BibGuru Harvard Referencing Generator

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BibGuru Harvard Referencing Generator citation generator

The ultimate guide to citing in Harvard

When you reference a work, you are acknowledging other people's contributions to your research. References can provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer important definitions and data. Referencing also shows that you have personally read the work.

When using the Harvard referencing style, you identify the sources you have used by citing them in text, enclosing partial citations within parentheses embedded in the text, either within or after a sentence. This referencing system is called the author-date system.

The in-text citations are followed by a full, alphabetised list of references in an end section. We will explain this in further detail below with plenty of examples.

Citing can be very complex, which is why we have created the BibGuru Harvard reference generator to help you focus on the content of your work instead of worrying about how to get your reference list done correctly.

Learn everything you need to know about Harvard citations on this page and in our Harvard citation guide. This guide is based on the 11th edition of Cite Them Right.

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What is Harvard referencing?

The Harvard style is one of the most widely used referencing styles in the world. This is most likely due to its simplicity and ease of use. There is no official manual, but many institutions offer their own Harvard reference style guides, which of course leads to slight nuances when it comes to punctuation and formatting rules.

The Harvard referencing style uses the author-date system for in-text citations, which means the author's surname and the year of publication in round brackets are placed within the text. If there is no discernible author, the title and date are used.

The reference list outlines all the sources directly cited in your work. It should be ordered alphabetically by the surname of the first author of each work. References with no author are ordered alphabetically by the first significant word of the title. Only the initials of the authors' given name are used, with no full stop and space between the initials.

Here is an example:

EXAMPLEIn-text citation

There are five strategies to implement Diversity Management in companies (Cox, 2001).

EXAMPLEReference list

Cox, T. (2001). Creating the multicultural organization. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p.50.

How do I reference in Harvard?

When you cite you are referring to someone else's work or ideas in your text. In-text references give brief details of the work that you are quoting from, or which you are referring to, in your text. These references will then link to the full reference in the reference list at the end of your work. Footnotes or Endnotes are not used in the Harvard or other author-date citation styles.

When citing in-text, provide the author's surname and date of publication in brackets right after the borrowed information or at the end of the sentence. If you have already mentioned the author's name in the text, you only need to place the date of publication in brackets directly after where the author's surname is mentioned.

If you are only quoting a particular section of the source, instead of the whole book, you should also include a page number or range after the publication date. If the book has more than four authors, you do not need to write out all of their surnames. Use the first author’s surname followed by the abbreviation ‘et al.’, which means 'and others'.

The reference list at the end of your work should start on a new page and be arranged in alphabetical order. Italicise the titles of books, reports, etc. Beware that for journal articles, the name of the journal should be italicised instead of the title of the article you are citing. Make sure to capitalise the first letter of the publication title, the first letters of all main words in the title of a journal, and all first letters of a publication place and publisher.

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How to use Bibguru for Harvard citations

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Harvard referencing examples

  • Printed books
  • Journals and
    Magazines
  • Theses
  • Webpages
    and Websites
  • Media
  • United Kingdom
    Legal Sources

The general referencing order for a book in Harvard for your reference list is:

  1. Author/editor
  2. Year of publication (in round brackets)
  3. Title (in italics)
  4. Place of publication: Publisher
  5. Series and volume number (where relevant)

EXAMPLEBook with one author

In-text

All of those factors contribute to climate change (See, 2012).

Reference list

See, M. (2012) Greenhouse gas emissions: Global business aspects. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

EXAMPLEBook with two authors

In-text

Auerbach and Kotlikoff (1998) explain that a higher level of labor productivity means more output per person.

Reference list

Auerbach, A. J. and Kotlikoff, L. J. (1998) Macroeconomics: An integrated approach. 2nd ed. London, England: MIT Press.

EXAMPLEBook with an editor and multiple authors

In-text

.. as claimed by the authors (Raab et al., 2015).

Reference list

Raab, M. et al. (eds.) (2015) Performance psychology: Perception, action, cognition, and emotion. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

EXAMPLEEbook

In-text

.. as claimed by the authors (Christian and Griffiths, 2016).

Reference list

Christian, B. and Griffiths, T. (2016) Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions. London, England: William Collins. Available at: http://a.co/7qGBZAk.

Many journals have print and online equivalents, or they may just be available in print or in online editions. You should reference the version that you are using. As long as the journal reference provides enough bibliographic information for the article to be located by the reader, other elements - e.g. database title or URL - don't need to be included. However, if the article you are citing is only available online, you have to include the DOI or URL.

The general referencing order for a journal article in Harvard is:

  1. Author (surname followed by initials)
  2. Year of publication (in round brackets)
  3. Title of article (in single quotation marks)
  4. Title of journal (in italics - capitalise first letter of each word in title, except for linking words)
  5. Issue information (volume (unbracketed), and, where applicable, part number, month or season)
  6. Page reference (if available)
  7. If accessed online: DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEJournal article

In-text

In their review of the literature (Norrie et al., 2012)..

Reference list

Norrie, C. et al. (2012) 'Doing it differently?' A review of literature on teaching reflective practice across health and social care professions', Reflective Practice, 13(4), pp. 565-578.

EXAMPLEJournal article with DOI

In-text

(McCauley and Christiansen, 2019)

Reference list

McCauley, S. M. and Christiansen, M. H. (2019) “Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development,” Psychological review, 126(1), pp. 1–51. doi: 10.1037/rev0000126.

Magazine articles

To cite a magazine article in Harvard, follow this citation order:

  1. Author (surname followed by initials)
  2. Year of publication (in round brackets)
  3. Title of article (in single quotation marks)
  4. Title of magazine (in italics - capitalise first letter of each word in title, except for linking words)
  5. Issue information (volume (unbracketed), and, where applicable, part number, month or season)
  6. Page reference (if available)
  7. If accessed online: DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEElectronic magazine article

In-text

The southern part of Kalahari has characteristics of a dry savanna ecosystem (Joubert, 2021).

Reference list

Joubert, L. (2021) 'Rising heat puts the Kalahari’s ecosystem on the edge of survival', National Geographic, 27 July. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/rising-heat-puts-the-kalaharis-ecosystem-on-the-edge-of-survival-feature (Accessed: 28 July 2021).

The citation order for theses is the following:

  1. Author (surname followed by initials)
  2. Year of submission (in round brackets)
  3. Title of thesis (in italics)
  4. Degree statement
  5. Degree-awarding body
  6. If accessed online: DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEDoctoral thesis

In-text

All of those factors contribute to climate change (See, 2012).

Reference list

Pradhan, S. (2021) Impacts of road construction on landsliding in Nepal. Doctoral thesis. Durham University. Available at: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14069/ (Accessed: 28 July 2021).

When referencing information from the internet, make sure to distinguish what you are referring to. The internet is made up of a broad range of material - from journal articles to government publications, blogs, and images. This section shows you how to reference internet sites or web pages produced by individuals or organisations.

As always, the information you provide should be just enough for the reader to find the source. As material on the internet can be removed or changed, also note the date when you have accessed the information.

The defining element in referencing a website is the URL. It should be included in your reference list, but not in your in-text citation.

Citation order of a website with individual authors:

  1. Author (surname followed by initials)
  2. Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
  3. Title of web page (in italics)
  4. Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEWebsites with individual authors

In-text

McCarthy (2021) also says that wasted food significantly impacts climate change.

Reference list

McCarthy, S. (2021) Over 1 Billion Tonnes More Food Being Wasted Than Previously Estimated, Contributing 10% of All Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Available at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/over-1-billion-tonnes-more-food-being-wasted-than-previously-estimated-contributing-10-of-all-greenhouse-gas-emissions (Accessed: 27 July 2021).

EXAMPLEWebsites with organisations as authors

In-text

After identifying symptoms (National Health Service, 2018)...

Reference list

National Health Service (2018) Check your symptoms. Available at: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/checkyoursymptoms (Accessed: 17 October 2018).

EXAMPLEWebsites with no authors

In-text

.. and is considered a virtue (Altruism, 2021).

Reference list

Altruism (2021) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism (Accessed: August 24, 2021).

Blogs and Vlogs

Beware that blogs and vlogs are someone's opinion, and therefore might not provide objective, reasoned discussion of an issue. Use them together with reputable sources. This is the citation order for blogs:

  1. Author (surname followed by initials)
  2. Year that the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
  3. Title of message (in single quotation marks)
  4. Title of internet site (in italics)
  5. Day/month of posted message
  6. Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEBlog

In-text

Social channels help us share common interests (Liegl, 2021)

Reference list

Liegl, J. (2021) 'Communicating with humanity', Several People Are Typing, 2 July. Available at: https://slack.com/intl/en-at/blog (Accessed: 28 July 2021).

Social Media

This would be the citation order for an Instagram post, but other social media websites follow the same order:

  1. Author (Instagram account holder/poster)
  2. Year posted (in round brackets)
  3. Title of post (in single quotation marks)
  4. [Instagram]
  5. Day/month of posted message
  6. Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEInstagram post

In-text

.. by painting a sea horse (VeganArtShare, 2021).

Reference list

VeganArtShare (2021) 'Tiny dancer of the sea.' [Instagram]. 25 June. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQjWYSWJDqT/ (Accessed: 24 August 2021).

Photographs

To reference a photograph from the internet, follow this citation order:

  1. Photographer
  2. Year of publication (in round brackets)
  3. Title of photograph (in italics)
  4. Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEPhotograph from the internet

In-text

His beautiful photograph (Kitto, 2013)...

Reference list

Kitto, J. (2013) Golden Sunset. Available at: http://www.jameskitto.co.uk/photo_1827786.html (Accessed: 14 June 2018).

Television programmes

When viewing a television programme through a streaming service (e.g. Netflix), use the following citation order:

  1. Title of programme (in italics)
  2. Year of original broadcast (in round brackets)
  3. Name of transmitting channel
  4. Date and time of transmission (if available)
  5. Available at: Name of streaming service (Accessed: date)

EXAMPLEProgramme on Netflix

In-text

While this show is set in the Cold war era (The Queen's Gambit, 2020),..

Reference list

The Queen's Gambit (2020) Netflix Original, 12 January, 20:00. Available at: Netflix (Accessed: 24 August 2021).

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FAQs

🙋‍♂️ Is the Harvard citation style the same as APA?

The APA style is a variant of the Harvard style. Both styles use author-date references in brackets right after the borrowed information or at the end of the sentence, and full references in the reference list. There are a few differences between APA and Harvard, you can learn more about them here.

🌸 Is the Harvard referencing style double-spaced?

Your Harvard paper should be double-spaced with smooth left margins. The Harvard Reference list is double-spaced too.

📎 Do you indent the Reference list in Harvard style?

The Reference list is alphabetised by the author's surname and is double-spaced with a hanging indent, meaning that all but the first line have an indent. The margin can vary depending on your institution, but in general is 0.5.

🔢 How do you write numbers in Harvard style?

In general, numbers below 101 should be spelled out. The same goes for large round numbers like "one thousand" or "twenty thousand", although 250,000 would be too long to spell out. Very large numbers, like 4.3 billion, should be expressed in figures. What is most important though is consistency. However, you choose to express numbers, be consistent with them throughout your paper. You can read more about this here.

📙 Do you use footnotes for Harvard referencing?

The Harvard citation style uses the author-date system for in-text references, which means the author's surname and the year of publication in round brackets are placed within the text, not in footnotes. Only use footnotes within a Harvard formatted paper for explanatory notes that would not detract from the text, if necessary.

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