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Citation Styles
Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition)

Cite Them Right 12th edition - Harvard

Cite a source in Harvard now

Harvard is a name for author-date referencing: the author and year in your text, and an alphabetical reference list at the end. Citation Creation follows Cite Them Right, Pears and Shields’ version, which universities such as Manchester Met and UWE Bristol use as their standard.

Every example is a real source, checked where it was published. Check the finer points against the guide your course or journal uses. Review formatting support and known limitations.

Harvard references, part by part

Real sources, set as Citation Creation sets them in Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition). Choose one to see what each part follows.

Watson, J.D. and Crick, F.H.C. (1953) ‘Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid’, Nature, 171(4356), pp. 737–738. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.

In brackets, with a page: (Watson and Crick, 1953, p. 737)
In your sentence: Watson and Crick (1953, p. 737)

Watson, J.D. and Crick, F.H.C.: Each author is a surname, a comma and initials, with a full stop after each initial and no space between them. The last two names are joined by “and”.
(1953): The year of publication follows the names in round brackets. No full stop comes between the bracket and the title.
‘Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid’,: The article’s title goes in single quotation marks, then a comma. It takes a capital only on its first word and on names, and the subtitle after the colon starts small too. Only the journal’s name is in italics.
Nature, 171(4356), pp. 737–738.: The journal is in italics, then the volume, the issue in brackets with no space, and pp. before the page range.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.: An article with a DOI ends with “Available at:” and the DOI as a link. A DOI does not change, so no access date is needed.

Lee, H. (1960) To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.

In brackets, with a page: (Lee, 1960, p. 23)
In your sentence: Lee (1960, p. 23)

Lee, H.: The author’s surname, a comma, then the initial of each given name with a full stop.
(1960): The year of publication, in round brackets, straight after the name.
To kill a mockingbird.: A book’s title is in italics, followed by a full stop. An edition after the first comes next, as 2nd edn.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.: The 12th edition gives the place of publication, a colon and the publisher. The 13th leaves the place out: J. B. Lippincott.

World Health Organization (2023) Climate change. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health (Accessed: 15 October 2026).

In brackets: (World Health Organization, 2023)
In your sentence: World Health Organization (2023)

World Health Organization: When no person is named, the organisation that wrote the page is the author, written in full.
(2023): The year the page was published or last updated, in round brackets.
Climate change.: A web page’s title is in italics, like a book’s. The name of the website is not added.
Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health: “Available at:” and the page’s full address.
(Accessed: 15 October 2026).: The date you looked at the page, in brackets after “Accessed:”, as day, month and year.

Harvard in-text citations

Two or three authors

Name every author, with “and” before the last, never “&”. With three, put a comma after the first name.

(Watson and Crick, 1953) and (Wong, Smith and Adebole, 2015)

An organisation as author

When no person is named, cite the organisation in full. A long name you cite often can be shortened after the first time, but the reference list keeps the full name.

(World Health Organization, 2023)

No date

Cite Them Right writes “no date” in full where the year would go, in the text and in the reference list. Australian versions of Harvard write n.d. instead.

(World Health Organization, no date)

Several sources at once

Put them in one pair of brackets, separated by semicolons. Guides that follow Cite Them Right differ on the order, oldest first, newest first or alphabetical, so use the one your course gives and keep to it.

(Watson and Crick, 1953; Lee, 1960; World Health Organization, 2023)

Cited in, or quoted in

If you found a source only in another one, cite both. Write “cited in” when the work you read sums up the original, and “quoted in” when it quotes it. A page goes after the work you read, and only that work goes in your reference list.

West et al. (2007, quoted in Birch, 2017, p. 17)

Same author, same year

Add a, b and so on to the year, in the text and in the reference list, so each citation points to one entry.

(The Open University, 2025a) and (The Open University, 2025b)

Before you hand it in

12th edition or 13th?

Citation Creation follows the 12th edition of Cite Them Right. Universities are moving to the 13th, published in 2025, which leaves the place of publication out of most references: “Bloomsbury”, not “London: Bloomsbury”. Check which your course uses.

An access date, except with a DOI

A web page ends with “Available at:”, its address and the day you looked, as (Accessed: 12 February 2024). A journal article with a DOI ends with “Available at:” and the DOI link, with no date.

Et al. from four authors

Name up to three authors in the text. From four, give the first and et al.: (Young et al., 2015). The reference list can use et al. or every name, so check which your course wants.

A page number for a quote

When you quote, add the page to the citation: (Watson and Crick, 1953, p. 737), or pp. for a range. The 13th edition also allows para. for a paragraph when the source has no pages.

An edition after the title

A book in its second edition or later gives the edition after its title, as 2nd edn. The first edition is not mentioned.

One list, in alphabetical order

List every source you cite once, in alphabetical order by the author’s surname, or by the title where there is no author. Sources you read but did not cite are left out.

One reference, several Harvards

There is no single official Harvard. It is a name for author-date referencing, and universities write their own rules for it, so the same article comes out differently in each. Here it is in four versions of Harvard, each checked against its own guide.

Cite Them Right

In the text(Watson and Crick, 1953, p. 737)

The year in brackets, the article in single quotes and “Available at:” before the DOI. No access date, since the article has a DOI.

University of Leeds

Watson, J.D. and Crick, F.H.C. 1953. Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature. 171(4356), pp.737–738.

In the text(Watson and Crick, 1953, p.737)

No brackets round the year, full stops between the parts, the volume in bold and no space after pp. The Leeds guide also asks for [Online], the date you read it and the DOI after “Available from:”. Our Leeds style leaves all three out, so add them yourself.

Imperial College London

Watson, J.D. & Crick, F.H.C. (1953) Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature. 171 (4356), 737–738. doi:10.1038/171737a0.

In the text(Watson & Crick, 1953:p.737)

“&” between the authors, no quotes round the article, a space before the issue and no pp. The DOI is written doi:, with no access date.

Australian Government Style Manual

Watson JD and Crick FHC (1953) ‘Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid’, Nature, 171(4356):737–738, doi:10.1038/171737a0.

In the text(Watson and Crick 1953:737)

The base of most Australian Harvard guides, RMIT’s among them. Initials have no full stops, no comma comes before the year in the text, a colon comes before the page, and the DOI is written doi: with no link.

Even guides that follow Cite Them Right differ on et al. in the reference list: De Montfort and Manchester Met use it from four authors, Newcastle only from ten.

A university’s name on a style does not mean it is up to date. The Open University now teaches Cite Them Right, but the Open University - Harvard style in Citation Creation prints its older form, and RMIT University - Harvard prints the form RMIT used before it moved to the Style Manual. There are more than 120 versions of Harvard to choose from, so check one reference against your own guide before you rely on a style.

How Citation Creation handles Harvard

Publishers often send titles with a capital on every main word. When a title reads that way, the form offers to change it to sentence case, with the subtitle after a colon starting small, and shows you the result first, so you can check that names keep their capitals.
References follow Cite Them Right’s 12th edition, so a book prints its place of publication when you give one.
From four authors it gives the first and et al., in the text and in the reference list. To name every author in the list, choose Cite Them Right 12th edition - Harvard (no “et al.”) with Change style.
Cite several sources in one place on the Writing order tab, free with an account, and they print in one bracket, oldest first: (Watson and Crick, 1953; Lee, 1960; World Health Organization, 2023). Some guides want the newest first, so reorder them by hand if yours does.
Cases, legislation and treaties print without their citation numbers, such as 347 U.S. 483. Add the numbers by hand, or use a legal style for legal work.

Cite a source in Harvard now

How to cite each source in Harvard (Cite Them Right 12th edition)

Website Book Journal Article Newspaper Article Book Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Report Video Podcast/Broadcast Magazine Article Software Dataset Patent Hearing Standard Conference Paper Manuscript Review Book Review Classic Work Reference Entry Dictionary Entry Encyclopedia Entry Periodical Collection Interview Speech Song Musical Score Graphic Figure Map Performance Event Pamphlet Preprint Document Post Blog Post Personal Communication Generative AI

Quick Facts

Full Name:: Cite Them Right 12th edition - Harvard
Citation Format:: Author-Date
Style Class:: In-Text Citations
Documentation:: View style guidelines

Journal-Specific Variations

These styles are based on Cite Them Right 12th edition - Harvard with modifications for specific journals or publications.

Harvard reference format 1 (deprecated) Oxford Brookes University - Harvard University of Gloucestershire - Harvard University of Sunderland - Harvard University of Worcester - Harvard

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