Harvard referencing

A family of author–date citation styles. There's no single official version, so follow the guide your school uses.

“Harvard” describes any style that cites sources as (Author Year) in the text and lists them alphabetically at the end. Because there’s no official Harvard manual, universities publish their own versions, and the details (punctuation, quotation marks, what to italicize) vary.

(Smith, 2023, p. 12)

One of the most widely used versions, especially in the UK, is Cite Them Right, now in its 13th edition (2025). PaperCitation’s Harvard citations follow the open Cite Them Right style definition from the Citation Style Language project, which is based on the 12th edition, so small details may differ from the newest edition. If your school has its own Harvard guide, follow that.