how to cite an essay in a book harvard

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Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right)

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There are different versions of the Harvard referencing style. This guide is a quick introduction to the commonly-used Cite Them Right version. You will find further guidance available through the OU Library on the Cite Them Right Database .

For help and support with referencing and the full Cite Them Right guide, have a look at the Library’s page on referencing and plagiarism . If you need guidance referencing OU module material you can check out which sections of Cite Them Right are recommended when referencing physical and online module material .

This guide does not apply to OU Law undergraduate students . If you are studying a module beginning with W1xx, W2xx or W3xx, you should refer to the Quick guide to Cite Them Right referencing for Law modules .

Table of contents

In-text citations and full references.

• Secondary referencing
• Page numbers
• Citing multiple sources published in the same year by the same author

Full reference examples

Referencing consists of two elements:

• in-text citations, which are inserted in the body of your text and are included in the word count. An in-text citation gives the author(s) and publication date of a source you are referring to. If the publication date is not given, the phrase 'no date' is used instead of a date. If using direct quotations or you refer to a specific section in the source you also need the page number/s if available, or paragraph number for web pages.
• full references, which are given in alphabetical order in reference list at the end of your work and are not included in the word count. Full references give full bibliographical information for all the sources you have referred to in the body of your text.

To see a reference list and intext citations check out this example assignment on Cite Them Right .

Difference between reference list and bibliography

a reference list only includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text

a bibliography includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text AND sources that were part of your background reading that you did not use in your assignment

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Examples of in-text citations

You need to include an in-text citation wherever you quote or paraphrase from a source. An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author(s), the year of publication, and a page number if relevant. There are a number of ways of incorporating in-text citations into your work - some examples are provided below. Alternatively you can see examples of setting out in-text citations in Cite Them Right .

Note: When referencing a chapter of an edited book, your in-text citation should give the author(s) of the chapter.

Online module materials

(Includes written online module activities, audio-visual material such as online tutorials, recordings or videos).

When referencing material from module websites, the date of publication is the year you started studying the module.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

OR, if there is no named author:

The Open University (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Rietdorf, K. and Bootman, M. (2022) 'Topic 3: Rare diseases'. S290: Investigating human health and disease . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1967195 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).

The Open University (2022) ‘3.1 The purposes of childhood and youth research’. EK313: Issues in research with children and young people . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1949633&section=1.3 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).

You can also use this template to reference videos and audio that are hosted on your module website:

The Open University (2022) ‘Video 2.7 An example of a Frith-Happé animation’. SK298: Brain, mind and mental health . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2013014&section=4.9.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).

The Open University (2022) ‘Audio 2 Interview with Richard Sorabji (Part 2)’. A113: Revolutions . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1960941&section=5.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).

Note: if a complete journal article has been uploaded to a module website, or if you have seen an article referred to on the website and then accessed the original version, reference the original journal article, and do not mention the module materials. If only an extract from an article is included in your module materials that you want to reference, you should use secondary referencing, with the module materials as the 'cited in' source, as described above.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of message', Title of discussion board , in Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Fitzpatrick, M. (2022) ‘A215 - presentation of TMAs', Tutor group discussion & Workbook activities , in A215: Creative writing . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=4209566 (Accessed: 24 January 2022).

Note: When an ebook looks like a printed book, with publication details and pagination, reference as a printed book.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title . Edition if later than first. Place of publication: publisher. Series and volume number if relevant.

For ebooks that do not contain print publication details

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of book . Available at: DOI or URL (Accessed: date).

Example with one author:

Bell, J. (2014) Doing your research project . Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Adams, D. (1979) The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy . Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 23 June 2021).

Example with two or three authors:

Goddard, J. and Barrett, S. (2015) The health needs of young people leaving care . Norwich: University of East Anglia, School of Social Work and Psychosocial Studies.

Example with four or more authors:

Young, H.D. et al. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.

Note: You can choose one or other method to reference four or more authors (unless your School requires you to name all authors in your reference list) and your approach should be consistent.

Note: Books that have an editor, or editors, where each chapter is written by a different author or authors.

Surname of chapter author, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of chapter or section', in Initial. Surname of book editor (ed.) Title of book . Place of publication: publisher, Page reference.

Franklin, A.W. (2012) 'Management of the problem', in S.M. Smith (ed.) The maltreatment of children . Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference.

If accessed online:

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference. Available at: DOI or URL (if required) (Accessed: date).

Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326.

Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326. Available at: https://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/log... (Accessed: 27 January 2023).

Barke, M. and Mowl, G. (2016) 'Málaga – a failed resort of the early twentieth century?', Journal of Tourism History , 2(3), pp. 187–212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2010.523145

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference if available. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Mansell, W. and Bloom, A. (2012) ‘£10,000 carrot to tempt physics experts’, The Guardian , 20 June, p. 5.

Roberts, D. and Ackerman, S. (2013) 'US draft resolution allows Obama 90 days for military action against Syria', The Guardian , 4 September. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/syria-strikes-draft-resolut... (Accessed: 9 September 2015).

Surname, Initial. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Robinson, J. (2007) Social variation across the UK . Available at: https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/social-variation... (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

The British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct . Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct (Accessed: 22 March 2019).

Note: Cite Them Right Online offers guidance for referencing webpages that do not include authors' names and dates. However, be extra vigilant about the suitability of such webpages.

Surname, Initial. (Year) Title of photograph . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Kitton, J. (2013) Golden sunset . Available at: https://www.jameskittophotography.co.uk/photo_8692150.html (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

stanitsa_dance (2021) Cossack dance ensemble . Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/COI_slphWJ_/ (Accessed: 13 June 2023).

Note: If no title can be found then replace it with a short description.

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Harvard Referencing – How to Cite an Edited Book

3-minute read

• 13th September 2016

It’s often said that nothing in life is certain beyond death and taxes . If you’re a student or an academic, however, we can add referencing to that list, as there’s no way you can write a decent essay without clearly and consistently citing sources throughout.

And though referencing can seem confusing, it’s simple enough when you know how. That’s why we’ve prepared this quick guide to citing an edited book using Harvard referencing .

In-Text Citations for an Edited Book

Harvard referencing is another term for parenthetical referencing, in which sources are cited by giving the author name and date of publication in parentheses. If you are quoting a source directly, this should be accompanied by relevant page numbers:

Cookery is more of ‘a craft’ than an art form (Telfer, 2008, p. 17).

If you have named the author in the main text, don’t repeat this information in the citation. Instead, when this occurs, give a citation with the year and page numbers immediately afterwards:

Telfer (2008, p. 17) asks us to consider whether ‘cookery is really a craft’.

Remember that it is almost always the author of the chapter or essay within an edited book that you should cite. Only include the editor’s name if you’re referencing the edited volume as a whole.

Listing an Edited Book in a Reference List

Every source cited in your text should also appear in a reference list at the end of your document, with full publication information specified. When citing a chapter from an edited book, the format to use here is:

Chapter Author Surname and Initial(s). (Year of Publication) ‘Title of Chapter’, in Editor Surname and Initial(s), (ed[s]) Title of Book , Place of Publication, Publisher, page range.

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For the essay cited in the examples above, this would appear as follows:

Telfer, E. (2008) ‘Food as Art’, in Neill, A. and Ridley, A. (eds.) Arguing about Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates, 3 rd ed, New York, Routledge, pp. 11–29.

Finally, if citing an edited volume as a whole, use the names of the editor(s) in place of the author name:

Editor name(s), Initial(s) (ed[s]) (Year). Title , Place of Publication, Publisher.

Thus, the Neil and Ridley text listed above would appear by itself in a reference list as:

Neill, A. and Ridley, A. (eds) (2008) Arguing about Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates, 3 rd ed, New York, Routledge.

A Cautionary Note

Although people (frequently refer to the ‘Harvard referencing system’, there is actually no systematic form of citation to which this corresponds. As such, it’s essential to check your style guide to make sure you’re using the correct conventions for your university.

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Citation guides

All you need to know about citations

How to cite a book in Harvard

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

• Author(s) of the book: 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 book: Book titles are italicized. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
• Edition: Include the edition number only if it is not the first. End this element with 'edn.' If it is a revised edition abbreviate as 'rev. edn.'
• Place of publication: List the city and the US state using the two-letter abbreviation. Spell out country names if outside of the UK or the USA.
• Publisher: Give the name of the publisher.

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

Author(s) of the book . ( Year of publication ) Title of the book . Edition edn. Place of publication : Publisher .

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

Book with one author

King, S . ( 1986 ) It . New York, NY : Viking Press .

A book with two authors

King, S. and Straub, P . ( 1984 ) The Talisman . New York, NY : Viking Press .

Referencing a specific edition of a book

Axler, S . ( 2015 ) Linear algebra done right . 3rd edn . New York, NY : Springer .

A book with four or more authors

Young, H.D. et al. ( 2015 ) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, CA : Addison-Wesley .

Note: For sources with four or more authors, you can either cite the first name followed by et al. or include all names if required by your institution.

Including all four names

Young, H.D., Freedman, R.A., Sandin, T.R. and Ford, A.L. ( 2015 ) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, CA : Addison-Wesley .

Harvard in-text citations

If you need to in-text reference a specific page or a range of pages in a book, you can do so easily in this form: (Author, Year of publication, p. Page number) or (Author, Year of publication, pp. Page range) .

Here are some examples to illustrate (citing from a fictional book by an author named Smith published in 2009):

The results of the pilot study were later declared breakthrough of the year (Smith, 2009, p. 40) .

While Smith (2009, pp. 55-57) reported similar results back in 1995, it was only ...

To reference a whole chapter in a book, use this format: (Author, Year of publication, Chapter number) .

Some more examples to illustrate (citing from a fictional book by an author named Webber published in 2011):

The initial idea for the pilot study was coined on a lab retreat (Webber, 2011, Chapter 3) .

While Webber (2011, Chapter 11) initially failed to interpret the results correctly, ...

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

More useful guides

• Victoria University Harvard referencing guide on books
• Harvard - Deakin University guide to referencing
• University College London - Referencing with Harvard

More great BibGuru guides

• Harvard: how to cite a chapter in a book
• Harvard: how to cite a translated book
• Harvard: how to cite an online journal article

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To be made up of:

• Author of the chapter/section.
• Year of publication (in round brackets).
• Title of chapter/section (in single quotation marks) 'in' plus author/editor of book.
• Title of book (in italics).
• Place of publication: publisher.
• Page reference.

In-text citation:

(Franklin, 2012, p.88)

Reference list:

Franklin, A.W. (2012). 'Management of the problem', in Smith, S.M. (ed.)  The maltreatment of children.  Lancaster: MTP, pp.83-95.

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• Last Updated: Feb 28, 2024 12:08 PM
• URL: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard

Cite A Book 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 book. 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.

Popular Harvard Citation Guides

• How to cite a Book in Harvard style
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Other Harvard Citation Guides

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• How to cite a E-book or PDF in Harvard style
• How to cite a Edited book in Harvard style
• 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
• How to cite a Newspaper in Harvard style
• How to cite a Patent in Harvard style
• 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
• How to cite a Report in Harvard style
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Harvard Referencing – Citing a Book

2-minute read

• 13th March 2016

In this post, we go over the basics for citing a book using Harvard referencing .

How to Cite a Book in Harvard Referencing

The basic format for citing any source using Harvard is to provide the author surname and year of publication in parentheses:

Waxwings are very sociable and usually seen in flocks (Couzens, 2010).

If the author is already named in the text, you need only provide the year of publication:

According to Couzens (2010), robins breed between early spring and mid-summer.

This applies for all books with up to three authors.

When a source has four or more authors, you only need to provide the first listed name and ‘et al.’ For instance, a book by ‘Smith, Rhodes, Ramsey and Blanc’ would only name ‘Smith’ in the citation:

Too many cooks spoil the broth (Smith et al., 1998).

Quoting Sources

When quoting a source, make sure to provide relevant page numbers for the passage:

Couzens (2010, p. 62) claims that robins are ‘not fussy’ about their habitat.

If the author is not named in the text, the citation should come after the quoted passage:

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The vocalisation of the Eurasian jay is ‘a noisy, discordant screech’ (Couzens, 2010, p. 128).

Books in a Harvard Reference List

Every book you cite should appear in a reference list at the end of your document, with sources ordered alphabetically by author surname.

Your reference list is where you provide full bibliographic detail so your reader can identify cited sources. For a print book, the information required is:

Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title , Place of publication, Publisher.

For example, the Couzens text quoted above would appear as:

Couzens, D. (2010) Garden Bird Confidential , London: Octopus Books.

When a source has multiple authors, give all names in the reference list. If the book you’re citing is not the first edition, this should also be indicated:

Smith, D., Rhodes, G., Ramsey, G. and Blanc, R. (1998) Too Many Cooks, 2 nd ed, Victoria, PMD Publications.

A Note of Caution

Many institutions have their own version of Harvard referencing, so you should check your style guide for the preferred format. And if you’d like to have an expert check your writing for errors, our academic proofreaders can help.

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• Knowledge Base
• Referencing
• Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples

Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples

Published on 1 May 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 7 November 2022.

In Harvard style , the bibliography or reference list provides full references for the sources you used in your writing.

• A reference list consists of entries corresponding to your in-text citations .
• A bibliography sometimes also lists sources that you consulted for background research, but did not cite in your text.

The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. If in doubt about which to include, check with your instructor or department.

The information you include in a reference varies depending on the type of source, but it usually includes the author, date, and title of the work, followed by details of where it was published. You can automatically generate accurate references using our free reference generator:

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Table of contents

Formatting a harvard style bibliography, harvard reference examples, referencing sources with multiple authors, referencing sources with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard bibliographies.

Sources are alphabetised by author last name. The heading ‘Reference list’ or ‘Bibliography’ appears at the top.

Each new source appears on a new line, and when an entry for a single source extends onto a second line, a hanging indent is used:

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Reference list or bibliography entries always start with the author’s last name and initial, the publication date and the title of the source. The other information required varies depending on the source type. Formats and examples for the most common source types are given below.

• Entire book
• Book chapter
• Translated book
• Edition of a book

Journal articles

• Print journal
• Online-only journal with DOI
• Online-only journal without DOI
• General web page
• Online article or blog
• Social media post

Newspapers and magazines

• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

When a source has up to three authors, list all of them in the order their names appear on the source. If there are four or more, give only the first name followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Sometimes a source won’t list all the information you need for your reference. Here’s what to do when you don’t know the publication date or author of a source.

Some online sources, as well as historical documents, may lack a clear publication date. In these cases, you can replace the date in the reference list entry with the words ‘no date’. With online sources, you still include an access date at the end:

When a source doesn’t list an author, you can often list a corporate source as an author instead, as with ‘Scribbr’ in the above example. When that’s not possible, begin the entry with the title instead of the author:

Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference in meaning:

• A reference list only includes sources cited in the text – every entry corresponds to an in-text citation .
• A bibliography also includes other sources which were consulted during the research but not cited.

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. ’

In Harvard style referencing , to distinguish between two sources by the same author that were published in the same year, you add a different letter after the year for each source:

• (Smith, 2019a)
• (Smith, 2019b)

Add ‘a’ to the first one you cite, ‘b’ to the second, and so on. Do the same in your bibliography or reference list .

To create a hanging indent for your bibliography or reference list :

• Highlight all the entries
• Click on the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the ‘Paragraph’ tab in the top menu.
• In the pop-up window, under ‘Special’ in the ‘Indentation’ section, use the drop-down menu to select ‘Hanging’.
• Then close the window with ‘OK’.

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Caulfield, J. (2022, November 07). Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 2 April 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-bibliography/

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Write it Right - A guide to Harvard referencing style

• Referencing
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• Elements in References

Two authors

Three or more authors, multiple works - same author, works by different authors - same family name, works by different authors - same family name - same year, second or later edition with an author, several sources are cited at once, organisational corporate or institutional author, book - edited, book review, chapters/sections of edited books, volumes of multi-volume works, no date can be established, the date can be established but only approximately, secondary referencing (source cited or quoted in another source).

• Journal articles
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Generate accurate Harvard reference lists quickly and for FREE, with MyBib!

🤔 What is a Harvard Referencing Generator?

A Harvard Referencing Generator is a tool that automatically generates formatted academic references in the Harvard style.

It takes in relevant details about a source -- usually critical information like author names, article titles, publish dates, and URLs -- and adds the correct punctuation and formatting required by the Harvard referencing style.

The generated references can be copied into a reference list or bibliography, and then collectively appended to the end of an academic assignment. This is the standard way to give credit to sources used in the main body of an assignment.

👩‍🎓 Who uses a Harvard Referencing Generator?

Harvard is the main referencing style at colleges and universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. It is also very popular in other English-speaking countries such as South Africa, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. University-level students in these countries are most likely to use a Harvard generator to aid them with their undergraduate assignments (and often post-graduate too).

🙌 Why should I use a Harvard Referencing Generator?

A Harvard Referencing Generator solves two problems:

• It provides a way to organise and keep track of the sources referenced in the content of an academic paper.
• It ensures that references are formatted correctly -- inline with the Harvard referencing style -- and it does so considerably faster than writing them out manually.

A well-formatted and broad bibliography can account for up to 20% of the total grade for an undergraduate-level project, and using a generator tool can contribute significantly towards earning them.

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's Harvard Referencing Generator?

Here's how to use our reference generator:

• If citing a book, website, journal, or video: enter the URL or title into the search bar at the top of the page and press the search button.
• Choose the most relevant results from the list of search results.
• Our generator will automatically locate the source details and format them in the correct Harvard format. You can make further changes if required.
• Then either copy the formatted reference directly into your reference list by clicking the 'copy' button, or save it to your MyBib account for later.

MyBib supports the following for Harvard style:

🍏 What other versions of Harvard referencing exist?

There isn't "one true way" to do Harvard referencing, and many universities have their own slightly different guidelines for the style. Our generator can adapt to handle the following list of different Harvard styles:

• Cite Them Right
• Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
• University of the West of England (UWE)

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

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Zotero and Zotero Bib

In your time at Harvard, you'll hear more than one librarian suggest that you use Zotero, a "citation management tool."  Zotero will be great for big projects that require you to keep track of many sources -- semester-long research assignments, capstone projects that are research heavy, and senior theses, for example.

Next semester, or next year, you might want to graduate into using  Zotero  itself.  It will take the process of collecting and organizing sources and  incorporating footnotes or in-text citations to the next level. 

In the meantime,   we recommend you generate citations with   ZoteroBib . 

It's more reliable than the internal HOLLIS citation generator and you don't need an account or special software to use it.  Some of its handy features are  described on this page .

A good guide to  Zotero itself, if you're interested, is available here:  https://guides.library.harvard.edu/zotero

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing / Harvard Referencing Style Examples / How to reference an article in Harvard referencing style

How to reference an article in Harvard referencing style

What is an article.

Almost all writers and academics reference other people’s writing in their works. Referencing demonstrates that you have researched your topic, are well versed in its arguments and theories, and it also helps avoid charges of plagiarism.  

The Harvard citation system is just one of many referencing styles – and which style you choose is normally guided by the institution or publication you are writing for.

In this article, you will learn how to use the Harvard citation system to reference the following types of articles:

• journal article
• newspaper article
• magazine article

Properly citing article details in the reference list will help the readers to locate your source material if they wish to read more about a particular area or topic.

Information you need:

• Author name
• (Year published)  
• ‘Article title’  
• Journal/newspaper/magazine name  
• Day and month published, if available
• Volume number, if available
• (Issue) number, if available
• Page number(s), if available

If accessed online:

• Available at: URL or DOI  
• (Accessed: date).

Journal articles

Academic or scholarly journals are periodical publications about a specific discipline. No matter what your field is, if you are writing an academic paper, you will inevitably have to cite a journal article in your research. Journal articles often have multiple authors, so make sure you know when to use et al. in Harvard style . The method for referencing a journal article in the reference list is as follows:

Reference list (print) structure:

Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Journal name , Volume(Issue), Page(s).

Shepherd, V. (2020) ‘An exploration around peer support for secondary pupils in Scotland with experience of self-harm’, Educational Psychology in Practice, 36(3), pp. 297-312.

Note that the article title uses sentence case. However, the title of the journal uses title case. Additionally, the volume number comes immediately after the journal title followed by the issue number in round brackets.

If the original material you are referencing was accessed online, then the method for citing it in the reference list will be the same as that in print, but with an additional line at the end.  

Reference list (online) structure:

Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Journal Name , Volume(Issue), Page(s). Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: date).  

Shepherd, V. (2020) ‘An exploration around peer support for secondary pupils in Scotland with experience of self-harm’, Educational Psychology in Practice, 36(3), pp. 297-312. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02667363.2020.1772726 (Accessed: 08 October 2020).

In-text citation (print or online) structure:

In-text citations are written within round brackets and start with the last name of the author followed by the year published, both separated by a comma.

You can also mention the author within the text and only include the publication year in round brackets.

Examples:  

In this article (Shepherd, 2020) deals with…  

According to Shepherd (2020), when peer support is available…  

Talking about the secondary education system, Shepherd (2020, p.299) suggests that…

Newspaper articles

Even if you are referring to an incident which is public knowledge, you still need to cite the source.  

The name of the author in a newspaper article is referred to as a byline. Below are examples for citing an article both with and without a byline.  

Reference list (print) structure:  

Last name, F. (Year published). ‘Article title’, Newspaper name , Day Month, Page(s).

Hamilton, J. (2018). ‘Massive fire at local department store’, The Daily Local, 10 August, p. 1.

Last name, F. (Year published). ‘Article title’, Newspaper name , Day Month, Page(s). Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Gambino, L. (2020) ‘Kamala Harris and Mike Pence clash over coronavirus response in vice-presidential debate,’ The Guardian, 8 October. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/07/debate-kamala-harris-mike-pence-latest-news (Accessed: 8 October 2020).

Reference list structure, no byline:

The basic reference list structure for the reference is the same for both print and online articles. If information isn’t available, simply omit it from the reference.

Newspaper name (Year published) ‘Article Title’, Day Month, Page(s). Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

The Chronicler (2016) ‘Local man wins lottery jackpot twice in one year’, 30 May, p. 14. Available at: https://thechroniclerpaper.com/local-man-wins-lottery-twice (Accessed: 1 October 2020).

In-text citation structure (print or online):

The last name of the author and date are written in round brackets, separated by a comma. The method is similar to referencing journal articles in in-text citations.

(Hamilton, 2018)

In his paper, Gambino (2020) mentioned that…

For articles accessed online which do not have an author, the name of the publication is mentioned in place of the author’s name and is italicized.

( The Chronicler , 2016)

Magazine articles  

The structure of magazine articles is similar to that of a journal article.

Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Magazine Name , Volume(Issue), Page(s).

Ornes, S. (2020). “To save Appalachia’s endangered mussels, scientists hatched a bold plan”, ScienceNews, (198), p.2.

Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Magazine name , Volume(Issue), Page(s). Available at: URL (Accessed: Date).

Ornes, S. (2020) ‘To save Appalachia’s endangered mussels, scientists hatched a bold plan’, ScienceNews, (198), p.2. Available at: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/endangered-mussels-appalachia-rivers-biologists-conservation-plan (Accessed: 3 October 2020).

  In-text citation (print or online) structure:

(Author last name, Year published)

(Ornes, 2020)

Published October 29, 2020.

Harvard Formatting Guide

Harvard Formatting

• et al Usage
• Direct Quotes
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Page Numbers
• Writing an Outline
• View Harvard Guide

Reference Examples

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Harvard Referencing Style: Images or Diagrams

• Introduction to In-text Citations
• Introduction to Referencing
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• Images or Diagrams

Images, Tables, Diagrams etc

IN-TEXT CITATION

Mintzberg(1979) ...

.... (Mintzberg, 1979)

"....." (Mintzberg, 1979:186)

• ​Any image, diagram, table etc. needs a caption as well as an in-text citation to the original work
• If the image, diagram, table etc. being cited belongs to the author of the book, then cite the book as normal, but include the page number as if you were performing a direct quote.
• If the image, diagram table etc. being cited does not belong to the author of the book, then you will need to add additional information.

FORMAT OF A REFERENCE TO A IMAGE OR DIAGRAM

Author' s Surname, Initial. Year. Title of the Work. [Material Type]. In Author/Editors' surname, Initial. Year.  ​Title.  Place of Publication: Publishers. page number.

EXAMPLE OF A REFERENCE TO AN  IMAGE  FROM A PRINT BOOK

Mintzberg, H. 1979. The basic parts of organisations – Mintzberg’s model. [Diagram] In: Cole, G.A. 2004. Management theory and practice . 6th ed. London: Thomson. 186.

A caption should always include:

• The word  Figure  (with a capital letter and in italics)
• A number (from 1, in numerical order)
• A title for the figure 
• An in-text citation for the reference of the source, which includes the Author(s), date and page number of the source, i.e. (Saunders et al, 2007:102)
• The caption always appears under the image, figure etc
• They are always referred to by their number in the text.

​ ​EXAMPLE OF A DIAGRAM WITH A CAPTION

Figure 6: The Research Onion (Saunders et. al, 2007:102)

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