Harvard Referencing Guide: Webpage - Introduction

Webpage - Introduction

Obtaining information from the Internet is very popular. However, web pages can be created by almost anyone regardless of their level of expertise in the subject. Whenever you access a web  page to support your learning, you should take time to evaluate the accuracy and authenticity of the 'information' it contains.

For example, you should consider :

• the credibility of the author - is the author an expert in the subject?
• the reason(s) behind the creation of the website - could the information be biased in some way?
• the age of the web site - is the information out-of-date?
• the country of origin - e.g. for information relation to UK law or accounting practices, it may be advisable to access UK websites.

You should also remember that information on a website can be removed or changed - you may not be able to access the same information at a later date.  For this reason, you should make a note of the actual date at which you access a web page if you intend to use the information it contains.

A reference to a web site will generally require the following elements:

• Author 
• Year that the site was published / last updated. (in round brackets)
• Title of the web page (in italics)
• Available at: URL
• (Accessed: date)