text citations
Reference list or bibliography
London Met Harvard Referencing Guide
In-text citations occur within a written text immediately
after you present an idea, information or data from a
In-text source
citations
An in-text citation is the brief form of the full reference
that is to be included in a reference list or bibliography
Author(s) or organisation and year
Examples of in-text citations:
Political reform is needed (Kruger, 2007).
Swetnam (2004, p. 95) argues that consistency is of the
utmost importance in referencing.
In-text citations can occur after the sentence is
completed (parenthetical in-text citation), or it can be
incorporated into a sentence (narrative in-text citation)
If you use quotes from texts, you need to include the
page number where you found the quote in the in-text
citation:
According to World Health Organization (2008: 15)
‘combating malaria is one of the key priorities for health
development in the global south’.
Quotes should only be used sparingly in your assignments
A reference list gives the full details of all of the
Reference sources you have used for your assignment
list
All of your in-text citations need to be included in your
reference list
A reference list always appears at the end of your
assignment, starting on a new page
The reference list should be in alphabetical order by
author surname
All entries in the reference list need to include:
Author(s) surname, and initial of given name(s)
Year of publication
Title of publication
Publisher
URL or DOI if applicable
Different kinds of sources is cited in different ways!
Refer to the Harvard Referencing Guide for specifics
Beauchamp, T. and Childress, J. (2001) Principles of
Reference Biomedical Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.
list example Biswas, D., Kristiansen, M., Krasnik, A. and Norredam,
M. (2011) 'Access to healthcare and alternative
health-seeking strategies among undocumented
migrants in Denmark', BMC Public Health, 11:560.
doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-560.
Bradshaw J. A. (1972) Taxonomy of social need. In:
Mclachlan, G. (ed) Problems and progress in medical
care: essays on current research. 7th series. Oxford:
Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust.
Clandestino (2009) Clandestino Project Final Report.
Available at:
[Link]
[Link]
(Accessed 1 December 2016).
Activity – Small groups, approx.
30 mins
Using the London Met Library, the web, and Harvard Referencing
Guide (Refer to session 4 materials):
1. Together, identify two separate, relevant academic sources from
the web or the library
2. Work in your group to correctly provide a reference of each item,
as they would appear in a reference list and as a parenthetical
in-text citation
3. Write down the two references and be ready to share these with
rest of the class
Session summary
We have recapped the key features and uses of academic texts
and information
We have addressed Harvard referencing and highlighted the key
resource for referencing going forward (London Met guide)
Look out for any key preparatory readings before our next
session!
