harvard term paper format

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What is Harvard Style?

What you need to know, harvard style tutorial.

• Other Styles
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Harvard Style

The Harvard referencing system is known as the Author-Date style . It emphasizes the name of the creator of a piece of information and the date of publication, with the list of references in alphabetical order at the end of your paper.

Unlike other citation styles, there is no single, definitive version of Harvard Style. Therefore, you may see a variation in features such as punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, and the use of italics. 

Always check with your instructor and follow the rules he or she gives you.

• Harvard Style Guidelines Your class handout
• Harvard Referencing Quick Guide From Staffordshire University

Harvard Style will affect your paper in two places:

• In-text citations in the body of your paper, and
• The reference list at the end of your paper
• All in-text citations should be listed in the reference list at the end of your paper.
• Reference list entries need to contain all the information that someone reading your paper would need in order to find your source.
• Reference lists in Harvard Style are arranged alphabetically by first author.
• Begin your Reference list on a new page after your text and number it consecutively.

Sample References List:

Click on the Links Below to See Additional Examples:

• Sample Paper Paper provided by Kurt Olson
• Harvard Citation Examples Document created by The University of Western Australia

Click on the image below to launch this tutorial that was created by the University of Leeds. The section on Citing in Text is especially useful.

• << Previous: Chicago Style
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• Last Updated: Jul 10, 2024 5:03 PM
• URL: https://libguides.mjc.edu/citeyoursources

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC BY-NC 4.0 Licenses .

Harvard referencing sample paper

Published March 8, 2021. Updated August 15, 2021.

Formatting notes for the entire paper

Make sure that the same line spacing, margins, font type, and font size are applied to all pages in your paper. This helps keep your paper’s appearance consistent and professional.

Since Harvard referencing is a style that varies across institutions, make sure that you always check with your instructor about their formatting preferences. If no guidance is provided, here are some basic directions to follow:

• Page margins: 5 cm margins on the left, right, top, and bottom.
• Font type and size: Use a clear and readable font, like Times New Roman or Arial, in 12 pt. font.
• Line spacing:  Double-spaced.
• Running head: In the top right corner of every page, include a shortened version of your title and the page number. Use the “header” area of your document to create your running head.

For help writing your essay, research paper , or other project, check out these writing tips .

Cover page formatting

If you’re required to include a cover page, you will include the following information in this order:

• Running head: Place this in the top right corner. It includes a shortened version of your paper title. The page number is to the right of it.
• Full title of the paper: This goes about halfway down the page. The title should be in all caps.
• Your full name: Place on the line after your title.
• Class name: Place this about 4-5 lines after your full name. Include the class number, if available.
• Your instructor’s name: Place this after the class name. Look at your syllabus to see how they prefer to be presented. It could or could not include their title (“professor”) or degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.A., etc.).
• Institution name : Place this after the instructor’s name.
• Paper due date : Write your date out in full.

Body of the paper formatting

As you begin writing the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion of your Harvard referencing paper, these are formatting tips to keep in mind.

• Page headings : Center a page title. Do not bold, italicize, or underline it.
• Body: Left-aligned.
• Paragraphs: Indent the first line using the tab key.
• In-text citations:  Include these citations immediately after the quoted or paraphrased material. For more information, visit this page on Harvard in-text citations .

Reference list

The reference list includes detailed information about every source you cited in your paper (via an in-text citation). A  reference list appears at the end of your paper on its own page. If you’re citing sources, the Chegg Writing Harvard referencing generator is a helpful resource.

Reference list entries

Your citations will appear in alphabetical order, based on the first letter included in each entry. Each of your sources will be cited differently, depending on many factors. Here are a few guides to help you learn more:

• How to cite a book
• How to cite a website
• How to cite an article
• How to cite an image
• How to cite a PDF
• How to cite a YouTube video
• How to cite a film or movie
• How to cite items with no author
• How to cite items with more than one author

Reference list page formatting

When formatting your reference list, first make sure to check with your particular institution’s style guide. Here are some general formatting guidelines:

• Start your reference list at the very end of your paper and on a new page.
• The page’s title, “Reference list,” will appear centered at the top of the page.
• Organize your references in alphabetical order, using the first letters of each reference.
• If you have more than one source by the same author, they should be listed chronologically by year of publication.
• Each reference is single-spaced and is flush with the left margin (no hanging indents).
• There should be a line between each reference.
• All authors should be listed in the reference.

Sample Harvard referencing style paper

Below are images of a Harvard referencing sample paper. Click here to see the full paper .

Harvard Referencing Style Guides

Harvard Referencing : Citing Sources | Direct Quotes | Et al. | In-text citations | Multiple authors | No authors | Page numbers

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Harvard Style & Format: A 5-Minute Guide + Samples

Table of contents

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The Harvard referencing style is a widely used system for citing and referencing sources in academic writing. It provides a consistent and standardized format for acknowledging the works of others that you have used in your research.

Struggling to remember tricky peculiarities of Harvard style referencing and formatting? Don’t worry, you have come across a helpful material. In this article, you will find the basics of Harvard style formatting which would be useful for your academic progress. This easy but detailed Harvard style guide contains all format requirements for a paper and some structural tips. Besides, it covers general rules on how to cite your sources properly in your text. Feel free to use these guidelines for your academic endeavors. Let us go through details of Harvard style referencing and formatting together!  

Reference Harvard Style: Basics

Harvard style is an author-date system of referencing. It’s similar to an  APA paper format  in terms of general formatting of pages and text. But this style follows its own rules for bibliography and in-text citations formatting. Harvard style is typically used for essays in such academic disciplines:  

• Behavioral Sciences
• Philosophy.

But this doesn’t mean you can’t use this paper format in other areas of study. The general rule is to put references to your sources in round brackets. Specify author’s name and publication year. These references should come after your quotes (direct or indirect) in the end of a respective sentence or paragraph. Full details about all sources you have used should be provided at the end of your work. This section should be named ‘Reference List’. Buy coursework or any other type of research paper that will be referenced for you by our experts. 

Harvard Format: General Requirements

Let us explore some general rules for Harvard formatting:

• Font: Times New Roman or Arial
• Size: 12 pt
• Text: double-spaced and left-aligned
• Indent: first line of a paragraph has indent of 0.5 inch
• Margins: 1 inch from each side

A Harvard style citation  must have a Title page, header (or running head), headings and Reference list. We will take a closer look at formatting each section down below.  

Harvard Style Title Page

What are the requirements for a Harvard style cover page? Title page is otherwise known as front page. This is the first page of your paper to be observed by your reader, i.e. your teacher first of all. Therefore, it is highly important to format it properly. Formatting rules for Harvard Title page:  

• Paper title is fully capitalised and centered. Should be placed at approximately 33% of your page counting from its top.
• Your name as an author, centered and placed at the middle of your page.
• Course name at approximately 66% of the page.
• Instructor’s name on a new line.
• University’s name.
• Submission date.

See the sample of a Harvard title page down below.

Formatting a Header in Harvard

An important detail: you are required to use a header in  Harvard referencing  format. This section is repeatedly shown on all pages of your paper except the title page. You have to configure it once. Then, headers will get automatically added on each new page. Headers in Harvard referencing format contains such information:  

• Page number, right aligned
• Shortened title of your paper, not capitalized, right-aligned, to the left of page number.

It is important to use shortened title because there is not too much space in any header. Also, another requirement is putting exactly 5 spaces between your title and a page number in headers.

Harvard Style Heading

Now let us explore some rules of using subheadings in Harvard style, in detail. Typically there are 2 levels of section headings recommended for use in such papers. They have different formatting. This helps to tell one from another, without using different font sizes for them.

• Level-1 subheadings for a bigger section. They must be centered, capitalized, but at the same time not indented, not bold, not underscored, not italicized.
• Level-2 subheading for any subsection, typically 1-2 paragraphs. They must be capitalized, left-aligned, not indented. Besides, they should be italicized.

The plain text of any paragraph should go on a new line after subheadings in Harvard style, be it Level-1 or Level-2 subheading.

Harvard Reference List

Listing all sources you have used for your research in a proper order is a core element of Harvard style. Reference list should be the last part of your paper but absolutely not the least. Now let us explore some critical rules for a reference list formatting. The Harvard-style reference list section has its own subtitle, namely ‘Reference List’. Similarly to a Level-1 subheading, it should be capitalized and centered. The rest of your content in this section goes from a new line after your title. No extra empty lines are to be added. Your references in this list are numbered and sorted alphabetically. No lines are indented. Each item in this list starts from a new line. Below we will describe a format for referencing in detail.  

Harvard Style Bibliography

Sometimes your professor or instructor might ask you to create a Bibliography section instead of a common Reference list. So what is the Harvard Bibliography format? Harvard style bibliography includes not only those sources you have cited in your text but also. It also includes materials which you have read to get ideas for your research and to better understand the context of a selected problem. So, such section would contain more items than a Reference list. Apart of that, the general Harvard Bibliography format is the same:  

• Heading, ‘Bibliography’ is formatted the same way as a Level-1 subheading
• Sources are put into alphabetical order
• List is double-spaced
• Lines do not have any indent
• Each item of this list starts from a new line.

Harvard Style Citations: General Rules

Another crucial element of Harvard style is referring to your sources inside your essay. That’s why you should know how to cite in Harvard style. Keep in mind that the main purpose of a proper format is to ensure your paper is plagiarizm-free. Sometimes, you should cite ideas from books, magazines or newspapers. But you can only refer to such ideas, otherwise it will be considered a form of plagiarism. Below we will show you how to cite in Harvard style, providing general information about published sources. So let us proceed and learn more about shortened quotes and full references.  

How to Quote in Harvard Style

Here are the rules of Harvard format in-text citation:

• Add them in parentheses, usually at the end of quotes.
• Put an author’s last name and a publication year into round brackets, add page number if needed.

• When quoting a web page, give a paragraph number instead of a page since many websites don’t divide text into pages.
• Direct citation requires quotation marks and a page number is mandatory in parenthesis
• If you have mentioned an author’s name in your quote, do not include it into brackets, just leave a year and a page numbers there.

• Sometimes you might need to quote two different sources at once. In such case include both into the same parenthesis and divide them by a semicolon.

Creating References in Harvard Style

And this is how you should be referencing in Harvard style, providing full descriptions of the sources you have used. Let us start with the general book format:

• Last name of the author followed by comma and initials
• If there are multiple authors, their names are separated with comma, except the last one which must be separated by ‘&’
• Year of publication follows, without a comma
• A full title of the book is given, italicized
• Publisher name
• City and country where this book was published are the last to be provided.

Here are several Harvarvard referencing rules for other source types:

• Refer to an edited book by putting ‘(ed.)’ or ‘(eds)’ after the editor name(s)
• If a book was translated, add ‘trans. I Lastname’
• Refer to an article in any book or journal by adding an article name in quotation marks but not italicized
• Refer to a website by adding ‘viewed’ and the date when you’ve opened it, followed by the URL in angle brackets.

Bottom Line

In this article we have explored the Harvard referencing guide, one of the most popular ones for students in the UK. Feel free to use these tips and proceed to writing a winning essay with flawless formatting! Just keep in mind the following key concepts of the Harvard style:

• Title or cover page
• Headers and their contents
• Subheadings of two levels with different formatting
• Reference list with full-detailed description of sources
• In-text citations with lots of different forms for various quote types.

In conclusion, consider our  custom term paper writing solution if you lack the time or got into writer's block.

If you have questions, please visit our FAQ section or contact our expert writers. They will gladly help you create references in line with all requirements. On top of that, our writers are highly experienced in academic writing and can assist you with any type of formatting.  

FAQ About Harvard Format

1. is harvard reference style used in colleges.

The Harvard style can be used in colleges as well as in other educational institutions and even by professional researchers. While it is relatively popular in many countries for research paper referencing, Harvard style is most widespread in universities of the UK nowadays. Other styles (APA, MLA and Chicago) dominate the US educational institutions.

2. What is the difference between Harvard and Oxford referencing styles?

The Harvard style format is a typical example of an author-date system as it requires using author’s names and publication dates for in-text referencing. You should create a complete reference list as a separate section in the end of your research paper. The Oxford style on the contrary uses numbered footnotes for citing sources used on your page. In-text citations on this page consist just from numbers of respective notes.  

Emma Flores knows all about formatting standards. She shares with StudyCrumb readers tips on creating academic papers that will meet high-quality standards.

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A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing | Citation Examples

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 15 September 2023.

Referencing is an important part of academic writing. It tells your readers what sources you’ve used and how to find them.

Harvard is the most common referencing style used in UK universities. In Harvard style, the author and year are cited in-text, and full details of the source are given in a reference list .

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Table of contents

Harvard in-text citation, creating a harvard reference list, harvard referencing examples, referencing sources with no author or date, frequently asked questions about harvard referencing.

A Harvard in-text citation appears in brackets beside any quotation or paraphrase of a source. It gives the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication, as well as a page number or range locating the passage referenced, if applicable:

Note that ‘p.’ is used for a single page, ‘pp.’ for multiple pages (e.g. ‘pp. 1–5’).

An in-text citation usually appears immediately after the quotation or paraphrase in question. It may also appear at the end of the relevant sentence, as long as it’s clear what it refers to.

When your sentence already mentions the name of the author, it should not be repeated in the citation:

Sources with multiple authors

When you cite a source with up to three authors, cite all authors’ names. For four or more authors, list only the first name, followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Sources with no page numbers

Some sources, such as websites , often don’t have page numbers. If the source is a short text, you can simply leave out the page number. With longer sources, you can use an alternate locator such as a subheading or paragraph number if you need to specify where to find the quote:

Multiple citations at the same point

When you need multiple citations to appear at the same point in your text – for example, when you refer to several sources with one phrase – you can present them in the same set of brackets, separated by semicolons. List them in order of publication date:

Multiple sources with the same author and date

If you cite multiple sources by the same author which were published in the same year, it’s important to distinguish between them in your citations. To do this, insert an ‘a’ after the year in the first one you reference, a ‘b’ in the second, and so on:

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A bibliography or reference list appears at the end of your text. It lists all your sources in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, giving complete information so that the reader can look them up if necessary.

The reference entry starts with the author’s last name followed by initial(s). Only the first word of the title is capitalised (as well as any proper nouns).

Sources with multiple authors in the reference list

As with in-text citations, up to three authors should be listed; when there are four or more, list only the first author followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Reference list entries vary according to source type, since different information is relevant for different sources. Formats and examples for the most commonly used 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 with no DOI

• General web page
• Online article or blog
• Social media post

Sometimes you won’t have all the information you need for a reference. This section covers what to do when a source lacks a publication date or named author.

No publication date

When a source doesn’t have a clear publication date – for example, a constantly updated reference source like Wikipedia or an obscure historical document which can’t be accurately dated – you can replace it with the words ‘no date’:

Note that when you do this with an online source, you should still include an access date, as in the example.

When a source lacks a clearly identified author, there’s often an appropriate corporate source – the organisation responsible for the source – whom you can credit as author instead, as in the Google and Wikipedia examples above.

When that’s not the case, you can just replace it with the title of the source in both the in-text citation and the reference list:

Harvard referencing uses an author–date system. Sources are cited by the author’s last name and the publication year in brackets. Each Harvard in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the alphabetised reference list at the end of the paper.

Vancouver referencing uses a numerical system. Sources are cited by a number in parentheses or superscript. Each number corresponds to a full reference at the end of the paper.

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.

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. ’

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.

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Caulfield, J. (2023, September 15). A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing | Citation Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 30 July 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-style/

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing / Harvard Referencing Style Examples

Harvard Referencing Style Examples

What is harvard referencing style.

Citing the work of others helps to make your work more impactful. It could be direct quotes , paraphrases of someone else’s ideas, statistical figures, or summaries of main points. There are different methods for crediting resources; Harvard referencing style (or Harvard style for short) is one such method.  

Harvard style follows the author-date system and includes two types of citations:

• in-text citations  
• references  

In-text citations

In-text citations  are included within the text of the main document. They are placed next to the information you are referencing, so the reader is clear on what information came from another source.

In-text citation example:

(Bloom, 2005) or Bloom (2005) wrote…

Every in-text citation has a corresponding reference in a reference list. A reference includes additional details about each source referenced. This enables the reader to refer to the original source, should they need to.  

The reference list is a detailed list of all the works consulted while writing. It is placed at the end of the document.  

Reference example for the above in-text citation:

Author Surname, Initials. (Publication Year) Title of the text in italics. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Bloom, H. (2005) Novelists and novels . Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers.

Below are Harvard referencing examples of in-text citations and reference list entries for the different kinds of sources that you might use.  

In-text citation structure and example:  

(Author Surname, Publication Year)

(Ozeki, 2013)  

Reference structure and example:  

Author Surname, Initials. (Publication Year) Title. Place of Publication: Publisher.  

Ozeki, R. (2013) A tale for the time being . New York: Penguin Books.  

Book with two or three authors

For books with two or three authors, the names of all the authors are given in both the in-text citation and the reference entry.  

(1 st Author Surname and 2 nd Author Surname, Publication Year)  

(Lodge and Wood, 2000)

1 st Author Surname, Initials. and 2 nd Author Surname, Initials. (Publication Year) Title of the text in italics. Place of Publication: Publisher.  

Lodge, D. and Wood, N. (2000) Modern criticism and theory: a reader. 2nd edn. Harlow: Longman.  

Book with four or more authors

If the number of authors is four or more, only the first author’s name is used followed by ‘et al.’ , italicised, which is Latin for ‘and others’.

(1 st Author Surname et al., Publication Year)

(Akmajian et al. , 2014)

Reference structure and example:

1 st Author Surname, Initials. e t al. (Publication Year) Title of the text in italics. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Akmajian, A. et al. (2014) Linguistics: an introduction to language and communication . 6th edn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Book with translator  

For books with a translator, only the author’s name is included in the in-text reference.   The translator is given in the reference list entry, along with the language from which it was translated. This comes right after the title.

(Dostoevsky, 1993)

Author Surname, Initials. (Publication Year) Title of the text in italics. Translated from the Language by Translator Initials. Surname. Place of Publication: Publisher.  

Dostoevsky, F. (1993) Crime and punishment . Translated from the Russian by R. Pevear and L. Volokhonsky. London: Vintage.  

Journal articles

Journal articles are highly credible sources of information. The example below was authored by more than three individuals, so the term ‘ et al. ’ is used in lieu of listing all authors.

In-text citation structure and example:

(Lomolino et al., 2020)

Journal reference list entries often have extra information, such as article title, volume, issue number, page numbers, or a specific date.

With journals, the volume number follows the title. If there are any specific parts of the issue, numbered or organized according to months, these details are mentioned alongside in brackets.  

Author Surname, Initials. (Publication Year) ‘Article title’, Journal Name , Volume(Issue), Page(s). Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: date).  

Lomolino, M. et al. (2013) ‘Of mice and mammoths: generality and antiquity of the island rule’, Journal of Biogeography , 40(8), pp. 1427-1439. Available at: https://www.jstor/org/stable/23463664 (Accessed: 10 September 2020).

Newspaper or magazine

(Ingle, 2020)

Author Surname, Initials. (Publication Year) ‘Article title’, Newspaper/Magazine Name , Day Month Published, Page(s). Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: date).  

Ingle, S. (2020) ‘Geraint Thomas insists he has nothing to prove at road world championships’, The Guardian, 24 September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sprot/2020/sep/24/geraint-thomas-insists-he-has-nothing-to-prove-at-road-world-championships-cycling (Accessed: 11 October 2020).

  For online articles, you should always include the URL and date of access.

Social media and other online sources

(Author/Poster Name, Publication Year)

(Cramer, 2020)

References for social media posts have a similar format to online articles. However, sometimes they don’t have a true ‘title’. For example, for Twitter posts, the full text of the tweet is used as the title, unless the tweet is overly long.

Author/Poster Surname, Initial(s). [@Handle] (Publication year) Content of Post [Social Media Site] Day Month Published. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Cramer, K. [@SenKevinCramer] (2020) Supreme Court vacancies are an important issue to the people I serve [Twitter] 24 September. Available at: https://twitter.com/SenKevinCramer/status/1308915548244398081 (Accessed: 25 September 2020).

The format for citing social media is different than the format for citing regular websites and web pages. This guide on how to cite a website in Harvard style provides details on how to cite web content that is not posted on social media.

(Image Creator or Photographer Surname, Publication Year)

(Pinneo, 2020)

Print reference structure:  

Author, Initial(s). (Year) Title of the Image [Photograph]. Place of Publication: Publisher (if available).

Online reference structure and example:

If the image is on the Internet, then the place of publication and the publisher name are replaced by the image URL and access date.

Author, Initial(s). (Year) Title of the Image .   Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).  

Pinneo, B.J. (2020) Dusty dreams . Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/2020/09/dusty-dreams/ (Accessed: 23 September 2020).

In-text reference structure and example:  

(Film Title , Year Released )

( Pride & Prejudice , 2005)

For films, the title of the film is used in place of the author name.  

Title of the Film (Year Released) Directed by Director Initial. Surname. Available at: Name of Streaming Service (Accessed: Day Month Year).  

Pride & Prejudice (2005) Directed by J. Wright. UK: Universal Pictures. Available at: Netflix (Accessed: 29 September 2020).

Published October 29, 2020.

Harvard Formatting Guide

Harvard Formatting

• et al Usage
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• Multiple Authors
• Page Numbers
• Writing an Outline
• View Harvard Guide

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Guide to Harvard Referencing

• 33-minute read
• 22nd June 2023

Note: This is an advanced guide to Harvard, useful for professional editors, academics, and students looking to bump up their grades with flawless referencing! If you’re new to Harvard and feel a little lost, check out our introduction to Harvard referencing .  For extra help from Harvard experts, try our student proofreading services  for free, or learn more about our  editing services for businesses .

Harvard referencing refers to the general citation style of listing a source’s author and date in parentheses within the text, with a corresponding entry in a reference list at the end of the work.

If a customer says they’ve been asked to use the Harvard referencing style, it could be one of many variations. You should check if a particular version has been specified. If there isn’t, use this guide to apply the version we use, but add a note for the customer to check with their institution. Also, pay attention to the requested dialect. Quotation marks, for instance, will vary depending on whether the citation is written in US or UK English .

In-text Citations: The Basics

Essentially, the surname of the author of the source and the year of its publication must be given in the text. If it is not known when a source was published, it must be indicated with “no date” (abbreviated to “n.d.” ) in place of the year.

If a direct quote is made from a source, then the in-text citation must also include the page number (or paragraph) of the quote. For page numbers, the basic form is “p.” for a single page and “pp.” for quotes spanning multiple pages. For paragraphs, use “para.” (e.g., for websites that don’t have pages); for long documents without page numbers, you can choose to include the section or chapter number or name (e.g., Smith, 1998, Section title, para. 3), but do check with your institution’s style guide.

Those key pieces of information are given in parentheses in the same font as the surrounding text and separated by commas. The bracketed citation should immediately follow the portion of the sentence that comes from the external source. If the author is mentioned in the sentence, then the bracketed citation (which will then just include the year of publication) will need to follow directly after the author’s name.

In-text citations can take three basic forms :

• Something else (Carter, 1940) is relevant to this example.
• Carter (1940) said something relevant to this example.
• “This is relevant” (Carter, 1940, p. 64).

If the source doesn’t come from an author with a surname – a corporate body, for example – then the name of that organization takes the place of the surname:

• This guide on Harvard referencing advises… (Proofed, 2022).

These basic rules will need to be adapted to various circumstances, which we will discuss next.

Multiple Authors

When there are multiple authors of the same work, the main thing to remember is that in-text citations name one or two authors. For three or more authors, only the first is mentioned, followed by “et al.” (in which case, note that a period is used in addition to a comma because “al.” is an abbreviation).

NB: When it comes to the full list of references at the end, all authors – some institutions put a cap on this, but others simply say to consult the course tutor – should be listed.

When both authors are named, the in-text citation will spell out “and” rather than use an ampersand (“&”).

Same Name, Same Year

An exception to only giving the surname of the author is if there are authors with the same surname and publications from the same year. In that case, the author’s initials should be added for clarity . Whether that initial comes before or after the surname, and whether or not it should have a period, will depend upon the university’s style guide. Our general approach is to put a period after an initial, as you would in any writing, but you should go for consistency within the document and flag the issue with a comment.

Multiple Works, Same Author

More frequently, you may come across citations for more than one work by the same author. If they were from different years but cited together, there is no need for the author’s name to be repeated. The years of publication are then listed in reverse chronological order (i.e., the newest comes first) with the years separated by semicolons . Each individual source is then listed in the reference list.

NB: When it comes to the full list of references at the end, the order of sources by the same author is chronological (i.e., with the earliest first).

If, however, the author has multiple works from the same year, a lowercase letter should be added to the year to differentiate the sources. The lettering should be alphabetical in the order that the sources are cited in the text .

NB: The crucial thing to check here is that the same system is reflected in the reference list at the end.

Citing Multiple Sources

If there is more than one source cited in support of a statement (e.g., multiple works by the same author), they will need to be cited in reverse chronological order and separated by semicolons . If the list includes works from the same year , they should be cited alphabetically by author .

NB: If the customer has consistently cited references in chronological order, then you should simply add a note for them to check whether this is what their university requires. Given the many variations on the Harvard theme, this could well be the case.

What if There Isn’t an Author?

You may see cases where the title of the source is given in place of the author. This is likely because the source has no named author (whether individual or corporate). In these cases, using the title of the source (the book, collection, etc.) is an acceptable variation, but it’s advisable to flag it with a comment to make sure.

Secondary Citations

If you’re presented with a reference to a work within a work (i.e., the customer hasn’t read the original but has come across it as a reference in another), this is a secondary citation.

• You should leave a comment suggesting that the customer try to find the original source and refer to that.
• Include the author and year of the original within the in-text citation as well as the author and year of the available source.
• Include in the Reference List only the source that has actually been read (the “available source”).

The Reference List (Or Is It a Bibliography?)

The Harvard style requires a full list of all the sources that are cited within the text to be provided at the end of the document. The standard formatting requirement is to include it on a separate page titled Reference List .

Sometimes, a university will require a list of all the sources considered within a piece of work, even if they haven’t all been cited. This type of list is called a Bibliography .

• The two terms – Reference List and Bibliography – are often confused. When proofreading references, it’s best to flag the issue with a comment pointing out the distinction and recommending that the particular requirements of the university are checked.

In either case, the sources are listed alphabetically by the first item in the source’s full reference (usually the author’s surname). A corporate author or title of a work (if that comes first) starting with “The,” “A,” or “An” should be listed as if that word weren’t there (e.g., a source from the Open University would be listed under “O,” not “T”).

• The easiest fix that you may need to make to a reference list (of whatever description) is ensuring that it is sorted alphabetically by the first item in each reference. This can be done automatically using a simple tool in Word .
• Where there are multiple sources by the same author, they should be listed chronologically with the earliest first (note that this is the reverse of the principle for in-text citations). NB: If the customer has presented the list consistently, don’t make any amendments. Just leave a comment for them to check that their approach is in line with the expectations of their university.

Detailing the sources in a reference list is probably the biggest cause of headaches for both writers and proofreaders. This is because the particular requirements differ depending on the type of source – and there are many .

The information itself is usually straightforward; it’s the formatting that gets tricky. In general terms, you could use the following as a checklist:

Let’s start with the most common types and see how those translate from in-text citations to full reference listings so that you can easily recognize them and, if necessary, fix them.

Printed Media

These sources are most likely to follow the general checklist given above. Within the list, “year of publication” is abbreviated to “year.” For particular issues relating to authors and years, please refer to the notes on in-text citations.

Audiovisual Media

Here’s where things start to get different.

• For movies, TV shows, and the like, the title of the work is foremost and determines the position of the source in the list of full references.
• It’s the director of a film who is credited, not the writer, and they get full billing (i.e., full name); it may help to remember that the big Oscar awards are for Best Film and Best Director, not (sadly) the film’s writer.
• The type of audiovisual media is given in square brackets after the title, followed by a period.
• The distribution details take the place of the publishing details.

Online Sources

Some additional information is required here, most commonly:

• As with audiovisual media, an indication in square brackets that the source is online.
• The URL where the source is available.
• The date when your customer accessed the source – because websites tend to be updated. This information is given in parentheses and comes last in the full reference. The final period is outside the closing bracket.

Some Specifics

With a wealth of sources available, there will always be something that doesn’t quite fit with the general principals. At the end of this guide is an alphabetical list of some you may come across and how they may appear ( remembering that there may be variations between universities ).

The aim of the list is to provide a baseline so that you know the main elements to expect. Consistency of presentation is key, as is the use of the commenting tool to point out where information may be missing – or the format may require checking with the university’s own preferences.

What to Do When the Customer’s Approach Differs

To summarize, the Harvard referencing style can be – and is – interpreted in a wide variety of ways. We’ve set out the Proofed standard approach, so here’s what to do when it almost inevitably differs from the approach taken by the customer:

• Look to see whether the customer has provided a specific version of Harvard to follow.
• If so, find that online (almost every university makes its referencing guide available on its website, and those are generally easy to search for).
• Follow the customer’s lead unless it’s inconsistent, goes against the version they’ve specified, or is otherwise contrary to the Harvard approach (e.g., if they use footnotes or don’t provide the author–date information within the text).
• Acknowledge that variations to the Harvard style exist. Apply consistency to the document and leave a comment to explain the approach you have taken.
• Contact Editor Support if you are still unsure.

But What About…?

• As may be seen in the listing for an encyclopedia, this should be recorded as an additional piece of information within the full reference for the source (it will not affect the in-text citation). The edition number (abbreviated to “edn”) should come after the main title of the book, be separated from the surrounding details by commas, and formatted with a roman font:

• Start on a new line.
• Be indented as a block (hence the name).
• Not have quote marks.
• Be preceded by a colon.
• If the author’s name is in the introductory text, then the year of publication goes in brackets right after the name.
• Otherwise, the author–year citation will be included in round brackets after the block quote.
• Where the author–year citation isn’t mentioned in the text, authorities vary on whether the citation should be on a separate line, left indented to match the block quote, right indented, or at the end of the quote before the period (as it would appear if in the regular text). In such cases, first check for consistency within the document, and then leave a comment for the customer to check that the approach taken is in line with their university’s preference.
• With the word “Figure” or “Table” (with a capital letter).
• Followed by a number, starting with 1, in the order that they appear (NB: in a dissertation or thesis, the number may refer to the chapter in which it appears – e.g., Figure 3.5 may refer to the fifth figure in Chapter 3).
• Then a title (caption) for the figure or table.
• Followed by the in-text citation for the reference of the source.
• The source of the figure or table (e.g., journal, book, website) should then be given in the reference list.

What Does the Proofreading Service Include for Referencing?

• Check that references and citations are in accordance with the customer’s version of Harvard. When in doubt, go for consistency and leave a note to explain your approach.
• It is the job of the customer to make sure that all the citations appear in the reference list and vice versa, but if you spot that something is missing, point it out with a comment.
• There is no need to check that the dates and spellings of author names match for each in-text citation and corresponding full reference; however, if you do see an issue along these lines, point it out in a comment and ask the customer to check the original source.
• Check whether all the expected elements of a full reference are present (which will depend upon the type of source), including the relevant font style and correct use of quotes, capitalization, and italics. Note any missing information in a comment for the customer.
• If available, check with the customer’s version of Harvard to see how the reference list or bibliography should be presented (e.g., title, on a separate page, with hanging indents).

What Does the Formatting Service Include for Referencing?

• Harvard doesn’t have any specific formatting requirements, so follow the Proofed house style unless otherwise indicated in the customer’s style guide.

What Falls Outside the Scope of Both?

The main purpose of referencing is for writers to avoid plagiarism. For that same reason, there is a limit on what can be done for a customer.

• Do not add or change information within an in-text citation or reference unless there is an obvious typo.
• Do not add citations or references, even if they seem to be missing; leave a comment instead.
• Don’t fill in missing information; leave a comment about what appears to be missing and provide information about how the reference could be written to accommodate it (e.g., “n.d.” if the date is unknown).
• There is no need to check URLs; if they appear incomplete, leave a comment for the customer to check them.
• You should read through direct quotes to check that the surrounding text leads to the quote appropriately and to correct any typos or obvious errors, such as additional spaces. If there looks to be an error or inconsistency, leave a comment for the customer to check the original source; it would be risky to try to fix it without access to the source itself.
• Don’t guess at which of two inconsistent names or dates may be correct; point the anomaly out to the customer and ask them to check the source.

List of Example References

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