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Harvard citation style (author-date)

Free Harvard Citation Generator

Generate free Harvard citations instantly — paste a DOI, URL, ISBN, or search by topic. CiteMe searches records from active academic indexes and formats author-date references and in-text citations like (Smith, 2024) in seconds. No signup required.

Need a tool to cite this for me? Paste any source above and get Harvard references instantly.

How to generate Harvard references

1

Search a title, DOI, URL, or author

Find the source in active academic indexes instead of typing a Harvard citation manually.

2

Check the Harvard details

Confirm author names, publication year, title formatting, and source details before copying the final citation.

3

Copy the reference and in-text citation

Use the generated Harvard bibliography entry plus the matching author-date in-text citation in your assignment or paper.

Why Use Our Harvard Citation Generator?

Source records with provenance

Search records from OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef. Each result identifies its metadata source and includes a DOI when available.

Harvard Author-Date Format

Create Harvard-style references plus the matching author-date in-text citation without formatting by hand.

Source Types That Matter

Handle books, journal articles, websites, reports, and other common Harvard source types from one page.

In-Text Citations Included

Get both the full reference and the in-text citation (Author, Year) format ready to paste into your paper.

Harvard Citation Examples

Journal Article

Smith, J.D. and Johnson, M.R. (2024) 'Machine learning in healthcare diagnostics', Nature Medicine, 29(4), pp. 123-145.

Book

Williams, A.B. (2023) Introduction to data science. Academic Press.

Website

World Health Organization (2024) 'Mental health guidelines'. Available at: https://www.who.int/mental-health (Accessed: 15 January 2024).

Examples formatted in Harvard - Cite Them Right style

Harvard In-Text Citations

Single Author

Author and year in brackets:

...as shown in recent studies (Smith, 2024).

Multiple Authors

Use "and" for two, "et al." for three+:

...the research (Smith and Johnson, 2024).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Harvard referencing style?

Harvard referencing is an author-date citation system widely used in UK and Australian universities. It uses in-text citations like (Smith, 2024) and a reference list at the end of the document.

Is Harvard the same as APA?

They are similar but have key differences. Harvard uses single quotes for article titles, different date formatting, and "and" instead of "&" for multiple authors. Our generator handles these differences automatically.

Which universities use Harvard style?

Harvard is popular in UK universities (Oxford, Cambridge, LSE), Australian universities (Sydney, Melbourne), and many institutions in Europe and Asia. Always check your specific university's guidelines.

How do I cite a website in Harvard?

Include author/organization, year, title in single quotes, website name in italics, and accessed date. Example: NHS (2024) 'Mental health support', NHS.uk. Available at: https://nhs.uk/mental-health (Accessed: 15 January 2024).

Is this Harvard citation generator free?

Yes! CiteMe offers free Harvard citations on the free tier. Perfect for essays and dissertations.

Common Harvard citation mistakes

Avoid the most frequent formatting errors with a quick checklist by source type.

Open mistakes guide →

Need help with a specific Harvard source?

Use the referencing hub for UK-first wording, then jump into the lecture, journal, and website pages that carry the clearest Harvard intent.

Need source-specific Harvard pages?

Use the canonical Harvard hub and its source-specific pages for lectures, journal articles, and websites.

Stay in the Harvard workflow

Continue with guides, templates, and mistakes for the same citation style.

Citation tools & comparisons

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