Today, many researchers rely on reference management tools like Mendeley, EndNote or Zotero to generate and format citations. However, there is an alternative for those who prefer not to use such software. Providing a list of references—no matter how inconsistently formatted—to a Generative AI model makes it possible to request their conversion into a unified reference list following a specific citation style, such as Harvard.
In this prompt, we provided the model with a list of 25 references in various inconsistent formats and asked it to convert them into Harvard style. The task was given as a one-shot prompt: it included clear formatting rules along with concrete examples for journal articles, books, and book chapters to guide the model in generating accurate output.
Prompt
Harvard Referencing Task
Please reformat the following references into consistent Harvard referencing style, then sort them alphabetically by the first author's surname.
Use the formatting below as a model for each reference type:
1. Book
Format:
Author, A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.
Example:
Mol, A. (2008). The logic of care: Health and the problem of patient choice. Routledge.
2. Journal article
Format:
Author, A., Author, B., & Author, C. (Year). 'Title of article', Journal Title, vol. #, no. #, pp. ##–##.
Example:
Pitts-Taylor, V. (2010). 'The plastic brain: Neoliberalism and the neuronal self', Health, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 635–652.
3. Chapter in an edited book
Format:
Author, A. (Year). 'Title of chapter', in Editor, A. (ed.) Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher, pp. ##–##.
Example:
Franklin, A.W. (2012). 'Management of the problem', in Smith, S.M. (ed.) The maltreatment of children. Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.
Notes:
Use 'single quotation marks' for article and chapter titles
Use italics for book and journal titles
Always include volume, issue and page numbers for journal articles
Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name
Now, please reformat and alphabetise the following references accordingly:
Sackett, David L. "Rules of evidence and clinical recommendations on the use of antithrombotic agents." Chest 95, no. 2 (1989): 2S-4S.
Pitts-Taylor, Victoria. "The plastic brain: Neoliberalism and the neuronal self." Health: 14.6 (2010): 635-652.
Lincoln, Yvonna S., Susan A. Lynham, and Egon G. Guba. "Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited." The Sage handbook of qualitative research 4, no. 2 (2011): 97-128.
Djulbegovic, B. and Guyatt, G.H., 2017. Progress in evidence-based medicine: a quarter century on. The lancet, 390(10092), pp.415-423.
Brinjikji W, Luetmer PH, Comstock B, Bresnahan BW, Chen LE, Deyo RA, Halabi S, Turner JA, Avins AL, James K, Wald JT. Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. American journal of neuroradiology. 2015 Apr 1;36(4):811-6.
Ashby, Deborah, and Adrian FM Smith. "Evidence‐based medicine as Bayesian decision‐making." Statistics in medicine 19, no. 23 (2000): 3291-3305.
Cohen, M., Weisman, A., & Quintner, J. (2022). Pain is not a “thing”: how that error affects language and logic in pain medicine. The Journal of Pain, 23(8), 1283-1293.
Fersum, K.V., Dankaerts, W., O'sullivan, P.B., Maes, J., Skouen, J.S., Bjordal, J.M. and Kvåle, A., 2010. Integration of subclassification strategies in randomised controlled clinical trials evaluating manual therapy treatment and exercise therapy for non-specific chronic low back pain: a systematic review. British journal of sports medicine, 44(14), pp.1054-1062.
Jackson, A.Y. and Mazzei, L.A., 2013. Plugging one text into another: Thinking with theory in qualitative research. Qualitative inquiry, 19(4), pp.261-271.
St. Pierre, Elizabeth Adams. "Another postmodern report on knowledge: Positivism and its others." International journal of leadership in education 15, no. 4 (2012): 483-503.
Wood, Lianne, and Paul A. Hendrick. "A systematic review and meta‐analysis of pain neuroscience education for chronic low back pain: Short‐and long‐term outcomes of pain and disability." European Journal of Pain 23.2 (2019): 234-249.
Slade, T., Duebel, E., & Ryan, J. (2023). “Your double-blind RCT needs feminism”: an argument for engaging critical theory in quantitative rehabilitation research. Disability and Rehabilitation, 45(9), 1563-1571.
Simpkin, A., and Richard Schwartzstein. "Tolerating uncertainty—the next medical revolution?." New England Journal of Medicine 375, no. 18 (2016).
Pate, J. W., Veage, S., Lee, S., Hancock, M. J., Hush, J. M., & Pacey, V. (2019). Which patients with chronic pain are more likely to improve pain biology knowledge following education?. Pain Practice, 19(4), 363-369.
Papadimitriou, Christina, Jennifer A. Weaver, Ann Guernon, Elyse Walsh, Trudy Mallinson, and Theresa L. Bender Pape. "“Fluctuation is the norm”: Rehabilitation practitioner perspectives on ambiguity and uncertainty in their work with persons in disordered states of consciousness after traumatic brain injury." PloS one 17, no. 4 (2022): e0267194.
Nicholls, David A. "The active future for the passive therapist." Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 51.7 (2021): 318-321.
Guyatt G, Cairns J, Churchill D, Cook D, Haynes B, Hirsh J, Irvine J, Levine M, Levine M, Nishikawa J, Sackett D. Evidence-based medicine: a new approach to teaching the practice of medicine. jama. 1992 Nov 4;268(17):2420-5.
Fraser, Sarah W., and Trisha Greenhalgh. "Coping with complexity: educating for capability." Bmj 323, no. 7316 (2001): 799-803.
Gabbay, J. and Le May, A., 2004. Evidence based guidelines or collectively constructed “mindlines?” Ethnographic study of knowledge management in primary care. Bmj, 329(7473), p.1013.
Ioannidis JP. Why most published research findings are false. PLoS medicine. 2005 Aug 30;2(8):e124.
Itz, Coen J., J. W. Geurts, M. Van Kleef, and P. Nelemans. "Clinical course of non‐specific low back pain: A systematic review of prospective cohort studies set in primary care." European journal of pain 17, no. 1 (2013): 5-15.
Mol, Annemarie. The logic of care: Health and the problem of patient choice. Routledge, 2008.
Malterud, Kirsti, et al. "Embracing uncertainty to advance diagnosis in general practice." British Journal of General Practice 67.659 (2017): 244-245.
Shildrick M (2005) Beyond the body of Bioethics. In: Shildrick M, Mykitiuk R (eds) Ethics of the Body Postconventional Challenges. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 3–9.
Traynor, Michael. "Indeterminacy and technicality revisited: how medicine and nursing have responded to the evidence based movement." Sociology of Health & Illness 31, no. 4 (2009): 494-507.
Saragiotto BT, Maher CG, Hancock MJ, Koes BW. Subgrouping patients with nonspecific low back pain: hope or hype?. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2017 Feb;47(2):44-8.
Output
Harvard-Style References (Alphabetised)
Here are the reformatted references in consistent Harvard style, sorted alphabetically by the first author's surname:
Ashby, D. & Smith, A.F.M. (2000). 'Evidence-based medicine as Bayesian decision-making', Statistics in Medicine, vol. 19, no. 23, pp. 3291–3305.
Brinjikji, W., Luetmer, P.H., Comstock, B., Bresnahan, B.W., Chen, L.E., Deyo, R.A., Halabi, S., Turner, J.A., Avins, A.L., James, K. & Wald, J.T. (2015). 'Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations', American Journal of Neuroradiology, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 811–816.
Cohen, M., Weisman, A. & Quintner, J. (2022). 'Pain is not a “thing”: how that error affects language and logic in pain medicine', The Journal of Pain, vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 1283–1293.
Djulbegovic, B. & Guyatt, G.H. (2017). 'Progress in evidence-based medicine: a quarter century on', The Lancet, vol. 390, no. 10092, pp. 415–423.
Fersum, K.V., Dankaerts, W., O’Sullivan, P.B., Maes, J., Skouen, J.S., Bjordal, J.M. & Kvåle, A. (2010). 'Integration of subclassification strategies in randomised controlled clinical trials evaluating manual therapy treatment and exercise therapy for non-specific chronic low back pain: a systematic review', British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 44, no. 14, pp. 1054–1062.
Fraser, S.W. & Greenhalgh, T. (2001). 'Coping with complexity: educating for capability', BMJ, vol. 323, no. 7316, pp. 799–803.
Gabbay, J. & Le May, A. (2004). 'Evidence based guidelines or collectively constructed “mindlines?” Ethnographic study of knowledge management in primary care', BMJ, vol. 329, no. 7473, p. 1013.
Guyatt, G., Cairns, J., Churchill, D., Cook, D., Haynes, B., Hirsh, J., Irvine, J., Levine, M., Levine, M., Nishikawa, J. & Sackett, D. (1992). 'Evidence-based medicine: a new approach to teaching the practice of medicine', JAMA, vol. 268, no. 17, pp. 2420–2425.
Ioannidis, J.P. (2005). 'Why most published research findings are false', PLoS Medicine, vol. 2, no. 8, p. e124.
Itz, C.J., Geurts, J.W., Van Kleef, M. & Nelemans, P. (2013). 'Clinical course of non-specific low back pain: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies set in primary care', European Journal of Pain, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 5–15.
Jackson, A.Y. & Mazzei, L.A. (2013). 'Plugging one text into another: thinking with theory in qualitative research', Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 261–271.
Lincoln, Y.S., Lynham, S.A. & Guba, E.G. (2011). 'Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited', in Norman, K.D. (ed.) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage, pp. 97–128.
Malterud, K., Reventlow, S., Guassora, A.D. & Aamland, A. (2017). 'Embracing uncertainty to advance diagnosis in general practice', British Journal of General Practice, vol. 67, no. 659, pp. 244–245.
Mol, A. (2008). The Logic of Care: Health and the Problem of Patient Choice. Routledge.
Nicholls, D.A. (2021). 'The active future for the passive therapist', Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, vol. 51, no. 7, pp. 318–321.
Papadimitriou, C., Weaver, J.A., Guernon, A., Walsh, E., Mallinson, T. & Bender Pape, T.L. (2022). '“Fluctuation is the norm”: rehabilitation practitioner perspectives on ambiguity and uncertainty in their work with persons in disordered states of consciousness after traumatic brain injury', PloS One, vol. 17, no. 4, p. e0267194.
Pate, J.W., Veage, S., Lee, S., Hancock, M.J., Hush, J.M. & Pacey, V. (2019). 'Which patients with chronic pain are more likely to improve pain biology knowledge following education?', Pain Practice, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 363–369.
Pitts-Taylor, V. (2010). 'The plastic brain: neoliberalism and the neuronal self', Health, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 635–652.
Sackett, D.L. (1989). 'Rules of evidence and clinical recommendations on the use of antithrombotic agents', Chest, vol. 95, no. 2, pp. 2S–4S.
Saragiotto, B.T., Maher, C.G., Hancock, M.J. & Koes, B.W. (2017). 'Subgrouping patients with nonspecific low back pain: hope or hype?', Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 44–48.
Shildrick, M. (2005). 'Beyond the body of bioethics', in Shildrick, M. & Mykitiuk, R. (eds.) Ethics of the Body: Postconventional Challenges. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 3–9.
Simpkin, A. & Schwartzstein, R. (2016). 'Tolerating uncertainty—the next medical revolution?', New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 375, no. 18, pp. 1713–1715.
Slade, T., Duebel, E. & Ryan, J. (2023). '“Your double-blind RCT needs feminism”: an argument for engaging critical theory in quantitative rehabilitation research', Disability and Rehabilitation, vol. 45, no. 9, pp. 1563–1571.
St. Pierre, E.A. (2012). 'Another postmodern report on knowledge: positivism and its others', International Journal of Leadership in Education, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 483–503.
Traynor, M. (2009). 'Indeterminacy and technicality revisited: how medicine and nursing have responded to the evidence based movement', Sociology of Health & Illness, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 494–507.
Wood, L. & Hendrick, P.A. (2019). 'A systematic review and meta-analysis of pain neuroscience education for chronic low back pain: short- and long-term outcomes of pain and disability', European Journal of Pain, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 234–249.
We tested this prompt using Grok 3, and the model successfully delivered a reference list that was both accurately formatted in Harvard style and correctly sorted alphabetically by the first author’s surname. The output adhered to the examples given in the prompt and handled various source types—journal articles, books, and book chapters—with consistent formatting. Overall, the result appears clean, reliable and ready for academic use without requiring manual post-editing.
The authors used Grok 3 [xAI (2025) Grok 3 (accessed on 24 March 2025), Large language model (LLM), available at: https://x.ai/grok] to generate the output.
