This guide shows you how to cite correctly in the Harvard style — the foundation of academic integrity. PaperDraft helps you format citations as you draft, so you practice sound attribution, not evasion.
Harvard is a widely used author–date referencing style, particularly common across the UK, Ireland, Australia, and other Commonwealth-influenced universities. Unlike APA or Chicago, Harvard is not a single official manual — it is a family of closely related styles, each institution publishing its own variant. This guide covers the patterns that are consistent across the major Harvard variants and flags the places where institutions disagree. The widely cited reference for Harvard style across UK universities is Cite Them Right (12th edition, 2022).
Quick rules
- Harvard is an author–date style. Every in-text citation names an author and a year.
- There is no single official Harvard manual — check your institution's reference guide for formatting specifics.
- The reference list is titled References (sometimes "Reference List" or "Bibliography" depending on variant).
- Reference list uses hanging indent and is alphabetical by first author surname.
- Titles of books and journals are italicized; titles of articles are in plain text, sometimes in quotation marks depending on variant.
- Page numbers appear with direct quotations; many institutions encourage them for paraphrases of specific passages too.
In-text citation patterns
- Parenthetical: "Attention mediates the effect (Smith, 2020)."
- Narrative: "Smith (2020) found that attention mediates the effect."
- Direct quote: (Smith, 2020, p. 45).
- Two authors: (Smith and Jones, 2020). Some variants prefer an ampersand (Smith & Jones, 2020) — check your institution.
- Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2020).
- Organisation as author: First citation: (World Health Organization (WHO), 2022). After: (WHO, 2022).
- No date: (Smith, no date) or (Smith, n.d.) depending on variant.
- Multiple works, same author, same year: (Smith, 2020a), (Smith, 2020b).
Reference list formats
Book (single author):
Smith, J.R. (2020) Attention and narrative. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Book chapter in an edited volume:
Jones, K.L. (2019) 'Attention in early modern drama', in Brown, M. and Green, P. (eds.) Handbook of Renaissance studies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 45–67.
Journal article with DOI:
Smith, J.R. and Jones, K.L. (2021) 'Mediators of attention in Victorian fiction', Journal of Literary Studies, 113(4), pp. 512–530. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000456.
Journal article, no DOI:
Harris, P. (2023) 'New findings in attention research', Journal of Mind, 42(2), pp. 15–24.
Website:
World Health Organization (2022) Global report on mental health. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338 (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
Newspaper article:
Harris, P. (2023) 'New findings in attention research', The Guardian, 14 March, p. 8.
Report:
Department for Education (2023) Review of higher education funding. London: DfE.
Thesis:
Garcia, M. (2022) Attention regulation in adolescents. PhD thesis. University of California, Berkeley.
Harvard variants differ on whether URLs need an "Available at:" prefix, whether accessed dates are mandatory, and the exact punctuation of article titles. The examples above follow the widely used Cite Them Right pattern; if your institution publishes its own Harvard guide, defer to it.
Edge cases
No author. Use the title in author position. For institutional documents, the publishing body may serve as author.
No date. Use (no date) or (n.d.) — whichever your institution prefers.
Online sources without publication dates. For webpages without a clear date, many Harvard variants require an "Accessed" date in parentheses at the end of the reference. Check your institution.
Secondary sources. Harvard discourages them; when unavoidable, cite as "(Smith, 1980, cited in Jones, 2020)" and include only Jones in the reference list.
Personal communication. Some Harvard variants include personal communications in the reference list (with date and format — "email to the author"); others treat them as in-text only. Check locally.
Generative AI. Cite Them Right 12th edition added guidance for generative AI — cite the tool as the author with the year, and provide prompt details and access date in the reference. Disclose broader use in a method or acknowledgments statement per your institution's policy.
Common mistakes
- Mixing Harvard variants. Pick one (your institution's guide) and use it consistently.
- Omitting the year in the reference list. Harvard's author-date logic depends on the year appearing in every in-text citation and every reference.
- Forgetting the comma in in-text citations. Harvard uses (Smith, 2020) with a comma — distinct from MLA's (Smith 45) without.
- Capitalizing all major words in article titles. Harvard typically uses sentence case for article titles and headline case for journal names and book titles.
- Inconsistent ampersand vs. "and." Two authors are joined with "and" in most variants, with ampersand in others. Check your institution.
- Missing accessed-date for web sources. Required by many Harvard variants.
How PaperDraft helps
PaperDraft stubs Harvard citations in a widely accepted variant as you draft. It knows the parenthetical pattern, the reference list structure, and where italics belong. Because Harvard is a family of styles rather than a single manual, you may need to tune details against your institution's guide — that adjustment is part of the verification work every Harvard user does. Confirm every citation against both the source you actually read and your institution's specific guide. See our academic responsibility guide for the full frame.
Frequently asked questions
Which Harvard variant should I use?
Use the variant your institution publishes. Most UK universities have their own Harvard guide on their library website. If nothing is specified, the widely cited reference is Cite Them Right (12th edition).
Is Harvard an official style?
There is no single "Harvard" manual the way there is for APA or Chicago. The name comes from the parenthetical author-date practice originating at Harvard University in the late 19th century, which many institutions have adopted and adapted.
How do I cite a website in Harvard?
Typical format: Author or Organisation (Year) Title of page. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year). Your institution may vary on whether "Available at:" is required and whether the access date is mandatory.
Do I include page numbers for paraphrases?
Usually only required for direct quotations, but many institutions encourage page numbers for paraphrases of specific passages so readers can locate the discussion. Check your institution's guidance.
What is the difference between Harvard and APA?
Both are author-date styles, but the conventions differ in punctuation (Harvard uses round brackets and commas slightly differently), in capitalization patterns, and in treatment of web sources. APA is governed by a single manual (APA 7th); Harvard is a family of related styles.
How should I disclose the use of a drafting tool in Harvard papers?
Cite Them Right 12th edition now includes guidance on generative AI. For broader drafting-tool disclosure, consult your institution's policy — see our disclosure guide for an overview of current practice.