cite a website in text harvard

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Understanding the Harvard Referencing System

One of the challenges of academic writing is formatting the finished paper. Each professor, course and publication has slightly different requirements for everything from setting up the margins to using punctuation in the bibliography. You also have to give credit to your sources or risk the consequences of a plagiarism charge.

In most cases, you use in your paper two types of citations. The first is a list at the end of the document that lists each source you used in your research. The other is an in-text citation that shows which source you used to develop a specific idea in the paper. When you write these in-text citations in parentheses, you’re using the Harvard Referencing System.

Development of the Harvard Referencing System

Parenthetical citation first appeared in a 1881 paper by famed scientist Edward Laurens Mark. In his landmark work about the embryogenesis of the common garden slug, Mark listed the author and publication year of another work. He included an explanatory footnote for further information.

Before this moment, all citations within a text used printer symbols like asterisks and crosses to denote the reference. Mark’s parenthetical citation was groundbreaking because it was a convenient way to show the reader the connections between the text and the bibliography. In 1903 he received formal credit for the new format.

Parenthetical citation first appeared in a 1881 paper by famed scientist Edward Laurens Mark. In his landmark work about the embryogenesis of the common garden slug, Mark listed the author and publication year of another work. He included an explanator

How the Harvard Referencing System Works With Writing Styles

The Harvard reference system is not a writing style like APA or Chicago Style. If fact, the publication guidelines produced by the American Psychological Association and the Modern Language Association use Harvard referencing because they require parenthe

Harvard Reference Generators

There are some Harvard Reference generators available online, but you don’t have to search for generators that specifically mention this format. Any citation generator that produces parenthetical citations is technically a Harvard Reference generator.

Tips for Formatting Citations

Several universities in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand rely on the Harvard Reference System for their research papers. They also offer tips for using parenthetical citations in text. For example, according to the University of Sheffield,

Tips for Quotations

When you want to quote direct information from another work, you have to do more than list the original author’s name and publication date. You also have to include the page number where you found the information in the original text. For long quotes, sta

Tips for Secondary Referencing

The sources you use for your research also have their own sources. You can acknowledge these secondary sources in your writing. The key is to make sure the reader understands which text you read. You do this by using the phrase “cited in” within the paren

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• Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples

Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples

Published on 19 May 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 7 November 2022.

To reference a website in Harvard style , include the name of the author or organization, the year of publication, the title of the page, the URL, and the date on which you accessed the website.

Different formats are used for other kinds of online source, such as articles, social media posts and multimedia content. You can generate accurate Harvard references for all kinds of sources with our free reference generator:

Harvard Reference Generator

Table of contents

Online articles, social media posts, images, videos and podcasts, referencing websites with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard website references.

Blog posts and online newspaper articles are both referenced in the same format: include the title of the article in quotation marks, the name of the blog or newspaper in italics, and the date of publication.

The format for a magazine article is slightly different. Instead of a precise date, include the month, season, or volume and issue number, depending on what the magazine uses to identify its issues.

The URL and access date information are included only when the article is online-exclusive.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

To reference posts from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, include the username and the platform in square brackets. Write usernames the way they appear on the platform, with the same capitalization and symbols.

If the post has a title, use it (in quotation marks). If the post is untitled, use the text of the post instead. Do not use italics. If the text is long, you can replace some of it with an ellipsis.

Online content is referenced differently if it is in video, audio or image form.

To cite an image found online, such as an artwork, photograph, or infographic, include the image format (e.g. ‘Photograph’, ‘Oil on canvas’) in square brackets.

Online videos, such as those on YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo and Dailymotion, are cited similarly to general web pages. Where a video is uploaded under the name of an individual, write the name in the usual format. Otherwise, write the username of the uploader as it appears on the site.

If you want to locate a specific point in a video in an in-text citation, you can do so using a timestamp.

For a podcast reference, you just need the name of the individual episode, not of the whole series. The word ‘Podcast’ is always included in square brackets. As with videos, you can use a timestamp to locate a specific point in the in-text citation.

Online sources are often missing information you would usually need for a citation: author, title or date. Here’s what to do when these details are not available.

When a website doesn’t list a specific individual author, you can usually find a corporate author to list instead. This is the organisation responsible for the source:

In cases where there’s no suitable corporate author (such as online dictionaries or Wikis), use the title of the source in the author position instead:

In Harvard style, when a source doesn’t list a specific date of publication, replace it with the words ‘no date’ in both the in-text citation and the reference list. You should still include an access date:

It’s important to assess the reliability of information found online. Look for sources from established publications and institutions with expertise (e.g. peer-reviewed journals and government agencies).

The CRAAP test (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose) can aid you in assessing sources, as can our list of credible sources . You should generally avoid citing websites like Wikipedia that can be edited by anyone – instead, look for the original source of the information in the “References” section.

You can generally omit page numbers in your in-text citations of online sources which don’t have them. But when you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a particularly long online source, it’s useful to find an alternate location marker.

For text-based sources, you can use paragraph numbers (e.g. ‘para. 4’) or headings (e.g. ‘under “Methodology”’). With video or audio sources, use a timestamp (e.g. ‘10:15’).

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, November 07). Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 November 2023, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-website-reference/

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Cite A Website in Harvard style

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• Select style:
• Archive material
• Chapter of an edited book
• Conference proceedings
• Dictionary entry
• Dissertation
• DVD, video, or film
• E-book or PDF
• Edited book
• Encyclopedia article
• Government publication
• Music or recording
• Online image or video
• Presentation
• Press release
• Religious text

Use the following template or our Harvard Referencing Generator to cite a website. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator .

Reference list

Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.

In-text citation

Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.

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• How to cite a E-book or PDF in Harvard style
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• How to cite a Email in Harvard style
• How to cite a Encyclopedia article in Harvard style
• How to cite a Government publication in Harvard style
• How to cite a Interview in Harvard style
• How to cite a Legislation in Harvard style
• How to cite a Magazine in Harvard style
• How to cite a Music or recording in Harvard style
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• How to cite a Podcast in Harvard style
• How to cite a Presentation or lecture in Harvard style
• How to cite a Press release in Harvard style
• How to cite a Religious text in Harvard style
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Harvard Referencing

• Internet/websites

Harvard Referencing: Internet/websites

• Getting started with Harvard referencing
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• Company information
• Patents & standards
• Encyclopedia & Dictionary Entries
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• Sample In-Text References
• Sample Reference List

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• Harvard Referencing: web content (video)

Basic format to reference material from the web

• Referencing material from the web: examples
• Video transcript

Harvard Referencing: web content

Harvard Referencing: web content from Victoria University Library on Vimeo .

The basics of a Reference List entry for a Web page or Web document:

• Author or authors. The surname is followed by first initials.
• Title (in italics).
• Publisher. Where there is a corporate author, the publisher and author may be the same.
• Date viewed.
• Web address <in angled brackets>.

Example: Cancer Council 2017,  Causes of cancer , Cancer Council, viewed 21 May 2018,  < https://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/ >.  

• Include author(s) name(s) for internet/website references where possible (an author may be a corporate body or  organisation  responsible for creating, producing or publishing a webpage or website.
• Where there is no identifiable author or authoring body, use the title of the webpage or website
• The year is the time of the last update of the web page or document.

Referencing material from the web: Examples

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing / How to reference a website using the Harvard referencing style

How to reference a website using the Harvard referencing style

This guide covers how to reference a website in Harvard style. When citing information sourced from the web, it is of paramount importance that you make very clear what it is you are referencing. As sources on the internet can vary widely, your reference should aim to provide a trail that can lead the reader directly to the source. An internet source could be almost anything, including but not limited to scholarly journal articles, newspaper articles, blog posts, and personal web pages. Your reference format for internet sources will vary based on the type of source.

Since most websites are updated from time to time, it is possible that anything you quote may be changed or removed. This means that it is important to record within your citation the date that you last accessed the site.  

Another important fact to be mindful of is that most websites do not have page numbers. If you need to reference a specific location on a website, you can use paragraph numbers in place of page numbers (abbreviated ‘para.’ in your in-text citation).  

Citation styles for different online sources

This section will elaborate on the citation style to be utilized for the following sources, along with examples for each source type.  

Web pages authored by an individual/individuals

Your references for this type of web page will include the following information:  

• Author’s/Authors’ names
• The year the site was published or last updated (in round brackets)
• Title of the web page (in italics)
• Available at: URL (Accessed: date)  

In-text citation

B. Johnson (2016) made his argument quite clear stating…

Reference list

Johnson, B. (2016) The rise of the Ubermensch. Available at: http://www.bjohnsonsworld.co.uk/theriseoftheubermensch (Accessed: 23 October 2017).

In-text citation (two authors)

After years of research, Russell and Verstappen (2013) found that…

Russell, J. and Verstappen, M. (2013) Rubber compounds and their rate of wear . Available at: http://www.dailysciencefixforyou.com/rubbercompounds (Accessed: 24 November 2019).

Web pages authored by a company or organization

Here’s the information you will need to include for this type of reference:

• Name of the company/organization
• Year the site was published or last updated (in round brackets)            
• Title of the web page (in italics)      
• Available at: URL (Accessed: date)                          

A patient may suffer mild psychosis (Rural Health Institute, 2018) as a result of…

Rural Health Institute (2018) The effects of shock therapy. Available at: http://www.rhi.co.uk/shocktherapy (Accessed: 31 October 2019).

Web pages with no author  

Citation structure :

• Title of the webpage (in italics)
• The year the site was published/last updated (in round brackets)
• Available at: URL (Accessed: date)          

Renderings of the architect’s master plan can be found online ( Gumpert’s Modernism, 2013) …

Reference List

Gumpert’s Modernism (2013) Available at: https://www.stellararchitecture.com/modernism/ (Accessed: 24 July 2020)

Web pages with no author or title

Citation structure:

• URL of the page
• (Accessed: date)        

In-text citation    

Salt dough cookies (http://www.wholesomerecipes.com/saltdough.html, 2018) are a wonderful way to….

http://www.wholesomerecipes.com/saltdough.html (2018) (Accessed: 12 September 2020).

Web pages without a date

Citation information:  

• Author’s name
• Mention that no dates were available (use ‘no date’ in round brackets)
• Title of the web page, if available (in italics)

Cuba struggled through the decade (Banana Republic News, no date) facing a constant onslaught of….

Banana Republic News (no date) The trials and tribulations of Cuba. Available at: https://www.bananafyinews.com/cuba.html (Accessed: 15 July 2019).

Multiple pages from the same website

If you need to cite multiple pages from the same website, and the pages have different authors and/or publication dates associated with them, then you can simply use corresponding individual in-text citations and reference list entries for each page that you cite. In this case, you would also include the unique URL for each page in its corresponding reference list entry. However, if the pages you are citing all have the same author and publication date, you can differentiate between them in both your reference list entries and in-text citations by adding a lowercase letter after the date.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022a)

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022b)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022a)  International travel . Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/international-travel/index.html (Accessed: 18 July 2022).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022b) Cruise ship travel during COVID-19 . Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/cruise-travel-during-covid19.html (Accessed: 18 July 2022).

Note that if the web page has no date, insert a hyphen between the words ‘no date’ and the lowercase letter to improve readability, for example: (no date-a) or (no date-b).

Web blogs or video blogs

When citing any information from blogs or vlogs, you need to keep in mind that you are treading a very thin line between objectivity and subjectivity. Blogs or vlogs are meant to be informal as most people use them to express their perspectives on issues or topics that are close to their heart, or to comment on issues from the public domain. So, be incredibly careful as most blogs are not very well reasoned or objective in their stance.

• The year that the blog/vlog was published or last updated (in round brackets)
• Title of the blog/vlog (in single quotation marks)
• Title of the site that hosts the blog/vlog (in italics)
• The day or month the blog/vlog was posted

Note that if you’re trying to cite a vlog that was posted on YouTube, you’ll need to know how to cite a YouTube video in Harvard style .

Engelbert D’Souza (2015) has expounded on the “Mandela Effect” at great length….

D’Souza, E. (2015) ‘The Mandela Effect’, Engelbert’s monthly blog , 6 November. Available at: https://www.engelbertsmonthlyblog/november/mandelaeffect/ (Accessed: 11 September 2016).

Social networking sites  

Citation information:

• Year (in round brackets)
• Title of the post (in single quotation marks)
• [Instagram]
• Day/month of the post
• Available at: URL (Accessed: date)    

In-text citation  

Hendrix was a master of distortion and feedback (Casanova, 2018) …

Casanova, G. (2018) ‘Jimi Hendrix: wild blue angel’ [Instagram]. 18 September. Available at: https://www.instagram.com (Accessed: 7 October 2019)

• Author (if available, otherwise use the title)
• The year the article was published or last updated (in round brackets)
• Title of the post (in italics)
• Day/month the post was uploaded

The Trump rally drew large crowds in South Carolina ( Trump campaign , 2016).

Trump campaign (2016) [Facebook] 24 October. Available at: https://www.facebook.com (Accessed: 28 February 2019).

• Author of the tweet
• Twitter handle (in square brackets)
• The year the tweet was posted (in round brackets)
• The full body of the tweet (if it is too long, use an ellipsis to shorten it)
• The day/month the tweet was posted

Jasper Kuhn (2018) was quite critical about the proceedings…

Kuhn, J. [@kuhnper] (2018) It was appalling to see the leaders of the state bicker like rabid dogs in the assembly [Twitter] 31 January. Available at: https://twitter.com/kuhnper/status/161664645.654654.655 (Accessed: 17 July 2018).

Key takeaways

• While referencing anything from a website, the main aim is to provide a trail that can lead the reader directly to the source.  
• An important point to keep in mind is that you will need to cite the date you last accessed the site.  
• Since most websites do not have page numbers, use paragraph numbers to show where you found the information you used.  

Published October 29, 2020.

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Harvard Referencing Guide

About citing websites.

• Use the same capitalisation as the organisation uses for the name of a website.
• You don’t need to include the URL at the end of the reference in digital content.
• Hyperlink the title of the webpage.
• If the source is behind a paywall, hyperlink to the homepage of the website.
• Include the date you accessed the work. This is important because online sources can change. The information you’re linking to could be different to what users will find in the future.

Basic elements you need to reference a web page / document

• Author (person or organization)
• Year (or most recent date page created or revised) 
• Title of the website / webpage / blog / document / etc
• Name of website
• Date accessed (Day Month Year)

Entire website

• Hyperlink the name of the website . 
• Always include the date you accessed the site at the end of the reference.
• Include the word ‘website’ after the name of the website in square brackets.
• You can include the website URL after the website name (optional). If you do this omit the word website in square brackets.

Elements of the reference

Author a (year)  name of website , url [optional], accessed day month year., in-text citation, (esafety commissioner n.d.), australian public service commission (apsc 2021), reference list, esafety commissioner (n.d.)  esafety  [website], accessed 3 december 2020. , url included, apsc (australian public service commission) (2021)  australian government style manual , stylemanual.gov.au, accessed 3 october 2021., webpages and webpage content.

• Hyperlink the title of the webpage . Don’t link to PDFs or other downloadable documents. Instead link to the page that hosts the document.
• Include the word ‘website’ after the name of the website, unless the name of the website is a URL, for example WA.gov.au.

Webpage with authors listed

• Italicise title of webpage

Author A (Year) Title of webpage , Name of Website website, accessed Day Month Year.

(clement 2020), clement j (2020) device usage of facebook users worldwide as of july 2020 , statista website, accessed 16 september 2020., webpage written by an organisation, organisation name or abbreviation (year) title of webpage , name of website website, accessed day month year., (department of the prime minister and cabinet n.d.), department of the prime minister and cabinet (n.d.) australian national anthem , pm&c website, accessed 20 january 2020., webpage as part of a larger publication or series.

• Italicise the name of publication or series

Author A (Year) ‘Title of webpage’, Name of larger publication or series , Name of Website website, accessed Day Month Year.

Australian public service commission (apsc 2021), world wide web consortium (w3c 2019), apsc (australian public service commission) (2021) ‘author–date’ , australian government style manual , stylemanual.gov.au, accessed 3 october 2021., w3c (world wide web consortium) (2019) ‘audio content and video content’ , making audio and video content accessible , w3c website, accessed 25 august 2020., image found on the web.

• Hyperlink the title of the image .

Author A (Year)  Title of image (or a description)  [description of image type] ( i.e. photograph, cartoon, digital image of painting, etc), Name of Website website, accessed Day Month Year.

(arttower n.d.), arttower (n.d.)  humpback whale   [photograph], pixabay website, accessed 8 march 2022., blog or blog post.

• Hyperlink and italicise  the title of the blog.

Author A (Year)  Title of blog  [format], accessed Day Month Year.

(strong 2016) or strong (2016) .., strong f (2016)  sword and the script   [blog], accessed 23 july 2016..

For blog posts,  hyperlink the title .

Italicise the name of the blog.

Include the date you accessed the post at the end of the reference.

If a post doesn’t list an author, use the name of the blog.

Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Title of post: subtitle’,  Name of Blog,  accessed Day Month Year.

Name of blog (day month year) ‘title of post: subtitle’,  name of blog ,   accessed day month year., peascod (2019) .., (mashable me 2022) .., peascod s (19 december 2019) ‘ the future of work is learning ’,  digital transformation agency blog , accessed 4 january 2020., mashable me (10 march 2022) 'new mac mini will include apple's m2 and m2 pro processors' , mashable me blog , accessed 11 march 2022., comment on a blog post, author a (day month year) ‘re: title of post: subtitle’ [blog comment],  name of blog , accessed day month year., mullins p (1 january 2020) ‘re:  capturing attention in feed: the science behind effective video creative ’ [blog comment],  facebook for business , accessed 4 february 2020..

Hyperlink the title of the post .

Italicise the title of the Wiki

Author A (Year) 'Title of post',  Title of Wiki , accessed Day Month Year. 'Title of post' (Year)  Title of Wiki , accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation , (roussel 2008), (cultural issues 2007), (cultural issues 2007, para. 2), roussel s (2008) 'sustainability indicators' ,  coastal wiki , accessed 25 may 2013.  'cultural issues affecting international trade'  (2007)  wikiversity , accessed 27 october 2009..

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Cite a Website in Harvard

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper, consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.

• Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
• Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
• Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
• Book: What have reviews said about it?
• What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
• Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
• Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
• Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
• Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
• Are there ads?
• When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
• Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
• Does the source even have a date?
• Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
• If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?
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Harvard Style Guide: Websites

• Introduction
• Harvard Tutorial
• In-text citations
• Book with one author
• Book with two or three authors
• Book with four or more authors
• Book with a corporate author
• Book with editor
• Chapter in an edited book
• Translated book
• Translated ancient texts
• Print journal article, one author
• Print journal article, two or three authors
• Print journal article, four or more authors
• eJournal article
• Journal article ePublication (ahead of print)
• Secondary sources
• Generative AI
• Images or photographs
• Lectures/ presentations
• Film/ television
• YouTube Film or Talk
• Music/ audio
• Encyclopaedia and dictionaries
• Email communication
• Conferences
• Official publications
• Book reviews
• Case studies
• Group or individual assignments
• Legal Cases (Law Reports)
• No date of publication
• Personal communications
• Repository item
• Citing same author, multiple works, same year

Back to Academic Integrity guide

Reference : Website author (Year published/Last updated) Title of internet site . Available at: URL (Accessed Day Month Year).

Example : International tourism partnership (2004)  International tourism partnership . Available at: http://www.internationaltourismpartnership.org/ (Accessed 8 February 2009).

In-Text-Citation : (Website author, Year)

Example : Information available from their website (International Tourism Partnership, 2004) ….

Note : No Author? If the website author is not available, simply use the website name, e.g. (Website name, Year).

Still unsure what in-text citation and referencing mean? Check here .

Still unsure why you need to reference all this information? Check here .

Page on a website

Reference : Webpage Author(s) Last name, Initials. (Year) Page title .  Available at: URL (Accessed Day Month Year).

Example : Kelly, M. (2004) Environmental attitudes and behaviours: Ireland in comparative European perspective . Available at: http://www.ucd.ie/environ/home.htm (Accessed 8 February 2009).

In-Text-Citation :

• Author(s) Last name (Year)
• (Author(s) Last name, Year)
• Kelly (2004) responded….
• In the response (Kelly, 2004)….

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Harvard Referencing Style Guide: Internet / websites

• Introduction
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• Cases and legislation
• Company information
• Conference proceedings
• Internet / websites
• Journal articles
• Lecture notes
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• All examples

Citing material from the Internet / websites

When citing web sites or pages which may change it's important to make a note of the date you accessed the page or retrieved information from the page, and also note the URL of the page. You will need this information for your references.

Websites can sometimes be difficult to cite as you might have to draw information from different areas of the webpage or website to put into your citation. Some information, like authorship or publication date can be hard to find or identify. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see two brief video tutorials that give you some useful tips on where to look for information to make your citation as complete as possible.

Citing material from the Internet/websites: examples

Video tutorials on citing websites.

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• Last Updated: May 3, 2021 3:12 PM
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Citation guides

All you need to know about citations

How to cite a website in Harvard

To cite a website in a reference entry in Harvard style include the following elements:

• Author(s) of the website: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J.) of up to three authors with the last name preceded by 'and'. For four authors or more include the first name followed by et al., unless your institution requires referencing of all named authors.
• Year of publication: Give the year in round brackets.
• Title of the website: Give the title as presented in the source. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
• URL: Give the full URL of the web page including the protocol (http:// or https://).
• Date of access: Give the day month and year.

Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a website in Harvard style:

Author(s) of the website ( Year of publication ) Title of the website . Available at: URL (Accessed: Date of access ).

Take a look at our reference list examples that demonstrate the Harvard style guidelines in action:

A website by one author

Mitzewich, J . ( 2007 ) Food Wishes . Available at: https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/ (Accessed: 3 December 2016 ).

A popular website without a specific author

HelloGiggles: A Positive Community for Women ( 2011 ) Available at: https://hellogiggles.com (Accessed: 15 June 2016 ).

This citation style guide is based on the Cite Them Right (10 th edition) Harvard referencing guide.

More useful guides

• Harvard Referencing: Internet/websites
• Harvard Referencing Style
• Harvard Referencing Style Guide: All examples

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• APA: how to cite an annual report
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Harvard Citation Style: Internet / Websites

Introduction

• Books / E-Books

Company Information

Conference Proceedings

• Internet / Websites

Journal Articles

Lecture Notes

• Multi-Media Formats
• Patents and Standards

All Examples

• Writing Support
• Citation Support

In This Guide...

Click on the links below for further information on referencing each material type

• Why is Referencing Important?
• Getting Started

Reference Formats

• References by Format
• Citing Info Someone Else has Cited

Books/eBooks

• 1, 2 or More Authors
• 1, 2 or More Editors
• Chapters in Books
• Company Reports
• Company Profiles

Internet/Websites

• Web Documents
• Computer Software
• CMO Articles

Multimedia Formats

• Audio-Visual Material

Newspaper Articles

Patents & Standards

• Citing Patents: Examples
• Citing Patents: Standards
• Citing Theses: Examples
• A table of examples in all formats for quick reference

Citing Material from the Internet / Websites

When citing web sites or pages which may change it's important to make a note of the date you accessed the page or retrieved information from the page, and also note the URL of the page. You will need this information for your references.

Websites can sometimes be difficult to cite as you might have to draw information from different areas of the webpage or website to put into your citation. Some information, like authorship or publication date can be hard to find or identify. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see two brief video tutorials that give you some useful tips on where to look for information to make your citation as complete as possible.

Citing Material from the Internet/Websites: Examples

Video tutorials on citing websites.

• << Previous: Conference Proceedings
• Next: Journal Articles >>

• Last Updated: Jul 5, 2023 4:05 PM
• URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/harvard_citation

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• Writing Tips

How to Cite a Website in Harvard Referencing

3-minute read

• 11th June 2019

With so much information now available online, you may need to cite a website in a piece of academic writing at some point.

But since most referencing systems focus on books and journals, knowing how this works can be tricky. Thus, to help out, we’ve prepared this quick guide to citing a website using Harvard referencing .

In-Text Citations (Named Author)

To cite a website in Harvard referencing, you will need to give the author’s surname and a year of publication. For instance:

Rousseau converted to Catholicism in 1728 (Bertram, 2010).

If you have already named the author in the main text, though, you don’t need to duplicate this information in the citation. Instead, you can just give a year of publication in brackets after the author’s name.

In addition, since websites don’t have page numbers, you will not usually need to give a pinpoint citation when quoting an online source.

However, for long or complicated texts, you could include a paragraph or section number (use “para.” to signal a paragraph number or the “§”  symbol to denote a section). So to cite a website like this, we would write:

According to Bertram (2010, § 2.1), Rousseau thought morality had been displaced by “the impulse to dominate, oppress and exploit.”

Make sure to check your style guide for information on citing sources with no page numbers, though, as different places will have different rules.

In-Text Citations (No Named Author/Date of Publication)

To cite a website that does not name its author, the best approach is usually to reference an organizational author instead. This will be the company or organization that runs the website:

Tax avoidance often involves using contrived transactions that serve no purpose other than exploiting legal loopholes (HMRC, 2016).

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If no date of publication is available, you can use “n.d.” in its place:

Moths are “an essential part of food chains” (RSPB, n.d.).

It can be hard to spot the author and publication date for websites, though, so make sure to check carefully before omitting this information from citations.

How to Cite a Website in the Reference List

As with any source in your work, you should add all cited websites to a reference list at the end of your document. The information you need here is:

Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year or Publication/Last Update) Title of Web Page [Online]. Available at: URL [Accessed date].

In practice, then, the reference list entry for a website would look like this:

Bertram, C. (2010) Jean Jacques Rousseau [Online]. Available at: plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/ [Accessed 24 October 2016].

Of course, if a webpage is missing a named author or date of publication, this should also be indicated in the reference list:

RSPB (n.d.) Grow Food for Moths [Online]. Available at: https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/givenatureahomeinyourgarden/gardenactivities/growfoodformoths/ [Accessed 19 September 2016].

A Quick Note on Harvard Referencing

Although Harvard referencing is a common citation style, it is not a single unified system. As such, the rules your school uses may differ, so you should always check your style guide if you are not sure how to cite sources.

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