EssayTools

Harvard referencing generator

Generate Harvard references and in-text citations in the widely used Cite Them Right format.

Source type
Authors

Harvard citation

Untitled (no date).

In-text citation

  • Parenthetical: (, no date)
  • Narrative: (no date)

Reference list (0)

Saved sources appear here, sorted alphabetically and formatted in the style you pick. They're stored only in this browser.

Harvard rules at a glance

Harvard (author-date) is the most common referencing style at UK, Australian and many other universities.

  • Harvard has no single official version. This tool follows Cite Them Right, the guide most UK universities use; check your university's own guide for small differences.
  • Author surname and initials, then the year in brackets with no full stop: Dweck, C. S. (2006)
  • Book titles and journal names in italics; article titles in single quotation marks.
  • Online sources end with "Available at: URL (Accessed: day month year)." A DOI replaces the URL and needs no access date.
  • Four or more authors: first author followed by "et al." in both the reference and the in-text citation.
  • In-text: (Author, year) or (Author, year, p. x) for quotations. Reference list alphabetical by author.

Harvard examples

Journal article

Beland, L.-P. and Murphy, R. (2016) ‘Ill communication: Technology, distraction & student performance’, Labour Economics, 41, pp. 61–76. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2016.04.004.

Book

Dweck, C. S. (2006) Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Web page

World Health Organization (2024) Adolescent and young adult health. Available at: https://www.who.int/… (Accessed: 27 September 2026).

In-text

(Beland and Murphy, 2016) · Dweck (2006, p. 7) argues…

Other styles: APA Citation Generator · MLA Citation Generator · Chicago Citation Generator.

Questions students ask

Is Harvard the same as APA?

Both are author-date styles, but punctuation differs: Harvard puts the year in brackets without a following full stop, uses "and" instead of "&", and adds "Available at" and "Accessed" for online sources.

Which version of Harvard does my university use?

Most UK universities use Cite Them Right; some publish their own variant. Check your module handbook and adjust small details (like the place of publication) if required.

How do I reference a website with no date?

Use (no date) in place of the year, both in the reference list and in the text: (BBC, no date).