The most frequently used style in the engineering and science based disciplines is the Harvard style.

Even within a particular style there are however slight variations in the method of presentation. For example, different journals associated with a particular discipline may specify slightly different presentation requirements. Each journal publishes a style guide for potential authors of the journal and if you wish to have an article accepted in that journal you must use the recommended style.

Similarly, university departments and consulting companies will usually specify the style they require and this is what should be followed.

Click here to read the information on the following website about the Harvard style.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/Library/webpubs/references.html
(accessed 7 February 2003)

Author's name (if known)
Title
Location of the publisher
Name of publisher
Date of publication* (The position of the year will vary according to the particular style used)

* In some styles, the year of publication is placed immediately following the author's name whereas in other styles, it is placed at the end of the reference. Either method is acceptable. The order of all the other components is the same in any style.

The critical point to note is that you should use the style recommended by your department (if there is one) or by your particular discipline.

Another critical point to note is that whatever style you adopt, you must use it consistently throughout.

With this style, when you list all the references at the end of your Final Year Project they are listed numerically, not alphabetically.

No, it is not essential to use the author's name. Often the reference number is simply given at the end of a sentence where reference has been made to the work of an author.

There are however times when the inclusion of the author's name will enable a more meaningful and more coherent sentence to be used. In this case the autho's surname, followed simply by the reference number should be given.

e.g. Jackson [4] stated that ‘………’

 

For the answer to this question, you will need to check with your supervisor but some referencing styles do not use numbers to refer to the references, they use instead the name of the author, the year of publication and the page number(s).

e.g. (Wong, 2002, p.33).

If you use the numbering system in your text, your references at the end of your Final Year Project should be listed numerically. If the numbering system is not used, the list of references must be presented in alphabetical order, according to the first letter of the author's surname.

Give the author's name (if known), title of article, name of journal/magazine/newspaper/website (if known) , date of publication (if given), URL, date the site was accessed.

e.g. Williams, F. Electronic Document Delivery – a trial in an academic library. Ariadne issue 10, July 15. (1997) http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue10/edd/ (accessed 30 October 2002).

Note that it is important to give the date that the site was accessed as this will enable readers to assess the likelihood of the site still being accessible at a later date.

Give the author's name (if known), title of article, name of newspaper, date of publication (include year, month and day), page number.

e.g. Li, Sandy. Terrorism hits tourism. South China Morning Post
Sunday Money. (2002 October 20). p.3.

If the article does not include the author, simply start with the title of the article.

See the ELC Website for help in writing the reference for a newspaper article. Note however that the style used on this site is the American Psychological Association (APA) style not the Harvard style although the two styles are actually very similar.

http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/referenceMachineNews.htm
(accessed 7 February 2003)

There are several things you can do to try and detect which part of the name is the surname.

a) The usual method of writing western names is to place the surname last, and this is the system normally used on the cover of a book or under the title of a journal article. In the following examples the surname is in bold.

Kjell Erik Rudestam
Rae R. Newton
Charles Peter Charles
Belinda S.P. Donaldson

BUT

When names are listed in a bibliography they are written with the surname first, followed by a comma, and then the Christian name or often just the initial(s) of the Christian name(s).

Rudestam, K.E,
Newton, R.R.
Charles, C.P.
Donaldson, B.S.P.

b) Don't be tricked by the actual names. Many names can be used as either a surname or as a given/Christian name. Look at the following confusing examples. These show how a Christian name may often be used as a surname and vice versa.

Click on the following web-site to see a list of popular Christian names.

http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/otherNames.htm
(accessed 7 February 2003)

c) If a name is followed by a comma, this indicates that the surname has been placed first. This system is used when names need to be written in alphabetical order in a telephone directory and in a list of references at the end of publications such as a book, a journal article or a dissertation.

See the ELC website for help with identifying Christian and surnames.

http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/referenceMachine-in-text.htm#Author%27s%20family%20name%20Help:
(accessed 7 February 2003)

The only place where the colon needs to be used is when a reference to a book is given. The colon is used to separate the place of publication from the name of the publisher.

Yes, any use you make of the work of other authors should be acknowledged. If the one to two sentences that you refer to here is an actual quote, then the source of the quote should be given in the body of the Final Year Project and the full reference to the source given in the list of references.