Harvard style

The Harvard referencing style guidance on this page is based on the 12th edition of Cite them Right. The guidance on this page covers key aspects of using the style, but is not comprehsive. See: Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2022) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide London: Bloomsbury Publishing. for complete guidance.

Please note your school may have specific referencing requirements; to ensure you are using the preferred referencing style please check with your school office.

There are many different versions of Harvard. If you have using Reference management software or a citation generator, like Zoterobib, then you need to select Cite Them Right 12th edition - Harvard.

 

In-text citations

The Harvard style of referencing requires you to include the name of the author(s) and the year of publication within the text.

Direct quotations/paraphrased sentences

If you have used a direct quotation or paraphrase a short section of text, you also need to include the page number(s).

Summarising a large proportion of a text

If you are summarising a large section of the text you do not need to include page numbers. Additionally, you do not need to pinpoint the specific minute(s) if you are citing a film. However, if it helps your argument to have a sense of when a certain event or scene takes place in the film, do include this information earlier on in the sentence of your in-text citation.

Placement of references for in-text citations

References, whenever possible, should be placed at the end of a sentence (before the concluding punctuation).

Example:

...as one writer put it 'the darkest days were still ahead' (Weston, 1988, p. 45).

Alternatively, the author's surname may be integrated into the text, followed immediately by the year of publication in brackets.

Example:

Scholtz (1990, p. 564) has argued that...

Works with more than one author

The number of authors there are for any given piece of work determines how the authors' names are formatted for in-text citations. The following rules apply:

  • 1-3 authors: list all author names in every citation, for example:

Goddard and Barrett (2007) suggested...

as the study confirms (Jones, Reed and Cannock, 2012).

  • 4+ authors: list the first author's name followed by et al in italics, for example:

...as the report suggested (Edwards et al., 2004).

More than one reference by an author in the same year

If there is more than one reference by an author in the same year they are generally labelled in order of publication with a lower case letter.

Example:

...outlined by Smith (2009a, p. 45) and developed further in his report (2009b, p. 23).

Unknown Author(s)

If the author's name is unknown, you should list the title of the article, book or webpage in italics.

Example:

...the worst election loss in the party's history (The Age, 1968, p. 2).

Referring to works quoted within other works

You may want to refer to a work that you haven't read, but which has been summarised or discussed in somebody else's work. Use the format: Author's Surname, year, cited in Author's Surname, year, p. X.

Example:

There was further evidence to support researchers' views on genetic abnormalities in crops (White, 2001, cited in Murray, 2007, p. 82).

In the list of references cite the book you read rather than the original text.

If the quote you are referencing is in an edited book, the in-text citation is the same as the example above. In your reference list cite as you would an edited book. See the chapters/sections in an edited book section.

Citing asian names

In Western naming culture, generally a person's surname is often listed as the last name, e.g. John Smith. However, in Asian culture, a person's surname is generally listed first, i.e. Smith John. This applies to Chinese, Malay, and Indian naming conventions so the referencing format should be as follows:

In-text citations

The book The security environment in the Asia-Pacific by Cheng Tun-jen would be formatted in-text as:

...as one writer noted the darkest days were still ahead (Cheng, 2000, p. 45).

Bibliography

The book The security environment in the Asia-Pacific by Cheng Tun-jen would be formatted in the bibliography as:

Cheng, T.-jen., 2000. The security environment in the Asia-Pacific, Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.

Exceptions

Some Asian naming conventions only include a first name, and not a surname; in those cases use the first name provided in place of the surname.

Creating your bibliography/list of references

The bibliography is a list of all the sources that you have used. Follow these rules when putting together your Harvard bibliography:

  • references are arranged in alphabetical order by author's surname.
  • where there is no author or author is unknown, the title of the resource is used instead.
  • only the first letter of the first word in a title should be capitalised, while all other words should be in lowercase, except for proper nouns, acronyms, or specific cases where capitalisation is required (e.g., names of organisations).
  • titles of books are in italics.
  • only include edition numbers if the edition is not the first or revised edition.
  • If you have used a direct quotation or paraphrase a short section of text, you also need to include the page number(s).

Sample bibliography

Brown, M. (2012) 'Read all about it: how Gilbert & George stole the headlines and made art', The Guardian, 8 March. Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/mar/08/gilbert-and-george-white-cube-exhibition (Accessed: 8 March 2012).

Robinson, N. (2008) 'Cameron Direct', Nick Robinson's newslog, 4 June. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/ (Accessed: 11 April 2010).

Walsh, A.W. (2012) The treatment of children. London: Collins Books.

Books

Citation order and format

Author Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) Book title. Place of publication: publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year)

Print Book:

Walsh, A.W. (2012) The treatment of children. London: Collins Books.

When an ebook looks like a printed book, with the same publication details and page numbering, you should reference it as a printed book.

Ebook:

Banathy, B.H. (1995) Systems design of education: A journey to create the future. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Systems_Design_of_Education/ErvzcDYDcrwC?hl=en&gbpv=0 (Accessed: 11 May 2023)

Translated works

Citation order and format

Author/editor Surname, Initials. (Year of translated publication) Book title in italics. Translated from the name of language by Initials. Surname. Place of publication: publisher.

Example:

Deleuze, G. (2004) Difference and repetition. Translated from French by P. Patton. London: Continuum.

Chapters/sections in edited books

When you want to quote a chapter or section of text within an edited book, use the format below:

Citation order and format

Author of the section / chapter - Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) ‘Chapter title’ followed by the book's author / editor surname, first name. (ed.) Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher, pp.

Example:

Smith, C. (2006) 'Feminism in Jane Eyre', in Brennan, Z. (ed.) Brontë's Jane Eyre a reader's guide. London: Continuum, pp. 12-16.

If a book has four or more editors use et al. after the first editor.

Example:

De Mello, C.B., Da Silva Gusmão Cardoso, T. and Alves, M.V.C. (2023) ‘Social cognition development and socioaffective dysfunction in childhood and adolescence’, in P.S. Boggio et al. (eds) Social and affective neuroscience of everyday human interaction. Cham: Springer, pp. 161–175.

Journal articles

Citation order and format

Author Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) 'Article title', Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), pp. page range if available. Available at: https://doi.org/doi number.

Print Journal:

Byrne, M. (2016) 'Children and cognitive behavioural therapy', Journal of Psychology, 4(2), pp. 45-48.

Online Journal with DOI:

Byrne, M. (2016) 'Children and cognitive behavioural therapy', Journal of Psychology, 4(2), pp. 45-48. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02619761003602246.

Online articles with no DOI number:

Byrne, M. (2016) 'Children and cognitive behavioural therapy', Journal of Psychology, 4(2), pp. 45-48. Available at: https://taylorandfrancisonline.com/154365476121 (Accessed: 23 April 2018).

When referencing an online article without a DOI, include the URL and date accessed in format (Accessed: day Month Year). Where possible use a stable URL – Avoid using browser’s address bar as this link is not a stable link to a reference. Articles often have a DOI e.g., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122934 or a journal may have a stable URL listed e.g., https://www.jstor.org/stable/23646787.

Online articles with article number instead of pages:

Kunii, Y. et al. (2016) ‘Severe psychological distress of evacuees in evacuation zone caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident: the Fukushima health management survey’, PLOS ONE, 11(7), article number e0158821. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158821.

When referencing articles which have article numbers rather than page numbers, use the write the words "article number" followed by the number.

Online conference proceedings

Citation order and format

Author Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) ‘Title of paper’, Title of conference, location and date of conference. Place of publication: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year) or https://doi.org/doi number

Example:

Shi, J. (2013) ‘Developing research presentation skills for international conferences’, Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Advanced Mechatronic Systems, Luoyang, China, 25-27 September. Tokyo: The National University of Electro-Communications. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAMechS.2013.6681817.

Graphs and scientific datasets

Graphs

Citation order and format

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Page number or figure number for graph, graph.

Example:

Verity, A et al. (2012) Retail Sales Figures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.42, graph.

Scientific datasets

Citation order and format if online

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of data'. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Verity, A et al. (2012) 'HEQ level holdings'. Available at: http://physics.nist.gov/a543d3 (Accessed: 2 August 2019).

Websites

Citation order and format

Author - Surname, Initials. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page. Available at: URL (Accessed: date Month year).

Example:

Woodward, E. (2017) Deliciously Ella. Available at: https://deliciouslyella.com/ (Accessed: 20 March 2017).

Do not include the website's URL in your in-text citation, unless this is the only piece of information you have. Use the author, date format.

Government documents

Citation order and format

Government department name (year of publication) Title. Place of publication: Publisher. (series if applicable) or DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Lord Chancellor's Department (1999) Government policy on archives. London: The Stationery Office. (Cm. 4516).

Lord Chancellor's Department (1999) Government policy on archives. Available at: https://www.gov.co.uk/dangerousdogsreport2019 (Accessed: 12 June 2019).

Many UK government publications may be accessed via https://www.gov.uk but you should use the specific author or department as the author, if given.

If you are referencing government publications from more than one country, include the country of origin (in round brackets) after the department name.

Reports by organisations or individuals

Citation order and format - printed report

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

Example: print report

Bentley. (2006) The power of mass media in advertising. New York: Bentley.

Citation order and format - online report

Author/Organisation name. (Year of publication) Full title of report. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).

Example: online report

European Commission (2018) European outbreak of Zika 2018. Luxemburg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Available at: www.reutersresearch.ie/zikareport2018 (Accessed: 10 Mar 2018).

United Nations Resolutions

Citation order and format

Organisation (year of publication) Title in italics. Resolution number. DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

General Assembly (reference number A/RES)

As discussed in the report on Atomic Energy (United Nations General Assembly, 2019)…

United Nations General Assembly (2019) Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Resolution A/RES/74/8. Available at: https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/74/8 (Accessed: 25 November 2019).

Security Council (reference number S/RES)

The resolution to ensure compliance (United Nations Security Council, 2019)…

United Nations Security Council (2019) The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Resolution S/RES/2496. Available at: http://undocs.org/S/RES/2496(2019) (Accessed: 25 November 2019).

International treaties, conventions and accords

Citation order and format

Title of treaty (year of publication) Treaty number. Publication title. Volume and page numbers. If accessed online DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Convention to prevent and punish the acts of terrorism taking the form of crimes against persons and related extortion that are of international significance (1973) Treaty no. 24381. United Nations Treaty Series, 1438, p. 191. Available at: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=08000002800d031f (Accessed: 25 November 2019).

You will be able to find details of treaties in the United Nations Treaty Series.

EU directives, decisions and regulations

Citation order and format

‘Legislation type Number and title’ (year of publication) Official journal series, issue, page numbers. If accessed online DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

‘Directive 2001/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 May 2001 on the admission of securities to official stock exchange listing and on information to be published on those securities' (2001) Official Journal L184, pp. 1–66. Available at: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2001/34/oj (Accessed: 12 January 2024)

‘Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps Text with EEA relevance’ (2012) Official Journal L86, pp. 1–24. Available at: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/236/oj (Accessed: 12 January 2024)

See EUR-Lex for EU law and Official Journal.

Judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and General Court (GC)

Citation order and format

‘Name of Case’ (year of publication) Case number; European Case Law Identifier. Publication title, Section, Pages numbers.

Example:

‘Commission of the European Communities v Salzgitter AG’ (2008) C-408/04P; ECLI:EU:C:2008:236. European Court Reports, I, 02767.

Newspaper articles

Articles from print newspapers

Citation order and format

Author - Surname, initials. (Year of publication) ‘Title of article’, Full title of newspaper, (Edition, - if required) day month p. X.

Example:

Old, D. (2008) 'House price gloom', Evening Chronicle (Newcastle edn), 26 June, p. 25.

Articles from online newspapers

Citation order and format

Author - Surname, initials. (Year of publication) ‘Title of article’, Full title of newspaper, day month. Available at: url (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

Brown, M. (2012) 'Read all about it: how Gilbert & George stole the headlines and made art', The Guardian, 8 March. Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/mar/08/gilbert-and-george-white-cube-exhibition (Accessed: 8 March 2012).

Unknown author for a newspaper article

Citation order and format

Full title of newspaper, (Year of publication), ‘Title of article’, day month, p. X

Example:

The Guardian, (2012), 'Read all about it: how Gilbert & George stole the headlines and made art', 8 March, p. 12.

Capitalise the first letter of each word in the title except conjunctions

Film/television/YouTube/iPlayer

Film

Citation order and format

Title (Year of release) Directed by Director's Initials. Surname. [Feature Film]. Place of distribution: Distribution company.

Example:

Macbeth (1948) Directed by O. Wells. [Feature Film]. USA: Republic Pictures.

Films on DVD

Citation order and format

Title in italics (Year of release) Directed by Director's Initials. Surname. [DVD or Blue-ray]. Place of distribution: Distribution company.

Example:

La dolce vita (1960) Directed by F. Fellini. [DVD]. London: Nouveaux Pictures.

Television

Citation order and format

Title of programme (Year of broadcast) Name of channel, Date of Broadcast - day month, time of transmission.

Example:

The Nuclear Age (2009) ITV Television, 16 June, 21:30.

iPlayers or Broadcast box episodes

Citation order and format

'Title of episode' (Year of broadcast) Title of series/season, Date of broadcast. Channel Name. Available at: iPlayer name (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

'Time & Entropy' (2011) Wonders of the Universe - Destiny, 6 March. BBC Two. Available at: BBC iPlayer (Accessed: 15 October 2011).

YouTube

Citation order and format

Name of person posting video (Year video posted) Title of video. Available at: url (Accessed: date month year)

Example:

Shakespeareanimated (2008) BBC Shakespeare Animated Tales - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Part 2. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr1gk9nwTYY (Accessed: 12 May 2011).

Netflix

Citation order and format

'Title of episode' (Year of broadcast) Title of series/season, Series number, episode number. Netflix. Available at: Netflix (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

'Time & Entropy' (2011) Wonders of the Universe - Destiny, Series 1, episode 4. Netflix. Available at: Netflix (Accessed 15 October 2011).

Television adverts

Citation order and format

Company advertising (Year) Title [Medium and channel on which advertisement appeared]. Date and Month viewed.

Example:

British Telecom (2008) Office relocation gremlins [Advertisement on ITV1 Television]. 23 June.

Newspaper adverts

Citation order and format

Name of newspaper (Year) ‘Title’ [Advertisement]. Date Month, p.

Example:

The Guardian (2007) 'WOMAD festival' [Advertisement]. 14 April, p. 12.

Internet adverts

Citation order and format

Company advertising (Year) Title [Advertisement]. Available at: URL (Accessed: day Month year).

Example:

Lloyds TSB Bank plc (2008) Selling your house? [Advertisement]. Available at: http://www.hotmail.com (Accessed: 13 February 2010).

Lecture notes

Citation order and format

Author or tutor - Surname, initials. (Year) ‘Title of item’ module code: module title. Available at: URL or VLE (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

Smith, I. (2017) 'Week 1: assignment prep.' PSY1001:Psychological Development of Children. Available at: http://psy1001.studydirect.sussex.ac.uk (Accessed: 10 February 2017).

PowerPoint presentations

Citation order and format

Author or tutor - Surname, initials. (Year) ‘Title of presentation’ [Presentation Slides]. module code: module title. University. Available at: URL or VLE (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

Smith, I. (2017) 'Piaget's theory of cognitive learning' [Presentation Slides] PSY1001:Psychological Development of Children. University of Sussex. Available at: https://canvas.sussex.ac.uk (Accessed: 10 February 2022).

Blog posts

Citation order and format

Author - Surname, initials. (Year blog site was published or last updated) ‘Title of post’, Title of blog site, Day and month of post. Available at: URL (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

Robinson, N. (2008) 'Cameron Direct', Nick Robinson's newslog, 4 June. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/ (Accessed: 11 April 2010).

Paintings

Citation order and format

Artist - Surname, initials. (Year) Title of work [Medium]. Institution of collection, city (Viewed: day month year)

Example:

Kahlo, F. (1931) Frieda and Diego Rivera [Oil on canvas]. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (Viewed: 22 January 2022)

If accessed online

Artist - Surname, initials. (Year) Title of work [Medium]. Institution of collection, city. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).

Example:

Kahlo, F. (1931) Frieda and Diego Rivera [Oil on canvas]. Available at: http://www.artstor.org (Accessed: 14 May 2011).

Podcasts

Citation order and format

Author/Presenter. (Year site was published or last updated) Title of Podcast [Podcast]. Day and month of podcast airing. Available at: URL (Accessed: date month year).

Example:

Verity, A et al. (2012) Retail Sales Figures. [Podcast]. 4 June. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/retailsalesfigures (Accessed: 11 April 2019).

Radio programmes

Citation order and format

Title of Programme (year of airing) Name of channel, Date of airing, time of airing.

Example:

Woman's Hour (2019) BBC Radio 4, 28 June, 10:00.

Online radio programmes

Title of Programme (year of airing) Name of channel, Day month of original airing (if possible). Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Example:

Woman's Hour (2019) BBC Radio 4, 28 June. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006725 (Accessed: 12 February 2023).

Online photographs

Citation order and format

Photographer Surname, Initials. (Year of publication if known) Title of photograph (if there is no title, briefly describe). Available at: website address (Accessed: day month year).

Example:

Kiser, K. (no date) Photograph of car. Available at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=371 (Accessed: 10 April 2020).

Music Streaming/Subscription Services

Music streaming/downloads are available from a range of different websites and apps, including Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Deezer, Google Play Music, iTunes and Bandcamp.

Citation order and format

Artist, individual, band, orchestra, etc Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) 'Title of song/track title', Title of album. Available at: Name of Streaming Service (Accessed: Day Month Year)

Whole Album:

Hancock, H. (2005) Inventions and dimensions (Expanded edition). Available at: Deezer (Accessed: 02 February 2023).

Track on an album:

Bowie, D. and Eno, B. (2017) ‘Warszawa’, Low. Available at: Spotify (Accessed: 02 February 2023).

Singles:

The Jiants (1959) ‘Tornado’. Available at: YouTube Music (Accessed: 02 February 2023).

Music or Spoken word records on CDs and Vinyl

If you have the physical item, then you’ll be able to find all the information needed to reference accurately. If you are searching for the information online, then you may need to use a combination of Library Hub Discover and Discogs.

Tracks released on CD or vinyl as singles

Citation order and format

Artist, individual, band, orchestra, etc Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) Title of track [CD/Vinyl]. Place of distribution: Label.

Example:

Le Theatre Du Chene Noir (1973) Miss Madona [Vinyl]. Avignon: Studio 35.

The Beta Band (2001) Human being [CD]. London: Regal.

Track on albums

Citation order and format

Artist, individual, band, orchestra, etc: Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) 'Title of track', Title of album [CD/Vinyl, catalogue number]. Place of distribution: Label.

Example:

Simone, N. (1962) 'House of the rising sun', At the Village Gate [Vinyl]. New York: Colpix Records.

Takada, M. (2017) ‘Mr. Henri Rousseau’s dream’, Through The Looking Glass [CD]. Palto Flats.

n.b. You may not always be able to find place of distribution. In this case, just use the name of the label (as above)

Whole albums

Citation order and format

Artist, individual, band, orchestra, etc Surname, Initials. (Year of publication) Title of album [CD/Vinyl]. Place: Label.

Example:

Can (1971) Tago mago [Vinyl]. Munich: United Artists Records.

Martha And The Vandellas (1963) Heat wave [Vinyl]. Detroit: Gordy.

Classical music track released on CD or Vinyl

Citation order and format

Composer Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of composition [CD/Vinyl]. Additional notes if required e.g., orchestra/performer; soloist; conductor. Place of distribution: Label.

Example:

Bartók, B. (1962) Music for strings, percussion and celesta [Vinyl]. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by H. von Karajan. London: Columbia.

Ligeti, G. (2012) Melodien [CD]. London Sinfonietta Deutsche, conducted by D. Atherton. October 1975. Berlin: Deutsche Grammophon.

Musical Scores (Sheet music)

Musical scores

Citation order and format

Composer Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of score/sheet [Musical score]. Notes (if required) - e.g., Translations/Editors. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example:

Webern, A. (1999) Vier stucke: fur geige und klavier, op. 7 (1910) [Musical score]. Austria: Universal Edition.

Schumann, R. (1971) Robert Schumann: dichterliebe : an authoritative score, historical background, essays in analysis, views and comments [Musical score]. Edited by Arthur J. Komar. London: Chappell.

Macaky, C. and Russel, H. (1855) To the west, to the west! [Musical score]. London: Musical Bouquet Office.

Britten, B. (1967) Op. 78: The golden vanity : a vaudeville for boys and piano after the old English ballad [Musical score]. Words by Colin Graham; German translation by H. Kelle. London: Faber.