There is no definitive version of ‘Harvard’ referencing and there are many interpretations of Harvard in use across Australian universities. Harvard UniSA, therefore, is a bespoke ‘Author-date’ style based on the 6th edition of the Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS) Style Manual (2002). Any updates to Harvard UniSA relied on subjective interpretation of this document, especially in relation to online sources.
In 2020, the 7th edition of the Style Manual was published online with a number of updates, in particular for electronic sources. However, the updates are based on various ‘Author-date’ styles including the American Psychological Association (APA), Oxford, and Chicago, resulting in a hybrid version of the ‘Author-date’ style.
In light of the recent changes to the AGPS Style Manual we will be transitioning away from Harvard UniSA to APA as the recommended standardised ‘Author-date’ referencing style at UniSA.
The APA referencing style is supported by an external body who update guidelines regularly and there are a multitude of online citation tools with clear and consistent guidelines – this would minimise the confusion for students and staff. Such a change would provide opportunity to focus more on the crucial skills of integration and paraphrasing of sources, and away from the layout and punctuation of referencing, and would also be consistent with the approach adopted by a number of universities across Australia.
Yes, you can still ask students to use UniSA Harvard.
As is current practice, Course Coordinators and Program Directors are not precluded from using and recommending any other discipline-specific styles of referencing in their courses and programs. The bespoke Harvard UniSA pdf guide (last updated 2018) will remain available on unisa.edu.au/referencing, along with guides for other referencing styles used in programs across UniSA. Note that no further updates will be made to the Harvard UniSA referencing guide pdf, and the Roadmap and Harvard UniSA Referencing forum will be decommissioned at the end of 2023 and no longer available from 2024.
It’s important to remember that student resources on Study Help, Referencing and the Library sites will align with the APA style from January 2023.
The latest version of APA is version 7. All APA official guides are managed externally by the APA, and links to the most up-to-date versions will be available at unisa.edu.au/referencing. This link will not change.
The UniSA Referencing site has been updated using APA 7 examples throughout.
APA 7 citation function is currently available for sources accessed via the Library's catalogue search and is also available for Endnote (along with other referencing styles). Where relevant, Library assignment help pages and guides will link to APA 7.
If a Program/Course is moving from Harvard UniSA to APA 7 referencing style, there is no strict due date for updating courses. However, it’s important to note that although the current Harvard UniSA referencing guide (2018) in pdf version will remain available, it will not be updated. Further, the Referencing Roadmap (Harvard) and Harvard UniSA Referencing forum will be available in 2023 but will be decommissioned at the end of 2023 and no longer available from 2024.
It is therefore recommended that any updates to APA 7 referencing style takes place by the end of 2023. APA 7 resources and guides for students are already available at unisa.edu.au/referencing.
Course eReading lists in eReserve will not automatically be changed to APA, as academic staff can choose from a range of styles. If you wish to change to APA, this will be quick and easy to do: At the start of each study period, when you roll over and publish the list, you can also choose the output style for your reading list from a drop-down list. All readings in the list will then change to display in this style.
View detailed instructions (including screenshots and a 30 second demo video) at the eReading Help Guide > Organise readings > Change citation style.
A range of referencing styles are used across disciplines and course sites and materials may use citations or attributions. Course Coordinators and teaching staff may choose to model references in the preferred citation style for their discipline in course materials, or may use other methods of attribution as appropriate. Attributions on course materials generally follow a set attribution style rather than a citation style, so do not need to be changed to the APA style unless the Course Coordinator desires.
Where attribution is used rather than citation, it may be useful to add disclaimers to remind students of their responsibility to check their own references against the relevant style guide before submission of formal academic assignments.
Information will be disseminated to students via student announcements, ezines and social media and will direct them to resources to support their referencing skills, in addition to any information provided on course outlines and course sites. The Study Help and Referencing site resources will feature examples from a range of styles with APA 7 being most prominent.