Skip to Main Content

Harvard UON Referencing Style:  Web resources

UON Library guide to the Australian Harvard Style based on the online Style Manual: the standard for Australian Government writing and editing 2020.

Web Resources - General Rules

 

Note: 

  • Select a tab above for specific web resources. 
  • For citing images from web pages, see the Images page.
  • Only cite an entire website if you cannot pinpoint the material to a specific webpage or webpage content.

Author Name

  • Use a shortened form of a corporate author if the corporate author uses it regularly
  • Cite the site or page by the author or owner of the site if there is no author listed.

Title

  • Unless the source is behind a paywall, hyperlink the title of web resources.
  • Don’t link to PDFs or other downloadable documents. Instead link to the webpage that hosts the document.

Year and Date of Publication

  • Use the full date of publication for social media posts in the reference list entry. 
  • When the publication/revision date is unknown, use n.d.
  • Include the access date for web resources, e.g. accessed 21 July 2021.

DOI or URL

  • Include the DOI if available followed by a full stop.
  • Don't include the URL when the title is hyperlinked or a DOI is included.

Websites, webpages and web contents

 

General Rules:

  • Only cite an entire website if you cannot pinpoint the material to a specific webpage or webpage content.
  • Cite the site or page by the author or owner of the site if there is no author listed.
  • Unless the source is behind a paywall, hyperlink the title.
  • Don’t link to PDFs or other downloadable documents. Instead link to the page that hosts the document.
  • If the document is print only (the title can't be hyperlinked), include the URL in the reference after the final full stop.
  • Always include the access date.
  • When a webpage is a part of a larger publication or series, see the format and example at the bottom of page.

See the general rules for web resources for more details. 

 

In-text citation: format and example

     (Author/Organisation Year of Publication)   or   Author/Organisation (Year of Publication)

... (ABS 2021)      or      ABS (2021)

... (AuSIL n.d.)      or      AuSIL (n.d.)

... (Vallen 2018)    or     Vallen (2018)

... (DFAT 2018)     or      DFAT (2018)

 

Reference list entry: format and example

       Author/Organisation (Year) Webpage title hyperlinked, Title or Owner of Website, accessed Day Month Year.

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2021) General social survey: summary results, Australia, ABS, accessed 5 February 2022.

AuSIL (Australian Society for Indigenous Languages) (n.d.) Supporting indigenous language communities, AuSIL, accessed 26 July 2021. 

DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) (2018) Fact sheets for countries and regions – India, DFAT, accessed 9 July 2021. 

Vallen A (2016) 12 books every Australian should read, Australian Geographic Society, accessed 16 February 2022. 

 

If your document will be in print only and the title can not be hyperlinked, include a URL after the final full stop, eg.

DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) (2018) Fact sheets for countries and regions – India, DFAT, accessed 9 July 2021. https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/trade-and-economic-fact-sheets-for-countries-economies-and-regions

Vallen A (2016) 12 books every Australian should read, Australian Geographic Society, accessed 16 February 2022. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2016/02/12-books-every-australian-should-read

 

Webpage as part of a larger publication or series: format and example

       Author A (Year) ‘Title of webpage’, Name of larger publication or series, Name of Website, accessed Day Month Year.

APSC (Australian Public Service Commission) (2021) ‘Author–date’, Australian Government Style Manual, stylemanual.gov.au, accessed 3 October 2021.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) (2019) ‘Audio content and video content’, Making audio and video content accessible, W3C, accessed 25 August 2020.

 

Media releases

 

A media release, also called news release, or press release, is an official statement on a particular matter by a news agent or organisation. 

  • Use the Organisation as the author if the media release has no author listed
  • Use the full date of publication (Month Day Year)
  • Add [media release] after the title.

See also the general rules for web resources for more details. 

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Author Year of Release) or   Author (Year of Release)

     ... (ABS 2022)      or     ABS (2022)

     ... (ACT Government 2020)     or    ACT Government (2020) 

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Author / Organisation (Day Month Year) Press release title hyperlinked [media release], Organisation Name, Accessed Day Month Year.

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (11 February 2022) Staff absent in 22% of businesses due to COVID-19 [media release], ABS, accessed 22 February 2022.

ACT Government (4 February 2020) ACT has highest student participation and employment [media release], ACT Government, accessed 22 February 2022. 

 

Blog posts and comments

 

A blog is a web-based forum that consists of posted entries organized by date or topic, and usually accompanied by readers’ comments. 

Note that:

  • the distinction between a blog and a website is often unclear; when in doubt, treat the title like that of a website.
  • If a blog post doesn’t list an author, use the name of the blog 

 

Blog Post: format and example

Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Title of post hyperlinked’, Name of Blog, accessed Day Month Year.

Facebook for Business (21 April 2019) ‘Capturing attention in feed: the science behind effective video creative’, Facebook for Business, accessed 18 November 2019.

Peascod S (19 December 2019) ‘The future of work is learning’, Digital Transformation Agency blog, accessed 4 January 2020.

 

Comment on a blog post: format and example

     Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Re: Title of post: subtitle of post’ [blog comment], Name of Blog, accessed Day Month Year.

Mullins P (1 January 2020) ‘Re: Capturing attention in feed: the science behind effective video creative’ [blog comment], Facebook for Business, accessed 4 February 2020.

 

Twitter, Facebook and other social media contents

 

To cite social media posts:

  • Include the first 10 words of the content followed by an ellipsis if there’s no title.
  • Hyperlink the content or title to the original post and
  • Include the date you accessed the post

See the general rules for web resources for more details. 

 

In-text citation: instruction and example

To cite social media and forum posts in text, use the poster’s name and the year as you would for other references. However, make sure the user knows it’s a social media post. For example:

In a recent Facebook post, Services Australia (2020) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Name of Page or Poster (Day Month Year) ‘Title or first 10 words of post’ [type of post], Page of Post, accessed Day Month Year.

Services Australia (31 January 2020) ‘Our mobile servicing arrangements will continue in NSW, VIC ...’ [Facebook status], Services Australia, accessed 1 February 2020.

Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (3 February 2020) ‘Celebrate World Wetlands Day’ [Tweet], Australian Government Agriculture and Water, accessed 4 February 2020.

CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) (21 January 2020) ‘A brain transplant for one of Australia's top telescopes’ [online forum post], Reddit, accessed 4 February 2020.

YouTube and other free online videos

 

For videos published freely online such as on government websites, YouTube, TED talks,  VEVO, or Vimeo:

  • Hyperlink the title of the video and file format.
  • Include the date you accessed it at the end of the reference.

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Creator / Organisation Year of Publication)       or      Creator / Organisation (Year of Publication)

... (Farahand wāni  2019)      or      Farah and wāni (2019) ...

... (Australian Government Department of Health 2020)    or     Australian Government Department of Health (2020) ...

... (ABC 2018)        or      ABC (2018) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Creator C or Owner of Video (Day Month Year) ‘Title of video’ [video] hyperlinked, Name of Channel or Owning Organisation, Name of Website website, accessed Day Month Year.

Farah Z and wāni (4 October 2019) ‘2019 Australian Poetry Slam: Victorian winner & runner-up’ [video], State Library Victoria, State Library Victoria website, accessed 10 January 2020.

Australian Government Department of Health (28 February 2020) ‘Get the facts – immunisation facts in 90 seconds’ [video], Australian Government Department of Health, YouTube, accessed 6 March 2020.

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (10 May 2018) ‘The Australian writer who could be the next Nobel Prize winner’ [video], ABC News (Australia), YouTube, accessed 29 May 2019.

Podcasts and streaming audio

 

To cite podcasts published freely on the web:

  • Use italics for the name of the program series.
  • Use single quotation marks for the episodes.
  • Use sentence case for both series and episodes.
  • Hyperlink the episode’s title.
  • Don’t link to the podcast’s file name. Always link to the webpage that hosts the podcast episode.
  • Include the date it was accessed at the end of the reference.

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Author's Last Name Year of Publication)    or     Author's Last Name (Year of Publication) ...

... (Stephens 2019)      or      Stephens (2019) ...

... (Hooper and Arnall 2019)    or   Hooper and Arnall (2019) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Host H (host) and Producer P (producer) (Day Month Year) ‘Title of podcast: subtitle of podcast’ [podcast], Name of podcast, Name of Podcast Network, accessed Day Month Year.

Stephens J (host) (26 December 2019) ‘Best of 2019: the beauty queen killer’ [podcast], True crime conversations, Mamamia Podcasts, accessed 21 January 2020.

Hooper C (host) and Arnall K (producer) (3 November 2019) ‘Goodbye secret garage shame’[podcast], The pineapple project, ABC, accessed 4 February 2020.

Subjects: Referencing