Peculiarities of the Harvard Style
The Harvard citation style can be compared to the APA. Still, there are two distinctive features that differ these styles from each other. There is no specific manual on the Harvard style. One can follow a few sets of instructions when formatting papers in this style. Nevertheless, there is one important thing one should strictly adhere to when dealing with such a format. It is required to use the author name/date pattern when citing articles, books, and other sources.
As well as in APA, a bibliography and an in-text citation should be placed at the end of one’s paper. When making references in the essay body, the author’s name and publication year should be indicated in brackets. The entries in the bibliography have to be arranged in alphabetical order and include the title of the source and the author’s name. The data presented in the references is the shortened version of the material provided in the cited pattern.
Concise Summary
In order to succeed in writing academic papers, one should bear in mind that it is of cardinal importance to clearly express one’s thoughts and ideas. In addition, it is necessary to remember that a paper, no matter its type, has to be based on hard facts. One’s personal opinion about the discussed subject has to be supported with strong arguments. It should be also emphasized that not only the content but also the way it is organized matters.
Students should be conversant with all current formats and writing styles in order to manage to prepare papers meeting both academic standards and the professor’s requirements. According to the specific style, students need to format their pieces of writing, provide information, make quotations, etc., in a specific way. The Harvard writing style is considered one of the most widely applied academic modes.
Main Characteristics
This article has been created by our writers with the aim of making the process of writing papers easy. You will not experience any major difficulties in organizing texts in Harvard if you pay attention to the helpful directions given below.
- The Harvard citation style is used by the majority of educational institutions. It has simple referencing what is especially admired by all students. Formatting papers in Harvard is not as complicated as in other styles.
- There are particular guidelines for making references and embedding them in the work formatted in the Harvard style. As to the reference page, close attention should be drawn to the way the entries are organized. It is necessary to properly indicate the author’s name, entry title, publication year, publishing house, and location.
- In the Harvard style, it is required to make in-text citations followed by the author’s name and publication year presented in parentheses.
- The academic papers formatted in Harvard are technically organized in the same way as in other writing styles. Times New Roman and double spacing are to be applied to the text.
- The pieces of writing formatted in Harvard are easy to read, as this specific style is characterized by the coherence of ideas and clear presentation of references.
The key purpose of the Harvard writing style is to provide detailed information about the sources used in the paper. In order to organize references in the right way, students should stick to particular guidelines. One should realize that the specifications relating to this style change from time to time. Therefore, it is worth checking the updates every time you start writing your work at Harvard. It should be stated that today, it is not difficult to find explicit instructions on how to arrange books, periodicals, web resources, and other items in the Harvard style.
Essay Structure
Formatting a Title Page in Harvard
The Harvard writing style is known for its specificity. The title page of a paper organized in this style should be formatted in the following way:
The essay title should be capitalized and put halfway down the page.
- The author’s name should be written in small letters three lines down after the title.
- The name of your class should be typed in four lines down after the abovementioned item.
- Professor’s name follows that of the class and is placed one line down.
- The succeeding line includes the name of your school.
- On the following line, you need to indicate the city and state. The final line should present the data.
Note that the title page should provide readers with all the necessary data about the writer.
When dealing with the Harvard style, it is essential to remember the following points:
- The title should be right-aligned.
- The so-called partial title should highlight the chief point of the paper. The page number should be put five spaces after it precisely.
- The title page should look like this:
Harvard Paper Sample
- by (Author’s Name)
- Class/Course Name
- Professor’s Name
- University
- City and State where the educational establishment is situated
- Date
Connecting the Paragraphs
When producing a paper in the Harvard style, it is necessary to connect the paragraphs logically to make your paper coherent.
It is required to discuss the topic gradually, i.e. idea by idea. In the Harvard style, a paragraph consists of the following three parts:
- A topic sentence
- Valid arguments supporting the author’s opinion
- Concluding statement
Making Citations in Harvard
In-text citations are widely used in the Harvard style. The author’s name and the first initial, publication year, the number of a page containing the presented data should be included in the quotation arranged in Harvard. If you do not want to be accused of plagiarism, you need to provide citations for each of the imparted facts. Take a look at the example of the in-text citation taken from page 45 from the book of J. K. Rowling published in 2004: (Rowling J.K, 2004, 45). Such quotes make the work formatted in Harvard clear and easy to follow.
The papers organized in Harvard should be typed by using such fonts as Times New Roman or Arial 12-pt font size. It is not permitted to use any fancy fonts, as the Harvard style is used for formatting academic papers. Apply double spacing and make even left margins. The titles of books, journals, newspapers, or web resources should be italicized in in-text citations. However, those brief stories and poems are to be presented in quotation marks.
Concluding Paragraph
It is particularly important to produce a logical and reasonable conclusion. Its first sentence should stress a thesis statement and point out the main idea of the academic work. A concluding section should also briefly outline the key aspects of the explored topic. It is necessary to end this paragraph with a solid phrase that should make readers ponder over the significance of the analyzed issue.
After the conclusion, it is necessary to create a reference list. It should indicate all the sources you have been referring to when producing your piece of writing.
In the Harvard formatting style, references should include the following data:
- Author’s Last Name, First Initial
- Publication year
- Book title written in capital letters
- City where the source was published: Publisher
Harvard Formatting
In order to write a quality paper, one should possess remarkable writing, research, and analytical skills, be fully aware of the discussed subject and other facets of academic writing. Moreover, it is essential to have great experience in preparing papers, know how to express one’s thoughts clearly, and make proper references to the works you are using for covering your topic.
There are various writing styles that are used by different educational establishments for formatting academic papers. Professors aim to teach students the main formatting rules so that they, students, know how to organize sources and citations in a specific style correctly. It should be admitted that Harvard is regarded as one of the oldest and most popular formatting styles.
Peculiar Features of Harvard Formatting:
- The greatest benefit of the Harvard style is that it offers a simple referencing system.
- In Harvard, the sources which the writer has referred to when creating a paper are arranged according to the officially established citing standards. Each entry should include the author’s name, publication year, source title, publication location, and publishing house.
- Harvard requires in-text citations to contain the author’s name, year, and the number of a page where the citation is taken from.
- When producing texts in the Harvard referencing style, it is necessary to use Times New Roman and apply double spacing. By fulfilling all the requirements, one will manage to create a logical and comprehensible piece of writing.
Since the major accent of the Harvard style is put on citations and references, it is crucial to adhere to the set guidelines in order to organize citations, books, websites, newspapers, articles, and other entries properly. As Harvard is widely used in academic writing, it is constantly updated. The latest changes to this style can be easily found on the Internet.
Benefits of Order-Essay.org
When writing academic papers in Harvard as well as in any other citation style, it is necessary to make correct formatting from the very beginning, i.e. at the drafting stage. In this case, it will be easier for you to make the required corrections later. In addition, when conducting research, it is advised to put down all the essential details about the sources you are going to use to write your work. Thus, you will not miss any specific items.