---
name: citation-style-harvard
description: Use when asked to cite sources, format in-text citations, or build a reference list in Harvard citation style, used in business, the sciences, and the social sciences, especially in the United Kingdom and Australia; author-date like [[citation-style-apa]], but with no single official manual.
---

# Harvard Citation Style

Harvard citation style is the style commonly required in business, the sciences, and the social sciences, especially in the United Kingdom and Australia. Family: Author-date. There is no single official Harvard standard.

## Input required

- The sources to cite, with author, title, date, publisher or journal, volume, issue, pages, and DOI or URL.
- The edition, institution, or journal whose rules apply.

## Questions to ask first

1. Which edition or institutional variant must the work follow?
2. Is the output in-text citations, reference-list entries, or both?
3. What type is each source (book, article, web page, report, legal authority)?
4. Is any information missing, such as the date, pages, or DOI?

## In-text citations

- Parenthetical: `(Smith 2020)` or with a page `(Smith 2020, p. 45)`; narrative: `Smith (2020)`.
- Two authors usually join with `and`: `(Smith and Lee 2020)`.
- Three or more authors are usually shortened to `et al.`, but the threshold varies by institution.

## Reference format

Titled `Reference list` or `References`, alphabetical by first author. Details such as punctuation, italics, author-count thresholds, and whether to give access dates differ between universities, so the user's institutional guide decides.

## Example pattern

The names, title, and numbers below are placeholders showing the pattern, not a real source.

```text
Smith, J.A. and Lee, K. (2020) 'Title of the article', *Journal Name*, 12(3), pp. 45–67. doi:xx.xxxx/xxxxx.
```

## Ground rules

- Use only the details the user supplied or that can be checked. Never invent authors, dates, DOIs, page numbers, or sources.
- If a detail is missing, leave a clear placeholder and say so.
- Apply one style consistently throughout the document.
- When the user's institution or journal differs from this guide, follow theirs.

## Self-check before answering

- Does every in-text citation have a matching reference entry, and the reverse?
- Are the ordering, capitalization, punctuation, and italics consistent with this style?
- Were any details guessed? Remove or flag them.

## Common pitfalls

- **Assuming one Harvard** — universities publish their own variants (for example, the widely used Cite Them Right); ask which one applies.
- **Mixing variants** — do not combine one institution's in-text rules with another's reference format.
- **Confusing Harvard with APA** — they look alike, but punctuation, capitalization, and the use of `&` differ.

## Learn more

- Compare with the other styles: [[citation-style-apa]], [[citation-style-mla]], [[citation-style-chicago]], [[citation-style-vancouver]], [[citation-style-ieee]], [[citation-style-ama]], [[citation-style-oscola]].