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Harvard Style

This guide describes the Harvard system of Citing and Referencing sources in academic work.

 

A figure may be a chart, a graph, a photograph, a drawing, or any other illustration that you want to use in your assignment. Tables are words or numbers that are displayed in orderly rows and columns.

 

Reproduction of tables, diagrams, pictures etc. should be treated as direct quotes, in that the author(s) should be acknowledged and page numbers shown both in your text where the diagram is discussed or introduced and in the caption you write for it. i.e. the author(s) is alluded to 3 times:

  1. In a caption, just above or below the figure or table. This includes a title and its source. Figure captions go below the figure and Table captions go above the table. If you are reproducing any image from a source, you should also include copyright permission.
  2.  In your text. Include a citation and a sentence or more about the image or table explaining what it exemplifies and why it is there. For example, Figure 1 shows ...
  3. As a reference in your Bibliography or Reference List.

 

If you are writing a thesis, you will need to show a 'List of Figures' immediately after the table of contents. They should appear in consecutive order, as they are referred to in the text, and have clear, concise titles. If you have only used a few images, you can include the details of the figures in your Reference List.

Examples

Figures reproduced or adapted from books or book chapters

The caption for any image that you use should be given a figure number and a brief description of what it is. Permission for use of an image in a published work should be acknowledged in the figure caption. Some organisations will require the permission statement to be given exactly as they specify. If they are required, permissions need to be stated in addition to the citing and referencing guidance given below.

 

Picture of a greyhound

Figure 1: The greyhound (Source: Youatt, 1845, p. 28)

 

In-Text Citation:

Refer to the image or figure in the body of the text of your assignment as its figure number.

 

Examples:
  • As can be seen in Figure 1...

  • Figure 2 shows...

  • ... (see Figure 3)

  • Kelly (2024, p. 20, fig. 2) demonstrates ...

 

Reference List entry:

 

Youatt, W. (1845) The dog. London: Lea and Blanchard.

 


Figure referred to in your text (not reproduced)

If you simply refer to a figure in a book, but do not reproduce it in your document, format the in text-citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

 

In-Text Citation

Ryan (2015, p. 208, fig. 9.1) shows how ‘social media integrates every aspect of business’.

 

Entry in Reference List

Ryan, D. (2015) Understanding social media: how to create a plan for your business that works. London: Kogan Page.

 

 

Figures reproduced or adapted from Articles

When referencing a figure, table, diagram, or illustration, begin with the original source. Use the terminology from the article (e.g., illus./fig./diagram/logo/table) to identify the illustration and provide the page number and any caption number in your in-text citation. The entire article will be included in the reference list entry.

 

Caption

Nautical chart of Galway Bay

Figure 1. Nautical chart of Galway Bay (Source: Smith, 1984, p. 5). CC BY 4.0.

 

In-Text Citation:

Figure 1 shows a Nautical chart of Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland from 1845 which highlights … (Smith, 1984, p. 5).

 

Entry in the Reference List:

Smith, J. (1984). ‘Galway Bay’, Geography Journal, 10(1), pp. 1-10..

 


Figure referred to in your text (not reproduced)

If you simply refer to a figure in an article, but do not reproduce it in your document, format the in text-citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

 

In-Text Citation

A geneticist in New Orleans, Hunter Cole, draws bioluminescent bacteria into different shapes with a paintbrush and photographs them as art (Dybas, 2019).

 

Entry in the Reference List

Dybas, C.L. (2019) 'A new wave: Science and art meet in the sea', Oceanography, 32(1), pp. 10-11. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.104

 

Images reproduced from websites

This is for any image from a website (photograph, diagram, illustration, table, figure, etc.). It is fairly common for websites to copy images from other sources. You should try to find and credit the original creator of the image rather than use secondary referencing. Google’s Reverse Image Search can help with this or tineye.com.

 

Go to images.google.com, click the camera icon, and either paste in the URL for an image you've seen online, upload an image from your hard drive, or drag an image from another window.

 

Caption:

In the caption below the figure:

  • Show the Figure number, Figure title and source (author and year). 
  • Note that you should use the wording “Reprinted [or Adapted] with permission” only when permission has been sought and granted.

 

Infographic of Household Internet Security 2023

Figure 1. Household Internet Security (Source: Central Statistics Office, 2023).

 

In-text Citation

We are exposed to a vast amount of information as our daily lives become more digitally connected; some of it is real, some of it is obviously false, and some of it needs additional analysis and research. Figure 1 (Central Statistics Office, 2023) shows actions that households in Ireland took in 2023 to protect their information on the web.

 

Entry in Reference List

 

Central Statistics Office (2023) Household internet security 2023. Available at: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-isshisi/householdinternetsecurity2023/ (Accessed: 15 June 2024).

 


Figure referred to in your text (not reproduced)

If you simply refer to an image, but do not reproduce it in your document, format the in text-citation and the reference list entry in the usual way.

 

In-Text Citation

The Cleveland Clinic (2022) depicts the complications of obstructive sleep apnoea in their model.

 

Entry in the Reference List

Cleveland Clinic (2022) Obstructive sleep apnea. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24443-obstructive-sleep-apnea-osa (Accessed: 15 June 2024)..

 


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