Claire Smith, a Mass Communication graduate, was in her final year when she was assigned with a dissertation. She didn’t realize how tedious the process it will be until she actually started working on it. Out of all the steps, she found herself struggling with the citation part the most. Remembering the rules of citation and referencing turned out to be too difficult for her.
Claire is just one of those students for whom the citation process is an uphill journey. Now many of you may decide to use the summary generator or citation generator tools as a quick fix to this problem. But you still need to remember the rules of the different citation styles. Mentioned below some steps to help you create reference pages for your dissertation in Harvard and APA style.
Creating reference pages for your Dissertation in Harvard style
Whether you’re working on a reference page for a dissertation or other types of academic documents, you can follow these steps instead of using a Harvard referencing generator tool.
Keep track of your bibliographic information as you research
In the written text of your assignment, you’ll only need the author’s surname and the publication year to cite using Harvard style. However, you’ll require more detailed citation within the reference list or “Works Cited” section.
The most convenient way to keep your resource details organized is to use a word-processing document. This allows you to prepare a References page and add to it as you dig up new sources.
Mention the authors of your references in alphabetical order
A reference list is presented alphabetically by the surname of the author. In case of multiple authors, you need to alphabetize by the surname of the first author listed.
On a reference page, mention the first and last names of all authors unless there are more than four authors. If a source consists of more than four authors, mention the first author followed by “et al.” Also, if you use a book with chapters or sections written by multiple authors, include the title of the section you incorporated as a source for your paper with the name of the author of that section or chapter.
Present the publication or broadcast date in parentheses
In the case of books and other types of sources, you only need a year. However, you’ll have to list the specific date when it released for citing television shows or periodicals.
For instance, if you’re citing a newspaper article, the author and date in your reference list would be “Rogers, Sally (January 15, 2019).” Some universities also prefer that you shorten the months of the year in the reference entry.
Incorporate the primary title of the work in italics
After mentioning the date within the parenthesis, the next part of the citation in your reference list is the title of the article or book that you’ve used as a source. Add a period after the title of the work, but don’t use any other punctuation (like commas or semi-colons) between the date and title of the work.
For example: “Rogers, Sally (January 2, 2014) The Plight of the NHS Workers.”
Find the location published and the publisher’s name
The next information that goes into your reference entry is the place where the publisher is located and the name. You can check with your professor to find out what abbreviations are appropriate for place names.
If the publisher operates from more than one location, use the first place provided in your citation. In case of online sources, include a word like this, “[Online]” in brackets. Then mention “Available from:” and write the exact web address.
Include the page numbers where the work cited appears
If you’re using a book as a reference, the citation essentially ends with the publisher’s name. However, for journals, magazines, or other sources that consist of many other articles you’re not citing, you’ll need to highlight the specific page where the article appears.
Mention the page range or number last and write “p.” before it for a single page or “pp.” for a range of pages.
Creating reference pages for your Dissertation in APA style
Mention the author’s last name followed by their first name
In APA style, you only use initials for the first name. Place a comma after the surname, and then mention the initial for the author’s first and middle name if both are mentioned in the source.
For instance, the name of the author would look like this:
Holt, D. B.
Incorporate the year of publication next
Keep the year of publication in parentheses, and add a period afterwards. You can find the year of publication on the front or back of the title page of the book.
Your entry will look like this:
Holt, D. B. (2019).
Add the title of the book next
Mention the title in italics. Use the normal sentence-style capitalization, which means you capitalize the first word only (and the proper nouns). This includes capitalizing the word that comes after a colon.
Your citation now is like this:
Tolkien, J.R.R.(1954). Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the ring.
Put the location and publisher next
Write down the city of publication, add a comma, and the state’s abbreviation. After that, incorporate a colon, followed by the publisher. Add a period after the publisher.
Now, your entry will look this way:
Tolkien, J.R.R.(1954). Lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring.
London, Allen & Unwin.
Parting thoughts,
If you’re a final year student like Claire who is struggling with citing sources in the dissertation paper, these ideas will be helpful for you. Knowing the steps will make it less of a struggle as you work on the citation process.
Author bio: Adam Glover is a visiting faculty for a noted college in Australia. Glover has acquired his PhD in History from Murdoch University. He dabbles actively into blogging and writing and loves poetry. He’s also an academic expert for MyAssignmenthelp.com and offers guidance on Harvard referencing generator tools.
