Sheffield Hallam University Harvard Referencing

To cite a website in Sheffield Harvard style, give the individual or corporate author, the year the page was published or last updated, the title of the web page, the URL, and the access date, and only treat it as a web page if it does not fit a more specific type, such as a report or journal article. This format is used for standard informational pages on websites, especially when the page is written by a named person or an organisation.

To cite a journal article in Sheffield Harvard style, give the author, year, article title in single quotation marks, journal title, volume and issue, page range, and then add either a DOI or a URL with an access date if the article is online. This pattern is used for scholarly articles, and Sheffield states that a DOI should be preferred where one exists because it is a stable identifier.

To cite a book in Sheffield Harvard style, give the author, year, book title, edition if it is not the first, place of publication, and publisher. This structure is used for printed books and for many ebooks that mirror the print edition, because Sheffield says those electronic versions are usually referenced in the same way as print books.

To cite in text in Sheffield Harvard style, use the author and year in round brackets, or put the author into the sentence and place the year after the name, and add page numbers when you quote directly or refer to a specific part. Sheffield also states that you name up to three authors in the citation, use et al. for four or more, separate multiple sources with semicolons in chronological order, and avoid ibid. and idem. in Harvard referencing.

To cite a YouTube video in Sheffield Harvard style, use the name of the person or organisation that posted the video, the year posted, the video title, the upload date if available, the URL, and the access date. Sheffield places video-sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, TED, and IGTV in the same family of sources, and it advises adding a timestamp in the in-text citation if you need a precise moment in the video.

To cite multiple authors in Sheffield Harvard style, use all names for two and three authors with “and” between the final names, but use only the first author followed by et al. when there are four or more authors. The same rule applies in the reference list and the in-text citation, and Sheffield specifically prefers “and” rather than “&”.

To cite a chapter in a book in Sheffield Harvard style, give the chapter author, year, chapter title in single quotation marks, the word “in”, the editor, the book title, place of publication, publisher, and page range. This format is used when you read one chapter inside an edited book and need to credit the chapter writer rather than only the book editor.

To cite a report in Sheffield Harvard style, give the author or corporate author, year, report title, any paper number, and then either the place and publisher for print reports or the URL and access date for online reports, or a DOI if one exists. This is the standard pattern for policy reports, institutional studies, charity reports, and discussion papers.

To cite a news article in Sheffield Harvard style, give the author, year, article title in single quotation marks, newspaper title, full date, and then either the page number for print or the URL and access date for online news. This format suits newspapers and similar news outlets where the article sits inside a dated publication.

To cite an image in Sheffield Harvard style, give the creator or screen name, year, image title, a description in square brackets such as [Photograph] or [Painting], and then the source details such as a museum, journal, book, or URL with access date. Sheffield also notes that if you created the image yourself, you do not cite it, because your work is assumed to be your own unless you state otherwise.

To cite a thesis in Sheffield Harvard style, use the same Sheffield author-date method and give the author, year, thesis title, thesis type, awarding institution, and URL, plus access date if it is online. The extracted Sheffield pages I accessed do not show a dedicated thesis example, so this is the correct Sheffield-style application of the general rule for full source identification.

To cite a PDF in Sheffield Harvard style, do not cite the file format by itself but cite the source as a report, article, chapter, or web page, because Sheffield says a source should only be treated as a web page when it does not fit another category. In practice, “PDF” describes how you accessed the file, not what the source actually is.

To cite a quote in Sheffield Harvard style, reproduce the exact words, put short quotations in quotation marks, indent longer quotations, and always give the author, year, and page number in the citation. Sheffield also notes that if you omit words from a quotation you should mark the omission with three dots in square brackets.

To cite legislation in Sheffield Harvard style, use the title of the Act and the year as the core reference, because the Sheffield guide places Acts of Parliament under government publications. The extracted pages I accessed point to that government publication category rather than showing the full Act pattern in the same excerpt, so the examples below apply the same Sheffield author-date logic in the usual legal form.

To cite a podcast in Sheffield Harvard style, use the same author-date method and give the host or producer, year, episode title, podcast title, medium, date, and URL plus access date where relevant. The extracted Sheffield pages do not show a dedicated podcast example, so this follows the same logic Sheffield uses for named digital media and online audiovisual sources.

To cite a lecture in Sheffield Harvard style, use the presenter, year, lecture title, medium in square brackets, event or module name, and URL with access date if the lecture slides or recording are retrievable online. Sheffield gives this pattern for presentations, and that is the closest explicit source type for lectures in the extracted guide.

To cite a conference paper in Sheffield Harvard style, give the author, year, paper title, conference title, and publication or online access details, using the same author-date logic that Sheffield applies to presentations and other source types. In the extracted guide, presentation is the closest explicit pattern, so conference papers should be built in the same structured way with enough detail for retrieval.

To cite a dictionary in Sheffield Harvard style, cite either the specific entry or the whole dictionary, and include the editor only where relevant, with online versions taking a URL and access date. Sheffield also notes that dictionaries and encyclopedias may start with the title instead of a person if no named author or editor is the main creator.

To cite an annual report in Sheffield Harvard style, treat it as a report and give the corporate author, year, title of the annual report, and the publication or online access details. Annual reports are commonly used in business, finance, governance, and policy writing because they provide official, citable institutional evidence.

To cite a social media post in Sheffield Harvard style, give the creator name or screen name, year, the post title or the first up to 40 words, the platform in square brackets, the date of posting, and the URL with an access date. Sheffield also notes that if the post is not openly visible you may cite the main platform URL instead of the direct post link.

To cite an interview in Sheffield Harvard style, use the interviewee or interviewer details, the year, the interview title or description, the medium, and enough context to identify whether it is published, recorded, or unpublished. The extracted Sheffield pages do not show a dedicated interview example, so the safest Sheffield-style approach is to follow the general author-date rule and describe the medium clearly.

To cite AI tools in Sheffield Harvard style, apply the same author-date logic by naming the corporate author, year, tool title, version or model if relevant, and the access details, while also following any departmental guidance on declaration and use. The extracted Sheffield guide does not show a dedicated AI tools example, so the most consistent method is to treat the tool as a named digital source with a corporate author and clear retrieval details.

To cite GOV.UK in Sheffield Harvard style, treat the page as a web page with a corporate author and give the government department, year, page title, URL, and access date. GOV.UK is not cited simply as “GOV.UK” unless that is the actual corporate author shown on the page, because Sheffield web citations are built around the named author or organisation.

To cite a website with no author in Sheffield Harvard style, use the title of the page in italics in place of the author, then give the year, the URL, and the access date. Sheffield states this rule directly for web pages with no named author and also notes that you should use “no date” if no publication or update year can be found.

To cite a working paper in Sheffield Harvard style, treat it as a report or discussion paper and give the author or organisation, year, title, paper number if available, and the URL with access date or DOI. This matches Sheffield’s report structure, which already includes paper numbers and online access details for discussion papers and similar unpublished research outputs.