Harvard referencing: a practical UK guide
Harvard is the author–date system used across most UK universities. This guide covers how to cite in the text, how to build the reference list, and the small errors that quietly cost marks.
Harvard referencing is not one single style — it is a family of author–date systems, and most UK universities follow a local variant of Cite Them Right. Always check your department's guide; the principles below apply to all of them.
In-text citations
A Harvard in-text citation gives the author's surname and the year, in brackets, at the point where the idea is used.
| Situation | In-text format |
|---|---|
| Single author | (Smith, 2021) |
| Two authors | (Smith and Jones, 2020) |
| Three or more authors | (Smith et al., 2019) |
| Corporate author | (NHS England, 2023) |
| No date | (Smith, no date) |
| Direct quotation | (Smith, 2021, p. 45) |
| Secondary citation | (Smith, 2010, cited in Jones, 2022) |
Narrative citations put the author in the sentence and the year in brackets: Smith (2021) argues that… Use them to vary your writing and to foreground the scholar rather than the fact.
Reference list examples
| Source type | Reference list entry |
|---|---|
| Book | Smith, J. (2021) Understanding social policy. 3rd edn. London: Palgrave Macmillan. |
| Chapter in edited book | Jones, A. (2020) 'Youth policy', in Brown, P. (ed.) Social policy in Britain. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 112–134. |
| Journal article | Kaur, R. (2022) 'Mental health in higher education', Journal of Student Wellbeing, 14(2), pp. 25–41. |
| Website | GOV.UK (2024) Student finance: how to apply. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance (Accessed: 19 September 2026). |
| Government report | Department for Education (2023) Higher education statistics 2022/23. London: DfE. |
| Journal article online with DOI | Lee, M. (2021) 'Assessment design', Assessment & Evaluation, 12(1), pp. 1–18. doi: 10.1234/ae.2021.01. |
The mistakes markers deduct for
- Sources in the reference list that are never cited in the text — or citations with no matching entry.
- Missing page numbers for direct quotations.
- Websites without an author or access date where the style requires one.
- Mixing styles: Harvard in one paragraph, something else in the next.
- An automated citation tool used without checking — missing italics, wrong punctuation and capitalisation errors are the usual results.
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Frequently asked questions
Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
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