Harvard is a referencing style which is used widely across a range of disciplines; it could arguably be deemed the “most commonly used” style. It is primarily used in the humanities and social sciences subjects, though some sciences and business subjects use it, too.

Learn how to reference in the Harvard style of academic citation with the detailed guide below.

Harvard Referencing Overview

There are two types of citation in Harvard referencing: in-text citations, which are found in the main body of the work and contain a fraction of the full bibliographical information, and reference lists, which are located at the end of the main work and list full information for all sources mentioned within the work.

While there are some stylistic and institutional variations, Harvard usually follows the format specified in this guide.

Key things to remember

In a reference list, sources are listed alphabetically by author’s surname. Where there are multiple citations by the same author, these would be listed chronologically by year of publication.

You can cite a source directly (e.g. quoting verbatim from it) or indirectly (citing a source to show that you have used an author’s ideas, but not quoted them). Examples of both are provided here:

When quoting directly from a source, page numbers should be used. If you are quoting indirectly as outlined above, page numbers do not need to be used. Where a page number is not available, paragraph number can be used. If this is not an option, the abbreviations ‘n.p’ or ‘n. pag.’ can be used to show that no page number is available.

1. Books

Citations for books with one author:

Last name, first initial. (Year). Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher.

Citations for books with two or three authors:

Last name, first initial., Last name, first initial., and Last name, first initial. (Year). Title. City of publication: Publisher.

Citations for books with four or more authors:

If a book has four or more authors, only the first author’s name should be listed in-text followed by ‘et al.’, meaning ‘and others’. However, all authors should be listed in the reference list in the order they are credited in the original work.

Last name, first initial., Last name, first initial., Last name, first initial., and Last name, first initial. (Year). Title. City of publication: Publisher.

Citations for a chapter in an edited book:

When citing a single chapter in a larger book, it is important to ensure that you add the page range (pp.) that the chapter spans. When citing an individual chapter, you should also always include the edition of the book in the citation (you do not have to do this for other books unless it is notthe first edition).

Last name, first initial. (Year). Chapter title. In: Editor’s name/s (ed/s) Book Title. Edition. City of publication: Publisher. Page/s.

Citations for multiple books by the same author:

In text, the author’s texts can usually be differentiated by year. They should be listed in chronological order of publication. Where you are citing two works by the same author which were published in the same year, these should be labelled with ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and so on directly after the year.

Last name, first initial. (Year). Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher.

Tools for creating Harvard Book references:

 

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2. Articles

Citations for Print Journals

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Journal name, Volume (Issue), Page/s.

Citations for Journal Articles accessed on a website or database

In-text citations for an online journal article remain unchanged from the way you would cite a print article. The citation in the reference list does have a few differences, however.

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Journal name, Volume (Issue), Page/s. Available from: URL. [Accessed: date].

Citations for Newspaper Articles – Print or Online:

Newspaper citations are rendered similarly to journal articles when they are found online; the same differences in formatting occur, as the example below illustrates.

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article title. Newspaper name, Page/s.

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Newspaper name, Page/s. Retrieved from: Journal name/ URL if freely available.

Citations for Magazine Articles – Print or Online:

In Harvard citation, you should cite the volume number for a magazine.

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article title. Magazine name, volume number, Page/s.

Last name, First initial. (Year, Month Day). Article Title. Magazine name, [online] Page/s. Retrieved from: URL

Tools for creating Harvard Journal references:

 

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3. Online sources

Citations for websites:

When citing a website, it is important to ascertain authorship of the website – if it’s an article on website which is not a newspaper/magazine site or online journal, there may be an individual author; if not, the organisation or website name would be credited with authorship.

Author/Source if no specific author (Year). Title of web document/page. [online]. (Last updated: if this information is available). Available at: URL [Accessed date: Day/Month/Year].

Citations for emails:

Sender’s last name, First initial. (Year). Subject Line of Email. [email].

Citations for Social Media:

Last name of author, First initial. (Year). Title of page [Social media format]. Day/month/year written. Available from: URL. [Accessed: Day/Month/Year].

Tools for referencing online sources:

 

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4. Images/visual mediums

Citations for films/videos/DVDs:

Full Title of Film/Video/DVD. Year of release. [Type of medium]. Director. Country of Origin: Film studio or maker. (Any other relevant details).

Citations for YouTube videos:

Username of contributor. (Year). Video Title, Series Title (if relevant). [type of medium]. Available at: URL. [Accessed: Day/ Month/ Year].

Citations for broadcasts:

Series title and episode name/number. (Year). [Year of broadcast]. Broadcasting organisation and channel, date and time of transmission.

Citations for images/photographs – Print or Online:

Last name of artist/photographer, first initial (if known). (Year of production). Title of image. [type of medium] (Collection Details if available – Document number, Geographical place: Name of library/archive/repository).

Citations for maps:

Map maker’s name. (Year of issue). Title of map. Map series, sheet number, scale. Place of publication: publisher.

Citations for podcasts:

Broadcaster/author’s name. (Year). Programme title, series title (if relevant). [type of medium] date of transmission. Available at: URL [Accessed date: Day/Month/Year].

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5. Other source types

Citations for reports:

Organisation/author. (Year). Full title of report. Place of publication: Publisher.

Citations for dissertations:

Last name of author, first initial. (Year). Title of dissertation. Level. Official name of university.

Citations for Acts of Parliament:

Short title (key words capitalised), which includes the year and the chapter number in brackets. Place of publication: publisher.

Citations for government/official publications:

Government agency/Last name of author, first initial. (Year). Title of document. City of publication: publisher, Page(s) if relevant.

Citations for interviews:

Last name of interviewer, first initial, and last name of interviewee, first initial. (Year). Title/description of interview.

Citations for presentations/lectures:

Last name of author, first initial. (Year). Presentation/lecture title.

Citations for music:

Performer/writer’s last name, first initial. (Year). Recording title. [Medium]. City published: music label.

Citations for dictionaries:

Publisher. (Year). Full title of dictionary. Place of publication: Publisher.

Citations for computer programs/software:

Name of software/program. (Year). Place/city where software was written: Company/publisher.