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Format Your Paper & Cite Your Sources

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What is Harvard Style?

What you need to know, harvard style tutorial.

  • Other Styles
  • Annotated Bibliographies
  • How to Create an Attribution

Harvard Style

The Harvard referencing system is known as the Author-Date style . It emphasizes the name of the creator of a piece of information and the date of publication, with the list of references in alphabetical order at the end of your paper.

Unlike other citation styles, there is no single, definitive version of Harvard Style. Therefore, you may see a variation in features such as punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, and the use of italics. 

Always check with your instructor and follow the rules he or she gives you.

  • Harvard Style Guidelines Your class handout
  • Harvard Referencing Quick Guide From Staffordshire University

Harvard Style will affect your paper in two places:

  • In-text citations in the body of your paper, and
  • The reference list at the end of your paper
  • All in-text citations should be listed in the reference list at the end of your paper.
  • Reference list entries need to contain all the information that someone reading your paper would need in order to find your source.
  • Reference lists in Harvard Style are arranged alphabetically by first author.
  • Begin your Reference list on a new page after your text and number it consecutively.

Sample References List:

Example of Harvard References List

Click on the Links Below to See Additional Examples:

  • Sample Paper Paper provided by Kurt Olson
  • Harvard Citation Examples Document created by The University of Western Australia

Click on the image below to launch this tutorial that was created by the University of Leeds. The section on Citing in Text is especially useful.

harvard research paper template

  • << Previous: Chicago Style
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  • Last Updated: Sep 5, 2024 11:27 AM
  • URL: https://libguides.mjc.edu/citeyoursources

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC BY-NC 4.0 Licenses .

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing Style Guide

What is referencing.

Whenever you write, the writings of others will influence your work. Although it is difficult to gauge all the influences, many of your ideas can be traced back to the resources and materials that you have consulted. These might be books, images , articles, reports, or, of course, the internet. These sources help enrich your writing by giving you ideas to build on. It is important always to give credit to the original thinkers and authors.

Referencing is the method that gives credit to the sources you have used in your work. You should provide references whenever you use a direct quote, paraphrase someone else’s idea, or borrow conceptual words and phrases.

Referencing not only allows credit to be given where credit is due, but it also helps track the various influences on any original piece of writing. If you do not cite the sources of the ideas that you have used in your work, you run the risk of plagiarism. Plagiarism is not only unethical but is also an actual crime in some of its forms. But how do you reference?

Elements of Harvard referencing style

Harvard referencing is a popular method of adding citations to your work. Its appeal lies in the simplicity of the basic system it uses – the author-date structure. Along with this, in Harvard style, you only need to mention the source in two locations: in the in-text reference(s) and in the reference list. Both elements together incorporate all the necessary details about a source in the most efficient way.

So, while reading something, when you come across a citation that looks something like this:

Furley (1999) or (Furley, 1999)

it is an in-text reference that follows the author-date system.

This is an entry in the reference list for the same in-text reference.

Furley, D. (1999) Routledge history of philosophy volume II: from Aristotle to Augustine . 1st edn. London: Routledge.

These Harvard referencing examples provide details about the citation formats for different types of sources.

In-text reference/citation

As is obvious from the name, Harvard in-text citations are references included within the text, that is, inside the sentences that make up its content. These can either be direct statements or quotes, or a paraphrasing of the original work. This type of reference helps in precisely pointing out which portions of the text are borrowed from or influenced by which particular source.

In his work, Furley (1999) wrote about… OR …from Aristotle’s works (Furley, 1999).

As you can see, in-text references provide the author’s surname and the year of publication. The year is provided because sometimes two or more works by the same author are referenced. In this case, the year helps in distinguishing between these works. Note that if you are citing a direct quotation, the in-text citation should also include the page number of that quote, for example (Furley, 1999, p. 2).

However, in-text citations don’t provide other important details about these resources. Rather, they are short enough that you don’t get interrupted while reading the text. Other details are presented in the reference list that you include at the end of your paper.

Reference list

A reference list presents the details of all the resources cited throughout the text in the form of a list at the end of your paper. It includes detailed entries about each of the referenced sources.

Citation structure:

Surname, Initial. (Publication year) Name of the document . Place of publication: Publisher.

Every in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the reference list. So, the reference list entry for the in-text citations discussed above would be:

Einstein, M. (2004) Media diversity: economics, ownership, and the FCC. New Jersey: Routledge.

This entry can also include other details like page numbers, editor’s name, edition, URL, access date, etc., depending upon the type of resource. A reference list allows you to provide all the necessary information without crowding your paper. With this list, you can keep track of how many materials you have consulted and even see if you need to include any more or any other kind of references in your text.

The difference between a bibliography and the Harvard referencing system

Typically, you’ll refer to multiple sources and materials for writing a text, and just using a bibliography can be confusing. You can use the Harvard referencing system to point out the exact location of all your references.

By marking the in-text reference, you can easily locate which idea or quote corresponds to which author. This makes your work easy to read and understand. This way, you and your reader can easily trace the specific portions of the work back to the original texts.

You can also show how much of your text uses source material (whether directly or indirectly) and how much of it is your own ideas and thoughts.

Format for Harvard Referencing

Typically, a paper that uses Harvard referencing has the following format:

  • 2.5 cm OR 1-inch margins on all sides
  • Recommended fonts: Arial 12 pt or Times New Roman, with double-spacing
  • Title is in the center of the page just above the text
  • Left-aligned text, with the first sentence of every paragraph indented by 0.5 inch
  • Last name is at the top-right corner of the header, followed by page number
  • Title page is centre-aligned
  • Subheadings are in sentence case and left-aligned

Key takeaways

  • Referencing is a way of crediting the various resources consulted while writing a text. Harvard referencing is a system that allows you to include information about the source materials. It is based on the author-date system.
  • It includes references: 1) as in-text citations and 2) in a reference list (which is different from a bibliography).
  • In-text citations: (Author Surname, Year Published).
  • Reference list entry: Author Surname, Initial. (Year Published) Title . Place of Publication: Name of Publisher.

For more help creating citations in Harvard style, try the EasyBib Harvard referencing generator !

Published October 25, 2020.

Harvard Formatting Guide

Harvard Formatting

  • et al Usage
  • Direct Quotes
  • In-text Citations
  • Multiple Authors
  • Page Numbers
  • Writing an Outline
  • View Harvard Guide

Reference Examples

  • View all Harvard Examples

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Harvard Referencing Examples

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Harvard referencing sample paper

Published March 8, 2021. Updated August 15, 2021.

Formatting notes for the entire paper

Make sure that the same line spacing, margins, font type, and font size are applied to all pages in your paper. This helps keep your paper’s appearance consistent and professional.

Since Harvard referencing is a style that varies across institutions, make sure that you always check with your instructor about their formatting preferences. If no guidance is provided, here are some basic directions to follow:

  • Page margins: 5 cm margins on the left, right, top, and bottom.
  • Font type and size: Use a clear and readable font, like Times New Roman or Arial, in 12 pt. font.
  • Line spacing:  Double-spaced.
  • Running head: In the top right corner of every page, include a shortened version of your title and the page number. Use the “header” area of your document to create your running head.

For help writing your essay, research paper , or other project, check out these writing tips .

Cover page formatting

If you’re required to include a cover page, you will include the following information in this order:

  • Running head: Place this in the top right corner. It includes a shortened version of your paper title. The page number is to the right of it.
  • Full title of the paper: This goes about halfway down the page. The title should be in all caps.
  • Your full name: Place on the line after your title.
  • Class name: Place this about 4-5 lines after your full name. Include the class number, if available.
  • Your instructor’s name: Place this after the class name. Look at your syllabus to see how they prefer to be presented. It could or could not include their title (“professor”) or degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.A., etc.).
  • Institution name : Place this after the instructor’s name.
  • Paper due date : Write your date out in full.

Body of the paper formatting

As you begin writing the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion of your Harvard referencing paper, these are formatting tips to keep in mind.

  • Page headings : Center a page title. Do not bold, italicize, or underline it.
  • Body: Left-aligned.
  • Paragraphs: Indent the first line using the tab key.
  • In-text citations:  Include these citations immediately after the quoted or paraphrased material. For more information, visit this page on Harvard in-text citations .

Reference list

The reference list includes detailed information about every source you cited in your paper (via an in-text citation). A  reference list appears at the end of your paper on its own page. If you’re citing sources, the Chegg Writing Harvard referencing generator is a helpful resource.

Reference list entries

Your citations will appear in alphabetical order, based on the first letter included in each entry. Each of your sources will be cited differently, depending on many factors. Here are a few guides to help you learn more:

  • How to cite a book
  • How to cite a website
  • How to cite an article
  • How to cite an image
  • How to cite a PDF
  • How to cite a YouTube video
  • How to cite a film or movie
  • How to cite items with no author
  • How to cite items with more than one author

Reference list page formatting

When formatting your reference list, first make sure to check with your particular institution’s style guide. Here are some general formatting guidelines:

  • Start your reference list at the very end of your paper and on a new page.
  • The page’s title, “Reference list,” will appear centered at the top of the page.
  • Organize your references in alphabetical order, using the first letters of each reference.
  • If you have more than one source by the same author, they should be listed chronologically by year of publication.
  • Each reference is single-spaced and is flush with the left margin (no hanging indents).
  • There should be a line between each reference.
  • All authors should be listed in the reference.

Sample Harvard referencing style paper

Below are images of a Harvard referencing sample paper. Click here to see the full paper .

harvard research paper template

Harvard Referencing Style Guides

Harvard Referencing : Citing Sources | Direct Quotes | Et al. | In-text citations | Multiple authors | No authors | Page numbers

Harvard Referencing Generator : Article | Book | Image | Interview | Journal | Movie | PDF | Textbook | Website | YouTube

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  • Formatting Your Dissertation
  • Introduction

Harvard Griffin GSAS strives to provide students with timely, accurate, and clear information. If you need help understanding a specific policy, please contact the office that administers that policy.

  • Application for Degree
  • Credit for Completed Graduate Work
  • Ad Hoc Degree Programs
  • Acknowledging the Work of Others
  • Dissertation Advisory Committee
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When preparing the dissertation for submission, students must meet the following minimum formatting requirements. The Registrar’s Office will review the dissertation for compliance and these formatting elements and will contact the student to confirm acceptance or to request revision. The Harvard Griffin GSAS resource on dissertation formatting best practices expands on many of the elements below.

Please carefully review your dissertation before submitting it to ProQuestETD. The Registrar’s Office will email you through ProQuest if they have identified major formatting errors that need correction. Students will be provided with a brief extended deadline to make only the requested formatting updates.  

  • Embedded Fonts : If fonts are not embedded, non-English characters may not appear as intended. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that fonts are embedded properly prior to submission. Instructions for embedding fonts can be found on the Dissertation Formatting Guidance resource .  
  • Thesis Acceptance Certificate: A copy of the Thesis Acceptance Certificate (TAC) should appear as the first page. This page should not be counted or numbered. The TAC will appear in the online version of the published dissertation. The author name and date on the TAC and title page should be the same.  
  • Title Page: The dissertation begins with the title page; the title should be as concise as possible and should provide an accurate description of the dissertation. The author name and date on the TAC and title page should be the same. Do not print a page number on the title page. It is understood to be page  i  for counting purposes only. 
  • Abstract : An abstract, numbered as page  iii , should immediately follow the copyright page and should state the problem, describe the methods and procedures used, and give the main results or conclusions of the research. The abstract will appear in the online version of the dissertation and will be made available by ProQuest and DASH. There is no maximum word count for the abstract.  
  • Preliminary pages (abstract, table of contents, list of tables, graphs, illustrations, and preface) should use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). 
  • All pages must contain text or images.  
  • Count the title page as page i and the copyright page as page ii, but do not print page numbers on either page. 
  • For the body of text, use Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) starting with page 1 on the first page of text.
  • Page numbers must be centered throughout the manuscript at the top or bottom. 
  • Every numbered page must be consecutively ordered, including tables, graphs, illustrations, and bibliography/index (if included); letter suffixes (such as 10a, 10b, etc.) are not allowed. 
  • It is customary not to have a page number on the page containing a chapter heading. Check pagination carefully. Account for all pages. 
  • Copyright Statement: A copyright notice should appear on a separate page immediately following the title page and include the copyright symbol ©, the year of first publication of the work, and the name of the author: © [ year ] [ Author’s Name ]. All rights reserved. Alternatively, students may choose to license their work openly under a Creative Commons license. The author remains the copyright holder while at the same time granting upfront permission to others to read, share, and—depending on the license—adapt the work so long as proper attribution is given. (If a student chooses a Creative Commons license, the copyright statement must not include the “all rights reserved” disclaimer and should instead indicate the specific Creative Commons license.) Please note: The copyright statement applies only to the student’s own work; the copyright status of third-party material incorporated into the dissertation will not change. Do not  print a page number on the copyright page. It is understood to be page  ii  for counting purposes only. 
  • Abstract 
  • Table of Contents 
  • Front Matter 
  • Body of Text 
  • Back Matter 

Students can refer to the resource on Dissertation Formatting Best Practice Resource for information on best practices for front and back matter

Individual academic programs may require additional formatting elements to meet the standards of a specific field or discipline. Students are responsible to ensure that their Dissertation Advisory Committee is in support of the final formatting as signified by the sign off on the Thesis Acceptance Certificate. Any deviation from these requirements may lead to rejection of the dissertation and delay in the conferral of the degree. 

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In-text citations

Two or more works cited at one point in the text

If two or more works by different authors or authoring bodies are cited at one point in the text, use a semi-colon to separate them:

(Larsen 2000; Malinowski 1999)

The authors should be listed in alphabetical order.

Two or three authors or authoring bodies

When citing a work by two or three authors or authoring bodies, cite the names in the order in which they appear on the title page:

(Malinowski, Miller & Gupta 1995) 

In-Text & Reference List Examples

(Holt 1997) or Holt (1997) wrote that...

Holt, DH 1997, , Prentice-Hall, Sydney.
(McCarthy, William & Pascale 1997) McCarthey, EJ, William, DP & Pascale, GQ 1997, , Irwin, Sydney.
(Bond et al. 1996) Bond, WR, Smith, JT, Brown, KL & George, M 1996, , McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
(A history of Greece 1994) 1994, Irwin, Sydney.
(ed. Jones 1998) Jones, MD (ed.) 1998, , Academic Press, London.
(eds Bullinger & Warnecke 1985) Bullinger, HJ & Warnecke HJ (eds) 1985, , Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

(trans. Smith 2006)

Colorado, JA 2006, trans. K Smith, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
(Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2001) Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2001, , ABARE, Canberra.
A number of disturbing facts intrude' (Milkman 1998, p. 25) Milkman, R 1998, 'The new American workplace:high road or low road?' in , eds P Thompson & C Warhurst, Macmillan Press, London, pp. 22-34.
(Drafke, 2009) Drafke, M 2009, , 10th edn, Pearson/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J
(Aghion & Durlauf 2005) Aghion, P & Durlauf, S (eds.) 2005, , Elsevier, Amsterdam. Available from: Elsevier books. [4 November 2004].
'Historical thinking is actually a Western perspective' (White 2002, p. 112) White, H 2002, 'The westernization of world history' in , ed J Rusen, Berghahn Books, New York pp. 111-119. Available from: ACLS Humanities E-Book. [14 May 2009].
(Bond 1991a) (Bond 1991b)

Bond, G 1991a, , McGraw-Hill, Sydney.

Bond, G 1991b, , Irwin, London.

(Conley & Galeson 1998) Conley, TG & Galeson, DW 1998, 'Nativity and wealth in mid-nineteenth century cities', , vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 468-493.
(Liveris 2011) Liveris, A 2011, 'Ethics as a strategy', , vol. 28, no. 2, pp.17-18. Available from: Proquest [23 June 2011].

(Improve indigenous housing 2007)

Available from: http://www.architecture.com.au/i-cms?page=10220 . [8 February 2009].
(Jones, n.d.) Jones, MD n.d., . Available from: <http://www.architecture.com.au>. [6 June 2009].
(Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources 2006) Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources 2006, , Government of Australia, Available from: <http://www.innovation.gov.au>. [28 February 2009].
(Australian Securities Exchange 2009) Australian Securities Exchange 2009, . Available from: <http://www.asx.com.au/professionals/market_information/index.htm>. [5 July 2009].
(Newton 2007) Newton, A. 2007, Newcastle toolkit. 16 January 2007. . Available from: <https://elgg.leeds.ac.uk/libajn/weblog/>. [23 February 2007].
(OpenOffice.org 2005) OpenOffice.org, computer software 2005. Available from: <http://www.openoffice.org>. [11 January 2005].
(The Lunar Interior 2000) , 2000. Available from: <http://www.planetscapes.com/solar/browse/moon/moonint.jpg>. [28 November 2000].
(Aspect Huntley 2009) Aspect Huntley DatAnalysis 2009, . Available from: Aspect Huntley DatAnalysis. [20 May 2009].
(Datamonitor 2009) Datamonitor 2009, . Available from: Business Source Premier. [20 May 2009].
(Datastream 2009) Datastream, 2009, . Available from: Datastream. [20 May 2009].
(Riley 1992) Riley, D 1992, 'Industrial relations in Australian education', in Contemporary Australasian industrial relations: , ed. D. Blackmur, AIRAANZ, Sydney, pp. 124-140.
(Fan, Gordon & Pathak 2000) Fan, W, Gordon, MD & Pathak, R 2000, 'Personalization of search engine services for effective retrieval and knowledge management', , pp. 20-34. Available from: ACM Portal: ACM Digital Library. [24 June 2004].
(Brown & Caste 1990) Brown, S & Caste, V 2004, 'Integrated obstacle detection framework' Paper presented at the , IEEE, Detroit MI.
(Ionesco 2001) Ionesco, J 2001, 'Federal election: new Chip in politics', 23 October, p. 10.
(Meryment 2006) Meryment, E 2006, 'Distaff winemakers raise a glass of their own to their own', , 7 October, p. 5. Available from: Factiva. [2 February 2007].
(Hilts 1999) Hilts, PJ 1999, 'In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out', 16 February. Available from <http://www.nytimes.com>. [19 February 2000].
( 7 January 2011, p. 12) Not required.
(Effective performance appraisals 1994) 1994, (video recording), Melbourne, Educational Media Australia.
(Crystal 1993) Crystal, L (executive producer) 1993, (television broadcast) 11 October 1993, New York and Washington DC, Public Broadcasting Service.
(Van Nuys 2007) Van Nuys, D (producer) 2007, 'The anatomy of a lobotomist [Show 84]', (podcast). Available from: <http://www.shrinkrapradio.com/>. [11 April 2007].
(Kloft 2006) Kloft, M (producer/director) 2006, The Nuremberg trials (motion picture), in M.Sameuls (executive producer), (podcast). Available from: <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rss/podcast_pb.xml>. [4 March 2006].

(Shocked 1992) Shocked, M 1992, 'Over the waterfall', on (CD). New York, Polygram Music.
(Norton 2006) Norton, R 2006, 'How to train a cat to operate a light switch' (video file). Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vja83KLQXZs>. [4 November 2006].
(Cookson 1985) Cookson, AH 1985, , US Patent 4554399.
(Standards Australia 2008) Standards Australia 2008, AS 4758.1-2008. Available from: Standards Australia Online. [1 December 2008].
(Standards Australia/New Zealand Standard 1994) Standards Australia 1994, AS/NZS 3951.10:1994, Standards Australia, NSW.
(Jennings 1997) Jennings, P 1997, 'The performance and competitive advantage of small firms: a management perspective', , vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 63-75. Available from: The University of Western Australia Library Course Materials Online. [1 September 2004].
(Foster 2004) Foster, T 2004, , lecture notes distributed in Financial Accounting 101 at The University of Western Australia, Crawley on 2 November 2005.
(Hos 2005) Hos, JP 2005, Ph.D thesis, University of Western Australia.
(May 2007) May, B 2007, Bristol UK, Canopus Publishing.
(Baril 2006) Baril, M 2006, WU2006.0058. Available from: Australasian Digital Theses Program. [12 August 2008].
pers.comm.
(O'Reilly, cited in Byrne 2008) In the reference list provide the details of the author who has done the citing.
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Harvard Style & Format: A 5-Minute Guide + Samples

Harvard referencing style

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The Harvard referencing style is a widely used system for citing and referencing sources in academic writing. It provides a consistent and standardized format for acknowledging the works of others that you have used in your research.

Struggling to remember tricky peculiarities of Harvard style referencing and formatting? Don’t worry, you have come across a helpful material. In this article, you will find the basics of Harvard style formatting which would be useful for your academic progress. This easy but detailed Harvard style guide contains all format requirements for a paper and some structural tips. Besides, it covers general rules on how to cite your sources properly in your text. Feel free to use these guidelines for your academic endeavors. Let us go through details of Harvard style referencing and formatting together!  

Reference Harvard Style: Basics

Harvard style is an author-date system of referencing. It’s similar to an  APA paper format  in terms of general formatting of pages and text. But this style follows its own rules for bibliography and in-text citations formatting. Harvard style is typically used for essays in such academic disciplines:  

  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Philosophy.

But this doesn’t mean you can’t use this paper format in other areas of study. The general rule is to put references to your sources in round brackets. Specify author’s name and publication year. These references should come after your quotes (direct or indirect) in the end of a respective sentence or paragraph. Full details about all sources you have used should be provided at the end of your work. This section should be named ‘Reference List’. Buy coursework or any other type of research paper that will be referenced for you by our experts. 

Harvard Format: General Requirements

Let us explore some general rules for Harvard formatting:

  • Font: Times New Roman or Arial
  • Size: 12 pt
  • Text: double-spaced and left-aligned
  • Indent: first line of a paragraph has indent of 0.5 inch
  • Margins: 1 inch from each side

A Harvard style citation  must have a Title page, header (or running head), headings and Reference list. We will take a closer look at formatting each section down below.  

Harvard Style Title Page

What are the requirements for a Harvard style cover page? Title page is otherwise known as front page. This is the first page of your paper to be observed by your reader, i.e. your teacher first of all. Therefore, it is highly important to format it properly. Formatting rules for Harvard Title page:  

  • Paper title is fully capitalised and centered. Should be placed at approximately 33% of your page counting from its top.
  • Your name as an author, centered and placed at the middle of your page.
  • Course name at approximately 66% of the page.
  • Instructor’s name on a new line.
  • University’s name.
  • Submission date.

See the sample of a Harvard title page down below.

Example of Harvard  title page

Formatting a Header in Harvard

An important detail: you are required to use a header in  Harvard referencing  format. This section is repeatedly shown on all pages of your paper except the title page. You have to configure it once. Then, headers will get automatically added on each new page. Headers in Harvard referencing format contains such information:  

  • Page number, right aligned
  • Shortened title of your paper, not capitalized, right-aligned, to the left of page number.

It is important to use shortened title because there is not too much space in any header. Also, another requirement is putting exactly 5 spaces between your title and a page number in headers.

Harvard Style Heading

Now let us explore some rules of using subheadings in Harvard style, in detail. Typically there are 2 levels of section headings recommended for use in such papers. They have different formatting. This helps to tell one from another, without using different font sizes for them.

  • Level-1 subheadings for a bigger section. They must be centered, capitalized, but at the same time not indented, not bold, not underscored, not italicized.
  • Level-2 subheading for any subsection, typically 1-2 paragraphs. They must be capitalized, left-aligned, not indented. Besides, they should be italicized.

The plain text of any paragraph should go on a new line after subheadings in Harvard style, be it Level-1 or Level-2 subheading.

Harvard Reference List

Listing all sources you have used for your research in a proper order is a core element of Harvard style. Reference list should be the last part of your paper but absolutely not the least. Now let us explore some critical rules for a reference list formatting. The Harvard-style reference list section has its own subtitle, namely ‘Reference List’. Similarly to a Level-1 subheading, it should be capitalized and centered. The rest of your content in this section goes from a new line after your title. No extra empty lines are to be added. Your references in this list are numbered and sorted alphabetically. No lines are indented. Each item in this list starts from a new line. Below we will describe a format for referencing in detail.  

Harvard Style Bibliography

Sometimes your professor or instructor might ask you to create a Bibliography section instead of a common Reference list. So what is the Harvard Bibliography format? Harvard style bibliography includes not only those sources you have cited in your text but also. It also includes materials which you have read to get ideas for your research and to better understand the context of a selected problem. So, such section would contain more items than a Reference list. Apart of that, the general Harvard Bibliography format is the same:  

  • Heading, ‘Bibliography’ is formatted the same way as a Level-1 subheading
  • Sources are put into alphabetical order
  • List is double-spaced
  • Lines do not have any indent
  • Each item of this list starts from a new line.

Harvard Style Citations: General Rules

Another crucial element of Harvard style is referring to your sources inside your essay. That’s why you should know how to cite in Harvard style. Keep in mind that the main purpose of a proper format is to ensure your paper is plagiarizm-free. Sometimes, you should cite ideas from books, magazines or newspapers. But you can only refer to such ideas, otherwise it will be considered a form of plagiarism. Below we will show you how to cite in Harvard style, providing general information about published sources. So let us proceed and learn more about shortened quotes and full references.  

How to Quote in Harvard Style

Here are the rules of Harvard format in-text citation:

  • Add them in parentheses, usually at the end of quotes.
  • Put an author’s last name and a publication year into round brackets, add page number if needed.

Example of in-text citation a quote in Harvard style

  • When quoting a web page, give a paragraph number instead of a page since many websites don’t divide text into pages.
  • Direct citation requires quotation marks and a page number is mandatory in parenthesis
  • If you have mentioned an author’s name in your quote, do not include it into brackets, just leave a year and a page numbers there.

Example of Harvard style citation a quote with author’s name

  • Sometimes you might need to quote two different sources at once. In such case include both into the same parenthesis and divide them by a semicolon.

Example of Harvard style citation a quote from two different sources

Creating References in Harvard Style

And this is how you should be referencing in Harvard style, providing full descriptions of the sources you have used. Let us start with the general book format:

  • Last name of the author followed by comma and initials
  • If there are multiple authors, their names are separated with comma, except the last one which must be separated by ‘&’
  • Year of publication follows, without a comma
  • A full title of the book is given, italicized
  • Publisher name
  • City and country where this book was published are the last to be provided.

Example of Harvard style citing  references

Here are several Harvarvard referencing rules for other source types:

  • Refer to an edited book by putting ‘(ed.)’ or ‘(eds)’ after the editor name(s)
  • If a book was translated, add ‘trans. I Lastname’
  • Refer to an article in any book or journal by adding an article name in quotation marks but not italicized
  • Refer to a website by adding ‘viewed’ and the date when you’ve opened it, followed by the URL in angle brackets.

Bottom Line

In this article we have explored the Harvard referencing guide, one of the most popular ones for students in the UK. Feel free to use these tips and proceed to writing a winning essay with flawless formatting! Just keep in mind the following key concepts of the Harvard style:

  • Title or cover page
  • Headers and their contents
  • Subheadings of two levels with different formatting
  • Reference list with full-detailed description of sources
  • In-text citations with lots of different forms for various quote types.

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If you have questions, please visit our FAQ section or contact our expert writers. They will gladly help you create references in line with all requirements. On top of that, our writers are highly experienced in academic writing and can assist you with any type of formatting.  

FAQ About Harvard Format

1. is harvard reference style used in colleges.

The Harvard style can be used in colleges as well as in other educational institutions and even by professional researchers. While it is relatively popular in many countries for research paper referencing, Harvard style is most widespread in universities of the UK nowadays. Other styles (APA, MLA and Chicago) dominate the US educational institutions.

2. What is the difference between Harvard and Oxford referencing styles?

The Harvard style format is a typical example of an author-date system as it requires using author’s names and publication dates for in-text referencing. You should create a complete reference list as a separate section in the end of your research paper. The Oxford style on the contrary uses numbered footnotes for citing sources used on your page. In-text citations on this page consist just from numbers of respective notes.  

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A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing | Citation Examples

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 15 September 2023.

Referencing is an important part of academic writing. It tells your readers what sources you’ve used and how to find them.

Harvard is the most common referencing style used in UK universities. In Harvard style, the author and year are cited in-text, and full details of the source are given in a reference list .

In-text citation Referencing is an essential academic skill (Pears and Shields, 2019).
Reference list entry Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019) 11th edn. London: MacMillan.

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Table of contents

Harvard in-text citation, creating a harvard reference list, harvard referencing examples, referencing sources with no author or date, frequently asked questions about harvard referencing.

A Harvard in-text citation appears in brackets beside any quotation or paraphrase of a source. It 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:

Note that ‘p.’ is used for a single page, ‘pp.’ for multiple pages (e.g. ‘pp. 1–5’).

An in-text citation usually appears immediately after the quotation or paraphrase in question. It may also appear at the end of the relevant sentence, as long as it’s clear what it refers to.

When your sentence already mentions the name of the author, it should not be repeated in the citation:

Sources with multiple authors

When you cite a source with up to three authors, cite all authors’ names. For four or more authors, list only the first name, followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Number of authors In-text citation example
1 author (Davis, 2019)
2 authors (Davis and Barrett, 2019)
3 authors (Davis, Barrett and McLachlan, 2019)
4+ authors (Davis , 2019)

Sources with no page numbers

Some sources, such as websites , often don’t have page numbers. If the source is a short text, you can simply leave out the page number. With longer sources, you can use an alternate locator such as a subheading or paragraph number if you need to specify where to find the quote:

Multiple citations at the same point

When you need multiple citations to appear at the same point in your text – for example, when you refer to several sources with one phrase – you can present them in the same set of brackets, separated by semicolons. List them in order of publication date:

Multiple sources with the same author and date

If you cite multiple sources by the same author which were published in the same year, it’s important to distinguish between them in your citations. To do this, insert an ‘a’ after the year in the first one you reference, a ‘b’ in the second, and so on:

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A bibliography or reference list appears at the end of your text. It lists all your sources in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, giving complete information so that the reader can look them up if necessary.

The reference entry starts with the author’s last name followed by initial(s). Only the first word of the title is capitalised (as well as any proper nouns).

Harvard reference list example

Sources with multiple authors in the reference list

As with in-text citations, up to three authors should be listed; when there are four or more, list only the first author followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Number of authors Reference example
1 author Davis, V. (2019) …
2 authors Davis, V. and Barrett, M. (2019) …
3 authors Davis, V., Barrett, M. and McLachlan, F. (2019) …
4+ authors Davis, V. (2019) …

Reference list entries vary according to source type, since different information is relevant for different sources. Formats and examples for the most commonly used source types are given below.

  • Entire book
  • Book chapter
  • Translated book
  • Edition of a book
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) . City: Publisher.
Example Smith, Z. (2017) . London: Penguin.
Notes
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Chapter title’, in Editor name (ed(s).) . City: Publisher, page range.
Example Greenblatt, S. (2010) ‘The traces of Shakespeare’s life’, in De Grazia, M. and Wells, S. (eds.) . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–14.
Notes
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) . Translated from the [language] by Translator name. City: Publisher.
Example Tokarczuk, O. (2019) . Translated from the Polish by A. Lloyd-Jones. London: Fitzcarraldo.
Notes
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) . Edition. City: Publisher.
Example Danielson, D. (ed.) (1999) . 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Notes

Journal articles

  • Print journal
  • Online-only journal with DOI
  • Online-only journal with no DOI
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , Volume(Issue), pp. page range.
Example Thagard, P. (1990) ‘Philosophy and machine learning’, , 20(2), pp. 261–276.
Notes
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , Volume(Issue), page range. DOI.
Example Adamson, P. (2019) ‘American history at the foreign office: Exporting the silent epic Western’, , 31(2), pp. 32–59. doi: https://10.2979/filmhistory.31.2.02.
Notes if available.
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , Volume(Issue), page range. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example Theroux, A. (1990) ‘Henry James’s Boston’, , 20(2), pp. 158–165. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20153016 (Accessed: 13 February 2020).
Notes
  • General web page
  • Online article or blog
  • Social media post
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) . Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example Google (2019) . Available at: https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en-US (Accessed: 27 January 2020).
Notes
Format Author surname, initial. (Year) ‘Article title’, , Date. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example Leafstedt, E. (2020) ‘Russia’s constitutional reform and Putin’s plans for a legacy of stability’, , 29 January. Available at: https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/russias-constitutional-reform-and-putins-plans-for-a-legacy-of-stability/ (Accessed: 13 February 2020).
Notes
Format Author surname, initial. [username] (Year) or text [Website name] Date. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example Dorsey, J. [@jack] (2018) We’re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation … [Twitter] 1 March. Available at: https://twitter.com/jack/status/969234275420655616 (Accessed: 13 February 2020).
Notes

Sometimes you won’t have all the information you need for a reference. This section covers what to do when a source lacks a publication date or named author.

No publication date

When a source doesn’t have a clear publication date – for example, a constantly updated reference source like Wikipedia or an obscure historical document which can’t be accurately dated – you can replace it with the words ‘no date’:

In-text citation (Scribbr, no date)
Reference list entry Scribbr (no date) . Available at: https://www.scribbr.co.uk/category/thesis-dissertation/ (Accessed: 14 February 2020).

Note that when you do this with an online source, you should still include an access date, as in the example.

When a source lacks a clearly identified author, there’s often an appropriate corporate source – the organisation responsible for the source – whom you can credit as author instead, as in the Google and Wikipedia examples above.

When that’s not the case, you can just replace it with the title of the source in both the in-text citation and the reference list:

In-text citation (‘Divest’, no date)
Reference list entry ‘Divest’ (no date) Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divest (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

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Harvard referencing uses an author–date system. Sources are cited by the author’s last name and the publication year in brackets. Each Harvard in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the alphabetised reference list at the end of the paper.

Vancouver referencing uses a numerical system. Sources are cited by a number in parentheses or superscript. Each number corresponds to a full reference at the end of the paper.

Harvard style Vancouver style
In-text citation Each referencing style has different rules (Pears and Shields, 2019). Each referencing style has different rules (1).
Reference list Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). . 11th edn. London: MacMillan. 1. Pears R, Shields G. Cite them right: The essential referencing guide. 11th ed. London: MacMillan; 2019.

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

In-text citation Reference list
1 author (Smith, 2014) Smith, T. (2014) …
2 authors (Smith and Jones, 2014) Smith, T. and Jones, F. (2014) …
3 authors (Smith, Jones and Davies, 2014) Smith, T., Jones, F. and Davies, S. (2014) …
4+ authors (Smith , 2014) Smith, T. (2014) …

Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference in meaning:

  • A reference list only includes sources cited in the text – every entry corresponds to an in-text citation .
  • A bibliography also includes other sources which were consulted during the research but not cited.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, September 15). A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing | Citation Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-style/

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Harvard Citation Guide: Getting Started

  • Getting Started
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What is Harvard Style?

Harvard style is a set of rules for research papers and publications. It is one of the most widely used styles in the world.

In Harvard, you must cite sources that you have paraphrased, quoted, or consulted to write your research paper. Cite your sources in two places:

  • In the body of your paper (in-text citation).
  • In the Reference list at the end of your paper (full bibliographic reference).

Digital Object Identifiers (DOI)

Also known as a permalink, a DOI, or  digital object identifier , is an article's permanent online location. DOIs are used for a variety of academic and non-academic sources that are located online. 

Include a DOI for all works that have a DOI. If an online work has both a DOI and a URL, include only the DOI; if the source only has a URL, include the URL.

Cite Them Right 11th edition

Many of the disciplines and institutions that favor Harvard style use  Cite Them Right 11th edition  as their primary manual.

Cite Them Right   This is the official website for Cite Them Right.

  • Next: How do I Cite? >>
  • Last Updated: Jun 24, 2022 12:36 PM
  • URL: https://paperpile.libguides.com/harvard

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