Harvard Citation Style Guide (12th ed.): Referencing & Citing with Examples

This guide is developed in line with the book: Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2022) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 12th edn. London: Bloomsbury.

Table of Contents

(clickable)

What is Harvard Citation Style?
Why You Need to Сite Your Sources
General Principles of Harvard Formatting
Harvard Reference List
Harvard In-Text Citations
Tables and Figures in Harvard Style

What is Harvard Citation Style?

The Harvard style is used in universities throughout the world regardless of their specific discipline. It is an author-date citation style, which means you have to mention the authors and the publication date for a paper to cite it in the paper body. In this tendency, it is most similar to the APA style and Author-Date Chicago, and MLA, Bluebook, and Vancouver share the same philosophy. However, it should be noted that there is considerable variation in the Harvard style, and so you should determine the specific guidelines you will follow before beginning work.

Why You Need to Сite Your Sources

Academic institutions throughout the world insist on the use of correctly formatted citations wherever possible, within the boundaries of reasonability. You should follow their requirements as precisely as possible for the following reasons:

By using citations, you integrate your work into the broader scholarly narrative and acknowledge the contribution of others in it. The reader can then see that your statements and findings are based on those of others, adding another level of confirmation.
You show your ability to research correctly, looking for trustworthy articles and interpreting their ideas correctly. While scholarly literature may be harder to find and obtain than a website link, it is usually more credible, and so you should search for it first and foremost.
You show your adherence to the format and general attentiveness to detail by referencing your sources correctly. Wrongly formatted references can make it hard for the reader to find the work and reduce their opinion of your paper.
If you do not cite properly, omitting references and creating the appearance that the findings are your own, you are likely to commit plagiarism. Most institutions that detect this will punish you heavily, up to and including expulsion or firing.

General Principles of Harvard Formatting

Times New Roman, Arial 12 pt. font (unless the instructions require a different font)
1” (2.54 cm) margins from all sides
alphabetical order of sources at the end of a document according to the author’s surname or title (if no author). If you have cited more than one item by the same author, they should be listed chronologically (earliest first), and by letter (1996a 1996b) if more than one item has been published in the same year.
no indentation required on the harvard reference list
sentence case capitalization for book/article/chapter titles
single quotation marks in reference list

Harvard Title Page

Your title should be inserted in the upper half of the first page.

You should not use more than 12 words for your title.

Use UPPER case letters(avoid abbreviations and redundant words).

Harvard title page should be double-spaced.

Provide the shortened title in the header.

Insert the author’s name 3 lines below the title.

Insert the course name, professor’s name, educational institution, and date 4 lines below the author’s name.

Harvard Outline

Depending on the instructor’s requirements, you may be asked to provide an outline or a table of contents for your paper.

Table of Contents

Example of a simple outline

Harvard Headings and Subheadings

As a rule, two types of subheadings are used when formatting a paper in Harvard:

Level 1 – Centered, Capitalized, Not Bold, Not Italicized

Level 2 – Flush Left, Italicized, Capitalized, Not Bold

Harvard Reference List Remarks

The reference list is inserted at the end of your paper; any source that you use needs to be included in the reference page and cited in the text.

Do not indent references.
Do not forget to invert authors’ names: Last Name, Initials. Example: Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M.D.S.
The reference list is always alphabetized by the first word in the reference entry (from A to Z).
When alphabetizing titles or group names as authors, go by the first significant word (disregard a, an, the)
In the titles of your sources (except journal, magazine, database titles), use sentence case capitalization.
Italicization is applied to books and periodical journals’ titles.
Single quotation marks are used for the titles of articles and book chapters.

Sample of Reference List in Harvard Style.

Harvard Reference List

Harvard Citing Books

Single author

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. City: Publisher.

Example:

Sebold, A. (2024) The lovely bones. London: Hachette.

Two or three authors

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. City: Publisher.

Example:

Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M. (2021) New literacies: everyday practices and classroom learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Four or more authors

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. et al. (Year) Title of book. City: Publisher.

Example:

Greenberg, J. et al. (2020) Social psychology: the science of everyday life. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Note:

List only the first author while others are represented by “et al.”

Corporate author

Structure:

Organization Name (Year) Title of book. City: Publisher.

Example:

Modern Language Association (2021) MLA handbook. 9th edn. New York, NY: Modern Language Association of America.

Unknown author

Structure:

Title of book (Year) City: Publisher.

Example:

Mosby’s pocket dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions (2023) New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Multiple works by the same author

King, S. (2021) The institute. New York, NY: Pocket Books.
King, S. (2023) Fairy tale. New York, NY: Scribner.

Note:

On the Harvard Reference list, works by the same author are arranged by the year of publication with the earliest work first.

Multiple works published in the same year by the same author

King, S. (2023a) Fairy tale. New York, NY: Scribner.
King, S. (2023b) Holly. New York, NY: Scribner.

Note:

Both in the in-text citations and on the Reference list, works published in the same year by the same author should be distinguished by adding an alphabetical designator to the publication date.

Different editions

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. 1st/2nd/3rd/#th edn. City: Publisher.

Example:

Feldman, R.S. (2011) Essentials of understanding psychology. 14th edn. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Note:

When using any edition of the book other than the first one, use the publication date of that particular edition and make sure to add the edition number to the entry on the Reference list.

Author with an editor

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. Edited by Editor’s Initials. Last Name. City: Publisher.

Example:

Bandura, A. (2023) Social cognitive theory: an agentic perspective on human nature. Edited by D. Cervone. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Note:

Write editor(s)’ first name(s)’ initials followed by the last name.

Editor with no author

Structure:

Editor’s Last Name, Initials. (ed) (Year) Title of book. City: Publisher.

Example:

Bandura, A. (ed) (2021) Psychological modeling: conflicting theories. New York, NY: Routledge.

Van Lange, P.A., Higgins, E.T. and Kruglanski, A.W. (eds) (2022) Social psychology: handbook of basic principles. 3rd edn. New York, NY: Guilford Publications.

Note:

Use either (ed) for one editor or (eds) for two or more.

Translated book

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. Translated from the Language by Translator’s Initials Last Name. Introduction and notes by Initials Last Name. City: Publisher.

Example:

Homer (2022) The Odyssey. Translated from the Greek by R. Fagles. Introduction and notes by B. Knox. London: Penguin Books.

Note:

Make sure to mention all contributors, such as translators, editors, co-authors, or illustrators, if mentioned on the book’s cover page.

Multi-volume book

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book (x vols.). City: Publisher.

Example:

Ersoy, A., Górny, M. and Kechriotis, V. (2024) Discourses of collective identity in Central and Southeast Europe 1770–1945: texts and commentaries (3 vols.). Budapest: Central European University Press.

If you cite a separate volume, use the following format:

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. Part x: Title. City: Publisher.

Example:

Ersoy, A., Górny, M. and Kechriotis, V. (2024) Discourses of collective identity in Central and Southeast Europe 1770–1945: texts and commentaries. Part 1: Modernism: the creation of nation-states. Budapest: Central European University Press.

Collected works

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year–Year) Title of book (xx vols.). City: Publisher.

Example:

Jung, C.G. (1989–1995) Gesammelte werke (24 vols). Olten: Walter Verlag.

Chapter in an edited book

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Chapter title’, in Editor’s Initials. Last Name. (ed) Title of book.City: Publisher, pp. xx-xx.

Example:

Greco, L. (2023) ‘Hume of shame’, in A. Fussi and R. Rodogno (eds) The moral psychology of shame. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 79-102.

Note:

Use either (ed) for one editor or (eds) for two or more.
Remember to include chapter page numbers at the end of the entry.

E-book

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book. Available at: http://www.link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Boddy, D. (2024) Management: an introduction. Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 14 April 2024).

Book found online

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Title of book.Available at: http://www.link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Boddy, D. (2024) Management: an introduction. Available at: https://renessans-edu.uz/files/books/2023-11-02-04-24-48_3f0885a960b571da772ca5d747505c35.pdf (Accessed: 14 April 2024).

Harvard Citing Sacred Texts

The Bible

Structure:

Bible Version (Year) Available at: http://www.link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Bible Version (Year) Place of publication: Publisher.

Example:

King James Bible (2021) Available at: https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Accessed: 14 April 2024).

King James Bible (2021) New York, NY: National Council of Churches.

Note:

Do not forget to mention the version of the Bible.
You may refer to the print or online versions of the Bible.

The Torah

Structure:

The Torah (Year) Place of publication: Publisher.

Example:

The Torah (2023) Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America.

Note:

Mention “Torah.” first (not in italics), year of publication, and place of publication: publisher.

The Qur’an

Structure:

The Qur’an Version (Year) (Translated by Translator’s First Name Initials Last Name.) Place of publication: Publisher.

Example:

The Clear Qur’an (2021) (Translated by M. Khattab.) Arambag: Books Of Signs Foundation.

Note:

Mention the version of “Qur’an” first (not in italics), year of publication, translator in brackets, and place of publication: publisher.

Harvard Citing Articles in Periodicals

Journal article

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Journal Title, volume(number), pp. xx-xx.

Example:

Schunk, D.H. and DiBenedetto, M.K. (2020) ‘Motivation and social cognitive theory’, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60(1), pp. 1-12.

Note:

If a journal has no issue, it should be omitted.

If an article is printed on one page, “p.” should be used instead of “pp.”

If there is a colon in the title of an article, do not capitalize the subtitle.

Capitalize all the words except conjunctions and articles only in the journal title.

Journal article (no author)

Structure:

‘Article title: subtitle’ (Year) Journal Title, volume(number), pp. xx-xx.

Example:

Placeholder prescriptions undoing years of progress in fight against antibiotic resistance’ (2021) British Dental Journal, 231(11), p. 668.

Online journal article with doi

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Journal Title, volume(number), pp. xx-xx. Available at: https://doi.org/10.000.000

Example:

Mökander, J. and Schroeder, R. (2022) ‘AI and social theory’, AI & Society, 37(4), pp.1337-1351. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01222-z

Online journal article without doi

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Journal Title, volume(number). Available at: http://www.link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Gunawan, J. (2023) ‘Exploring the future of nursing: insights from the ChatGPT model’, Belitung Nursing Journal, 9(1), pp. 1-5. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10353608/ (Accessed: 12 April 2024).

Magazine article in print

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Magazine Title, volume(number), p. xx.

Example:

Denworth, L. (2024) ‘Greenery improves body and mind’, Scientific American Magazine, 330(5 May), p. 76.

Note:

Enter month(s) in the issue number field in brackets.

Online magazine article

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Magazine Title, volume(number). Available at: http://www.link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Silberner, J. (2024) ‘Quiet! Our loud world is making us sick’, Scientific American Magazine, 330(5 May). Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/everyday-noises-can-hurt-hearts-not-just-ears-and-the-ability-to-learn/ (Accessed: 12 April 2024).

Newspaper article in print

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Newspaper Title, Date Month, p. xx.

Example:

Nanos, J. and Logan, T. (2022) ‘Framingham is reinventing itself. Again’, The Boston Globe, 30 November, p. 10.

Note:

Make sure that you add a full publication date (year, day, and month) with no shortenings. Do not forget that it should be separated by the article and newspaper titles.

Capitalize all words except conjunctions and articles only for the name of a newspaper.

Newspaper article without author

Structure:

Newspaper Title (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Date Month, p. xx.

Example:

The Times (2022) ‘Covid-19 and economy’, 12 July, p. 10.

Note:

When no author is given, the title of the newspaper becomes the author.

Online newspaper / magazine article

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Article title: subtitle’, Periodical Title: Section, Date Month. Available at: http://www.link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Sweet, K. and Hendrickson, S. (2022) ‘Record number of Americans have bank accounts, gov’t says’, The Seattle Times, 25 October. Available at: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/record-number-of-americans-have-bank-accounts-govt-says/ (Accessed: 12 April 2024).

Note:

When referencing a section of a newspaper where page numbers may be the same as in the main part of the paper or absent, mention the section (e.g., Newspaper: Section).

Harvard Citing Conferences

Full conference proceedings

Structure:

Editor’s Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (eds) (Year) Conference title. Conference at City (Country), Date Month. Place of publication: Publisher. Available at: http://www.link.com

Example:

Domenech, J. et al. (eds) (2020) Proceedings of the 6th international conference on higher education advances. Virtual conference at València (Spain), 2-5 June. València: Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. Available at: http://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD20.2020.11787

Paper from a published conference proceedings

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Paper title’, Conference proceedings title. Conference at City (Country), Date Month. Place of publication: Publisher, pp. xx-xx. Available at: http://www.link.com

Example:

Caviezel, V., Falzoni, A.M. and Galizzi, L. (2020) ‘Motivations and concerns of outgoing Erasmus students’, Proceedings of the 6th international conference on higher education advances. Virtual conference at València (Spain), 2-5 June. València: Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València, pp. 1173–1180. Available at: http://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD20.2020.11230

Note:

Make sure to include location and date of conference followed by place of publication and publisher.
If an article is printed on one page, “p.” should be used instead of “pp.”

Harvard Citing Dissertations/Theses

Dissertation/thesis in print

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) Dissertation/thesis title. Degree statement. Degree awarding body.

Example:

Bernard, N. (2022) Graduate enrollment management: a case study on enrollment managers. PhD thesis. University of North Texas.

Note:

Make sure to include a degree statement and a degree awarding body (for example, “PhD thesis. University of Calgary.”)

Online dissertation/thesis

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. and Last Name, Initials. (Year) Dissertation/thesis title. Degree statement. Degree awarding body. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Bernard, N. (2022) Graduate enrollment management: a case study on enrollment managers. PhD thesis. University of North Texas. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2784394767 (Accessed: 25 April 2024).

Note:

If the thesis is available online, provide a current link and fill in the date that you last accessed the document.

Harvard Citing Websites

Page on World Wide Web

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Page title. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Kopp, C.M. (2023) What is organizational behavior (OB), and why is it important? Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/organizational-behavior.asp (Accessed: 20 April 2024).

Note:

Be sure not to use quotation marks for the title of a page but make it italicized.

Page on World Wide Web (no author)

Structure:

Page title (Year) Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Organizational behavior and culture: understanding the impact on employee motivation & productivity (2023) Available at: https://hrshelf.com/organizational-behavior-and-culture/ (Accessed: 23 April 2024).

Web page with no dates

Structure:

Organization/Author (no date) Page title. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Flixel (no date) Magical tools for visual storytelling. Available at: https://flixel.com/company/ (Accessed: 15 April 2024).

Web page with neither author, title, nor date

Structure:

http://link.com (no date) (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

https://www.brookes.ac.uk(no date) (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Image on World Wide Web

Structure:

Artist’s Last Name, Initials. (Year) Image title [Photograph/Sculpture/Digital art/etc.]. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Ashmead, J. (2024) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs [Digital art]. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/maslows-hierarchy-needs-illustration-icons-2190067455 (Accessed: 1 May 2024).

Blog post

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Blog post title’, Blog title, Date Month. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Wang, K. (2023) ‘Organizational culture: definition, importance, and development’, Achievers, 28 June. Available at: https://www.achievers.com/blog/organizational-culture-definition/ (Accessed: 15 April 2024).

Note:

Be sure to add the entire date when the blog post was published.

Facebook and other social media

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Post title’ [Social media] Date Month. Available at: http://www.facebook.com/ (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Martiniello, M. (2021) ‘I learnt very early on that there’s only power to words, if you give power to those words’ [Facebook] 27 February. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/UniversityOfCanberra (Accessed: 6 April 2024).

Films and video recordings

Structure:

Film title (Year) Directed by First Name Initials. Last Name [Feature film]. Place: Company.

Example:

Persuasion (2022) Directed by C. Cracknell. [Feature film]. Santa Monica, CA: Bisous Pictures.

Note:

Add either [Feature film] or video record medium in square brackets (for example, [DVD], [Blu-ray])

YouTube videos

Structure:

Name (Year) YouTube video title. Date Month. Available at: http://www.link.com/ (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

ABC News (2021) Signs of child abuse and how to spot it. 29 October. Available at: https://youtu.be/5F5mBsxKCgc (Accessed: 5 May 2024).

Television programs

Structure:

Show title (Year) Chanel, Date Month, Time.

‘Episode title’ (Year) Show title, series #, episode #. Chanel, Date Month, Time.

Example:

The Apprentice (2021) BBC One Television, 20 June, 21:00.

‘Don’t forget the sea’ (2020) I may destroy you, series 1, episode 3. BBC One Television. 15 June, 21:00.

Note:

If an episode is cited, enter the episode title first in single quotes.

Grand Designs (2021) Channel 4 Television. Available at: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/episode-guide/series-7/episode-30 (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Note:

If you cite a TV show available online or on a streaming service, make sure to provide a link/service title (Available at: Netflix) and state the date of access.

Newspaper interview

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Interview title.’Interview with First Name Last Name. Interviewed by First Name Last Name for Newspaper title, Date Month, pages.

Example:

Riley, B. (2021) ‘The life of Riley’. Interview with Bridget Riley. Interviewed by Jonathan Jones for The Guardian, 5 July p.33.

Television interview

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Interview with First Name Last Name. Interviewed by First Name Last Name for Program, Chanel, Date Month.

Example:

Johnson, B. (2020) Interview with Boris Johnson. Interviewed by Emily Maitlis for Newsnight, BBC Two Television, 6 June.

Interview published on the internet

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) Interviewed by First Name Last Name for Website, Date Month. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Obama, B. (2021). Interviewed by Terry Moran for ABC News, 3 March. Available at: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Vote2021/Story?id=4480134 (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Press releases / announcements

Structure:

Corporation Name. (Year) Press release title [Press release]. Date Month. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Google Inc. (2021) Google Maps heads north … way north [Press release]. 23 August. Available at: http://www.google.com/intl/en/press (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Harvard Citing Lectures

Lectures and course materials

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Lecture title’ [Lecture]. Module code: Module title. University. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Stellar, V. (2020) ‘Introduction to Java week 5 lecture’ [Lecture]. MIT6_092IAP10: Access control, class scope, packages, Java API. University of Cumbria. Available at: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-092-introduction-to-programming-in-java-january-iap-2010/download-course-materials/ (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Note:

Module code and title are to be separated by colon and written in Italics.

PowerPoint presentations

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Lecture title’ [presentation slides]. Module code: Module title. University. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Booth, L. (2020) ‘History of radiography’ [Presentation slides]. MISR4004: Patient care skills: an introduction to human sciences. University of Cumbria. Available at: https://mylearning.cumbria.ac.uk (Accessed: 30 April 2024).

Note:

Add [Presentation slides] as supplement after the title
If no author, put title in the first place

Messages from course discussion boards

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ‘Title’. Title of discussion board, in Module code: Module title. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Thomas, D. (2020) ‘Word count and referencing style’, Frequently asked questions discussion board, in SOCI2011: Housing studies. Available at: http://duo.dur.ac.uk (Accessed: 30 April 2024).

Lectures / seminars / webinars / PowerPoint presentations / videoconferences

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ’Lecture title’ [Lecture], Module code: Module title. University. Date Month.

Example:

Brown, T. (2021) ‘Banking regulation’ [Lecture]. BUS316: BSc Economics. Northumbria University. 21 February.

Electronic discussion groups and bulletin boards

Structure:

Last Name, Initials. (Year) ’Electronic discussion post’, Discussion list, Date Month. Available email: [email protected].

Example:

Peters, W.R. (2021) ‘International finance questions’, British Business School Librarians Group discussion list, 11 March. Available email: [email protected].

Note:

Mention “Available email: email address”.

Entire discussion groups or bulletin boards

Structure:

Discussion list (Year) Available email: [email protected] (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Photography news Iist (2022) Available email: [email protected] (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Harvard Citing Government Documents

Acts and statutes

Structure:

Act Title and Year, c. xx. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Fire Safety Act 2021, c. 7. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ ukpga/2021/24/contents/enacted (Accessed: 1 May 2024).

Legal material papers

Structure:

Government Body (Year) Legal material title. Series. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Public Health England (2021) Health inequalities dashboard: statistical commentary, March 2021. CDF1289. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-inequalities-dashboard-march-2021-data-update/health-inequalities-dashboard-statistical-commentary-march-2021 (Accessed: 18 April 2024).

Law Commission reports and consultation papers

Structure:

Government Body (Year) Legal material title. (Number). Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Law Commission (2024) Disabled children’s social care. (Law Com No 232). Available at: https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/disabled-childrens-social-care/ (Accessed: 1 May 2024).

Departmental publications

Structure:

Government Body (Year) Legal material title. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (UK) (2021) Industrial decarbonisation strategy. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrialdecarbonisation-strategy (Accessed: 1 May 2024).

Legal reports (cases)

Structure:

‘Case Title’(Year), Title of law report, volume. Database title. Available at: http://link.com (Accessed: Date Month Year).

Example:

‘R v K (M) (R v Gega, MK v R)’ (2018) EWCA Crim, 667. BAILII. Available at: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2018/667.html (Accessed: 7 April 2024).

Harvard In-Text Citations

One author/editor

Direct quote: A personal tone is established on the very first page: “In my junior high yearbook I had a quote from a Spanish poet” (Sebold, 2022, p. 5).

Paraphrasing: The narrator reveals a lot of personal details throughout the story (Sebold, 2022).

Note: use page numbers only when summarizing an idea from a particular page.

Two or three authors/editors

Direct quote: Lankshear, Smith, and Knobel (2023, p. 17) argue that “The cultural and critical facets of knowledge integral to being literate are considerable”.

Paraphrasing: Literacy encompasses many aspects of knowledge (Lankshear, Smith and Knobel, 2023, p. 17).

Four or more authors/editors

Direct quote: Evans et al. (2023, p. 137) state that the Australian colonists aimed “to eliminate the political rights of Aborigines” in the late 19th century.

Paraphrasing: Between 1870 and 1890, many efforts have been made to constrict the rights of the indigenous populations (Evans et al., 2023, p. 137).

Corporate author

Direct quote: The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand (2023, p. 18) claims that “the relief in AASB 128 should apply to the ultimate Australian entity”.

Paraphrasing: The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand (2023, p. 18) explains the use of the relief in AASB 128.

Source with no author/editor

Direct quote: The Oxford dictionary of abbreviations (2020, p. ix) explains that in the pronunciation guide, “Unstressed syllables are not preceded by stress marks”.

Paraphrasing: It is common for unstressed syllables not to be preceded by stress marks (The Oxford dictionary of abbreviations, 2020, p. ix).

Multiple sources

Paraphrasing: In both works, the author uses remote locations to emphasize the feeling of helplessness (King, 2020; King, 2021).

Same year/same author

Paraphrasing: In both works, the author uses remote locations to emphasize the feeling of helplessness (King, 2021a; King, 2021b).

Same work, different editions

Paraphrasing: Despite the structural similarities between the two editions, there are still some differences in the topics covered (Feldman, 2021; 2023).

Source quoted in another work

Direct quote: Green’s study (2020) (cited in Farmer, 2023, p. 13), unlike many of its predecessors, “explores the “macro-logics of power” without sacrificing ethnographic depth”.

Note: you can either use a direct quote from the later work that quotes the earlier source or use a paraphrase to summarize the original idea from the primary source that is addressed in the secondary source. Both cases require you to acknowledge the use of a secondary source in the work you are using for reference.

The Bible

Either direct quote or paraphrasing: (King James Bible, 2021, Matthew 5: 3–12).

The Torah

Either direct quote or paraphrasing: (The Torah, 2021, Shernot 3: 14).

The Qur’an

Either direct quote or paraphrasing: (The Qur’an, 2021, Qur’an 20: 24).

Journal article

Direct quote: “Despite the lack of solid research evidence to date, ICTs hold promise in addressing the challenges of mental health care” (Breslau and Engel, 2021, p. 17).

Paraphrasing: Breslau and Engel (2021, p. 17) state that, in the future, ICTs could be used to diagnose and treat patients with mental dysfunctions and illnesses.

Journal article (no author)

Direct quote: The DUP leader states that the upcoming Assembly election “should not be seen as a referendum on her handling of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme” (‘Assembly election: most important vote since 1998’, 2023, para. 2).

Newspaper article without author

Paraphrasing: The Independent (2023) states that …

Web page

Direct quote: “The key sign of central diabetes insipidus is extreme thirst and excessive urination” (Smith, 2023, para. 3).

Paraphrasing: It is a common misconception that the disease called central diabetes insipidus is related to diabetes and caused by metabolic dysfunction (Smith, 2023, para. 3).

Video or film

Direct quote: “The front lines of the invasion moved west to the nations of the Ohio Valley: The Lenape, Shawnee, Miami and others” (500 nations, 1995).

Lecture

Direct quote: As stated by Stellar (2023, p. 13), the classification of public and public class “applies to any field or method”.

Paraphrasing: The main reason for the importance of imposing access control is the need to protect the private information of students and staff (Stellar, 2023, p. 16).

Government publication

Direct quote: A recent review of the cooperation practices used in PFRAs and the local universities revealed that “about half of the research users indicated that they obtained a high or very high level of value from the collaboration” (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2024, p. 4).

Paraphrasing: The review outlines the opportunities to enhance the cooperation between PFRAs and the universities (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2024).

Tables and Figures in Harvard Style

When using the Harvard style, you can insert tables and figures in the middle of the text without the need to move them to a special appendix. As such, you do not have to refer the reader to the end of the paper and can write more naturally. You should provide the full reference to the source of the object you will be using in your bibliography. Then, when inserting the table of the figure, provide them with a heading of “Table (Figure) #: Name (Normal Author-Date In-Text Reference). If you are trying to refer to a source such as print, which does not allow you to copy and paste the object directly, you can refer to it as you would to a text citation, though you should make sure to mention the page. Some books will have plates with images inserted between pages, and in this case, you will have to cite the plate number, using “plate #” instead of “page #.” When referring to the table or figure in the text, you should consider it part of the document and write something similar to “As can be seen in table #.” Remember to follow the basic format guidelines for online sources, such as the access date and the URL, enclosed in angle brackets.

Example of figure in Harvard Citation Style

Figure 1: Glass world (Environmental Science, 2021).

Reference List

Environmental Science (2021) Glass world [Photograph]. Available at: https://www.environmentalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NEPA-CEQA-640×425.jpeg (Accessed 25 April 2024).

Harvard Format Essay Examples

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