how to cite websites in text harvard

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• 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).

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

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.

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Got content that needs a quick turnaround? Let us polish your work. Explore our editorial business services.

4-minute read

What Is Market Research?

No matter your industry, conducting market research helps you keep up to date with shifting...

8 Press Release Distribution Services for Your Business

In a world where you need to stand out, press releases are key to being...

How to Get a Patent

In the United States, the US Patent and Trademarks Office issues patents. In the United...

The 5 Best Ecommerce Website Design Tools 

A visually appealing and user-friendly website is essential for success in today’s competitive ecommerce landscape....

The 7 Best Market Research Tools in 2024

Market research is the backbone of successful marketing strategies. To gain a competitive edge, businesses...

Google Patents: Tutorial and Guide

Google Patents is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about patents, whether...

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

• SCU Library
• Library guides
• Referencing Guides

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..

• << Previous: Social media and forum posts
• Next: Print this guide >>
• Last Updated: Mar 5, 2024 8:33 PM
• URL: https://libguides.scu.edu.au/harvard

Southern Cross University acknowledges and pays respect to the ancestors, Elders and descendants of the Lands upon which we meet and study. We are mindful that within and without the buildings, these Lands always were and always will be Aboriginal Land.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

• Exhibitions
• Visit and Contact
• UCD Library
• Current Students
• News & Opinion
• Staff Directory
• UCD Connect

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

Note 2: No date? If the date of the website is not available, substitute the date with the words 'no date', e.g.  Website author (no date).

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)….

• << Previous: Secondary sources
• Next: Generative AI >>
• Last Updated: Mar 22, 2024 9:51 AM
• URL: https://libguides.ucd.ie/harvardstyle

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

More great BibGuru guides

• APA: how to cite an annual report
• Chicago: how to cite a podcast
• Harvard: how to cite an eBook

Automatic citations in seconds

Citation generators

Alternative to.

• NoodleTools
• Getting started

From our blog

• 📚 How to write a book report
• 📝 APA Running Head
• 📑 How to study for a test

Recommended pages

• Lecture timetables
• Campus maps
• Student digital services
• Staff Digital Services
• Student support
• Online registration
• Core systems
• Car parking
• Room bookings
• Staff development

Harvard: citing in- text

A version of the Harvard (author-date) System of referencing has been adopted as the standard for the presentation of academic text at the University of Birmingham.  The examples on this page refer to this version, as found on the Cite Them Right Online website.  For detailed guides on how to reference and cite different sources see the right-hand side panel.

What to put in your text 

The author's surname and year of publication are inserted in the text wherever a source is cited. The way this is done will depend on whether the author's name occurs naturally in the sentence or not.

Using this method of referencing, the in-text citations in your work must be included in the final word count. In-text citations give brief details of the source that you are quoting from or referring to. These citations will then link to the full reference that will be found in your reference list at the end of your work. The reference list is always arranged in alphabetical order by author. If you have cited a work in an appendix, but not in the main body of your text, this should still be included in the reference list.  The list of references is not included in the word count.

Footnotes and endnotes are NOT used in this style.

There are many ways in which citations can be used in your work, but your tutor or supervisor should advise you on which format they prefer.

Your citations should always include the following elements;

(i)            Author(s) or editor (s) surname/family name

(ii)           Year of publication

(iii)          Page number(s) if required

If you have used a direct quote or an idea from a specific page, or set of pages, you should include the page numbers in your citations. The abbreviation for page is p. or pp. for multiple pages. See the examples below to see how they are used correctly.

• According to Guy (2001, p. 37), the Zulus faced many grave dangers when confronting the British…
• It is maintained that medicine has improved (Jones, 1985, p. 74)

Citing one author/editor

• In his novel (Stevens, 2013)…

Citing a corporate author

• … as shown by the decrease in ratings (ITV, 2014).

 Citing two authors/editors

• Banerjee and Watson (2011, p. 87) suggested…
• It is clear (Banerjee and Watson, 2011, p. 87) that…

Citing three authors/editors

• It was evident (Smith, Jones and Thomas, 2015)…

 Citing four or more authors/editors

Cite the first name listed in the source followed by  et al .

• This was proved by Dym  et al.  (2009)…

Citing a source with no author/editor

Use the title in italics; do NOT use ‘anonymous’ or anything similar.

• It is maintained that medicine has greatly improved ( Medicine in old age,  1985, p. 74)…

Citing multiple sources

These can be listed separated by semicolons. The publications should be cited in chronological order. If more than one work is published in the same year, then they should be listed alphabetically by author/editor.

• A number of different studies (Jamieson, 2011; Hollingworth, 2012; Hatfield, 2013; Rogers, 2015) suggested that…

Citing sources - same year/same author

In his study of the work of Dawkins, Harris (2007a) emphasised the use of rationality in the former’s argument. However, it is clear that this was not the only strength of the original author (2007b).

The reference list would look like this;

       Harris, S. (2007a)  Dawkins: a history . London: Evolutionary Press.

       Harris, S. (2007b)  Evolutionary thought . London: Evolutionary Press.

Citing the same work, different editions

Separate the dates of publication with a semicolon with the earliest date first.

• In both editions (Hitchens, 2010; 2012)…

Citing a source with no date

Use the phrase ‘no date’.

• The evidence (Stevens and Jubb, no date) was clear.

Citing a source with no author or date

Use the title and ‘no date’.

• Thunderstorms have become increasingly common ( Trends in atmospheric pressure , no date)…

Citing a web page

When citing a web page, it should follow these guidelines;

• By Author and date (where possible)
• By title and date if there is no identifiable author
• Or by URL if neither author nor title can be identified

The latest survey by health professionals ( http://www.onlinehealthsurvey.org , 2012) reveals that… 

Source quoted in another work 

You may wish to refer to an author’s idea, model or dataset but have not been able to read the actual chapter containing the information, but only another author’s discussion or report of it. Similarly, you may refer to a primary source, e.g. an author’s letters or diary, or a government report, that you have only ‘read’ as cited or reproduced within another author’s text. In both cases you should acknowledge the use of a secondary source.

"The model of Mitchell (1996) (cited in Parry and Carter, 2003, p.160) simulates the suppressing effects of sulphate aerosols on the magnitude of global warming."

In this example ideally you should list both the Parry and Carter (2003) and Mitchell (1996) sources in your reference list but many schools will accept the listing of the secondary source (i.e. Parry and Carter) only.

• College of Arts and Law
• College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
• College of Life and Environmental Sciences
• College of Medical and Dental Sciences
• College of Social Sciences

Professional Services

• Academic Services
• Campus Services
• Development and Alumni Relations
• Executive Support
• External Relations
• Human Resources
• IT Services
• Legal Services
• Research Strategy and Services

Scribbr Harvard Referencing Generator

Accurate Harvard references, verified by experts, trusted by millions.

Save hours of repetitive work with Scribbr's Harvard Referencing Generator.

Stop wasting hours figuring out the correct citation format. With Scribbr's referencing generator , you can search for your source by title, URL, ISBN, or DOI and generate accurate Harvard style references in seconds.

Rely on accurate references, verified by experts.

You don’t want points taken off for incorrect referencing. That’s why our referencing experts have invested countless hours perfecting our algorithms. As a result, we’re proud to be recommended by teachers worldwide.

Enjoy the Harvard Referencing Generator with minimal distraction.

Staying focused is already challenging enough. You don’t need video pop-ups and flickering banner ads slowing you down. At Scribbr, we keep distractions to a minimum while also keeping the Harvard Referencing Generator free for everyone.

Referencing Generator features you'll love

Search for your source by title, URL, DOI, ISBN, and more to retrieve the relevant information automatically.

Cite Them Right 12th ed.

Scribbr's Harvard Referencing Generator supports the most commonly used versions: Cite Them Right (12th edition).

Export to Bib(La)TeX

Easily export in BibTeX format and continue working in your favorite LaTeX editor.

Export to Word

Reference list finished? Export to Word with perfect indentation and spacing set up for you.

Sorting, grouping, and filtering

Organize the reference list the way you want: from A to Z, new to old, or grouped by source type.

Save multiple lists

Stay organized by creating a separate reference list for each of your assignments.

Choose between Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, and more options to match your style.

Industry-standard technology

The Scribbr Referencing Generator is built using the same citation software (CSL) as Mendeley and Zotero, but with an added layer for improved accuracy.

Explanatory tips help you get the details right to ensure accurate citations.

Secure backup

Your work is saved automatically after every change and stored securely in your Scribbr account.

• Introduction

Reference examples

Missing information, citation examples, tools and resources, how to reference in harvard style.

Harvard referencing is a widely used referencing style (especially in UK universities) that includes author-date in-text citations and a complete reference list at the end of the text.

There are many versions of Harvard referencing style. Our guidance reflects the rules laid out in Cite Them Right: The Essential Referencing Guide (12th edition) by Richard Pears and Graham Shields.

Scribbr’s free reference generator can create flawless Harvard style references for a wide variety of sources.

• Cite a webpage
• Cite a book
• Cite a journal article

Harvard reference entries

The reference list appears at the end of your text, listing full information on all the sources you cited. A Harvard reference entry generally mentions the author , date , title , publisher or publication that contains the source, and URL or DOI if relevant.

You’ll include different details depending on the type of source you’re referencing, as some information is only relevant to certain kinds of publications.

The format of a reference entry varies based on source type. Apart from the information included, formatting details such as the use of italics also depend on what you’re referencing. The tabs below show formats and examples for the most commonly referenced source types.

The suggested information won’t necessarily all be available for the source you’re referencing. To learn how to work around missing information in your references, check the table below.

Harvard Referencing Generator

Generate accurate Harvard style references in seconds

Get started

Harvard in-text citations

Harvard referencing style uses author-date in-text citations, which means including the author’s last name and the publication year of the source, like this: (Smith, 2019). This citation points the reader to the corresponding entry in the reference list.

Always include an in-text citation when you quote or paraphrase a source. Include a page number or range when available and relevant to indicate which part of the source you’re drawing on. Using material from other sources without acknowledging them is plagiarism.

In-text citations can be parenthetical (author and date both in parentheses) or narrative (author name mentioned in the sentence, date in parentheses). A source may also have more than one author. If there are four or more, name only the first, followed by “ et al. ”

As with reference entries, it’s good to be aware of how to deal with missing information in your in-text citations.

Scribbr offers a variety of other tools and resources to help with referencing and other aspects of academic writing:

• Referencing generator : Scribbr’s free referencing generator can also create flawless citations in other styles, such as APA and MLA .
• Free plagiarism checker : Detect and fix plagiarism issues with the most accurate plagiarism checker available, powered by Turnitin.
• Proofreading services : Make sure your writing is clear and professional with the help of an expert editor.
• Guide to Harvard style : Understand the rules of Harvard referencing style, and learn how to cite a variety of sources.
• Guides and videos : Explore our Knowledge Base, our YouTube channel, and a wide variety of other educational resources covering topics ranging from language to statistics.

• Free Tools for Students
• Harvard Referencing Generator

Free Harvard Referencing Generator

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.

• Utility Menu

fa3d988da6f218669ec27d6b6019a0cd

A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

• The Honor Code
• In-Text Citations

In MLA style, you use parenthetical citations within the text of your paper to credit your sources and to refer your reader to a more detailed citation of the source in the "Works Cited" list at the end of your paper. You should use parenthetical citations when you paraphrase, quote, or make any reference to another author's work. A parenthetical citation in MLA style should include the author's last name and the page number to which you refer in that author's work.

If you mention the author’s name in the sentence or sentences preceding the citation, then you do not need to repeat the name in the parenthetical citation. If the work you are citing does not have page numbers (many articles published online will not have page numbers), or if you are referring to the entire work, then you do not need to include a page number in the citation. If you are having trouble keeping track of the MLA guidelines, it might help to think of it this way: You are including citation information so that your reader will be able to find your sources easily if they want to take a closer look. That means you only need to include information that will help readers; you don’t need to repeat information that you have already provided in your sentence.

You should not use a comma to separate author and page number in an MLA in-text citation. When the citation appears at the end of a sentence, the period goes outside the parentheses at the end of the sentence. If you need to put the citation before the end of the sentence (in cases where you have more than one citation in a sentence), place any necessary punctuation after the citation as well.

If you find an article through an online database and you have the option of choosing a PDF version or an HTML version, you should choose the PDF. The PDF version will have stable page numbers, which will make it easier for a reader to find the material you cite. You should not count the pages of a document yourself and add numbers to them. A reader could print or view that document differently, and your numbering will not make sense in that context.

E-book page numbers vary depending on how someone is reading the e-book. If you are referring to an e-book that has page numbers, you should not include those page numbers. You should include stable numbers like section numbers, line numbers, or chapter numbers.

• Citation Management Tools
• In-Text Citation Examples
• Works Cited Format
• Examples of Commonly Cited Sources
• Frequently Asked Questions about Citing Sources in MLA Format
• Sample Works Cited List

PDFs for This Section

• Citing Sources
• Online Library and Citation Tools

• Harvard Library
• Research Guides
• Faculty of Arts & Sciences Libraries

GSAS Writing Toolkit

• Style and Citation
• Consult Your Library Experts
• Research Handbooks & Guides
• Finding a Researchable Question
• Cross-Disciplinary Databases
• Data: Finding, Interpreting, and Visualizing It
• Tracking Stuff Down: Essential Services
• Methodology Sources
• Writing and Revision

Manuals of Style

Citation tools.

• Presenting & Publishing Your Work

Manuals of style, commonly referred to as citation manuals or style manuals, are invaluable not only because they prescribe the proper format for source documentation and citation, but because they recommend the latest best practices for writing in your field of study, from proper punctuation to preferred terminology to accepted discourse conventions; ignore their advice at your peril. Following are the styles used most commonly at Harvard.

• The print guide to APA is the official guide to citing in APA style.
• APA Style Reference Examples
• APA Style Blog

Chicago Style

• The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition  (Harvard Login)
• MLA Handbook , 9th Edition
• MLA Style Center  -- can be very useful for help with types of sources that aren't covered in the Handbook
• Ask the MLA -- answers lots of "how do I cite" questions

Legal Citations

• Harvard Law School Library Legal Citation Guides and Abbreviations
• The Bluebook: a uniform system of citation , 20th Edition (Print Only)

Common citation styles used in STEM fields:

Guidelines published by selected societies.

• ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication (American Chemical Society)
• IEEE Reference Guide  and  Editorial Style Manual for Authors   (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
• The primary style for  undergraduate and graduate students in psychology.
• Used most frequently by undergraduate students  in biology and chemistry.
• Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers  (Council of Science Editors)

Selected Journal Formats

• Communications of the ACM  Author Guidelines  (Association for Computing Machinery)
• Nature  format
• Science  Citation Style

Harvard Library supports a selection of citation tools that allow you to:

• create a searchable database of the books, articles, book chapters, and more that you're using in your research
• import citations, abstracts, and more from online sources
• organize notes and full text documents, such as PDFs, images, spreadsheets
• share references when you're working on collaborative projects
• create reference lists in Chicago, MLA, APA and hundreds of other formats

Citations Tools we support include Zotero , EndNote , Overleaf Pro+ , and Sciwheel .

To learn more about each tool, how they compare to one another, and for a list of upcoming classes, visit:

• Citation Tools at Harvard
• << Previous: Writing and Revision
• Next: Presenting & Publishing Your Work >>

Except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , which allows anyone to share and adapt our material as long as proper attribution is given. For details and exceptions, see the Harvard Library Copyright Policy ©2021 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.

• facebook-rs

A ChatGPT for Music Is Here. Inside Suno, the Startup Changing Everything

By Brian Hiatt

Brian Hiatt

I ’m just a soul trapped in this circuitry.” The voice singing those lyrics is raw and plaintive, dipping into blue notes. A lone acoustic guitar chugs behind it, punctuating the vocal phrases with tasteful runs. But there’s no human behind the voice, no hands on that guitar. There is, in fact, no guitar. In the space of 15 seconds, this credible, even moving, blues song was generated by the latest AI model from a startup named Suno. All it took to summon it from the void was a simple text prompt: “solo acoustic Mississippi Delta blues about a sad AI.” To be maximally precise, the song is the work of two AI models in collaboration: Suno’s model creates all the music itself, while calling on OpenAI’s ChatGPT to generate the lyrics and even a title: “Soul of the Machine.” 

Editor’s picks

The 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, the 50 worst decisions in movie history, every awful thing trump has promised to do in a second term.

Most AI-generated art so far is, at best, kitsch, à la the hyperrealistic sci-fi junk, heavy on form-fitting spacesuits, that so many Midjourney users seem intent on generating. But “Soul of the Machine” feels like something different — the most powerful and unsettling AI creation I’ve encountered in any medium. Its very existence feels like a fissure in reality, at once awe-inspiring and vaguely unholy, and I keep thinking of the Arthur C. Clarke quote that seems made for the generative-AI era: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” A few weeks after returning from Cambridge, I send the song off to Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, who’s been outspoken about the perils and possibilities of AI music. He notes his “wonder, shock, horror” at the song’s “disturbing verisimilitude.” “The long-running dystopian ideal of separating difficult, messy, undesirable, and despised humanity from its creative output is at hand,” he writes, pointing out the problematic nature of an AI singing the blues, “an African American idiom, deeply tied to historical human trauma, and enslavement.”  

Rolling Stone's Future of Music Showcase at SXSW Had Stars from Around the World and Lines Around the Block

Elvis act signed into tennessee law to protect musicians from ai deepfakes, how peggy gou became the coolest dj in the world.

Along the way, Shulman and his colleagues fell in love with the unexplored possibilities of AI audio. In AI research, he says, “audio in general is so far behind images and text. There’s so much that we learn from the text community and how these models work and how they scale.”

Suno uses the same general approach as large language models like ChatGPT, which break down human language into discrete segments known as tokens, absorb its millions of usages, styles, and structures, and then reconstruct it on demand. But audio, particularly music, is almost unfathomably more complex, which is why, just last year, AI-music experts told Rolling Stone that a service as capable as Suno’s might take years to arrive.  “Audio is not a discrete thing like words,” Shulman says. “It’s a wave. It’s a continuous signal.” High-quality audio’s sampling rate is generally 44khz or 48hz, which means “48,000 tokens a second,” he adds. “That’s a big problem, right? And so you need to figure out how to kind of smoosh that down to something more reasonable.” How, though? “A lot of work, a lot of heuristics, a lot of other kinds of tricks and models and stuff like that. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to done.” Eventually, Suno wants to find alternatives to the text-to-music interface, adding more advanced and intuitive inputs — generating songs based on users’ own singing is one idea.

OpenAI faces multiple lawsuits over ChatGPT’s use of books, news articles, and other copyrighted material in its vast corpus of training data. Suno’s founders decline to reveal details of just what data they’re shoveling into their own model, other than the fact that its ability to generate convincing human vocals comes in part because it’s learning from recordings of speech, in addition to music. “Naked speech will help you learn the characteristics of human voice that are difficult,” Shulman says. 

One of Suno’s earliest investors is Antonio Rodriguez, a partner at the venture-capital firm Matrix. Rodriguez had only funded one previous music venture, the music-categorization firm EchoNest, which was purchased by Spotify to fuel its algorithm. With Suno, Rodriguez got involved before it was even clear what the product would be. “I backed the team,” says Rodriguez, who exudes the confidence of a man who’s made more than his share of successful bets. “I’d known the team, and I’d especially known Mikey, and so I would have backed him to do almost anything that was legal. He’s that creative.”

We’re trying to get a billion people much more engaged with music than they are now. We’re not trying to replace artists.

Rodriguez is investing in Suno with the full knowledge that music labels and publishers could sue, which he sees as “the risk we had to underwrite when we invested in the company, because we’re the fat wallet that will get sued right behind these guys.… Honestly, if we had deals with labels when this company got started, I probably wouldn’t have invested in it. I think that they needed to make this product without the constraints.” (A spokesperson for Universal Music Group, which has taken an aggressive stance on AI, didn’t return a request for comment.) 

Rodriguez sees Suno as a radically capable and easy-to-use musical instrument, and believes it could bring music making to everyone much the way camera phones and Instagram democratized photography. The idea, he says, is to once again “move the bar on the number of people that are allowed to be creators of stuff as opposed to consumers of stuff on the internet.” He and the founders dare to suggest that Suno could attract a user base bigger than Spotify’s. If that prospect is hard to get your head around, that’s a good thing, Rodriguez says: It only means it’s “seemingly stupid” in the exact way that tends to attract him as an investor. “All of our great companies have that combination of excellent talent,” he says, “and then something that just seems stupid until it’s so obvious that it’s not stupid.”

Well before Suno’s arrival, musicians, producers, and songwriters were vocally concerned about AI’s business-shaking potential. “Music, as made by humans driven by extraordinary circumstances … those who have suffered and struggled to advance their craft, will have to contend with the wholesale automation of the very dear-bought art they have fought to achieve,” Reid writes. But Suno’s founders claim there’s little to fear, using the metaphor that people still read despite having the ability to write. “The way we think about this is we’re trying to get a billion people much more engaged with music than they are now,” Shulman says. “If people are much more into music, much more focused on creating, developing much more distinct tastes, this is obviously good for artists. The vision that we have of the future of music is one where it’s artist-friendly. We’re not trying to replace artists.” 

In the absence of strict rules against AI-created content, there’s also the prospect of a world where users of models like Suno’s flood streaming services with their robo-creations by the millions. “Spotify may one day say ‘You can’t do that,’” Shulman says, noting that so far Suno users seem more interested in just texting their songs to a few friends.

Eric Trump Says Lenders He Hit for Half-Billion Dollars in Father's Bond Scramble 'Were Laughing'

Biden is building a ‘superstructure’ to stop trump from stealing the election, 'the death of college sports will be fast and furious:' the scandal that could kill the ncaa, fergie chambers is heir to one of america’s richest families — and determined to see the u.s. fall.

Suno’s biggest potential competitor so far seems to be Google’s Dream Track, which has obtained licenses that allow users to make their own songs using famous voices like Charlie Puth’s via a similar prompt-based interface. But Dream Track has only been released to a tiny test user base, and the samples released so far aren’t nearly as impressive-sounding as Suno’s, despite the famous voices attached. “I just don’t think that, like, making new Billy Joel songs is how people want to interact with music with the help of AI in the future,” Shulman says. “If I think about how we actually want people doing music in five years, it’s stuff that doesn’t exist. It’s the stuff that’s in their head.”

Most Popular

James marsden, taran killam and stars who signed brian peck letters of support "devastated" drake bell, says dan schneider, blake lively apologizes for mocking kate middleton 'photoshop fails' after princess reveals cancer diagnosis: 'silly post' has 'me mortified', body language experts believe this is the reason kate middleton was alone in her cancer announcement video, james madison’s record $53m in student fees tops all public schools, you might also like, ‘x-men ’97’ hits 4 million views in five days, new book ‘audrey hepburn in paris’ tells the story of her style evolution & more, the best yoga blocks to support any practice, according to instructors, real change for child actors as adults, they have box-office clout, shohei ohtani denies knowledge of interpreter’s gambling.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Verify it's you

Please log in.