Harvard Referencing: Encyclopedia & Dictionary Entries
Related links within this guide
- The in-text reference
The basics of using in-text references in Harvard. - The Reference List
The format for a Reference List in Harvard. - How to use quotes in Harvard
How to include short and long quotes in your work. - Secondary Sources
What to do if you want to reference a quote that someone else has referenced? - Useful Library resources
Basic format for an encyclopedia or dictionary entry
The basics of a Reference List entry for an encyclopedia or dictionary entry:
- Author or authors. The surname is followed by first initials.
- Year.
- Title of encyclopedia or dictionary entry.
- Title of encyclopedia or dictionary (in italics).
- Publisher.
- Place of publication.
Example:
Riches, C & Stalker, P 2016, ‘Russia’, A guide to countries of the world, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Referencing an encyclopedia or dictionary entry: Examples
| Material Type | In-text example | Reference List example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Encyclopedia Entry - No Author |
Microeconomics 'analyses individual consumers and producers, the market conditions and the law of supply and demand' (World encyclopedia 2014, microeconomics entry). Note: If no page number is available use the title of the entry. |
For encyclopedia entries with no author there is no need for an entry in the reference list. | ||
|
Dictionary Entry - No Author
|
Curriculum can be understood as 'the totality of the specified learning opportunities available in one educational institution' (Dictionary of education 2015, curriculum entry). Note: If no page number is available use the title of the entry. Note: entries retrieved from online encyclopedias and dictionaries via the Library databases can be referenced as though they were print. |
For dictionary entries with no author there is no need for an entry in the reference list. | ||
|
Encyclopedia Entry - Author |
‘Russia, which is officially the Russian Federation, is by far the world’s largest country, spanning two continents…’ (Riches & Stalker 2016, p.1). |
Riches, C & Stalker, P 2016, ‘Russia’, A guide to countries of the world, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford. |
||
|
Dictionary Entry - Author
|
‘Macroenvironment. The wider environment that creates the forces that shape every business and non-profit enterprise’ (Law 2018). Note: entries retrieved from online encyclopedias and dictionaries via the Library databases can be referenced as though they were print. |
Law, J 2018, ‘macroenvironment’, A dictionary of finance and banking, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Note: the title of the dictionary entry is not capitalised, in line with how it appears in the dictionary. |