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Harvard Citation Generator

Enter one source to get its Harvard reference, parenthetical citation and narrative citation. The generator follows one defined version of Harvard, based on Cite Them Right, and explains every choice it makes.

Free, no account

One version of Harvard

ResearchKit uses a defined Harvard author-date profile. Harvard referencing varies between institutions, so check your university's referencing requirements.
What are you citing?
Authors

In the order shown on the source. An organization can be the author. Leave blank if no person or organization is responsible.

Author 1
Author type

Full names or initials, such as Stella or J.G. Harvard uses initials.

As it appears on the source, including any subtitle after a colon. Harvard uses sentence case: capitals only for the first word and proper nouns.

Date of publication

Only the year is used. Leave blank if the source shows no date: Harvard then uses “no date”.

More details (optional)

A number, such as 2. Leave blank for a first edition.

Such as 10.1111/risa.13574, or the full https://doi.org/ link.

Only if there is no DOI. Add the date you accessed it below.

Date you accessed it

Harvard gives the date you viewed a source with its URL. It isn't needed with a DOI.

Harvard Reference

Fill in the form, or load the example, to see the reference and citations.

How references are formatted

  • The author and year in the citation match the start of the reference, so readers can find one from the other: (Cottrell, 2019) leads to Cottrell, S. (2019) …
  • In the reference, authors are family names and initials, all listed, with “and” before the last. In the text, up to three are named; four or more become the first author and “et al.”.
  • A comma separates the name, year and page in a parenthetical citation: (Smith, 2015, p. 23). In a narrative citation, the year and page follow the name in brackets: Smith (2015, p. 23).
  • Book and web page titles are in italics; article titles are in single quotation marks, and journal titles in italics. Pages take “p.” or “pp.”.
  • A DOI or URL follows “Available at:”. A URL is followed by the date you accessed it; a DOI needs no access date. Without a date, “no date” stands in for the year.

What the generator can't check

  • Your university's version. Harvard has no single official version. This generator follows one defined profile; where your university's guide differs, follow your guide.
  • Same author, same year. Letters such as 2024a and 2024b depend on your whole reference list, so you choose them; the generator doesn't assign them.
  • Capital letters. Titles are used as you type them; sentence case needs your judgment about proper nouns.
  • Other sources and contributors. Chapters, editors, translators, reports, news articles and other formats aren't supported yet.
  • Whether the details are right. The generator formats what you enter; check names, dates and numbers against the source.

Privacy

Your citation is generated entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to ResearchKit or anyone else, or stored.