Difference Between Chicago and Harvard Referencing to Know

Referencing is the most important aspect of academic writing. Whether you are working on a dissertation or an assignment, adding references that follow a particular style is important. There are different referencing styles in use these days. Chicago and Harvard referencing are the two most commonly used styles when writing dissertations, assignments, or coursework. Both referencing styles are different from each other. 

You do not know about these two particular styles as you are here. Also, your presence here shows that you are unaware of their differences. Keeping this in view, in today’s article, we are going to discuss the Chicago and Harvard referencing styles. In this guide, you will find information about the following: 

• What is Chicago’s style of referencing? 
• What is Harvard’s style of referencing? 
• Differences Between Both Commonly used referencing styles 
• Examples of each referencing style 

What is Chicago’s Referencing Style? 

Chicago referencing style is the style mainly used by American English writers. The Chicago University Press publishes a guide about this style. This referencing style is primarily used in historical journals. Chicago style is also known as the Turabian referencing style. So, when you see the word Turabian style in your dissertation writing guidelines, know that it is Chicago, and your teacher wants you to use the Chicago style of referencing. 

What is Harvard’s Style of Referencing? 

The most widely used referencing style in academia is known as the Harvard referencing style. It is a system that uses the author-year system to reference the author’s information in the dissertation. Using the Harvard style in dissertation writing means putting the source citation right after the quote. This style of referencing is completely devoid of footnotes. It is a simple, straightforward, and economical style of referencing. 

Guidelines for creating references in Chicago style 

After reading the information above, you have a good idea of this referencing style. You also know what it is different from Harvard referencing. However, you still do not know how to create references using this style. You do not know about the different guidelines for the different numbers of authors. In this section of today’s article, we are going to discuss those guidelines and explain the structure of Chicago references. 

Basic Format of References in the Chicago Style 

There are two different styles used in the Chicago referencing style. One is called the Notes style, and the other is called the author-date style. The primary difference between these two is the location of the date. The structure of both styles in the case of different sources is as follows: 

Books 

In the case of books, the structure of references is as follows: 

Notes style: Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title. Publisher location: Publisher Name, year of publication 

Author-date style: Author Last Name, Author First Name. Year of publication. Title. Publisher location: Publisher Name

Print articles

Referenced beneath is the structure of references for print articles: 

Notes style: Author Last Name, Author First Name, & Author First Name Author Last Name. “Article Title”. Periodical Title volume number, issue number (year): pages

Author-date: Author Last Name, Author First Name, & Author First Name Author Last Name. Year. “Article Title”. Periodical Title volume number, issue number: pages

Electronic articles 

Given below is the structure of references in the case of electronic articles: 

Notes style: Author Last Name, Author First Name, & Author First Name, Author Last Name. “Article Title”. Periodical Title volume number, issue number (year): pages. Accessed access date, doi or static URL

Author-date style: Author Last Name, Author First Name, & Author First Name, Author Last Name. Year. “Article Title”. Periodical Title volume number, issue number: pages. Accessed access date, doi or static URL

Guidelines for Creating References in the Harvard style 

From the discussion above, Harvard Referencing is another referencing style used in dissertation writing. It is the most widely used style. However, you still do not know the structure of the references when you use this particular style. The top guidelines in this regard are as follows: 

The basic format of references in the Harvard style 

Creating references in the Harvard style is not difficult. All you need to do is know the reference structure, record information correctly, and organise that information as a reference. Harvard referencing style has different rules for different authors of the source. The guidelines are as follows: 

Single-author source 

The author’s name comes first when a single author writes the source article or book. The rest of the details about the article come later. For example: 

Peterson, J. (2007). Maximum Ride. New York: Little, Brown. 

A source with two authors (or more) 

Sometimes, the source of the information you are using in the dissertation has more than one author. They could be two, three, or four. How to reference the source using Harvard referencing in this case? The authors’ names must be mentioned with their last names first and then first name first letter in alphabetical order. The rest of the details come later, e.g., 

Shankar, S. and Rani, G. (2009). Software testing. Bangalore, India: Dorling Kindersley, p.149

Print journal articles 

In the case of print journal articles, the guidelines change a bit. First, you have to mention the name of the author. After that, give the title of the article, and last, state the name of the journal in which it is published. An example of this is as follows: 

Michael, K. (2019). On Truth Content and False Consciousness in Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory. Philosophy Today, 61(3), pp. 273-281. 

Ebooks and PDFs 

Ebooks and PDFs follow a different style of referencing. Follow some guidelines if you want to reference them using Harvard referencing style. It would be best to start the reference with the author’s name. Follow the usual format and end the reference with the URL of the pdf and date of access. For example: 

Zusak, M. (2016). The Book Thief. 2nd ed. [ebook] New York: Knopf. Available at: http://ebooks.nypl.org/ [Accessed 21 Dec. 2022].

Top differences between Harvard and Chicago referencing 

As discussed earlier, both Harvard and Chicago referencing styles are different. However, we have not still mentioned the differences between them. In this section of today’s article, we are going to shed some light on those differences. Thus, a brief description of all the dissimilarities between Chicago and Harvard referencing is as follows: 

The difference in the structure 

The first and most important difference between Harvard and Chicago referencing is the difference in structure. The Harvard style of referencing uses footnotes and endnotes. Its structure is based on the kind of source. On the other hand, the structure of the Chicago style referencing depends on the form you are using. There are two forms of this referencing, i.e., Notes and Author-date. 

The Difference in author names 

The second difference between Chicago and Harvard referencing is the difference in authors’ names. The Chicago referencing style asks you to use the author’s full name. It means you have to give the full first name and last name of the author of your source. In contrast, Harvard’s referencing style has different guidelines for the author’s name. It says that you should use the full last name in the reference and only use the initial letter of the first name. Thus, it is another difference. 

The Difference in the date 

There exists a difference in the place of the date of publication. Both referencing styles have different guidelines over this. The Chicago style says that you should put the date of publication where there is the mention of the publisher. On the other hand, Harvard says something different. In its guidelines, it is written that you should place the date of publication after the author or authors’ names. Thus, it is another major difference. 

The Difference in the Citation 

Lastly, there is a difference in the citation styles of both referencing styles. Chicago style of referencing uses the superscript and footnote method for citation. In the text, you will find a superscript with a number, and the complete citation will be given in the footnote of the page. However, this is not the case in Harvard Referencing. In the Harvard style, there is an in-text citation. It means the citation comes within the body of the dissertation and uses an author-date style. 

Final Thoughts 

To sum up, both Chicago and Harvard styles of referencing are different from each other. Both have different guidelines to separate your ideas from the content you have taken from another author. In this guidepost, we have discussed the structure of references of both Chicago and Harvard Referencing styles. You now must read all the guidelines and differences given above. It is now up to you to what extent you follow the information above.