The Library is making some changes to the University Academic Referencing Tool (ART).
Changes include the introduction of the Chicago (author-date) referencing style guide, and stopping further updates to the Harvard referencing style guide.
This decision will ensure staff and students have access to more current author-date referencing styles (including the existing APA 7 guide).
The Library will continue to support students with any referencing queries.
What do I need to do?
For academic staff and researchers using the Harvard referencing style guide, it’s important you update to an alternative author-date style guide (Chicago or APA 7). Check for references to Harvard in your teaching materials and subject learning guides and update any links.
For researchers and postgraduate students using EndNote for references, you can update to the Chicago referencing style guide by choosing it from the existing list of output styles. Or, you can download the APA 7 style from our EndNote guides (Windows and Mac).
For work published outside of La Trobe, please consult the publication manual you’re using for guidance.
For any copyright queries, please contact the University Copyright Officer at copyright@latrobe.edu.au. For any questions about these changes, please contact the Library.
Why are we making these changes?
The Harvard Referencing style is not a style of its own, but another name for an author-date system of referencing. What is the Harvard system for citing references? provides an explanation from Harvard University Library.
The Harvard style of referencing is based on the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts’ Style Manual: for Authors, Editors and Printers (2002).
Until recently, this style manual had not been updated in many years. There are simply not enough examples in the manual to account for all the different types of resources now available, and, as a result, interpretations of how to reference in the 'Harvard' style varies widely.
In 2020, the Style Manual: for Authors, Editors and Printers (2002) was replaced by the Australian Government Style Manual, a digital edition with ongoing updates. The author-date style used in the Australian Government Style Manual is quite different from the 2002 version and the ongoing updates mean an LTU version would be difficult to maintain.
