2020).
Format | Author surname, initial. (Year) . Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Google (2019) . Available at: https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en-US (Accessed: 29 April 2020). |
Notes |
Format | Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , Date. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Rakich, N. (2020) ‘How does Biden stack up to past Democratic nominees?’, , 28 April. Available at: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-does-biden-stack-up-to-past-democratic-nominees/ (Accessed: 29 April 2020). |
Notes |
Format | Author surname, initial. [username] (Year) or text [Website name] Date. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Dorsey, J. [@jack] (2018) We’re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation … [Twitter] 1 March. Available at: https://twitter.com/jack/status/969234275420655616 (Accessed: 29 April 2020). |
Notes |
Format | Author surname, initial. (Year) [Medium]. Institution, City or Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Bosch, H. (1482) [Triptych]. Groeningemuseum, Bruges. |
Notes |
Format | Author surname, initial. (Year) . Date. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Vox (2020) . 10 April. Available at: https://youtu.be/BE-cA4UK07c (Accessed: 29 April 2020). |
Notes |
Format | Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , date, p. page number. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Butler, S. (2020) ‘Women’s fashion manufacturer to make reusable gowns for NHS’, , 28 April. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/28/womens-fashion-manufacturer-to-make-reusable-gowns-for-nhs (Accessed: 29 April 2020). |
Notes |
Format | Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , Volume(Issue) or (Month) or (Season), pp. page range. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). |
Example | Newman, J. (2020) ‘For autistic youths entering adulthood, a new world of challenges awaits’, , (May), pp. 20–24. |
Notes |
When a source has up to three authors, list all of them in the order their names appear on the source. If there are four or more, give only the first name followed by ‘ et al. ’:
Number of authors | Reference example |
---|---|
1 author | Davis, V. (2019) … |
2 authors | Davis, V. and Barrett, M. (2019) … |
3 authors | Davis, V., Barrett, M. and McLachlan, F. (2019) … |
4+ authors | Davis, V. (2019) … |
Sometimes a source won’t list all the information you need for your reference. Here’s what to do when you don’t know the publication date or author of a source.
Some online sources, as well as historical documents, may lack a clear publication date. In these cases, you can replace the date in the reference list entry with the words ‘no date’. With online sources, you still include an access date at the end:
When a source doesn’t list an author, you can often list a corporate source as an author instead, as with ‘Scribbr’ in the above example. When that’s not possible, begin the entry with the title instead of the author:
Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference in meaning:
In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’
In-text citation | Reference list | |
---|---|---|
1 author | (Smith, 2014) | Smith, T. (2014) … |
2 authors | (Smith and Jones, 2014) | Smith, T. and Jones, F. (2014) … |
3 authors | (Smith, Jones and Davies, 2014) | Smith, T., Jones, F. and Davies, S. (2014) … |
4+ authors | (Smith , 2014) | Smith, T. (2014) … |
In Harvard style referencing , to distinguish between two sources by the same author that were published in the same year, you add a different letter after the year for each source:
Add ‘a’ to the first one you cite, ‘b’ to the second, and so on. Do the same in your bibliography or reference list .
To create a hanging indent for your bibliography or reference list :
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2022, November 07). Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 12 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-bibliography/
Other students also liked, a quick guide to harvard referencing | citation examples, harvard in-text citation | a complete guide & examples, referencing books in harvard style | templates & examples, scribbr apa citation checker.
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Extracurriculars.
Harvard University, perhaps the most prestigious and well-known institution in the world, is the nation’s oldest higher learning establishment with a founding date of 1636. Boasting an impressive alumni network from Sheryl Sandberg to Al Gore, it’s no surprise that Harvard recruits some of the top talents in the world.
It’s no wonder that students are often intimidated by Harvard’s extremely open-ended supplemental essays. However, CollegeVine is here to help and offer our guide on how to tackle Harvard’s supplemental essays.
Read this Harvard essay example to inspire your own writing.
Prompt 1: Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard? (200 words)
Prompt 2: Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you. (200 words)
Prompt 3: Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. (200 words)
Prompt 4: How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future? (200 words)
Prompt 5: Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you. (200 words)
Brainstorming Your Topic
This prompt is a great example of the classic diversity supplemental essay . That means that, as you prepare to write your response, the first thing you need to do is focus in on some aspect of your identity, upbringing, or personality that makes you different from other people.
As you start brainstorming, do remember that the way colleges factor race into their admissions processes will be different this year, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June. Colleges can still consider race on an individual level, however, so if you would like to write your response about how your racial identity has impacted you, you are welcome to do so.
If race doesn’t seem like the right topic for you, however, keep in mind that there are many other things that can make us different, not just race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and the other aspects of our identities that people normally think of when they hear the word “diversity.” That’s not to say that you can’t write about those things, of course. But don’t worry if you don’t feel like those things have played a significant role in shaping your worldview. Here are some examples of other topics that could support a strong essay:
The only questions you really need to ask yourself when picking a topic are “Does this thing set me apart from other people?” and “Will knowing this thing about me give someone a better sense of who I am overall?” As long as you can answer “yes” to both of those questions, you’ve found your topic!
Tips for Writing Your Essay
Once you’ve selected a topic, the question becomes how you’re going to write about that topic in a way that helps Harvard admissions officers better understand how you’re going to contribute to their campus community. To do that, you want to connect your topic to some broader feature of your personality, or to a meaningful lesson you learned, that speaks to your potential as a Harvard student.
For example, perhaps your interest in Scottish castles has given you an appreciation for the strength of the human spirit, as the Scots were able to persevere and build these structures even in incredibly remote, cold parts of the country. Alternatively, maybe being half Puerto Rican, but not speaking Spanish, has taught you about the power of family, as you have strong relationships even with relatives you can’t communicate with verbally.
Remember that, like with any college essay, you want to rely on specific anecdotes and experiences to illustrate the points you’re making. To understand why, compare the following two excerpts from hypothetical essays.
Example 1: “Even though I can’t speak Spanish, and some of my relatives can’t speak English, whenever I visit my family in Puerto Rico I know it’s a place where I belong. The island is beautiful, and I especially love going to the annual party at my uncle’s house.”
Example 2: “The smell of the ‘lechón,’ or suckling pig greets me as soon as I enter my uncle’s home, even before everyone rushes in from the porch to welcome me in rapid-fire Spanish. At best, I understand one in every ten words, but my aunt’s hot pink glasses, the Caribbean Sea visible through the living room window, and of course, the smell of roasting pork, tell me, wordlessly yet undeniably, that I’m home.”
Think about how much better we understand this student after Example 2. If a few words were swapped out, Example 1 could’ve been written by anyone, whereas Example 2 paints us a clear picture of how this student’s Puerto Rican heritage has tangibly impacted their life.
Mistakes to Avoid
The biggest challenge with this particular “Diversity” essay is the word count. Because you only have 200 words to work with, you don’t have space to include more than one broader takeaway you’ve learned from this aspect of your identity.
Of course, people are complicated, and you’ve likely learned many things from being Puerto Rican, or from being interested in Scottish castles. But for the sake of cohesion, focus on just one lesson. Otherwise your essay may end up feeling like a bullet-point list of Hallmark card messages, rather than a thoughtful, personal, reflective piece of writing.
The other thing you want to avoid is writing an essay that’s just about your topic. Particularly since you’re going to be writing about an aspect of your identity that’s important to you, you’ll likely have a lot to say just about that. If you aren’t careful, you may burn through all 200 words without getting to the broader significance of what this piece of your personality says about who you are as a whole.
That component, however, is really the key to a strong response. Harvard receives over 40,000 applications a year, which means that, whether you write about being Puerto Rican or Scottish castles, it’s likely someone else is writing about something similar.
That doesn’t mean you need to agonize over picking something absolutely nobody else is writing about, as that’s practically impossible. All it means is that you need to be clear about how this aspect of your identity has shaped you as a whole, as that is how your essay will stand out from others with similar topics.
Harvard admissions officers are being considerate here, as they’re telling you explicitly what they would like you to write about. Of course, there are still nuances to the prompt, but in terms of brainstorming, just ask yourself: What is an intellectual experience that’s been important to me?
Keep in mind that “intellectual” doesn’t necessarily mean “academic.” You absolutely can write a great response about a paper, project, or some other experience you had through school. But you could also write about attending a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic, or about a book you read for fun that made a big impact on you. So long as the experience was intellectually stimulating, you can write a strong essay about it.
Once you’ve picked an experience, the key is to describe it in a way that shows Harvard admissions officers how this experience has prepared you to contribute to their classrooms, and campus community as a whole. In other words, don’t just tell them what you did, but also what you learned and why that matters for understanding what kind of college student you’ll be.
For example, say you choose to write about a debate project you did in your American history class, where you had to prepare for both sides and only learned which one you would actually be defending on the day of the debate. You could describe how, although you came into the project with pre-existing opinions about the topic, the preparation process taught you that, if you’re thoughtful and open-minded, you can usually find merit and logic even in the polar opposite position from your own.
Alternatively, you could write about a book you read that had been translated from Danish, and how reading it got you interested in learning more about how to translate a text as faithfully as possible. After watching many interviews with translators and reading a book about translation, you have learned that sometimes, the most literal translation doesn’t capture the spirit from the original language, which to you is proof that, in any piece of writing, the human element is at least as important as the words on the page.
Notice that both of these examples include broader reflections that zoom out from the particular experiences, to show what you took away from them: increased open-mindedness to different perspectives, for the first, and a more nuanced understanding of what makes art, art, in the case of the second.
A strong response must include this kind of big-picture takeaway, as it shows readers two things. First, that you can reflect thoughtfully on your experiences and learn from them. And second, it shows them a skill or perspective you’d be bringing with you to Harvard, which gives them a better sense of how you’d fit into their campus community.
The only real thing you need to watch out for is accidentally selecting an experience that, for whatever reason, doesn’t allow you to incorporate the kind of bigger-picture takeaway described above. Maybe the experience just happened, so you’re still in the process of learning from it. Or maybe the lessons you learned are too nuanced to describe in 200 words.
Whatever this reason, if you find yourself unable to articulate the broader significance of this experience, head back to the drawing board, to select one that works better for this prompt. What you don’t want to do is try to force in a takeaway that doesn’t really fit, as that will make your essay feel generic or disjointed, since the “moral of the story” won’t clearly connect to the story itself.
This is a textbook example of the “Extracurricular” essay . As such, what you need to do is well-defined, although it’s easier said than done: select an extracurricular activity that has, as Harvard says, “shaped who you are,” and make sure you’re able to articulate how it’s been formative for you.
As you brainstorm which extracurricular you want to write about, note that the language of the prompt is pretty open-ended. You write about “any” activity, not just one you have a lot of accolades in, and you don’t even have to write about an activity—you can also write about a travel experience, or family responsibility.
If the thing that immediately jumps to mind is a club, sport, volunteer experience, or other “traditional” extracurricular, that’s great! Run with that. But if you’re thinking and nothing in that vein seems quite right, or, alternatively, you’re feeling bold and want to take a creative approach, don’t be afraid to get outside the box. Here are some examples of other topics you could write a strong essay about:
These more creative topics can do a lot to showcase a different side of you, as college applications have, by their nature, a pretty restricted scope, and telling admissions officers about something that would never appear on your resume or transcript can teach them a lot about who you are. That being said, the most important thing is that the topic you pick has genuinely been formative for you. Whether it’s a conventional topic or not, as long as that personal connection is there, you’ll be able to write a strong essay about it.
The key to writing a strong response is focusing less on the activity itself, and more on what you’ve learned from your involvement in it. If you’re writing about a more conventional topic, remember that admissions officers already have your activities list. You don’t need to say “For the last five years, I’ve been involved in x,” because they already know that, and when you only have 200 words, wasting even 10 of them means you’ve wasted 5% of your space.
If you’re writing about something that doesn’t already show up elsewhere in your application, you want to provide enough details for your reader to understand what you did, but not more than that. For example, if you’re writing about your road trip, you don’t need to list every city you stopped in. Instead, just mention one or two that were particularly memorable.
Rather than focusing on the facts and figures of what you did, focus on what you learned from your experience. Admissions officers want to know why your involvement in this thing matters to who you’ll be in college. So, think about one or two bigger picture things you learned from it, and center your response around those things.
For example, maybe your Etsy shop taught you how easy it is to bring some positivity into someone else’s life, as crocheting is something you would do anyways, and the shop just allows you to share your creations with other people. Showcasing this uplifting, altruistic side of yourself will help admissions officers better envision what kind of Harvard student you’d be.
As always, you want to use specific examples to support your points, at least as much as you can in 200 words. Because you’re dealing with a low word count, you probably won’t have space to flex your creative writing muscles with vivid, immersive descriptions.
You can still incorporate anecdotes in a more economical way, however. For example, you could say “Every morning, our scarlet macaw ruffles her feathers and greets me with a prehistoric chirp.” You’re not going into detail about what her feathers look like, or where this scene is happening, but it’s still much more engaging than something like “My bird always says hello to me in her own way.”
The most common pitfall with an “Extracurricular” essay is describing your topic the way you would on your resume. Don’t worry about showing off some “marketable skill” you think admissions officers want to see, and instead highlight whatever it is you actually took away from this experience, whether it’s a skill, a realization, or a personality trait. The best college essays are genuine, as admissions officers feel that honesty, and know they’re truly getting to know the applicant as they are, rather than some polished-up version.
Additionally, keep in mind that, like with anything in your application, you want admissions officers to learn something new about you when reading this essay. So, if you’ve already written your common app essay about volunteering at your local animal shelter, you shouldn’t also write this essay about that experience. Your space in your application is already extremely limited, so don’t voluntarily limit yourself even further by repeating yourself when you’re given an opportunity to say something new.
Although the packaging is a little different, this prompt has similarities to the classic “Why This College?” prompt . That means there are two main things you want to do while brainstorming.
First, identify one or two goals you have for the future—with just 200 words, you won’t have space to elaborate on any more than that. Ideally, these should be relatively concrete. You don’t have to have your whole life mapped out, but you do need to be a lot more specific than “Make a difference in the world.” A more zoomed-in version of that goal would be something like “Contribute to conservation efforts to help save endangered species,” which would work.
Second, hop onto Harvard’s website and do some research on opportunities the school offers that would help you reach your goals. Again, make sure these are specific enough. Rather than a particular major, which is likely offered at plenty of other schools around the country, identify specific courses within that major you would like to take, or a professor in the department you would like to do research with. For example, the student interested in conservation might mention the course “Conservation Biology” at Harvard.
You could also write about a club, or a study abroad program, or really anything that’s unique to Harvard, so long as you’re able to draw a clear connection between the opportunity and your goal. Just make sure that, like with your goals, you don’t get overeager. Since your space is quite limited, you should choose two, or maximum three, opportunities to focus on. Any more than that and your essay will start to feel rushed and bullet point-y.
If you do your brainstorming well, the actual writing process should be pretty straightforward: explain your goals, and how the Harvard-specific opportunities you’ve selected will help you reach them.
One thing you do want to keep in mind is that your goals should feel personal to you, and the best way to accomplish that is by providing some background context on why you have them. This doesn’t have to be extensive, as, again, your space is limited. But compare the following two examples, written about the hypothetical goal of helping conservation efforts from above, to get an idea of what we’re talking about:
Example 1: “As long as I can remember, I’ve loved all kinds of animals, and have been heartbroken by the fact that human destruction of natural resources could lead to certain species’ extinction.”
Example 2: “As a kid, I would sit in front of the aquarium’s walrus exhibit, admiring the animal’s girth and tusks, and dream about seeing one in the wild. Until my parents regretfully explained to me that, because of climate change, that was unlikely to ever happen.”
The second example is obviously longer, but not egregiously so: 45 words versus 31. And the image we get of this student sitting and fawning over a walrus is worth that extra space, as we feel a stronger personal connection to them, which in turn makes us more vicariously invested in their own goal of environmental advocacy.
As we’ve already described in the brainstorming section, the key to this essay is specificity. Admissions officers want you to paint them a picture of how Harvard fits into your broader life goals. As we noted earlier, that doesn’t mean you have to have everything figured out, but if you’re too vague about your goals, or how you see Harvard helping you reach them, admissions officers won’t see you as someone who’s prepared to contribute to their campus community.
Along similar lines, avoid flattery. Gushy lines like “At Harvard, every day I’ll feel inspired by walking the same halls that countless Nobel laureates, politicians, and CEOs once traversed” won’t get you anywhere, because Harvard admissions officers already know their school is one of the most prestigious and famous universities in the world. What they don’t know is what you are going to bring to Harvard that nobody else has. So, that’s what you want to focus on, not vague, surface-level attributes of Harvard related to its standing in the world of higher education.
Like Prompt 2, this prompt tells you exactly what you need to brainstorm: three things a roommate would like to know about you. However, also like Prompt 2, while this prompt is direct, it’s also incredibly open-ended. What really are the top three things you’d like a complete stranger to know about you before you live together for nine months?
Questions this broad can be hard to answer, as you might not know where to start. Sometimes, you can help yourself out by asking yourself adjacent, but slightly more specific questions, like the following:
Hopefully, these narrower questions, and the example responses we’ve included, help get your gears turning. Keep in mind that this prompt is a great opportunity to showcase sides of your personality that don’t come across in your grades, activities list, or even your personal statement. Don’t worry about seeming impressive—admissions officers don’t expect you to read Shakespeare every night for two hours. What they want is an honest, informative picture of what you’re like “behind the scenes,” because college is much more than just academics.
Once you’ve selected three things to write about, the key to the actual essay is presenting them in a logical, cohesive, efficient way. That’s easier said than done, particularly if the three things you’ve picked are quite different from each other.
To ensure your essay feels like one, complete unit, rather than three smaller ones stuck together, strong transitions will be crucial. Note that “strong” doesn’t mean “lengthy.” Just a few words can go a long way towards helping your essay flow naturally. To see what we mean here, take the following two examples:
Example 1: “Just so you know, every Sunday I will be watching the Seahawks, draped in my dad’s Steve Largent jersey. They can be a frustrating team, but I’ll do my best to keep it down in case you’re studying. I also like to do facemasks, though. You’re always welcome to any of the ones I have in my (pretty extensive) collection.”
Example 2: “Just so you know, every Sunday I will be watching the Seahawks, draped in my dad’s Steve Largent jersey. But if football’s not your thing, don’t worry—once the game’s over, I’ll need to unwind anyways, because win or lose the Hawks always find a way to make things stressful. So always feel free to join me in picking out a face mask from my (pretty extensive) collection, and we can gear up for the week together.”
The content in both examples is the same, but in the first one, the transition from football to facemasks is very abrupt. On the other hand, in the second example the simple line “But if football’s not your thing, don’t worry” keeps things flowing smoothly.
There’s no one right way to write a good transition, but as you’re polishing your essay a good way to see if you’re on the right track is by asking someone who hasn’t seen your essay before to read it over and tell you if there are any points that made them pause. If the answer is yes, your transitions probably still need more work.
Finally, you probably noticed that the above examples are both written in a “Dear roomie” style, as if you’re actually speaking directly to your roommate. You don’t have to take this exact approach, but your tone should ideally be light and fun. Living alone for the first time, with other people your age, is one of the best parts of college! Plus, college applications are, by their nature, pretty dry affairs for the most part. Lightening things up in this essay will give your reader a breath of fresh air, which will help them feel more engaged in your application as a whole.
Harvard is doing you a favor here by keeping the scope of the essay narrow—they ask for three things, not more. As we’ve noted many times with the other supplements, 200 words will be gone in a flash, so don’t try to cram in extra things. It’s not necessary to do that, because admissions officers have only asked for three, and trying to stuff more in will turn your essay into a list of bullet points, rather than an informative piece of writing about your personality.
Finally, as we’ve hinted at a few times above, the other thing you want to avoid is using this essay as another opportunity to impress admissions officers with your intellect and accomplishments. Remember, they have your grades, and your activities list, and all your other essays. Plus, they can ask you whatever questions they want—if they wanted to know about the most difficult book you’ve ever read, they would. So, loosen up, let your hair down, and show them you know how to have fun too!
Do you want feedback on your Harvard essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.
If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!
Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing
What is referencing.
Whenever you write, the writings of others will influence your work. Although it is difficult to gauge all the influences, many of your ideas can be traced back to the resources and materials that you have consulted. These might be books, images , articles, reports, or, of course, the internet. These sources help enrich your writing by giving you ideas to build on. It is important always to give credit to the original thinkers and authors.
Referencing is the method that gives credit to the sources you have used in your work. You should provide references whenever you use a direct quote, paraphrase someone else’s idea, or borrow conceptual words and phrases.
Referencing not only allows credit to be given where credit is due, but it also helps track the various influences on any original piece of writing. If you do not cite the sources of the ideas that you have used in your work, you run the risk of plagiarism. Plagiarism is not only unethical but is also an actual crime in some of its forms. But how do you reference?
Harvard referencing is a popular method of adding citations to your work. Its appeal lies in the simplicity of the basic system it uses – the author-date structure. Along with this, in Harvard style, you only need to mention the source in two locations: in the in-text reference(s) and in the reference list. Both elements together incorporate all the necessary details about a source in the most efficient way.
So, while reading something, when you come across a citation that looks something like this:
Furley (1999) or (Furley, 1999)
it is an in-text reference that follows the author-date system.
This is an entry in the reference list for the same in-text reference.
Furley, D. (1999) Routledge history of philosophy volume II: from Aristotle to Augustine . 1st edn. London: Routledge.
These Harvard referencing examples provide details about the citation formats for different types of sources.
As is obvious from the name, Harvard in-text citations are references included within the text, that is, inside the sentences that make up its content. These can either be direct statements or quotes, or a paraphrasing of the original work. This type of reference helps in precisely pointing out which portions of the text are borrowed from or influenced by which particular source.
In his work, Furley (1999) wrote about… OR …from Aristotle’s works (Furley, 1999).
As you can see, in-text references provide the author’s surname and the year of publication. The year is provided because sometimes two or more works by the same author are referenced. In this case, the year helps in distinguishing between these works. Note that if you are citing a direct quotation, the in-text citation should also include the page number of that quote, for example (Furley, 1999, p. 2).
However, in-text citations don’t provide other important details about these resources. Rather, they are short enough that you don’t get interrupted while reading the text. Other details are presented in the reference list that you include at the end of your paper.
A reference list presents the details of all the resources cited throughout the text in the form of a list at the end of your paper. It includes detailed entries about each of the referenced sources.
Surname, Initial. (Publication year) Name of the document . Place of publication: Publisher.
Every in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the reference list. So, the reference list entry for the in-text citations discussed above would be:
Einstein, M. (2004) Media diversity: economics, ownership, and the FCC. New Jersey: Routledge.
This entry can also include other details like page numbers, editor’s name, edition, URL, access date, etc., depending upon the type of resource. A reference list allows you to provide all the necessary information without crowding your paper. With this list, you can keep track of how many materials you have consulted and even see if you need to include any more or any other kind of references in your text.
Typically, you’ll refer to multiple sources and materials for writing a text, and just using a bibliography can be confusing. You can use the Harvard referencing system to point out the exact location of all your references.
By marking the in-text reference, you can easily locate which idea or quote corresponds to which author. This makes your work easy to read and understand. This way, you and your reader can easily trace the specific portions of the work back to the original texts.
You can also show how much of your text uses source material (whether directly or indirectly) and how much of it is your own ideas and thoughts.
Typically, a paper that uses Harvard referencing has the following format:
For more help creating citations in Harvard style, try the EasyBib Harvard referencing generator !
Published October 25, 2020.
Harvard Formatting
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There are different versions of the Harvard referencing style. This guide is a quick introduction to the commonly-used Cite Them Right version. You will find further guidance available through the OU Library on the Cite Them Right Database .
For help and support with referencing and the full Cite Them Right guide, have a look at the Library’s page on referencing and plagiarism . If you need guidance referencing OU module material you can check out which sections of Cite Them Right are recommended when referencing physical and online module material .
This guide does not apply to OU Law undergraduate students . If you are studying a module beginning with W1xx, W2xx or W3xx, you should refer to the Quick guide to Cite Them Right referencing for Law modules .
In-text citations and full references.
Referencing consists of two elements:
To see a reference list and intext citations check out this example assignment on Cite Them Right .
a reference list only includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text.
a bibliography includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text AND sources that were part of your background reading that you did not use in your assignment.
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You need to include an in-text citation wherever you quote or paraphrase from a source. An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author(s), the year of publication, and a page number if relevant. There are a number of ways of incorporating in-text citations into your work - some examples are provided below. Alternatively you can see examples of setting out in-text citations in Cite Them Right .
It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Harris, 2015). OR It has been emphasised by Harris (2015) that good referencing is an important academic skill. | It has been emphasised (Shah and Papadopoulos, 2015) that good referencing is an important academic skill. OR Shah and Papadopoulos (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill. | It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Wong, Smith and Adebole, 2015). OR Wong, Smith and Adebole (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill. | It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Wong , 2015). OR Wong (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill. |
It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (The Open University, 2015). Information from The Open University (2015) emphasises that good referencing is an important academic skill. | It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill ( , 2015). Information from (2015) emphasises that good referencing is an important academic skill. |
You use secondary referencing when you want to refer to a source that is mentioned or quoted in the work you are reading. To do this, you add the phrase ‘quoted in’ or ‘cited in’ (depending on whether the author of the secondary source is directly quoting or summarising from the primary source) to your intext citation, along with the details of the source that you are reading.
West (2007, quoted in Birch, 2017, p. 17) state that… You would then include full references to Birch and The Open University in your reference list as these are the sources that you have read. There is no change to the structure of the full reference for these sources. |
You should include page numbers in your citation if you are quoting directly from or using ideas from a specific page or set of pages. Add the abbreviation p. (or pp. if more than one page) before the page number(s).
Harris (2015, p. 5) argues that… In the drying process "polyphenol oxidizing reactions" form new flavour compounds (Toker 2020, pp. 585–586)... |
Add a lower case letter to the date in the in-text citation and in the matching full reference to distinguish between the sources. : Snow is formed in part because the temperature drops enough that rain freezes (The Open University, 2022a), however the freezing temperature of water is often below 0°C under certain conditions (The Open University, 2022b).
The Open University (2022a) '1.2 What are clouds?'. . Available at: (Accessed: 22 November 2022). The Open University (2022b) '1.3.1 Snow and ice'. . Available at: (Accessed: 22 November 2022). Note: this only applies when you are using multiple different sources with the same author and year – if you are referring to the same source more than once then you do not need to add a letter to the date. The citation will be the same each time and you only need to include the source once in your reference list. |
Example with one author:
Almeroth-Williams, T. (2019) City of Beasts: How Animals Shaped Georgian London . Manchester: Manchester University Press.
RSPCA (2024) Caring for cats and kittens . Available at: https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/cats (Accessed: 1 August 2024).
Example with two or three authors:
Grayling, A. and Ball, B. (2024) ' Philosophy is crucial in the age of AI', The Conversation , 1 August. Available at: https://theconversation.com/philosophy-is-crucial-in-the-age-of-ai-235907 (Accessed: 1 August 2024).
Chu, M., Leonard, P. and Stevenson, F. (2012) ' Growing the Base for Citizen Science: Recruiting and Engaging Participants', in J.L. Dickinson and R. Bonney (eds.) Citizen Science: Public Participation in Environmental Research . Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 69-81.
Example with four or more authors:
Young, H.D. et al. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Note: You can choose one or other method to reference four or more authors (unless your School requires you to name all authors in your reference list) and your approach should be consistent.
(Includes written online module activities, audio-visual material such as online tutorials, recordings or videos).
When referencing material from module websites, the date of publication is the year you started studying the module.
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).
OR, if there is no named author:
The Open University (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).
Rietdorf, K. and Bootman, M. (2022) 'Topic 3: Rare diseases'. S290: Investigating human health and disease . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1967195 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).
The Open University (2022) ‘3.1 The purposes of childhood and youth research’. EK313: Issues in research with children and young people . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1949633§ion=1.3 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).
You can also use this template to reference videos and audio that are hosted on your module website:
The Open University (2022) ‘Video 2.7 An example of a Frith-Happé animation’. SK298: Brain, mind and mental health . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2013014§ion=4.9.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).
The Open University (2022) ‘Audio 2 Interview with Richard Sorabji (Part 2)’. A113: Revolutions . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1960941§ion=5.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).
Note: if a complete journal article has been uploaded to a module website, or if you have seen an article referred to on the website and then accessed the original version, reference the original journal article, and do not mention the module materials. If only an extract from an article is included in your module materials that you want to reference, you should use secondary referencing, with the module materials as the 'cited in' source, as described above.
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of message', Title of discussion board , in Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).
Fitzpatrick, M. (2022) ‘A215 - presentation of TMAs', Tutor group discussion & Workbook activities , in A215: Creative writing . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=4209566 (Accessed: 24 January 2022).
Note: When an ebook looks like a printed book, with publication details and pagination, reference as a printed book.
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title . Edition if later than first. Place of publication: publisher. Series and volume number if relevant.
For ebooks that do not contain print publication details
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of book . Available at: DOI or URL (Accessed: date).
Bell, J. (2014) Doing your research project . Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Adams, D. (1979) The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy . Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 23 June 2021).
Note: Books that have an editor, or editors, where each chapter is written by a different author or authors.
Surname of chapter author, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of chapter or section', in Initial. Surname of book editor (ed.) Title of book . Place of publication: publisher, Page reference.
Franklin, A.W. (2012) 'Management of the problem', in S.M. Smith (ed.) The maltreatment of children . Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.
Note: When referencing a chapter of an edited book, your in-text citation should give the author(s) of the chapter.
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference.
If accessed online:
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference. Available at: DOI or URL (if required) (Accessed: date).
Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326.
Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326. Available at: https://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/log... (Accessed: 27 January 2023).
Barke, M. and Mowl, G. (2016) 'Málaga – a failed resort of the early twentieth century?', Journal of Tourism History , 2(3), pp. 187–212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2010.523145
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference.
Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference if available. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
Mansell, W. and Bloom, A. (2012) ‘£10,000 carrot to tempt physics experts’, The Guardian , 20 June, p. 5.
Roberts, D. and Ackerman, S. (2013) 'US draft resolution allows Obama 90 days for military action against Syria', The Guardian , 4 September. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/syria-strikes-draft-resolut... (Accessed: 9 September 2015).
Surname, Initial. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
Robinson, J. (2007) Social variation across the UK . Available at: https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/social-variation... (Accessed: 21 November 2021).
The British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct . Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct (Accessed: 22 March 2019).
Note: Cite Them Right Online offers guidance for referencing webpages that do not include authors' names and dates. However, be extra vigilant about the suitability of such webpages.
Surname, Initial. (Year) Title of photograph . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
Kitton, J. (2013) Golden sunset . Available at: https://www.jameskittophotography.co.uk/photo_8692150.html (Accessed: 21 November 2021).
stanitsa_dance (2021) Cossack dance ensemble . Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/COI_slphWJ_/ (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Note: If no title can be found then replace it with a short description.
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The Harvard referencing style is a widely used system for citing and referencing sources in academic writing. It provides a consistent and standardized format for acknowledging the works of others that you have used in your research.
Struggling to remember tricky peculiarities of Harvard style referencing and formatting? Don’t worry, you have come across a helpful material. In this article, you will find the basics of Harvard style formatting which would be useful for your academic progress. This easy but detailed Harvard style guide contains all format requirements for a paper and some structural tips. Besides, it covers general rules on how to cite your sources properly in your text. Feel free to use these guidelines for your academic endeavors. Let us go through details of Harvard style referencing and formatting together!
Harvard style is an author-date system of referencing. It’s similar to an APA paper format in terms of general formatting of pages and text. But this style follows its own rules for bibliography and in-text citations formatting. Harvard style is typically used for essays in such academic disciplines:
But this doesn’t mean you can’t use this paper format in other areas of study. The general rule is to put references to your sources in round brackets. Specify author’s name and publication year. These references should come after your quotes (direct or indirect) in the end of a respective sentence or paragraph. Full details about all sources you have used should be provided at the end of your work. This section should be named ‘Reference List’. Buy coursework or any other type of research paper that will be referenced for you by our experts.
Let us explore some general rules for Harvard formatting:
A Harvard style citation must have a Title page, header (or running head), headings and Reference list. We will take a closer look at formatting each section down below.
What are the requirements for a Harvard style cover page? Title page is otherwise known as front page. This is the first page of your paper to be observed by your reader, i.e. your teacher first of all. Therefore, it is highly important to format it properly. Formatting rules for Harvard Title page:
See the sample of a Harvard title page down below.
An important detail: you are required to use a header in Harvard referencing format. This section is repeatedly shown on all pages of your paper except the title page. You have to configure it once. Then, headers will get automatically added on each new page. Headers in Harvard referencing format contains such information:
It is important to use shortened title because there is not too much space in any header. Also, another requirement is putting exactly 5 spaces between your title and a page number in headers.
Now let us explore some rules of using subheadings in Harvard style, in detail. Typically there are 2 levels of section headings recommended for use in such papers. They have different formatting. This helps to tell one from another, without using different font sizes for them.
The plain text of any paragraph should go on a new line after subheadings in Harvard style, be it Level-1 or Level-2 subheading.
Listing all sources you have used for your research in a proper order is a core element of Harvard style. Reference list should be the last part of your paper but absolutely not the least. Now let us explore some critical rules for a reference list formatting. The Harvard-style reference list section has its own subtitle, namely ‘Reference List’. Similarly to a Level-1 subheading, it should be capitalized and centered. The rest of your content in this section goes from a new line after your title. No extra empty lines are to be added. Your references in this list are numbered and sorted alphabetically. No lines are indented. Each item in this list starts from a new line. Below we will describe a format for referencing in detail.
Sometimes your professor or instructor might ask you to create a Bibliography section instead of a common Reference list. So what is the Harvard Bibliography format? Harvard style bibliography includes not only those sources you have cited in your text but also. It also includes materials which you have read to get ideas for your research and to better understand the context of a selected problem. So, such section would contain more items than a Reference list. Apart of that, the general Harvard Bibliography format is the same:
Another crucial element of Harvard style is referring to your sources inside your essay. That’s why you should know how to cite in Harvard style. Keep in mind that the main purpose of a proper format is to ensure your paper is plagiarizm-free. Sometimes, you should cite ideas from books, magazines or newspapers. But you can only refer to such ideas, otherwise it will be considered a form of plagiarism. Below we will show you how to cite in Harvard style, providing general information about published sources. So let us proceed and learn more about shortened quotes and full references.
Here are the rules of Harvard format in-text citation:
And this is how you should be referencing in Harvard style, providing full descriptions of the sources you have used. Let us start with the general book format:
Here are several Harvarvard referencing rules for other source types:
In this article we have explored the Harvard referencing guide, one of the most popular ones for students in the UK. Feel free to use these tips and proceed to writing a winning essay with flawless formatting! Just keep in mind the following key concepts of the Harvard style:
In conclusion, consider our custom term paper writing solution if you lack the time or got into writer's block.
If you have questions, please visit our FAQ section or contact our expert writers. They will gladly help you create references in line with all requirements. On top of that, our writers are highly experienced in academic writing and can assist you with any type of formatting.
1. is harvard reference style used in colleges.
The Harvard style can be used in colleges as well as in other educational institutions and even by professional researchers. While it is relatively popular in many countries for research paper referencing, Harvard style is most widespread in universities of the UK nowadays. Other styles (APA, MLA and Chicago) dominate the US educational institutions.
The Harvard style format is a typical example of an author-date system as it requires using author’s names and publication dates for in-text referencing. You should create a complete reference list as a separate section in the end of your research paper. The Oxford style on the contrary uses numbered footnotes for citing sources used on your page. In-text citations on this page consist just from numbers of respective notes.
Emma Flores knows all about formatting standards. She shares with StudyCrumb readers tips on creating academic papers that will meet high-quality standards.
College Info , College Essays
Aiming for the world-renowned Harvard University? As part of the application to this prestigious Ivy League school, you'll be required to submit responses to five short answer questions.
This is actually a big change! In years past, Harvard offered an optional supplemental essay opportunity that applicants could write to add extra flair to their application. This year, Harvard has opted to require responses to five short answer prompts and completely omitted the optional, supplemental Harvard essay prompt.
But what should you write about for your Harvard essay short answers? What are the different Harvard essay prompts to choose from, and how should you answer them so you can give yourself your best shot at getting in?
In this guide, we give you advice for each Harvard essay prompt as well as tips on how to decide what to write. But before we look at the prompts, let's go over what Harvard actually requires in terms of essays.
Feature Image: Gregor Smith /Flickr
Those applying for admission to Harvard must submit an application through either the Common Application or the Coalition Application . For your Harvard application, you'll need to write a personal essay in response to one of the prompts provided by the Common App or Coalition App (depending on the system you're applying through).
This essay is required for all applicants and should typically be about 500-550 words long (and must be less than 650 words). To learn more about this essay, check out the current prompts for the Common App and Coalition App on their official websites.
In addition to this required essay, Harvard first-year applicants are required to submit 250 word (max) responses to five short answer questions .
Here are the prompts for the five required 2023-2024 Harvard short answer questions :
Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?
Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you.
Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are.
Now, you might be wondering: is Harvard offering an optional supplemental essay opportunity as part of this year’s application process? No. This year, Harvard is not accepting optional supplemental essays as part of the first-year admissions process . The optional supplemental essay has been offered in previous years, but not for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.
Now, here’s where things get a little tricky. The five short answer questions listed above are part of what’s called the Harvard first-year application supplement. But they aren’t the same thing as the supplemental essay from years past! And the important thing to remember is this: these short answer questions–and the entire Harvard supplement–are not optional. You’ll have to answer all five questions if you want to be considered as a candidate for admission!
The good news is that each short answer topic is very open ended, and they give you plenty of room to express who you are and how and why you’re the perfect fit for Harvard!
In this section, we go through the five required Harvard supplement essay prompts and offer you tips on how to write effective, powerful short answers…in 200 words or less!
This first Harvard essay prompt is all about what you can bring to campus that will positively contribute to student diversity. Though we tend to think of race/ethnicity when using the word "diversity," you can actually interpret this word in a number of ways.
As a large and prestigious institution, Harvard strongly values students who have different and unique backgrounds and experiences, so it's important for them to admit students who embody these values as well.
This prompt is essentially a version of the diversity essay, which we talk about in more detail in our guide.
Here are some key types of diversity you can discuss (note that this is not an exhaustive list!):
With this prompt, Harvard wants you to focus on an intellectual or learning experience that's had a big impact on you in terms of your personal growth, your academic/intellectual interests and passions, the field of study you want to pursue, etc.
This intellectual experience could be anything that's intellectually stimulating, such as an essay or book you read, a poem you analyzed, or a research project you conducted.
Note that this experience does not need to be limited to something you did for school —if you've done anything in your spare time or for an extracurricular activity that you think fits this prompt, feel free to write about that.
For example, you could write about how you found an old copy of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species at a garage sale, and how reading this prompted you to develop an interest in biology, which you now intend to major in and eventually make a career out of.
This is also an ideal prompt to highlight a particular interest or passion you have that differs from the academic field you want to study in college.
For instance, perhaps you're applying for admission as a computer science major, but you're also a huge fan of poetry and often take part in local poetry readings. Writing about a poem you recently read and analyzed could illuminate to the admissions committees a different, less prominent side of your personality and intellectual interests , ultimately showing that you're open minded and invested in gaining both new skills and experiences.
This prompt is asking you to discuss experiences you've had that involved traveling, living, learning, and/or working in some capacity outside of the formal classroom. Most importantly, you’ll need to explain what kind of effect that experience has had on you.
Here are examples of experiences you could talk about for this essay:
This Harvard essay prompt is pretty self-explanatory: it wants you to discuss how you intend to use your education at Harvard after you graduate—so in a future job or career, in grad school, in a particular research field, etc.
Basically, how will your college education help you achieve your future goals (whatever those may be)?
If you’re still undecided about the field(a) you want to study at Harvard, don’t panic! It’s okay to think outside the box for this prompt.
Maybe you don’t know what you want to major in yet, but you do know that you share Harvard’s values and want to bring those values to the world after you graduate. Whether you’ll do that by joining the Peace Corps or heading back to your hometown to volunteer for a few months before starting your career, just be specific about how Harvard is the right school to put you on the path to your future!
How you hope to use your college education
This Harvard essay prompt is pretty self-explanatory: it wants you to discuss how you intend to use your education at Harvard after you graduate —so in a future job or career, in grad school, in a particular research field, etc.
If you have a pretty clear vision for your future goals during and after college, this is a perfect prompt to choose for your Harvard essay.
If, on the other hand, you're still undecided about the field(s) you want to study or how you intend to use your major, you might want to choose a different prompt that's less focused on your future and more concentrated on how past events and experiences have shaped you as a person.
A list of books you have read during the past twelve months
Of all Harvard essay prompts, this one is by far the most unique.
Here, you're asked to simply list the books you've read in the past year. This essay is more than just a list, though—it's a brief overview of where your intellectual interests lie. These books may include works of fiction or nonfiction, essays, collections of poetry, etc.
Have you read a lot of diverse and interesting books in the past year? Are you an avid reader who loves dissecting books and essays? Do you enjoy a creative approach to college essays? If you answered yes to these questions, then this prompt is a perfect fit for you.
Even if you haven't read a ton of books this past year, if you were especially intrigued by some or all of what you did read, you could certainly use this prompt for your essay.
The Harvard College Honor code declares that we "hold honesty as the foundation of our community." As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.
As you can see with this quotation, Harvard strongly values honesty and integrity. Therefore, if you go with this prompt, you're essentially telling Harvard that you, too, embody a powerful sense of morality and honesty.
The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission?
This prompt might sound a little vague, but all it wants to know is how you'll have a positive impact on both your classmates and on other people after graduation. Put simply, what kind of leader/citizen will you be at Harvard? After you graduate from college and enter the real world?
This prompt is similar to Prompt 5 in that it wants to know what kind of person you'll become after you leave college and how you'll positively influence society.
If you're a natural-born leader and have had at least a few significant experiences with leading or facilitating things such as club activities, field trips, volunteer efforts, and so on, then this Harvard essay prompt would be a great fit for you.
Each year a substantial number of students admitted to Harvard defer their admission for one year or take time off during college. If you decided in the future to choose either option, what would you like to do?
Here, you're being asked what you plan to do with your time if you decide to defer your admission to Harvard or take time off during college. For example, will you travel the world? Work a full-time job? Do an internship? Take care of a sick relative?
Obviously, Harvard doesn't want to read that all you're going to do is relax and play video games all day, so make sure to think carefully about what your actual plans are and, more importantly, how these plans will benefit you as a person and as a student.
Only choose this Harvard essay prompt if you're pretty certain you'll be taking time off from college at some point (either before or during) and you have a relatively concrete idea of what you want to do during that time.
Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. We welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development or the intellectual interests you might bring to your Harvard classmates.
This final Harvard essay prompt is all about what you can bring to campus that will positively contribute to student diversity. Though we tend to think of race/ethnicity when using the word "diversity," you can actually interpret this word in a number of ways.
This prompt is essentially a version of the diversity essay , which we talk about in more detail in our guide.
The main question to ask yourself before choosing this prompt is this: do you have a unique background or interest you can write about?
If any of these topics stand out to you and you can easily come up with a specific characteristic or experience to discuss for your essay, then this is a solid prompt to consider answering.
Our resident full SAT / ACT scorer and co-founder of PrepScholar, Allen Cheng , applied to, got into, and attended Harvard—and he's posted his own Harvard supplement essay for you to look at. You can read all about Allen's essay in his analysis of his successful Harvard application .
Allen describes his essay as "probably neutral to [his Harvard] application, not a strong net positive or net negative," so it's important to note that this Harvard essay example is not representative of exactly what you should do in your own Harvard supplement essay. Rather, we're showing it to you to give you a taste of how you could approach the Harvard essay and to demonstrate the kinds of simple mistakes you should avoid.
To wrap up, here are three tips to keep in mind as you write your Harvard supplement essay.
Having a clear, unique, and authentic voice is the key to making yourself stand apart from other applicants in your Harvard application—and to ensuring you're leaving a long-lasting impression on the admissions committee.
Therefore, write your essay in the way that comes most naturally to you, and talk about the things that actually matter to you. For example, if you love puns, throwing one or two puns into your essay will emphasize your goofier, non-academic side.
Using your voice here is important because it humanizes your application. The essay is the only chance you get to show the admissions committee who you are and what you actually sound like, so don't pretend to be someone you're not!
The only thing to look out for is using too much slang or sounding too casual. In the end, this is still a college essay, so you don't want to come off sounding rude, disrespectful, or immature.
In addition, don't exaggerate any experiences or emotions. The Harvard admissions committee is pretty good at their job—they read thousands of applications each year!—so they'll definitely be able to tell if you're making a bigger deal out of something than you should be. Skip the hyperbole and stick to what you know.
Ultimately, your goal should be to strike a balance so that you're being true to yourself while also showcasing your intelligence and talents.
Harvard is one of the most difficult schools to get into (it only has about a 4% acceptance rate! ), so you'll need to make sure your essay is really, really attention-grabbing. In short, get creative with it!
As you write your personal essay, recall the classic saying: show, don't tell. This means that you should rely more on description and imagery than on explanation.
For example, instead of writing, "I became more confident after participating in the debate club," you might write, "The next time I went onstage for a debate, my shoulders didn't shake as much; my lips didn't quiver; and my heart only beat 100 times instead of 120 times per minute."
Remember that your essay is a story about yourself, so make sure it's interesting to read and will ultimately be memorable to your readers.
My final tip is to polish your essay by editing and proofreading it a lot. This means you should look it over not once, not twice, but several times.
Here's the trick to editing it: once you've got a rough draft of your essay finished, put it away for a few days or a week or two. Don't look at it all during this time —you want to give yourself some distance so that you can look at your essay later with a fresh perspective.
After you've waited, read over your essay again, noting any mistakes in spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation. Take care to also note any awkward wording, unclear areas, or irrelevant ideas. Ask yourself: is there anything you should add? Delete? Expand?
Once you've done this step several times and have a (nearly) final draft ready to turn in, give your essay to someone you can trust, such as a teacher, parent, or mentor. Have them look it over and offer feedback on tone, voice, theme, style, etc. In addition, make sure that they check for any glaring grammatical or technical errors.
Once all of this is done, you'll have a well-written, polished Harvard essay ready to go— one that'll hopefully get you accepted!
If you've got questions about other parts of the Harvard application, check out our top guide to learn what you'll need to submit to get into the prestigious Ivy League school .
How tough is it to get into Harvard? To other selective universities ? For answers, read our expert guide on how to get into Harvard and the Ivy League , written by an actual Harvard alum!
What's the average SAT score of admitted Harvard applicants? The average ACT score? The average GPA? Learn all this and more by visiting our Harvard admissions requirements page .
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Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.
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Going through the process of writing a report as a student often feels like being thrown into the deep end without a map. While you're typically given a sample report to follow, it rarely provides the systematic guidance needed to tackle the task effectively. This lack of structured support can leave you feeling confused and unsure where to begin.
The same challenge extends to writing bibliographies. Without clear instructions, understanding how to compile and format references can be daunting. In this guide, I aim to demystify the art of how to write a bibliography, offering step-by-step instructions and additional tips to help you navigate this essential aspect of academic writing with confidence.
A bibliography serves as a crucial component of academic writing, which includes a detailed list of all sources consulted during research. It not only validates the credibility of your work but also aids readers in retracing your steps to verify facts, data, and insights you've presented. Here’s more on what’s the purpose of bibliographies and what does it include:
Purpose of a Bibliography:
A bibliography supports academic integrity by:
Demonstrating thorough research conducted for the assignment.
Crediting original authors for their contributions.
Enabling readers to locate and explore cited sources independently.
Providing a foundation for future scholars to build upon your research.
Components of a Bibliography:
Citation Details: Includes the author's name, title of the work, publication details (like publisher and year), and specific pages or chapters referenced.
Formatting: Follows specific style guides (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style) for consistency and clarity.
Organizational Structure: Typically arranged alphabetically by author’s last name or chronologically for historical works.
Annotations (in annotated bibliographies): Brief evaluations summarizing each source’s relevance, scope, and potential bias.
Categories of Bibliographies:
Enumerative Bibliography: Lists sources categorically, such as by author or topic, without additional commentary.
Analytical Bibliography: Explores the physical attributes and evolution of a work, including details like publication history and format changes.
Annotated Bibliography: Provides annotations explaining each source's significance, aiding in understanding its relevance to the research topic.
Subject Bibliography: Organizes sources by subject matter, facilitating research within specific fields or disciplines.
National Bibliography: Compiles works published within a specific country or region, often including cultural or historical contexts.
Learning how to write a bibliography is a crucial skill in academics. It's all about giving credit where it's due - acknowledging the sources you've used in your research. Whether you're crafting an essay bibliography or a reference list for a longer paper, the basics remain the same.
In this section, we'll explore these core elements of bibliography writing. By understanding these basics, you'll be equipped to create accurate citations regardless of the specific format required. A well-crafted bibliography not only prevents plagiarism but also demonstrates the depth of your research. So, let's have a look at the basics of how to write a bibliography for essays or research papers.
First things first, let's round up all the materials you've used for your research. This includes:
Books: Whether they're physical copies or e-books, make sure you've got them all listed.
Articles: This covers journal articles, magazine pieces, and newspaper reports.
Websites: Any online sources you've referenced should be included.
Other media: Don't forget about videos, podcasts, or interviews you might have used.
Maintain an ongoing list of sources as you research—it'll simplify your work later on!
Now, here's where the real work begins. For each source, you'll need to jot down:
Author(s): Full names, please!
Title of the work: Whether it's a book title, article name, or website header.
Publication date: When was this information made available?
Publisher: Who put this information out there?
Page numbers: If you're using a physical book or a PDF with page numbers.
URL and access date: For online sources, note when you accessed the information.
Here's a quick example of what bibliographies for different sources might look like:
For a book:
Author: Jane Smith
Title: The Art of Bibliography Writing
Publication Date: 2022
Publisher: Academic Press
Pages:56-58
For a website:
Author: John Doe
Title: "10 Tips for Perfect Citations"
Publication Date: March 15, 2023
URL: www.citationtips.com
Accessed: July 17, 2024
Next, we need to consider the formatting requirements. Remember, each academic style may have different formatting demands, but they all adhere to the same general rules:
Alphabetical order:
Arrange entries by the author's last name.
For works without an author, use the title (ignoring articles like "A," "An," or "The" at the beginning).
Hanging indent :
Set a hanging indent of 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) for each entry.
The first line of each entry should be flush left, with subsequent lines indented.
Double-space the entire bibliography for most styles.
Some styles may require single spacing within entries and double spacing between them.
Consistency:
Use the same punctuation, capitalization, and formatting throughout.
Pay attention to details like italicization and quotation marks.
Speaking of styles, there are several to choose from, and the one you use often depends on your field of study or your instructor's preference. The most common are:
APA (American Psychological Association)
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Don't worry – we'll look into each of these academic styles in the upcoming sections where we'll discuss the formatting requirements for each style in detail, along with a few examples to help you understand how to format a bibliography according to different academic styles!
Bibliographies in any format often involve formatting risks, especially when converting to PDF. That's why I'll demonstrate WPS Office to you, where not only will my formatting remain preserved, but it's also the ideal office suite for students. It offers free capabilities and is easily navigable
APA (American Psychological Association) format is widely used in social sciences. Before we dive into examples, let's review the key formatting requirements:
APA Formatting Requirements:
Title the page "References" centered at the top.
Double-space all entries.
Use a hanging indent for each entry (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches).
Alphabetize entries by the author's last name.
For multiple works by the same author, order chronologically from earliest to most recent.
Use only the initials for authors' first and middle names.
Now, let's look at how to cite different types of sources:
Author's last name, first initial. (Publication date). Book title. Additional information. City of publication: Publishing company.
Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Little, Brown and Company.
Journal Articles:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year). Title of article. Name of Journal, Volume(Issue), Page range. DOI if available
Krueger, R. F., & Markon, K. E. (2006). Reinterpreting comorbidity: A model-based approach to understanding and classifying psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2, 111-133. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.2.022305.095213
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Website Name. URL
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 5). COVID-19 vaccination clinical and professional resources. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/index.html
MLA (Modern Language Association) format is commonly used in humanities. Let's review the formatting requirements:
Formatting Requirements:
Title the page "Works Cited" centered at the top.
If no author is given, alphabetize by the title, ignoring articles (A, An, The).
Use the full first name of authors, not just initials.
Now, these are some ways on how to cite different types of sources:
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Classics, 2002.
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Journal, vol. Volume Number, no. Issue Number, Year of Publication, pp. Page Range.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Philosophy of Composition." Graham's Magazine, vol. 28, no. 4, 1846, pp. 163-167.
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Web Page." Name of Website, Date of Publication or Last Update, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Hollmichel, Stefanie. "The Reading Brain: Differences between Digital and Print." So Many Books, 25 Apr. 2013, somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-and-print/. Accessed 4 May 2023.
Chicago style has two systems: notes and bibliography (used in humanities) and author-date (used in sciences and social sciences). We'll focus on the notes and bibliography system. First, the formatting requirements:
Title the page "Bibliography" centered at the top.
Single-space each entry, with a blank line between entries.
Here’s how you can cite different types of sources in Chicago format:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952.
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Journal Volume Number, no. Issue Number (Year of Publication): Page Range.
Sontag, Susan. "Against Interpretation." Evergreen Review 34 (1964): 76-84.
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Web Page." Name of Website. Publishing Organization, Publication or Modified Date. URL.
Kenzie, Susan. "The Elements of Chicago Style." Writing Resources. University of Chicago, last modified March 23, 2022. https://writingresources.uchicago.edu/chicago-style-elements .
Harvard referencing style is commonly used in the UK and Australia. Let's review the formatting requirements:
Title the page "Reference List" or "References" centered at the top.
You can site different type of sources in the following ways in Harvard format:
Author's Last name, Initial(s). (Year) Title of book. Edition (if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher.
Hawking, S. (1988) A brief history of time. London: Bantam Books.
Author's Last name, Initial(s). (Year) 'Title of article', Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page range.
Boughton, J.M. (2002) 'The Bretton Woods proposal: an in-depth look', Political Science Quarterly, 42(6), pp. 564-578.
Author's Last name, Initial(s). (Year) Title of web page. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
BBC News (2023) Climate change: Scientists warn of 'irreversible' impacts. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51742646 (Accessed: 17 July 2023).
WPS Office is a golden ticket for academic success, especially for students navigating the intricacies of bibliography writing. Often, students struggle with formatting details, but WPS AI steps in as a reliable assistant, ensuring seamless document preparation.
One of WPS Office's standout features is its ability to convert Word documents to PDF flawlessly. Unlike Microsoft Word, which can sometimes disrupt formatting, WPS Office ensures that your meticulously formatted bibliographies in APA, MLA, or Chicago style are preserved without any loss of structure or design. This reliability is crucial as it saves students valuable time and effort, allowing them to focus on the content rather than technical adjustments.
WPS AI goes beyond formatting; it also checks for spelling and grammar errors with precision. This feature guarantees that your bibliographies are not only visually polished but also linguistically flawless. Students can rest assured that their academic work meets the highest standards of clarity and correctness, enhancing both their academic credibility and professional presentation skills.
An annotated bibliography is a collection of sources that provides a summary of research related to a specific topic. It includes a list of citations for each source, accompanied by a brief descriptive text (an annotation) that summarizes and evaluates the content. This annotation helps readers understand the source's relevance and usefulness. An annotated bibliography can function as a standalone assignment or be incorporated as part of a larger research project.
If the source lacks an author or date, incorporate the title into your signal phrase or within parentheses, using the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date"). Another study focusing on students and their research choices found that those who received tutoring achieved success ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).
Your research likely consumed a great deal of time, effort, and especially involved extensive digging into research papers, books, and other materials. And you took your time learning how to write a bibliography but to ensure your research is solid and authentic, it's crucial to include all these sources in the correct format on your bibliography page. Otherwise, your research may lack credibility. WPS Office helps restore that confidence by assisting you in formatting it correctly. Download WPS Office and discover how it can significantly aid you as a student.
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Writing the college essay
How do you write a letter to a friend that shows you’re a good candidate for the University of Pennsylvania? What reading list will help the Columbia University admissions committee understand your interdisciplinary interests? How can you convey your desire to attend Yale by inventing a course description for a topic you’re interested in studying?
These are the challenges students must overcome when writing their supplemental essays . Supplemental essays are a critical component of college applications—like the personal statement, they provide students with the opportunity to showcase their authentic voice and perspective beyond the quantitative elements of their applications. However, unlike the personal essay, supplemental essays allow colleges to read students’ responses to targeted prompts and evaluate their candidacy for their specific institution. For this reason, supplemental essay prompts are often abstract, requiring students to get creative, read between the lines, and ditch the traditional essay-writing format when crafting their responses.
While many schools simply want to know “why do you want to attend our school?” others break the mold, inviting students to think outside of the box and answer prompts that are original, head-scratching, or downright weird. This year, the following five colleges pushed students to get creative—if you’re struggling to rise to the challenge, here are some tips for tackling their unique prompts:
University of Chicago
Prompt: We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed”? Or “tickled orange”? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents. – Inspired by Ramsey Bottorff, Class of 2026
What Makes it Unique: No discussion of unique supplemental essay prompts would be complete without mentioning the University of Chicago, a school notorious for its puzzling and original prompts (perhaps the most well-known of these has been the recurring prompt “Find x”). This prompt challenges you to invent a new color-based expression, encouraging both linguistic creativity and a deep dive into the emotional or cultural connotations of color. It’s a prompt that allows you to play with language, think abstractly, and show off your ability to forge connections between concepts that aren’t typically linked—all qualities that likewise demonstrate your preparedness for UChicago’s unique academic environment.
It’s ‘over’—leak sparks serious u.s. crypto crackdown fears as the bitcoin price bounces back, why fans think ‘it ends with us’ stars blake lively, justin baldoni are feuding—as baldoni reportedly hires crisis pr.
How to Answer it: While it may be easy to get distracted by the open-ended nature of the prompt, remember that both the substance and structure of your response should give some insight into your personality, perspective, and characteristics. With this in mind, begin by considering the emotions, experiences, or ideas that most resonate with you. Then, use your imagination to consider how a specific color could represent that feeling or concept. Remember that the prompt is ultimately an opportunity to showcase your creativity and original way of looking at the world, so your explanation does not need to be unnecessarily deep or complex—if you have a playful personality, convey your playfulness in your response; if you are known for your sarcasm, consider how you can weave in your biting wit; if you are an amateur poet, consider how you might take inspiration from poetry as you write, or offer a response in the form of a poem.
The goal is to take a familiar concept and turn it into something new and meaningful through a creative lens. Use this essay to showcase your ability to think inventively and to draw surprising connections between language and life.
Harvard University
Prompt: Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you.
What Makes it Unique: This prompt is unique in both form and substance—first, you only have 150 words to write about all 3 things. Consider using a form other than a traditional essay or short answer response, such as a bullet list or short letter. Additionally, note that the things your roommate might like to learn about you do not necessarily overlap with the things you would traditionally share with an admissions committee. The aim of the prompt is to get to know your quirks and foibles—who are you as a person and a friend? What distinguishes you outside of academics and accolades?
How to Answer it: First and foremost, feel free to get creative with your response to this prompt. While you are producing a supplemental essay and thus a professional piece of writing, the prompt invites you to share more personal qualities, and you should aim to demonstrate your unique characteristics in your own voice. Consider things such as: How would your friends describe you? What funny stories do your parents and siblings share that encapsulate your personality? Or, consider what someone might want to know about living with you: do you snore? Do you have a collection of vintage posters? Are you particularly fastidious? While these may seem like trivial things to mention, the true creativity is in how you connect these qualities to deeper truths about yourself—perhaps your sleepwalking is consistent with your reputation for being the first to raise your hand in class or speak up about a cause you’re passionate about. Perhaps your living conditions are a metaphor for how your brain works—though it looks like a mess to everyone else, you have a place for everything and know exactly where to find it. Whatever qualities you choose, embrace the opportunity to think outside of the box and showcase something that admissions officers won’t learn about anywhere else on your application.
University of Pennsylvania
Prompt: Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge.
What Makes it Unique: Breaking from the traditional essay format, this supplement invites you to write directly to a third party in the form of a 150-200 word long letter. The challenge in answering this distinct prompt is to remember that your letter should say as much about you, your unique qualities and what you value as it does about the recipient—all while not seeming overly boastful or contrived.
How to Answer it: As you select a recipient, consider the relationships that have been most formative in your high school experience—writing to someone who has played a large part in your story will allow the admissions committee some insight into your development and the meaningful relationships that guided you on your journey. Once you’ve identified the person, craft a thank-you note that is specific and heartfelt—unlike other essays, this prompt invites you to be sentimental and emotional, as long as doing so would authentically convey your feelings of gratitude. Describe the impact they’ve had on you, what you’ve learned from them, and how their influence has shaped your path. For example, if you’re thanking a teacher, don’t just say they helped you become a better student—explain how their encouragement gave you the confidence to pursue your passions. Keep the tone sincere and personal, avoid clichés and focus on the unique role this person has played in your life.
University of Notre Dame
Prompt: What compliment are you most proud of receiving, and why does it mean so much to you?
What Makes it Unique: This prompt is unique in that it invites students to share something about themselves by reflecting on someone else’s words in 50-100 words.
How to Answer it: The key to answering this prompt is to avoid focusing too much on the complement itself and instead focus on your response to receiving it and why it was so important to you. Note that this prompt is not an opportunity to brag about your achievements, but instead to showcase what truly matters to you. Select a compliment that truly speaks to who you are and what you value. It could be related to your character, work ethic, kindness, creativity, or any other quality that you hold in high regard. The compliment doesn’t have to be grand or come from someone with authority—it could be something small but significant that left a lasting impression on you, or it could have particular meaning for you because it came from someone you didn’t expect it to come from. Be brief in setting the stage and explaining the context of the compliment—what is most important is your reflection on its significance and how it shaped your understanding of yourself.
Stanford University
Prompt: List five things that are important to you.
What Makes it Unique: This prompt’s simplicity is what makes it so challenging. Stanford asks for a list, not an essay, which means you have very limited space (50 words) to convey something meaningful about yourself. Additionally, the prompt does not specify what these “things” must be—they could be a physical item, an idea, a concept, or even a pastime. Whatever you choose, these five items should add depth to your identity, values, and priorities.
How to Answer it: Start by brainstorming what matters most to you—these could be values, activities, people, places, or even abstract concepts. The key is to choose items or concepts that, when considered together, provide a comprehensive snapshot of who you are. For example, you might select something tangible and specific such as “an antique telescope gifted by my grandfather” alongside something conceptual such as “the willingness to admit when you’re wrong.” The beauty of this prompt is that it doesn’t require complex sentences or elaborate explanations—just a clear and honest reflection of what you hold dear. Be thoughtful in your selections, and use this prompt to showcase your creativity and core values.
While the supplemental essays should convey something meaningful about you, your values, and your unique qualifications for the university to which you are applying, the best essays are those that are playful, original, and unexpected. By starting early and taking the time to draft and revise their ideas, students can showcase their authentic personalities and distinguish themselves from other applicants through their supplemental essays.
A clear, arguable thesis will tell your readers where you are going to end up, but it can also help you figure out how to get them there. Put your thesis at the top of a blank page and then make a list of the points you will need to make to argue that thesis effectively.
For example, consider this example from the thesis handout : While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake”(54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well”(51) is less convincing.
To argue this thesis, the author needs to do the following:
Once you have broken down your thesis into main claims, you can then think about what sub-claims you will need to make in order to support each of those main claims. That step might look like this:
Each argument you will make in an essay will be different, but this strategy will often be a useful first step in figuring out the path of your argument.
Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including “introduction,” “methods,” and “discussion.” Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to help you see what you’ve written and to begin to think about how your ideas fit together. You can do this by typing subheadings above the sections of your draft.
If you’re having trouble figuring out how your ideas fit together, try beginning with informal subheadings like these:
For longer papers, you may decide to include subheadings to guide your reader through your argument. In those cases, you would need to revise your informal subheadings to be more useful for your readers. For example, if you have initially written in something like “explain the author’s main point,” your final subheading might be something like “Sandel’s main argument” or “Sandel’s opposition to genetic enhancement.” In other cases, once you have the key pieces of your argument in place, you will be able to remove the subheadings.
While you may have learned to outline a paper before writing a draft, this step is often difficult because our ideas develop as we write. In some cases, it can be more helpful to write a draft in which you get all of your ideas out and then do a “reverse outline” of what you’ve already written. This doesn’t have to be formal; you can just make a list of the point in each paragraph of your draft and then ask these questions:
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1. Keep it real. It’s normal to want to make a good impression on the school of your choice, but it’s also important to show who you really are. So just be yourself! Compelling stories might not be perfectly linear or have a happy ending, and that’s OK. It’s best to be authentic instead of telling schools what you think they want to hear.
2. Be reflective . Think about how you’ve changed during high school. How have you grown and improved? What makes you feel ready for college, and how do you hope to contribute to the campus community and society at large?
3. Look to the future. Consider your reasons for attending college. What do you hope to gain from your education? What about college excites you the most, and what would you like to do after you graduate? Answering these questions will not only give colleges insight into the kind of student you’ll be, but it will also give you the personal insight you’ll need to choose the school that’s right for you.
Have questions about college prep? We're here to help.
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As a student or prospective student at CU Boulder, you have a right to certain information pertaining to financial aid programs, the Clery Act, crime and safety, graduation rates, athletics and other general information such as the costs associated with attending CU Boulder. To view this information visit colorado.edu/your-right-know .
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IMAGES
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When you cite a source with up to three authors, cite all authors' names. For four or more authors, list only the first name, followed by ' et al. ': Number of authors. In-text citation example. 1 author. (Davis, 2019) 2 authors. (Davis and Barrett, 2019) 3 authors.
Harvard College Writing Center 5 Asking Analytical Questions When you write an essay for a course you are taking, you are being asked not only to create a product (the essay) but, more importantly, to go through a process of thinking more deeply about a question or problem related to the course. By writing about a
The writer of the academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence. The beginning of the essay is a crucial first step in this process. In order to engage readers and establish your authority, the beginning of your essay has to accomplish certain business. Your beginning should introduce the essay, focus it, and orient ...
The Harvard citation format uses parenthetical author-date citations embedded within the text. In this style, the citation places the last name of the author and the year of publication within parentheses. Keep in mind, you'll also need a full citation at the end of the paper in the reference list. In-text citations come after a sentence ...
Harvard College Writing Center. menu close Menu. Search. Search search. Questions about Expos? Writing Support for Instructors; Faculty of Arts and Sciences. ... Strategies for Essay Writing: PDFs Strategies for Essay Writing--Complete. description. Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt. description. Asking Analytical Questions. description.
The Harvard referencing system is known as the Author-Date style. It emphasizes the name of the creator of a piece of information and the date of publication, with the list of references in alphabetical order at the end of your paper. Unlike other citation styles, there is no single, definitive version of Harvard Style.
Citing a newspaper article is similar to citing a journal article except, instead of the volume and issue number, the edition and date of publication are needed: Author surname (s), initial (s). (Year) 'Article Title', Newspaper Title (edition), day month, page number (s). Note: edition is used only where applicable.
Formatting a Harvard style bibliography. Sources are alphabetised by author last name. The heading 'Reference list' or 'Bibliography' appears at the top. Each new source appears on a new line, and when an entry for a single source extends onto a second line, a hanging indent is used: Harvard bibliography example.
First, identify one or two goals you have for the future—with just 200 words, you won't have space to elaborate on any more than that. Ideally, these should be relatively concrete. You don't have to have your whole life mapped out, but you do need to be a lot more specific than "Make a difference in the world.".
www.communicate.gse.harvard.edu | 3 Thesis statement The thesis is generally the narrowest part and last sentence of the introduction, and conveys your position, the essence of your argument or idea. See our handout on Writing a Thesis Statement for more. The roadmap Not all academic papers include a roadmap, but many do.
Harvard College. Writing Program. roJeCT BrIeF gUIde SerIeSA Brief Guide to the Elements of the Academic Essayby Gordon HarveyGordon Harvey's "Ele. nts of the Academic Essay" provide a possible vocabulary for commenting on student writing. Instructors in Harvard College Writing Program tend to use some version of this vocabulary when ...
Format for Harvard Referencing. Typically, a paper that uses Harvard referencing has the following format: 2.5 cm OR 1-inch margins on all sides; Recommended fonts: Arial 12 pt or Times New Roman, with double-spacing; Title is in the center of the page just above the text; Left-aligned text, with the first sentence of every paragraph indented ...
There are different versions of the Harvard referencing style. This guide is a quick introduction to the commonly-used Cite Them Right version. You will find further guidance available through the OU Library on the Cite Them Right Database. For help and support with referencing and the full Cite Them Right guide, have a look at the Library's ...
- Into the Essay: Excerpts from actual papers show the ideas from the chapters in action because you learn to write best by getting examples rather than instructions. Much of my approach to academic writing developed during my time in the Harvard College Writing Program. I am especially grateful to Tom Jehn,
Text: double-spaced and left-aligned. Indent: first line of a paragraph has indent of 0.5 inch. Margins: 1 inch from each side. A Harvard style citation must have a Title page, header (or running head), headings and Reference list. We will take a closer look at formatting each section down below.
Making a detailed outline before you begin writing is a good way to make sure your ideas come across in a clear and logical order. A good outline will also save you time in the revision process, reducing the possibility that your ideas will need to be rearranged once you've written them. The First Steps. Before you can begin outlining, you need ...
Writing a Memorable Harvard Essay: 3 Tips. To wrap up, here are three tips to keep in mind as you write your Harvard supplement essay. #1: Use an Authentic Voice. Having a clear, unique, and authentic voice is the key to making yourself stand apart from other applicants in your Harvard application—and to ensuring you're leaving a long-lasting ...
You will learn how to format your essay in the latest Harvard Formatting Style** Course on how to open an academic writing account available on Udemy **https...
How to Write Harvard Supplemental Essay #2. Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you. (10-200 words) For this short essay prompt, you'll aim to share a brief story that highlights your intellectual curiosity, growth, and maybe even a profound realization.
How to Write an Executive Summary . An executive summary is a concise document, demonstrating the problem, findings and recommendation of a longer policy report. Writing an executive summary will help your audience quickly understand the policy problem and proposed solution of your report. It is intended for a busy reader; and is a
Harvard College Writing Center. menu close Menu. Search
So, let's have a look at the basics of how to write a bibliography for essays or research papers. Step 1: Gather Your Resources. First things first, let's round up all the materials you've used for your research. ... How to Write a Bibliography in Harvard Format? Harvard referencing style is commonly used in the UK and Australia. Let's review ...
Writing the college essay. ... read between the lines, and ditch the traditional essay-writing format when crafting their responses. ... Harvard University. Prompt: Top 3 things your roommates ...
Getty Images. Your personal statement and optional essays are your chance to pitch yourself as a candidate, so it's most important to start with the right argument.
In general, your introductions should contain the following elements: When you're writing an essay, it's helpful to think about what your reader needs to know in order to follow your argument. Your introduction should include enough information so that readers can understand the context for your thesis. For example, if you are analyzing ...
Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove them later. Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including "introduction," "methods," and "discussion.". Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to help you ...
Writing the personal essay for your college application can be tough, but we're here to help. Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started, but the sooner you begin, the more time and thought you can put into an essay that stands out. Check out some tips: 1. Keep it real.