
The Coventry University Guide to Referencing in Harvard Style
Centre for Academic Writing, Coventry University
HOW TO REFERENCE A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
1. A printed newspaper article
A printed newspaper article is an article accesed by reading the physical copy of a newspaper.
In-text citation
Write the surname of the author of the article and the year the newspaper was published in brackets.
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Whenever you make reference to a specific point in the article, add the page number/s preceded by a colon.
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For sources with more than three authors, use the surname of the first author followed by ‘et al.’
Examples
Anderson (2002) argues that biology is Britain's best discipline.
Biology is allegedly Britain's best discipline (Anderson 2002).
Reference
Write the author’s surname and initials and the date in brackets, then put the title of the article within single quotation marks followed by a full stop. Write the title of the newspaper in italics, then the exact date, a comma and finally the page numbers.
Example
Anderson, E. (2002) ‘Biology is Britain’s Best Discipline’. The Independent 20 July, 4-5
Note: British English uses the date/month system while American English uses the month/date system!
2. An electronic newspaper article
An electronic newspaper article is one accessed online, often through the newspaper's dedicated website.
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In-text citation
The same guidance applies as for printed newspaper articles:
Write the surname of the author of the article and the year the newspaper was published in brackets.
-
Whenever you make reference to a specific point in the article, add the page number/s preceded by a colon.
-
For sources with more than three authors, use the surname of the first author followed by ‘et al.’
N.B. If no individual authors are provided, use the name of the newspaper/website instead.
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Examples
An article published in The Economist (2016) argues that scientists only make public the results of successful research.
Mexican drug traffickers have been found to continue trade in prison (Lacey 2009).
Reference
Write the author’s surname and initials and the date in brackets, then put the title of the article within single quotation marks followed by a full stop. Write the title of the newspaper in italics followed by [online] in square brackets, then the exact date. Write ‘available from’ and provide the full web address starting with < and ending with > then give the date of access in square brackets.
Example
Lacey, M. (2009) ‘Mexico’s Drug Traffickers Continue Trade in Prison’. The New York Times [online]
11 August. available from <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/world/americas/11prisons.html?_r=1&hp> [11 August 2009]
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The Economist (2016) 'Why bad science persists: Incentive Malus'. The Economist [online] 24 September.
available from<http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21707513-poor-scientific-methods-may-be-hereditary-incentive-malus> [11 October 2016]