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Harvard referencing generator

A Harvard reference gives the author, year in round brackets, title and publication details, for example: Brown, P.C., Roediger, H.L. and McDaniel, M.A. (2014) Make it stick: the science of successful learning. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. This generator follows the widely used Cite Them Right version of Harvard, but universities publish their own variants, so check your institution's rule.

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Worked example: Harvard (Cite Them Right) references

  1. 1Book: Brown, P.C., Roediger, H.L. and McDaniel, M.A. (2014) Make it stick: the science of successful learning. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  2. 2Journal article: Roediger, H.L. and Karpicke, J.D. (2006) 'Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention', Psychological Science, 17(3), pp. 249–255. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x.
  3. 3Website: Example University Library (2024) How to avoid plagiarism. Available at: https://library.example.edu/avoid-plagiarism (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
  4. 4In-text: (Brown, Roediger and McDaniel, 2014) and (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006, p. 251).

Italicise the book title, website page title and journal name; the article title goes in single quotation marks. The generator applies this formatting when you copy.

What is Harvard referencing?

Harvard is a family of author-date styles rather than one official standard. You cite the author and year in the text, such as (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006), and give full details in an alphabetical reference list. Cite Them Right is one of the most commonly used versions in UK universities, but punctuation, capitalisation and the four-or-more-authors rule vary between institutions, so follow your own guide where it differs.

How do I reference a website in Harvard style?

Write Author or organisation (Year) Title of web page. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year). The title is italicised. If no individual author is named, use the organisation responsible for the site. Use the year the page was published or last updated, or (no date) if none is shown. The accessed date matters because web pages change. In-text, cite the organisation and year, such as (Example University Library, 2024).

How do I reference a journal article?

Write Author, Initials. (Year) 'Title of article', Journal Name, volume(issue), page range. Add Available at: followed by the DOI or URL for online articles. In Cite Them Right, initials have no spaces, the article title is in single quotation marks with sentence case, and the journal name is italicised in title case. Page ranges are written with pp. before them.

In-text citations in Harvard

  • One author: (Brown, 2014), or Brown (2014) argues...
  • Two or three authors: name them all, joined by and.
  • Four or more authors: first author plus et al. in Cite Them Right.
  • Add page numbers for direct quotes: (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006, p. 251).
  • Two works by the same author in one year: add a and b, such as (Brown, 2014a).
  • Several sources at once: separate them with semicolons inside one set of brackets.

Harvard referencing: questions and answers

Is Harvard the same at every university?

No. Harvard has no single official manual, so universities publish their own guides. Differences include whether the year has brackets, use of full stops in initials, how many authors are listed before et al. and whether accessed dates are needed. Check your institution's rule and adjust the output if needed.

What is the difference between Harvard and APA?

Both are author-date styles. APA uses an ampersand between authors in references, puts the year in brackets followed by a full stop, and has one official manual. Harvard typically uses and, puts the year in brackets with no full stop, and adds Available at: before URLs.

Does this tool check for plagiarism?

No. It formats references from details you enter and does not scan work for plagiarism or AI-generated text. Correct referencing shows where your ideas came from; your university decides which checking tools it uses. The details you type stay in your browser and are not uploaded.

Do I need an accessed date for every online source?

In Cite Them Right, web pages need an accessed date, while journal articles with a DOI do not. Some university guides ask for accessed dates on all online sources, so follow your own guide. Write the accessed date as day, month in full, then year, for example 1 November 2026.

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