Harvard referencing made clear

Harvard is an author–date family of styles. There is no single universal Harvard manual — departments customise punctuation, page markers, and title casing. Learn the pattern, then match your local guide exactly.

In-text citations (pattern)

• One author: (Rivera 2022) or Rivera (2022) argues…
• Two authors: (Rivera and Chen 2022)
• Three or more: follow your handbook — often (Rivera et al. 2022)
• Page or paragraph for quotations: (Rivera 2022: 41) or (Rivera 2022, p. 41) — use the form your guide shows

Narrative: Okonkwo (2019) found that revision cycles improved clarity.
Parenthetical: Revision cycles improved clarity (Okonkwo 2019).
Quote: “Clarity improves with revision” (Okonkwo 2019: 17).

Reference list essentials

1. List only sources you cited (unless your brief asks for a bibliography of works consulted).
2. Order alphabetically by author surname (or organisation name).
3. Keep the same punctuation and italics rules for every entry of the same type.
4. Make sure every in-text citation has a matching list entry — and the reverse.

Book

Surname, Initials. Year. Title of book. Edition (if not first). Place: Publisher.
Example shape: Rivera, A. 2022. Writing with evidence. 2nd ed. City: Academic Press.

Journal article

Surname, Initials. Year. ‘Article title’, Journal Name, volume(issue), pages.
Include DOI or stable URL when your handbook requires it.

Webpage

Organisation or author. Year. Title of page. Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year).
If no date: use the form your guide allows (often n.d.).

Frequent mistakes

• Citing a source in text but omitting it from the list (or padding the list with unused sources).
• Changing “and” / “&” rules mid-paper.
• Secondary citation without acknowledging the source you actually read.
• Inconsistent capitalisation of article titles.

• Confirmed required style version in the brief or handbook
• In-text form matches list form for every source
• Quotations include locator (page/paragraph) if required
• Reference list alphabetical and consistently punctuated