The examples on this page are based on Umeå University Library's version of the Harvard style.
The Harvard style is a system of referencing in which a text's citations are placed in parentheses. Here you will find explanations and examples of how to structure references according to Harvard.
The examples on this page are based on Umeå University Library's version of the Harvard style.
When you refer to other people's theories in your academic text, you must clearly state the sources you have used. A citation is a reference to an article, book, report or other sources in the body of the text.
According to the Harvard style, in-text references to sources are placed in parentheses. There are different ways to do this. In our variant, the reference consists of the author's surname followed by the year of publication and page number.
At the end of your document, you collect all the sources you have used in an alphabetical reference list.
In Harvard, there are two ways to cite a source, depending on whether you mention the author's name in the text.
Author (year of publication, page number)
When summarising a text or theory, you can mention the author of the source in your text. In this case, include the year of publication and page number in the parentheses directly after the author's name.
Example
According to Alvehus (2019, p. 66), departments often have their own writing instructions for how to write references.
(Author year of publication, page number)
When summarising a text or theory without mentioning the author, include the author's surname, year of publication and page number in the parentheses. Place the parentheses directly after the sentences where you use the source, but before the full stop.
Example
There are several reasons why citing sources is so important in academia. One of them is to show where the facts come from so that the reader can check the information and thus also assess its credibility (Alvehus 2019, pp. 64-65).
Source with one author
Example
The structure of the European Union is often described in the shape of three pillars. The first pillar is the largest (Tallberg 2004, p. 65).
or
Tallberg (2004, p. 65) describes the structure of the European Union in the shape of three pillars, of which the first pillar is the largest.
Source with two or three authors
Example
(Fossum, Skantz & Katzeff 1997, pp. 25-31).
or
Fossum, Skantz and Katzeff (1997, pp. 25-31) mean...
Source with four or more authors
If there are more than three authors, cite only the first author's surname followed by "et al".
Example
(Johnson et al. 2001, p. 226).
or
Johnson et al. (2001, p. 226) found that...
Book chapters
For the in-text reference, include the surname(s) of the author(s) of the book chapter, year of publication and pages number(s).
The reference list should provide information that the source is a chapter in a book.
Material with no personal author
Some sources do not have a personal author. In those cases, corporate authors (organisations, companies, and authorities etc.) will function as “authors”. If a journal article does not have a personal author, use the title of the journal as an in-text reference.
Example
(Frankfurter Allgemeine 2015, p. 21).
No year of publication available
If no information about year of publication is available, state n.d. (no date).
Example
(Johnson n.d., p. 15).
Sources with no page numbers
If books, journal articles or reports do not have page numbers, state the chapter/headline and paragraph instead. For information on how to cite web pages with no page numbers, see the instructions for web pages.
The in-text reference example below refers to paragraph 3 in the “Introduction” chapter in the book by Smith published in 2018.
Example
(Smith 2018, Introduction, para. 3).
Web pages
State author, year of publication and, if applicable, page number(s) (page numbers are missing in most cases for web pages). If there is no personal author, use the corporate author (company, organisation, authority etc.). If no information about the year of publication is available, state n.d. (no date).
Example
(Volvo 2019).
or
According to Volvo (2019) production will…
Audiovisual media
The time stamp for a video lecture or an audiobook becomes the equivalent to a page reference for an audiovisual source. You specify how many minutes and seconds into the file the current section starts.
Template
(Author/equivalent Year, chapter (if applicable), minutes:seconds)
For longer files the time stamp can be expanded to include hours: hours:minutes:seconds
Example
(Smith 2010, ch. 3, 4:35).
Illustrations (photographs, figures, diagrams, tables etc.)
You can cite illustrations without including the actual illustration in your text.
Example – the image is not included in your text
The painting "The fighting temeraire" (Turner 1839) shows...
If you include an illustration made by someone else in your paper, you must check if it is protected by copyright. For illustrations protected by copyright, you must ask for permission from the copyright owner before you include them in your text. If you use an illustration in your paper, include a caption with the following information: image number (e.g. Figure 1), title, creator of illustration and year. Cite the person (artist, photographer etc.) who has made the illustration in the in-text reference.
Example – the image is included in your text
Image 5 (Hazel 2015, p. 32) is a typical example of...
Example – image with a Creative Commons-license
Image 4. Puffin prepares to fly. (Marshall 2022). CC BY 2.0 DEED
More information
Using images with a Creative Commons license
Secondary sources
To cite a source from a secondary source is generally to be avoided, since you are expected to have read the works you cite. If a primary source (original source) is not available, you may use a secondary source. If you use secondary sources, the primary and secondary source and year should be indicated in the in-text reference. Only the secondary source is to be included in the reference list.
Example
In the example below you have read Bob Smith's book "Democracy" published in 1972, where he on page 67 cites Tom Small's book "Civil rights" published in 1832:
Small (1832, cited in Smith 1972, p. 67) claims...
or
(Small 1832, cited in Smith 1972, p. 67).
Personal communication
Personal communication is information you receive through, for example, emails, phone calls, interviews and lectures. You must always get permission from the person in question before making a reference, and if anonymity has been promised, you must keep that promise.
Sometimes personal communication is stated in a footnote on the page where you refer to it, in which case you should not include the reference in the reference list. Check with your teacher/supervisor if you are unsure what applies to your course.
Example - named person
(Svensson, 2023).
Example - person promised anonymity
(Informant 1).
Use of acronyms/abbreviations
The first time you cite a source by an organisation, provide the full name of the organisation followed by the standard acronym/abbreviation in square brackets. When you cite from the same source again, you will only need to write the abbreviation. Provide the full name in the reference list, followed by the acronym/abbreviation of the organisation within parentheses.
Example – provide the full name the first time
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 2010, p. 89).
Example – only acronym the next time
(OECD 2010, p. 95).
Several works by one author in the same year
If you are quoting several works published by the same author in the same year, they should be separated by adding a lower-case letter directly after the year for each item. Which reference should have a or b is determined by which title is first in the alphabet. Please note that the works should be separated the same way in the reference list (by adding a lower-case letter after the year).
Example
Previous results confirmed the thesis (Duncan 2000a, pp. 167-169), but later research disproved it (Duncan 2000b, pp. 40-44).
Citing multiple sources supporting the same idea
When citing multiple sources within the same parenthesis, place the in-text references in alphabetical order, separating them with semicolons.
Example
Studies (Jones and Wilson 2019, p. 14; Smith 2016, p. 38; Yourstone 2012, p. 145) show…
A video about the Harvard reference style.
Do you have questions about how to write a reference list or cite sources? Visit our drop-in sessions or schedule a tutoring appointment if you need help from a librarian. You can also submit short questions via chat and the contact form or ask the staff at the information desk.