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Harvard is an author–date referencing style used by many universities in the UK, Australia and India, especially in business, management and social sciences. There is no single official version, so always check your university's guide. The formats below follow the widely used Cite Them Right style.
In-text citations
Put the author's surname and year of publication in brackets, and add a page number when you quote directly.
- One author: (Gibbs, 1988)
- Two authors: (Kotler and Keller, 2016)
- Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2021)
- Direct quote: (Gibbs, 1988, p. 47)
- Author named in your sentence: Gibbs (1988) argues that...
- No date: (NHS, no date)
Reference list formats
List every source alphabetically by author surname at the end of your assignment.
Book
Author surname, Initial. (Year) Title. Edition (if not the first). Place: Publisher.
Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L. (2016) Marketing management. 15th edn. Harlow: Pearson.
Journal article
Author surname, Initial. (Year) 'Article title', Journal Name, volume(issue), pp. first–last page. doi: (if available).
Website or web page
Author or organisation (Year) Title of page. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).
Report
Organisation (Year) Title of report. Place: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).
Chapter in an edited book
Chapter author, Initial. (Year) 'Chapter title', in Editor, Initial. (ed.) Book title. Place: Publisher, pp. first–last page.
Common Harvard mistakes that cost marks
- Missing citations: every source in your reference list must appear in the text, and the other way round.
- Wrong order: the reference list goes in alphabetical order by surname, not in the order you used sources.
- Mixing styles: don't switch between Harvard and APA in the same assignment.
- Missing access dates for websites.
- Citing lecture slides when your course asks for academic sources. Find the original source the lecturer used.
Harvard vs APA
They look similar, but APA 7 uses an ampersand (Kotler & Keller, 2016) and different punctuation in the reference list. See our referencing styles guide for a side-by-side comparison.
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