How to Cite In the Harvard Referencing Style|2025

Learn how to cite in the Harvard referencing style with clear examples and guidelines to help you reference sources accurately in your academic work.

How to Cite in the Harvard referencing style is the main theme of the article. Majority of the referencing help websites do not teach students the Harvard referencing style. It makes most students paranoid when they are told to cite their assignment in the Harvard referencing style. Citing your work in the Harvard referencing style is crucial because it helps you understand this writing style in-depth, and also bring uniformity in your work.

The Basics about referencing in the Harvard Referencing Style
Your reference list should be double-spaced unless a student is instructed otherwise. In addition to that, it is preferable that a student uses Times New Roman, font size 12.
Write the references on a new page with the title ‘References.’
Include all the references for all your in-text citations. A reference list is only complete once a student indicates all the sources they have used in their paper.
Organize all your references in the alphabetical order. In case one source contains no author, ensure you list the source by the titles excluding the articles a, an, and the.
How to cite a journal article

A journal article is pretty easy to cite. Use the following formula;

The Author’s Last Name, Initial. (Year) Title of the article. Title of journal, Vol. no. (Part no./Issue/Month), Pages, use p. or pp.

Table of Contents

Citing a book in the Harvard style

Books have the same citing formula. However, the method slightly changes depending on whether the book has been written by one author, two authors, or more than three authors. In case this was the case, here is the formula of how one would go about it;

A Book with One Author:

The format of citing such a source in this writing style is:

The Last Name of the Author, Initial. (Year). Title. Edition if not the 1st. Place of publication: Publisher.

A Book with Two Authors:

The surname of the first Author, Initial. & the last name of the second Author, Initial. (Year). Title. Edition if not the 1st. Place of publication: Publisher

A Book with Three or more authors:

The format of such a book is;

The first Author’s last name, Initial. et al. (Year). Title. Edition if not the 1st. Place of publication: Publisher.

How to cite a magazine or a newspaper

A magazine or newspaper can also be used to draw arguments and counterarguments. In case one does so, here is the format to follow;

Author(s) of the article – family name and initials Year of publication, ‘Title of the article – in single quotation marks,’ Title of Newspaper or Magazine– should be italicized, Day Month, Page number(s)

Citing a film in the Harvard referencing style

Besides books and journal articles, films are other sources of information. Below is the format of how to cite a video in the Harvard referencing style;

The Author/Producer/Director Year, Title, type of medium, Publisher, Place.

How to cite a book chapter in a book that has been edited

To cite a book chapter in a book that has been edited using the Harvard referencing style, include the author of the chapter, year of publication, title of the chapter, followed by “In:” and the editor(s) of the book, the title of the book in italics, edition (if not the first), publisher, and page numbers. For example:

Smith, J. (2020). Understanding Climate Change. In: Brown, L., ed., Environmental Studies Today. 2nd ed. London: Green Earth Publishers, pp. 45–67.

Always ensure all names are correctly spelled and all punctuation follows Harvard guidelines.