Referencing is an important part of academic work. It contextualises your work, demonstrates the depth of your research, and acknowledges the work of others.
Harvard style originated at Harvard University. Individual institutions have adopted it, and it is now one of the most widely used referencing styles. In Harvard style, the author and year are cited in-text, and the source’s full details are provided in a reference list.
For Examples:
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In-text citation |
(Bloom, 2005) |
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Reference list entry |
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Table of Contents
Harvard in-text citation
A Harvard in-text citation at the end of any quotation or paraphrase of a source. It appears in brackets and gives the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication, as well as a page number or range locating the passage referenced, if applicable.
For a single page ‘p.’ is used, while for multiple pages you’ll use ‘pp.’ (e.g ‘pp.3-8’).
Sources with Multiple Authors
When there’s a source with more than two authors, cite all authors’ names. And if there are four or more authors, list only the first name, followed by “et al.”.
| One Author | Two Authors | Three Authors | Four or More Authors |
| It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Harris, 2015). | It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Shah and Papadopoulos, 2015) | It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Wong, Smith and Adebole, 2015) | It has been emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill (Wong et al., 2015) |
| OR | OR | OR | OR |
| Harris (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill | Shah and Papadopoulos (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill | Wong, Smith and Adebole (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill | Wong et al. (2015) emphasised that good referencing is an important academic skill |
Sources with no page numbers
There will be some sources that do not have page numbers, such as websites. If the source is a short text, simply omit the page numbers. With longer sources, you can use a subheading or paragraph number if you need to specify where to find the quote.
e.g: Assignmentstudio, para. 5)
Multiple citations at one point
You might need to cite multiple sources at the same point in your text and you must be wondering how. Well, it is easy, you can present them in the same set of brackets, separated by semicolons. List them in order of publication date:
Creating a Harvard referencing list
A reference list or bibliography appears at the end of your paper. It lists all the sources in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, giving complete information so that the reader can access them easily.
The reference entry starts with the author’s name followed by the initial(s). Only the first word of the title is capitalised.
Sources with multiple authors
Just like in-text citations, up to three authors should be listed, while with four or more authors, one should list only the first author followed by ‘et al.’
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Number of Authors |
Reference Example |
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1 author |
Barrett, M. (2019)… |
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2 authors |
Barret, M. and Davis, V. (2019)… |
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3 authors |
Barrett, M., Davis, V. and MacLachlan, F. (2019)… |
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4+ authors |
Barret, M. et al. (2019)… |
Sources with no author
When a source appears to be without a clearly identified author, then you can use the organisation responsible for the source. And when that is also not the case then simply use the title of the source.
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In-text citation: (‘Deprive’, 2019) |
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Reference list entry: Deprive’ (2019) Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deprive (Accessed: 28 January 2020). |
Sources with no publication date
When a sources lacks a clear publication date, you can replace the date with the words ‘no date’:
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In-text citation: (Daniel, no date) |
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Reference list entry: Daniel.(no date). How to Write a Masters Dissertation Literature Review | Assignment Studio. [ONLINE] Available at: https://assignmentstudio.net/how-to-write-a-masters-dissertation-literature-review/. [Accessed 23 August 2022] |
Note that if you do this with an online source, you should include an access date, as shown in the example
Harvard Referencing List: Book
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Entire Book |
Format: Author surname, initial (Year) Book Title. City: Publisher. Example: Petersen, P. (2011) The World Island: Eurasian Geopolitics and the Fate of the West. Santa Barbara, Calif., Prager Security International. |
|
Book Chapter |
Format: Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Chapter title’, in Editor name (ed(s).) Book title. City: Publisher, page range. Example: Franklin, A.W. (2012). ‘Management of the problem’, in Smith, S.M. (ed.) The maltreatment of children. Lancaster: MTP, pp.83-95. |
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Translated Book |
Example: Ludwig, E. (2005). Napolean. Translated by Paul, E. and Paul, C. London: Book Jungle. |
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Harvard Referencing List: Journal Article
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Format: Author surname, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of article, Title of Journal, volume number (issue number), page reference. If accessed online: Available at: DOI or URL (if required) (Accessed: date). Example: Andor, G., Mohanty, S.K. and Toth, T., 2015. Capital budgeting practices: A survey of Central and Eastern European firms. Emerging Markets Review, 23, pp.148-172. Kester, W.C.(1984) Today’s Options for Tomorrow’s Growth. Available at: https://hbr.org/1984/03/todays-options-for-tomorrows-growth (Accessed on: 4th August 2022). |
Harvard Referencing List: Web Pages
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Format: Author surname, Initial. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). Example: The British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct. Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct (Accessed: 22 March 2019). |
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Format: Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). Example: Shepard, Wade. “What China Is Really up to in Africa?” Forbes, 3 Oct. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2019/10/03/what-china-is-really-up-to-in-africa/?sh=27a886545930. (Accessed 7 Mar. 2021). |
We hope that through this guide you learned to do Harvard referencing properly.
