Harvard Referencing – How to Cite an Edited Book

Even when you know the basics of Harvard referencing, it’s easy to get confused by the variations required for different source types. But your references need to be clear, complete and accurate to ensure you don’t lose out on valuable marks.

To help out, in this post we talk you through how to cite an edited book.

How to Cite a Book in Harvard Referencing

The basic citation format for an edited book is the same as for other books in Harvard referencing, with the author’s name and a date of publication given in parentheses:

Aestheticians require an ‘artistic sensibility’ and the ability to think clearly (Bell, 1995, p.99).

However, citing an edited book becomes more complicated when each chapter has a different author. The basic rule is to cite the editor(s) if you’re referencing the edited volume as a whole and cite the chapter author(s) if referring to a particular essay or chapter.

The example above cites ‘The Aesthetic Hypothesis’ by Clive Bell, from a book called The Philosophy of Art, edited by Alex Neill and Aaron Ridley. If you were to cite the volume as a whole, it would appear as:

Many aesthetic theories have been put forward (Neill & Ridley, 1995).

Some variations of Harvard referencing also make a distinction between the year of publication of an anthology and the year of original publication for essays therein. But unless your style guide says otherwise, it’s better to use the edited volume’s year of publication in all citations.

Edited Books in a Reference List

If you cite an edited volume as a whole, the information required in the reference list is the same as for any other book, except with ‘ed.’ to indicate the name given is the editor rather than the author of the volume:

Editor Surname, Initial. (ed.) (Year of Publication) Title of Book, City of Publication, Publisher.

The Philosophy of Art would therefore be listed as:

Neill, A., & Ridley, A. (eds.) (1995) The Philosophy of Art: Readings Ancient and Modern, New York, McGraw-Hill.

If you’re only citing a chapter, the section details are listed first, followed by information on the container volume:

Chapter Author’s Surname, Initial(s). (Year of Publication) ‘Title of Chapter’, in Editor Surname and Initial(s), (ed[s]) Title of Book, Place of Publication: Publisher, page range.

So, Clive Bell’s essay would appear as:

Bell, C. (1995) ‘The Aesthetic Hypothesis’, in Neill, A. and Ridley, A. (eds.) The Philosophy of Art: Readings Ancient and Modern, New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 98–110.

This format also applies when citing the introduction of an edited volume or a chapter written by the editors of a book:

Neill, A., and Ridley, A. (1995) ‘Introduction’, in Neill, A. and Ridley, A. (eds.) The Philosophy of Art: Readings Ancient and Modern, New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 1–5.

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