DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly

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DHQ Citation Style Guidelines

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DHQ uses the Harvard Referencing system. Please format your in-text references and reference list as outlined below.

In-Text References

Reference Elements

To create an in-text reference in the Harvard style, there are two required elements:

  • Author’s surname or, in the case of works of film or television, title. If there are more than three authors, in-text references should be abbreviated as the first author’s surname followed by “et al”.
  • Year, in four-digit format (YYYY).

There is also an optional third element:

  • Location, such as page number(s), paragraph, or section number. These are noted as: “p. XX” or “pp. XX–XX”. Page ranges are delimited with an en dash (–) rather than a hyphen. Paragraph numbers are noted with a pilcrow (¶) and section numbers with a section sign (§): “¶XX” or “§X”, with no space between the symbol and the number.

Stylistic notes or additions are never part of in-text parenthetical references. Clarifications such as “emphasis added” should be made in a footnote rather than in the context of the reference.

Reference Forms

In-text references may take one of two forms within the Harvard style and DHQ articles support both options. Either the surname should remain part of the prose of the article, with supporting information in parentheses, or the entire reference should be enclosed in parentheses. See these brief examples below for how to employ the guidelines:

  • … as Mendez Garcia (2007) writes …
  • … in their report, Campbell and Murray (2013, p. 426) note …
  • … building on that research, Elliott et al. (2022, §5.1) illustrate …
  • … as we had proven (Fletcher et al, 2010), therefore, …
  • … shown previously (Phillips, 2016, pp. 4–9).
  • … based upon a prior study (Chandler, Li, and Osborne, 2018, ¶15), I expected …

DHQ in-text references differ from the standard Harvard style in only one significant way. Multiple references, whether they be from the same author in different years, multiple works, or different editions of the same text, should never be combined. Please provide each reference as a unique entity.

Reference List

Most entries in the reference list begin in a similar fashion: with the author’s name followed by the date of publication. The list should be organized alphabetically (single-authored works first), and then chronologically if necessary. As is the case across most citation styles, the reference for a printed book is the simplest and the basis for all other formats. A quick guide to some of the most referenced materials is below. Not every element is required for each type of reference. Items which are only necessary in certain circumstances are enclosed in curly braces “{}”. Please note the following particulars:

  • Author names should be given with a surname first, followed by a comma, and then either a full first name or initials (use whichever form is provided by the reference’s published record)
  • Articles with two authors should be separated by ‘and’ (e.g., Campbell, James and Murray, Elizabeth.)
  • Articles with three authors should be first separated by comma and then ‘and’ (e.g., Chandler, W., Li, S., and Osborne, T.)
  • Articles with four or more authors should list the first author, followed by ‘et al.’ (e.g., Fletcher, Sarah et al.)
  • Initials should be followed by a full point and a space (e.g., an entry for John Edward Doe in the reference list would be “Doe, J. E.”)
  • Editor names should be treated in the same manner as author names.
  • “X” is used to represent numerals
  • “DD Month YYYY” is a two-digit date, the month spelled out completely, and a four-digit year
  • Any references without a known date should replace the four-digit date field with “n.d.”
  • All italics and parentheses should remain and are required
  • Places of publication should be only the name of the municipality unless further specification is required
  • Page ranges are delimited with an en dash (–), not a hyphen
  • Volumes and issues are written as numerals (without “vol.” or “iss.”)

Printed Book

Author Name. (YYYY) Book Title. {X edn.} Place of Publication: Publisher.

Edited Book

Editor Name. (ed.) (YYYY) Book Title. {X edn.} Place of Publication: Publisher.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Author Name. (YYYY) ‘Chapter Title’ in Editor Name (ed.) Book Title. {X edn.} Place of Publication: Publisher, pp. page–range.

E-Book

Author Name. (YYYY) Book Title. {X edn.} Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).

(Follow appropriate adaptations for edited books)

Journal Article

Author Name. (YYYY) ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, volume(issue), pp. page–range. {Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).}

Published Conference Procedings

Author Name. (YYYY) ‘Paper Title’ in Conference Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, pp. page–range. {Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).}

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Author Name. (YYYY) ‘Article Title’, Newspaper/Magazine Title, DD Month, pp. page–range. {Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).}

Website

Author Name {or Organization Name}. (YYYY) Webpage or Website Title. Available at URL (Accessed DD Month YYYY).

Social Media

Author Name. [@mediaHandle] (YYYY) Post Title [Media Platform] DD Month. Available at: URL (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).

(Post titles are not italicized, posts without titles (like tweets) use their full content as a title)

Image

Author Name. (YYYY) Image Title. {Place of Publication: Publisher} {Available at: URL (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).}

Music

Artist Name {or Stage Name}. (YYYY) {‘Song Title’,} Album Title. Place of Distribution: Distribution Company. {Available at: URL (Accessed: DD Month YYYY).}

Film

Film Title (YYYY) Directed by Director’s Full Name. Place of Distribution: Distribution Company.

(The director’s preferred name is written in its proper order as used in common speech)

Media Program

‘Episode Title’ (YYYY) Program Title, Series X, episode XX. Channel or streaming service, DD Month YYYY.

(TV shows, podcasts, and other episodic media fall under this category)

Note

Much of this guide was compiled using information from the Mendeley “Harvard Format Citation Guide” and the EasyBib “Harvard Referencing Style Guide”. For more information, consult these resources or contact dhqinfo at digitalhumanities dot org with questions.