Harvard Referencing Guide

Harvard is the most commonly used referencing style in UK universities, and also widely adopted in Australia, South Africa, and many international institutions. Unlike APA, Harvard has no single authoritative manual — different universities publish their own variants. This guide focuses on the core rules shared across all versions.

The Harvard Variants Problem

Your university almost certainly has its own Harvard guide. Before you start, check which version your institution follows — the differences are real and markers do notice:

Cite Them Right

The most widely followed commercial guide. Used as the default at many UK universities. Published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Anglia Ruskin

A detailed institutional guide published freely online. Popular as a reference standard for checking edge cases.

Leeds / Manchester

Institutional variations with minor punctuation and ordering differences. Always defer to your own institution's guide first.

Rule #1: Check your university's Harvard referencing guide before relying on any third-party resource — including this one. When your guide and a website disagree, your guide wins.

In-Text Citations

Harvard uses the author-date system. Every citation gives the author's last name and the publication year, in parentheses. Page numbers are needed for direct quotes.

Basic formats

Parenthetical: (Smith, 2022)
Narrative: Smith (2022) argues that...
Direct quote: (Smith, 2022, p. 45) or (Smith, 2022:45) — varies by guide
Two authors: (Smith and Jones, 2022) — Harvard uses "and," not "&"
Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2022)
No author: Use title or organisation name — (NHS, 2023)
No date: (Smith, no date) or (Smith, n.d.) — varies by guide

Harvard vs APA: Harvard uses "and" in parenthetical citations; APA uses "&". Harvard writes "no date"; APA writes "n.d." These are not interchangeable.

Multiple sources in one citation

When citing multiple sources to support one point, list them chronologically or alphabetically inside one set of parentheses, separated by semicolons: (Brown, 2018; Osei, 2020; Wang, 2022).

Reference List

The reference list appears at the end of your work, in alphabetical order by author's last name. Use the heading "References" or "Reference List" (not "Bibliography" unless you also include sources you read but didn't cite). Each entry uses a hanging indent.

Journal Article

Format

Author, A. (Year) 'Title of article in single quotes', Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pp. xx–xx. doi: or Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Example

Omondi, J. and Kariuki, P. (2022) 'Digital literacy and academic performance in Kenyan universities', Journal of Educational Technology, 18(3), pp. 112–127. doi: 10.1080/xyz.

Book

Format

Author, A. (Year) Title in italics. Edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher.

Example

Creswell, J.W. and Creswell, J.D. (2018) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 5th edn. London: Sage.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Format

Author, A. (Year) 'Title of chapter', in Editor, E. (ed.) Title of book. Place: Publisher, pp. xx–xx.

Example

Bryman, A. (2021) 'Sampling in qualitative research', in Atkinson, P. (ed.) SAGE handbook of qualitative research. London: Sage, pp. 45–62.

Website

Format

Author/Organisation (Year) Title of page. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Example

NHS (2023) Mental health support for students. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/students (Accessed: 10 March 2023).

Newspaper Article (online)

Format

Author, A. (Year) 'Title of article', Newspaper Name, Day Month. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Example

Wanjiru, M. (2022) 'Universities cut places in arts subjects', The Guardian, 15 August. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/... (Accessed: 20 September 2022).

Key Differences from APA

APA 7th

(Smith & Jones, 2022, p. 45)

Smith, J., & Jones, A. (2022). Book title. Publisher.

Smith, J., Jones, A., & Brown, C. (2022)

Harvard

(Smith and Jones, 2022, p. 45)

Smith, J. and Jones, A. (2022) Book title. Place: Publisher.

Smith, J., Jones, A. and Brown, C. (2022)

Harvard uses "and" in all contexts; APA uses "&" in parentheses
Harvard includes publisher location for books; APA 7th omits it
Harvard puts article titles in single quotes; APA puts them unquoted
Harvard includes "Accessed:" for websites; APA omits it for most sources
Harvard uses "no date"; APA uses "n.d."

5 Common Harvard Mistakes

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Using "&" instead of "and" — Harvard always writes "and" between authors, in both in-text citations and reference list entries.
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Forgetting place of publication — Unlike APA 7, Harvard still requires the publisher's city for books. "London: Sage" not just "Sage."
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Missing article title quotes — Article and chapter titles go in single quotation marks in Harvard. Book and journal titles are italicised instead.
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No "Accessed" date for websites — Harvard requires you to state when you accessed each website. Include "Accessed: 12 March 2024" at the end.
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Mixing Harvard variants — Every Harvard version differs slightly. Pick one guide (ideally your institution's) and use it consistently throughout your work.

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