How to cite a journal article in Harvard

Harvard has no single official manual. This page follows Cite Them Right, the version many UK universities use, checked against university library guides based on it. Schools vary, so check your own guide before you submit.

Reference list format

Author, A. and Author, B. (Year) ‘Title of the article’, Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp. pages. Available at: https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Okafor, N. and Lindqvist, S. (2023) ‘Sleep timing and exam performance in first-year students’, Journal of Student Learning, 14(2), pp. 112–128. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1234/jsl.2023.0142.

• Authors. Surname, then initials. Join the last two names with “and”.
• Year. In round brackets.
• Article title. In single quotation marks, followed by a comma. Not italic.
• Journal title. Italic, with a capital on each main word.
• Volume and issue. The volume, then the issue in brackets.
• Pages. “pp.” before the page range.
• DOI. Write it as a full link starting with https://doi.org/. No accessed date is needed, because a DOI is a permanent identifier.

If there is no DOI

• Online, no DOI: give the article’s web address and the date you accessed it.

Okafor, N. and Lindqvist, S. (2023) ‘Sleep timing and exam performance in first-year students’, Journal of Student Learning, 14(2), pp. 112–128. Available at: https://example.org/jsl/article/142 (Accessed: 8 March 2025).

• Print copy: end the reference after the page range.
• Both a DOI and a web address: use the DOI.

Some courses ask you to cite every article as if you read it in print. Check your guide.

In-text citation

Give the authors and the year: (Okafor and Lindqvist, 2023). With three authors, name all three: (Haddad, Brennan and Sato, 2022). With four or more, use the first author and et al.: (Ruiz et al., 2021).

When you quote or point to one passage, add the page: (Okafor and Lindqvist, 2023, p. 115).

Four or more authors in the reference list

Guides differ here. Reading’s guide lists every author in the reference. Westminster’s uses the first author and et al. in the reference too, and says some lecturers want every name. Follow your school’s guide.

Check before you submit

• Quotation marks. Single marks around the article title, not double.
• Accessed date. Only with a web address, never with a DOI.
• “and” between names. The guides’ examples use “and”, not “&”.