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Holmesglen Harvard Referencing

Online Documents

Online documents are PDFs, PowerPoint slides and Word documents that were retrieved from a website. 

Types of online documents include (but not limited to):

  • Brochure
  • Ethical guideline (often known as 'code of conduct', 'code of ethics' and 'code of practice')
  • Fact sheet
  • Media/press release
  • Policy brief (Concise summary of an issue, which includes recommendations)
  • White paper (Provides an organisation’s stance, or policy on a particular issue)

 

Looking for something else?

Online documents format

Reference elements

Annotated reference example for an online document

 

In-text citation

  Format Example
Paraphrase

(Author Year)

OR

Author (Year)

When promoting a health service, nurses should ensure that information is valid and truthful (Australian Nursing Federation 2017).

OR

The Australian Nursing Federation (2017) states that health services should be promoted truthfully and accurately. 
Quote

'...' (Author Year:Page)

OR

Author (Year:Page) '...' 

Climate change will 'add to social, economic and political tensions' (DFAT 2017:33).

OR

DFAT (2017:33) acknowledges that climate change will 'add to social, economic and political tensions'.

 

Reference

General format
Format
Author, AA (Year) Title of document  [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year.

 

Common types of online documents
                 Format Example
Brochure

Author, AA (Year) Title of document [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year.

Toyota Motor Sales (2022) 2022 Avalon [brochure], Toyota, accessed 1 June 2022. 
Ethical guidelines,
codes of conduct/
ethics/practice		 Author, AA (Year) Title of document [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year. Safe Work Australia (2018) Construction work: code of practice [ethical guidelines], Safe Work Australia, accessed 7 June 2019.
Fact sheet Author, AA (Year) Title of document [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year.

NMBA (Nursing and Midwifery Board of  Australia) (219)
Registered nurse standards for practice [fact sheet], NMBA, accessed 1 June 2022. 
Media/Press release Author, AA (Year) Title of document [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year. Merlino, J (2022) Putting senior students' literacy and numeracy to the test [media release], Victoria State Government, accessed 1 June 2022.
Policy brief Author, AA (Year) Title of document [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year. Centre for Community Child Health (2018) Place-based collective impact: an Australian response to childhood vulnerability [policy brief], Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, accessed 7 June 2019. 
White paper Author, AA (Year) Title of document [description of material], Organisation or Website Name, accessed Day Month Year. DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) (2017) 2017 foreign policy white paper [white paper], DFAT, accessed 7 June 2019.
Note:
  • Title is hyperlinked to the document's URL, formatted as per hyperlink default (blue, underlined text) and is italicised.