Versions of Harvard (author-date)

Unfortunately there is no one 'definitive' version of Harvard (author-date) style of referencing. As a consequence there are many versions of Harvard (author-date) and it is, therefore, important that you check with your School which version you should be using. There are, however, a number of recognised styles of Harvard (author-date). There is a standard version of Harvard (author-date), based on Palgrave's Cite Them Right, and this version is supported by the University of Birmingham. More information and guidance is available below. In addition to this standard style, the American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago and Modern Language Association (MLA) all use a version of Harvard.

See Cite Them Right Online from Bloomsbury Publishing (developed from Cite Them Right) for information and examples, as well as the Library's iCite Guide pages.

American Psychological Association (APA)

This style is used within Psychology and related subjects.

NB: there is now a 7th edition of the APA, but full details for the 6th edition are still available
You should discuss directly with your School or Programme tutors as to which edition is preferred
Information links for both editions are below

APA 7th edition:

APA website:
- In-text citations
- References
Cite Them Right Online - requires University of Birmingham login

APA 6th edition:

APA official page with further information

Online Tutorials:

APA website - 7th edition
APA website - 6th edition

Chicago Style

This style is mainly used in the arts and humanities fields of study

- Further details are available on the official Chicago Manual of Style Online:
  1. Author-date
  2. Notes and bibliography
- The pages linked above are for the current ie 17th Edition
- The official manual also has pages covering the previous ie 16th Edition

MLA Style

Mainly used in the liberal arts and humanities
- Examples and guidance from Purdue University
- Cite them right online - MLA (requires University of Birmingham login)

Check the i-Cite Guide for useful links.

General Harvard (author-date) based on Cite Them Right

Below are some examples of how to cite in text, using the Harvard (author-date) system of referencing.

These examples are based on the Harvard style used in Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 9th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, and in Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 11th revised and expanded edn. London: Macmillan International. This is now available in a 12th edition (Pears and Shields, 2022).

Cite Them Right Online from Bloomsbury Publishing is available to UoB students and staff (login as institution 'University of Birmingham' when off-campus or if prompted). This has many detailed examples for all styles, and includes a Sample text and reference list for Harvard.

Author's name falls naturally within text

Where the author’s family name falls naturally within the text, put the date of the publication in brackets after the family name.

Example

Ali (1990) demonstrated the importance of suspended sediment in determining the pollution profile of rivers. However, Singh and Jones (1992) claim that additional factors, such as channel hydraulics, have been shown to be equally influential.

Author's name does not occur naturally in text

If the author's name does not occur naturally in text then the reference should be included in the sentence and brackets should be placed around the author's family name and date (Zephaniah, 2020).

Example

'In 2007, China and India together contributed nearly as much to global growth as the United States' (Eichengreen et al., 2010).

Citing multiple sources

If you want to refer to two or more sources at the same time separate them with semi-colons and order them either alphabetically or chronologically.

Example

These ideas have been pursued by other American scientists (Graf, 2004; Outcalt, 2007; Wolman and Brown, 2010).

Citing one author/editor

If you cite a source with one author/editor, insert author's family name, follow with a comma and then date of publication.

Example

In this seminal work (Angelou, 1986), the author surveys her life in the context of ...

Citing two authors/editors

When citing a source with two authors/editors, insert both names in text and separate each name with and

Example

Agrawal and Khan (2011) show how 'Gross Domestic Product' (also known as GDP, a measure of growth) has increased for both economies between 1975 and 2009.

Citing three authors/editors

When citing a source with three authors/editors, list all three names, but separate the 2nd and 3rd author with an and - note some Harvard referencing systems will require the use of et al for sources with three or more authors.

Example

Xiao, Liang and Wang (2020) have shown ...

Or citing a source where the name doesn't fall naturally in text

Recent research (Hinchliff, Norman and Schober, 2008) has shown ...

**Citing four or more authors/editors (using et al)**

When citing a source which has four or more authors/editors use the first author's family name followed by et al (meaning and others)

Example

Heyman et al. (2013) give good examples of ...

Or citing a source where the name doesn't fall naturally in text

Recent research (Heyman et al., 2013) has shown ...

Citing a source quoted in another work (primary and secondary sources)

You may wish to refer to an author's idea, model or dataset but have not been able to read the actual chapter containing the information, but only another author's discussion or report of it. Similarly you may refer to a primary source, e.g. an author's letters or diary, or a government report, that you have only 'read' as cited or reproduced within another author's text. This is known as secondary referencing because you have not actually read the source, but only someone else's account of it. If possible, you should try to track down the original source and read it for yourself and then reference it as normal. If you cannot track down the reference, then you should reference the source as a secondary reference using the following format:

Example

If the source directly quotes from the original work, use 'quoted in'

The model of Mitchell (1996, quoted in Parry and Carter, 2003, p.160) simulates the suppressing effects of sulphate aerosols on the magnitude of global warming.

If the source summarises from the original work, use 'cited in'

The model of Mitchell (1996, cited in Parry and Carter, 2003) simulates the suppressing effects of sulphate aerosols on the magnitude of global warming.

NOTE: If you have not been able to track down Mitchell's work and read it for yourself you do not include Mitchell's work in the reference list, only the work by Parry and Carter, which you have read, would appear in the reference list.

Citing an author who has published more than one item in the same year

If you wish to cite an author who has published more than one item in the same year, use a lower case letter to distinguish between them e.g. Schmidt (2012a) is the first piece of Schmidt's work referred to, Schmidt (2012b) the second and so on. The letters should also be included in the reference list.

Example

Peate (2014a) discusses changes to the Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC) Code of Conduct and the implications this has for nurses and midwives. In a later article Peate (2014b) criticises the NMC's decision to increase the registration fee for nurses ...

Citing works of corporate (organisational) authorship

here will be occasions when you want to cite an item which has no named personal author, but is instead issued by a professional body, society, government department or other similar corporate body. In such cases the organisation is named as if it were the author e.g. (Department of Health, 2015)

Example

According to the Department of Health (2015), extra NHS funding of £550 million will increase evening and weekend GP appointments, improving patient access to doctors and health care.

Or citing a source where the name doesn't fall naturally in text

According to a recent report, an extra £550 million funding for NHS will improve access to GPs allowing for an increase in evening and weekend appointments (Department of Health, 2015).