One of the types of academic writing is a research paper. Research writing entails a variety of academic writing styles which are predetermined based on a couple of aspects. One is the institution of learning, second of which is the field of research. Every category of study has an ideal writing technique applied in coming up with academic works falling under its class. Frequently used writing styles include Harvard writing style, Turabian writing style, MLA, APA and ASA styles. This article focuses on the application of the Harvard style of writing in penning down Harvard style papers. We seek to explain the rule governing the Harvard writing style in depth.
An extract from relevant sources is inserted in the main body of a research paper’s content before the material or right after the citation. The bibliography section will later contain a complete reference to the cited source. Harvard styled papers peg their reliance on an author-date quotation system. This format employs the writer’s last or surname and the publication date as a way to quote used sources. In instances that the author has paraphrased borrowed texts, Harvard styled articles consist of dates in the in the in-text quotations where citations are directly quoted from original materials.
Johnson, R. I.1994. The spread of HIV/Aids in Africa, Harper Perennial Publishers: New York. A format akin to the one above is found in the reference segment of Harvard papers. Other arrangements are such as There was an observed increase in the number of HIV cases in Africa during the late 80’s (Johnson, 2001. Pp2) or According to Johnson (2001, pp 2) there was an observed increase in the number of HIV cases in Africa during the late 80’s.
If texts are borrowed from several writers but less than three, this writing style dictates that surnames of all three authors be included: The result showed a negative yield on the score (Johnson, James & Betty, 2001). Conversely, if authors are exceeded three, the writer will employ the abbreviation et.al. which translates to those not named after the last author’s surname. Case in point would be (Tomlinson et.al. 2005). This format indicates several writers have been cataloged in the reference page having contributed to the work in question. A list detailing these citations should have its particular page.
A point to note on references listed in a Harvard paper is that they are arranged in alphabetical order based on the writers’ surnames. Cases may arise where there exist several references by one author in a particular Harvard style paper. In such a case, the author of the article is advised to arrange the list chronologically as this will help differentiated the references. One has to indicate the writer’s name, the title of the book, year published, edition number, the place, and company of publication for the citation to be explicitly referenced. In Harvard Papers, however, one has also to include journal volumes as well as issue numbers to simplifying the follow-up process.
