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How to reference a journal article in Harvard style

Harvard (Cite Them Right) Cite Them Right 12th edition · Updated

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In Harvard (Cite Them Right), a journal article reference gives the authors, year, the article title in single quotation marks, the journal title in italics, the volume, issue and pages, and a DOI if there is one.

Format

Surname, Initial. and Surname, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), pp. first–last. Available at: https://doi.org/xxxx.

HarvardTwo authors

Suri, T. and Jack, W. (2016) ‘The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money’, Science, 354(6317), pp. 1288–1292. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

In-text: (Suri and Jack, 2016, p. 1290)

The parts, one by one

  1. Authors. Surname, then initials with no spaces between them (Suri, T.). Two or three authors are all named, with and before the last.
  2. Year. In brackets, with no punctuation after: (2016).
  3. Article title. In single quotation marks, sentence case, followed by a comma after the closing quotation mark.
  4. Journal title. In italics and title case.
  5. Volume and issue. Volume, then the issue in brackets: 354(6317).
  6. Pages. Preceded by pp.: pp. 1288–1292.
  7. DOI. “Available at:” and the DOI link, ending with a full stop.

One author and four or more authors

HarvardOne author

Granovetter, M.S. (1973) ‘The strength of weak ties’, American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), pp. 1360–1380. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1086/225469.

In-text: (Granovetter, 1973)

HarvardFour or more authors

Banerjee, A. et al. (2015) ‘The miracle of microfinance? Evidence from a randomized evaluation’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1), pp. 22–53. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20130533.

In-text: (Banerjee et al., 2015)

With four or more authors, Cite Them Right gives only the first author followed by et al. in the reference list and in the text: (Banerjee et al., 2015).

In-text citations

  • End of a sentence: Mobile money reduced poverty in Kenya (Suri and Jack, 2016).
  • As part of the sentence: Suri and Jack (2016) show that…
  • With a quotation: (Suri and Jack, 2016, p. 1290).
  • Several sources: (Aker and Mbiti, 2010; Suri and Jack, 2016).

Articles without a DOI

  • Print article, or found in a library database: end after the page range. No “Available at”.
  • Online article with a URL but no DOI: end with Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Harvard vs APA for journal articles

APAThe same article in APA 7, for comparison

Suri, T., & Jack, W. (2016). The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science, 354(6317), 1288–1292. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309

APA puts a full stop after the year, uses no quotation marks around the title, drops “pp.”, writes “&” and gives the DOI without “Available at”. If your list is in APA and you need Harvard, the APA to Harvard converter does the whole list at once.

Common mistakes

  • Using double quotation marks or none. Cite Them Right uses single quotation marks.
  • Putting a full stop after the year.
  • Forgetting “pp.” before the page range.
  • Listing four or more authors in full. Use the first author and et al.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use “et al.” in Harvard referencing?

In Cite Them Right Harvard, sources with four or more authors are given as the first author followed by et al., both in the reference list and in the text. Up to three authors are all named.

Do I need an accessed date for an online journal article?

Not when the article has a DOI. Give “Available at:” followed by the DOI link. Add an accessed date only when you give an ordinary URL instead of a DOI.

Are journal article titles in quotation marks in Harvard?

Yes. Cite Them Right puts the article title in single quotation marks, followed by a comma, and the journal title in italics.

Is Harvard the same as APA?

Both are author–date styles, but the punctuation differs. Harvard has no full stop after the year, puts the article title in quotation marks, adds pp. before pages and uses “and” rather than “&”.