Harvard referencing
Business, social sciences, and most UK undergraduate courses.
Short answer
What is Harvard referencing?
Harvard is an author–date referencing system: an in-text citation gives the author surname and year, and a reference list at the end gives full details alphabetically. Crucially, Harvard is not one style — Cite Them Right, Leeds Harvard, Coventry Harvard and the Australian AGPS variant differ in punctuation and element order, so you must follow the guide your own institution publishes.
Worked examples
Harvard for every source type
Each example below is produced by the same engine that powers our free generator.
book
Full guide →Reference list entry
Bolton, G. (2018) Reflective practice: writing and professional development. 5th edn. London: SAGE Publications.
In-text
(Bolton, 2018)
journal article
Full guide →Reference list entry
Thomas, L. and Hill, M. (2024) 'Belonging and continuation among first-generation undergraduates', Studies in Higher Education, 49(3), pp. 412-428. doi: 10.1080/03075079.2024.2298471.
In-text
(Thomas and Hill, 2024)
web page
Full guide →Reference list entry
Agency, Q. A. (2025) Academic integrity charter for uk higher education. Available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/academic-integrity (Accessed: 14 August 2026).
In-text
(Agency, 2025)
book chapter
Full guide →Reference list entry
Moon, J. (2013) 'Reflection in higher education learning', in Handbook of Reflective Practice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 45-62.
In-text
(Moon, 2013)
report
Full guide →Reference list entry
Students, O. F. (2025) Student outcomes and teaching excellence. Office for Students.
In-text
(Students, 2025)
Watch out for
Harvard quirks that cost marks
- There is no single Harvard authority — always use your institution's published guide.
- Cite Them Right (the most common UK variant) uses single quotation marks around article titles.
- Place of publication is included for books in most UK variants but dropped in AGPS Harvard.
- Use 'no date' rather than 'n.d.' in Cite Them Right.
Harvard — FAQs
- What is Harvard referencing?
- Harvard is an author–date referencing system: an in-text citation gives the author surname and year, and a reference list at the end gives full details alphabetically. Crucially, Harvard is not one style — Cite Them Right, Leeds Harvard, Coventry Harvard and the Australian AGPS variant differ in punctuation and element order, so you must follow the guide your own institution publishes.
- Who uses Harvard?
- Business, social sciences, and most UK undergraduate courses. It is most common in UK, Australia, New Zealand. Always confirm against your own module handbook, because departments within one university often differ.
- Is Harvard an author–date or numeric system?
- Harvard is an author–date system: in-text citations name the author and year, and the reference list is alphabetical.