Harvard Referencing Guide: In-Text Citations, Reference Lists and Examples

Harvard is an author-date referencing system: you cite the author's surname and the year of publication in the text, and give full details in an alphabetical reference list at the end.

It is the default style in many UK, Australian and South African universities, and common in business, social sciences, education and health.

One thing surprises students: there is no single official Harvard style. Each university publishes its own version, such as Cite Them Right, which many UK institutions follow, or an in-house guide, and they differ in small details like punctuation, italics and how online sources are shown. This guide uses the widely followed Cite Them Right conventions.

Always check your own university's guide, and follow it where it differs.

In-Text Citations

Use secondary citations sparingly. Markers prefer that you read and cite the original, and only the source you actually read (Schunk, in the example) goes in your reference list.

Quoting and Paraphrasing

Short quotations (under about 40 words) go in quotation marks within your sentence, with a page number. Longer quotations are set as an indented block without quotation marks. Paraphrases, where you put an idea in your own words, still need a citation, and page numbers are encouraged when you paraphrase a specific passage.

Paraphrasing Well, with Citations

A good paraphrase changes the structure and wording of the original, not just a few words, and still carries a citation. A useful method is to read the passage, close it, write the idea from memory in your own words, then check against the original for accuracy and accidental copying.

Citing Sources You Have Not Read Directly

Sometimes you read about a study in a textbook and cannot access the original. Harvard handles this with a secondary citation: name the original author and the source you actually read, for example Bandura (1977, cited in Schunk, 2020). Only Schunk goes in your reference list, because that is the source you consulted.

Use this sparingly. Markers see heavy use of secondary citations as a sign that you have not engaged with the primary literature, and textbooks sometimes summarize studies inaccurately. Where the original is available through your library, read it and cite it directly.

Reference List Examples

The reference list is ordered alphabetically by the first author's surname, uses a hanging indent in most university versions, and includes only sources you cited. Some courses also ask for a bibliography of works consulted but not cited; check your brief.

More Source Types

Check whether your course allows lecture slides and websites as sources at all. Many markers expect most references to be peer-reviewed.

A Short Worked Example

Notice the alphabetical order, the way three or more authors become "et al." in the text but are listed in full in the reference list (as many guides require), and the page number attached to the direct quotation.

How University Versions Differ

None of these are wrong in themselves. What loses marks is inconsistency, or ignoring the version your department specifies.

Harvard vs APA

Both are author-date systems, so they look similar, and students moving between courses often mix them. The main differences:

• APA uses an ampersand inside brackets (Patel & Jones, 2019); Harvard usually uses "and".
• APA puts the year after the author in the reference list, followed by a full stop, and gives the journal title and volume in italics.
• APA 7th dropped the publisher location for books and uses accessed dates only for content designed to change.

If your course uses APA, our APA research paper guide covers it.

Citing AI Tools in Harvard

If your course allows the use of generative AI tools, most university Harvard guides now ask you to acknowledge them. A common format treats the output as a personal communication or as software, for example: OpenAI (2026) ChatGPT [Large language model].

Available at: URL (Accessed: date), with the prompt you used described in the text or an appendix. Conventions are still changing, so follow your university's current guidance, and remember that AI tools can invent references that do not exist. Every source in your list must be one you have seen and checked.

Common Harvard Referencing Mistakes

• In-text citations with no matching reference entry, or entries never cited.
• First names or initials in in-text citations: (Sarah Smith, 2021) instead of (Smith, 2021).
• Listing references by order of appearance instead of alphabetically.
• Missing page numbers for direct quotations.
• Citing a website's home page instead of the specific page used.
• Mixing Harvard with APA conventions (ampersands, italics) in one list.
• Copying citations from a database tool without checking them against your university guide.

Reference Managers and Generators

Reference managers such as Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote store your sources and format citations automatically, and most include a Cite Them Right Harvard style. They save hours on long projects, but their output is only as good as the data you import: check author names, capitalization of titles, and missing page ranges or DOIs.

Online citation generators are useful for single references, but check every entry against your university's guide before it goes into your list.

Final Referencing Checklist

• Every in-text citation appears in the reference list, and every entry is cited.
• Author names and years match exactly between text and list.
• Direct quotations have page numbers.
• The list is alphabetical, with a hanging indent if your guide requires one.
• Titles of books and journals are in italics; article and chapter titles follow your guide.
• Online sources have URLs or DOIs and accessed dates where required.
• The whole document follows one version of Harvard consistently.