If you are referencing the PDF version, use the same format as the print version, which includes the place of publication and publisher. If the guide has been revised by another person who is acknowledged on the guide, refer to the example below. If the study guide. Sep 14, 2017 To Harvard reference a website in text, put the title of the website and the year it was created in parentheses at the end of the quoted or paraphrased text. If there's no date, write 'n.d.' For example, you would write something like '(Tourism Canada 2001)' or '(Tourism Canada n.d.).'
Jul 21, 2017 Include the in-text citation on the References page. Begin with the name of the issuer of the manual, such as a company, a college department or an instructor. If it is an individual, list the last name, a comma and initials. Basically, you can cite this user's manual just as you would any book-like publication. The only difference is that you don't cite the name of an author: User's Manual for Foo Instrument, Model Bar. Random City: XYZ Corporation (Year). Or whatever is the appropriate reference style for your work.
Jon ZamboniUpdated April 17, 2017
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If you are conducting research on a product or service, you may reference a user manual or instructional guide in your paper. Whenever you reference a source in your work, cite it properly so your reader knows where you found your information. In American Psychological Association, APA, style, user manuals are cited as part of a product's information.
Reference List
When you cite any information that is packaged with a product, the company is listed as the author, along with the year the product was made and the location of the company. APA formats this information like this:
Company name. (Year). Product name: Type of product info. Publisher location: Publisher.
Because the publisher is the company, the company's location will be listed as the publisher's location, and the publisher will simply be listed as 'Author'. For example:
Staples. (2014). Screen cleaning set: Instruction manual. Framingham, MA: Author.
User Manuals With Authors or Outside Publishers
When a product's user manual lists an author, list the author of the manual in place of the company name in your reference list citation:
Gates, B. (1995). Windows '95: User Guide. Redmond, WA: Microsoft.
How To Cite A Manual Harvard
If a user manual is published by an outside publisher, that publisher information is listed in place of the company information under 'publisher':
General Mills. (2002). Cheerios chess: Instructions. Seattle, WA: Wizards Games.
Citing a User Manual Found Online
If you are citing a user manual that you found online, include a link to the site from which it was retrieved:
Company name. (Year). Product title: Type of product information. Retrieved from URL.
For example:
Blizzard Entertainment. (1998). Starcraft: User manual. Retrieved from http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/misc/StarCraft.PDF.
How To Reference A Manual Harvard
In-Text Citations
How To Reference A Lab Manual
When you reference or quote a user manual in the text of your paper, include an in-text citation to show where the information comes from. The in-text citation will include the author name of a source -- in this case, the company name -- the year of publication and the page number, if applicable. For example:
The product kit includes a screen cleaning solution, microfiber cloths, and a 'stain light' to check for scratches (Staples, 2014).
Windows users were instructed to troubleshoot and only reboot their computer as a last resort (Gates, 1995, p. 12).
If the author name or date of publication is included in the leading sentence of a reference, you do not need to include that information in your in-text citation. For example:
Blizzard describes Starcraft as being open to multiplayer formats such as 'Melee, Free for All, Greed, Slaughter, and Capture the Flag' (1998, p. 11).
Cite this Article Choose Citation Style
Zamboni, Jon. 'How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper.' , https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html. Accessed 14 December 2019.
Zamboni, Jon. (n.d.). How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper. . Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html
Zamboni, Jon. 'How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper' accessed December 14, 2019. https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.
References
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