Harvard referencing is an author-date system: you cite the author's surname and year in the text, such as (Kahneman, 2011), and give full details in an alphabetical reference list.
It is widely used in UK, Australian and African universities, especially in business, social sciences and health. There is no single official Harvard style, so this guide follows the widely taught Cite Them Right format and flags where university versions differ.
Harvard Referencing in One Minute
In the text, give the surname and year, adding a page number for quotations: (Kahneman, 2011, p. 45). In the reference list, give author, year in brackets, title, and publication details, with the book or journal title in italics.
Always check your university's own Harvard guide; punctuation and small details vary between institutions.
Harvard Versions: What Differs
Because Harvard is a family of styles rather than one manual, universities publish their own versions. The core is the same everywhere; the details shift.
| Detail | Common variation |
|---|---|
| Year | In round brackets after the author, with or without a full stop |
| Article titles | In single quotation marks, or plain text |
| Several authors in the text | All names up to three, or "et al." from three or four authors |
| Online sources | "Available at:" with an accessed date, or a URL alone |
| Page numbers | "p." and "pp.", or numbers alone |
Pick your institution's version and apply it consistently. Consistency matters more to markers than which variant you use.
In-Text Citations
Parenthetical: Intuitive judgments are often overconfident (Kahneman, 2011).
Narrative: Kahneman (2011) argues that intuitive judgments are often overconfident.
Quotation or specific point: (Kahneman, 2011, p. 45)
| Situation | Example |
|---|---|
| Two authors | (Mensah and Clarke, 2022) |
| Three authors | (Mensah, Clarke and Ode, 2022) |
| Four or more authors | (Mensah et al., 2022) |
| Organization as author | (World Health Organization, 2022) |
| No date | (Mensah, no date) or (Mensah, n.d.), depending on version |
| Same author, same year | (Mensah, 2022a; Mensah, 2022b) |
| Several sources | (Clarke, 2019; Mensah, 2022) |
Reference List Rules
- Title the list "Reference list" or "References", as your guide specifies.
- Order entries alphabetically by author surname, then by year for the same author.
- Include only sources you cited. A bibliography, if requested, also lists background reading.
- Italicize the title of the book, journal, report or webpage.
- Use initials for first names, without spaces in most versions: Creswell, J.W.
- Give a URL or DOI for online sources, with an accessed date for URLs where your guide asks.
Reference Formats by Source Type
Journal Article
Author, A. (Year) 'Title of article', Journal Name, volume(issue), pp. xx–xx. Available at: https://doi.org/xxxx
Roediger, H.L. and Butler, A.C. (2011) 'The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention', Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), pp. 20–27. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.09.003
Book
Author, A. (Year) Title of book. Edition. Place: Publisher.
Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Chapter in an Edited Book
Author, A. (Year) 'Title of chapter', in Editor, A. (ed.) Title of book. Place: Publisher, pp. xx–xx.
Achieng, R. (2020) 'Peer learning in nursing education', in Osei, M. and Lind, T. (eds) Teaching in clinical settings. London: Meridian Academic, pp. 45–62.
Webpage
Author or Organization (Year) Title of page. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).
Learning Science Hub (2023) How sleep supports learning. Available at: https://www.example.org/sleep-learning (Accessed: 3 March 2026).
Report
Organization (Year) Title of report. Place: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).
National Health Research Council (2022) Nurse staffing and patient outcomes. Nairobi: NHRC. Available at: https://www.example.org/report14 (Accessed: 10 January 2026).
The chapter, webpage and report entries use illustrative names to show the pattern.
Secondary Sources: Citing a Citation
If you read about one author's work in another author's book, cite both in the text but list only the source you actually read.
In text: Maslow (1943, cited in Ode, 2021) argued that needs form a hierarchy.
Reference list: only Ode (2021) appears.
Use secondary citations sparingly. Where you can access the original, read and cite it directly.
Common Harvard Mistakes
- Mixing versions, for example quotation marks on some article titles but not others.
- Leaving out page numbers for direct quotations.
- Putting the year in the wrong place, or without brackets.
- Forgetting accessed dates for webpages when your guide requires them.
- Listing sources in the reference list that are never cited in the text.
- Italicizing the article title instead of the journal name.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Both are author-date systems, but they differ in punctuation, title formatting and details such as "and" versus "&". Do not mix them.
No. Harvard is a family of similar styles. Many universities base theirs on Cite Them Right, but always follow your own institution's guide.
In Cite Them Right, from four or more authors in the text. Some universities use it from three. Check your guide.
Yes for direct quotations and when referring to a specific passage. Many tutors also like them for close paraphrases.
A reference list includes only sources you cited. A bibliography also includes sources you read but did not cite.
Most Harvard versions ask for one with URLs. Many do not require one when you give a DOI.
Use the organization as author if there is one; otherwise start with the title in italics.
Use a secondary citation such as (Maslow, 1943, cited in Ode, 2021) and list only Ode in the reference list.