A Few Differences Between the Harvard System and

the APA System

Ke Ping
Frequently used in Translation Studies, the Harvard Referencing System is like
the APA Referencing system in that both are Name and Date systems. It is
basically the same as the APA System (which is also used in Translation Studies).
A few differences, however, exist between the two systems, which may be
regarded as indicators of the kind of specific standard format (writing style) a
thesis, a paper, or a book uses:
(1) The list of references included at the end of a document is named Reference List
in the Harvard System instead of References as in the APA System.
(2) An edited work is marked with ed[s]. or edited by {NB: the first letter is not
capitalized} in the Reference List in the Harvard System but (Ed[s].). in the
References in the APA System. The ed[s]. or edited by indicator and the name[s] of the
editor[s] follows the title of the edited work in the Harvard System but precedes the title of
the edited work in the APA System.
(3) The date of publication of a citation is NOT parenthesized in the Reference List in
the Harvard System but always parenthesized in the References in the APA System.
Also, in the Harvard System the page number of the cited work in the in-text citation is
sometimes introduced with a colon, e.g. (Mundy, 2001: 30), instead of p. or pp., e.g.
(Mundy, 2001, p. 30), as in the APA System. For examples, consult the University of
Auckland Librarys Harvard Referencing Style page
(http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/vl/cite/harvex.htm; http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/instruct/ref/ha
rvard.htm), and the Queensland University of Technology Librarys Referencing Using
Harvard Style (http://www.library.qut.edu.au/subjectpath/Harvard.jsp).
Examples from a reference list in the Harvard Style:
Blaxter, M. 1976. Social class and health inequalities, in Equalities and inequalities in health, edited
by Carl J. Carter. London: Academic Press: 120-135.
Wharton, N. 1996. Health and safety in outdoor activity centres. Journal of Adventure Education and
Outdoor Leadership, 12(4): 8-9.
Sopensky, E. 2002. Chocolate makes money, Business Journal. 3(1): 20-24. (accessed April 14,
2004, from ProQuest database).
Dawson, J., Deubert, K., Grey-Smith, S. & Smith, L. 2002. 'S' Trek 6: Referencing, not
plagiarism. [Online]. Available from: http://lisweb.curtin.edu.au/guides/studytrekk/strek6.html. [4
September 2004].

(4)* To provide the access information when referencing electronic sources, Retrieved
__[Month]__[Day], __[Year], from __[Url] is used in the APA System, while in the Harvard
System, the following format is used:

Lindfors, A-M. (2001). Respect or Ridicule: Translation Strategies and the Images of A Foreign
Culture.
Helsinki
English
studies
[online],
I. Available
from: http://www.eng.helsinki.fi/hes/Transltion [Accessed 12 July 2001].

In the case of personal electronic communication, the sequence is:

Bowker, L. (Ibowker@uottawa.ca), 5 October 2001. RE: Corpus-based Translation Studies. E-mail
to J. Williams (jenny.williams@dcu.ie).
* The examples under (3) and (4) are taken respectively from the University of Auckland Librarys Harvard Referencing
Style page (http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/instruct/ref/harvard.htm) and Jenny Williams & Andrew Chestermans A Beginners
Guide to Doing Research in Translation Studies. (Manchester, UK: St. Jerome Publishing. 2002).
Drafted on December, 2004. Revised on January, 2007.