A brief narrated video, outlining the key differences between Harvard UTAS and APA 7th styles:
As you'd be aware, referencing rules often fall short of being definitive. This was a big issue with 'Harvard', but it remains an issue regardless of whichever referencing style you follow. There is no way to expect a style to show exactly how to format every single reference for all the sources in a discipline. The American Psychological Association (APA) itself acknowledged with APA 6th that some "mix and match" may be required - APA Style 6th Edition Blog: The Frankenreference.
Interpretation of referencing rules and guidelines is inevitable, so we need to upskill students for independence in this task. Markers, too, should have confidence to accept variant interpretations, which may sometimes differ from their own. This will resolve some of the trepidation with which students currently approach assignment referencing.
In this broad shift to APA, Learning & Research Librarians will guide your students to the APA webpages to find the best advice for formatting their sources. For frequently used specialised sources, such as those used in Nursing, Medicine and Health Science, we have published a list of examples that represent our interpretation of how the rules fit those sources. We will encourage students to independently interpret and apply the rules and, where these don't fit directly, we will recommend that beyond inclusion of the generic reference components, consistency of formatting for similar sources is the main priority. How does this fit with your expectations of us, and of students?
Academic and professional staff are welcome to contact Learning and Research Librarians with questions or comments about making the transition from Harvard to APA in your course or discipline.
