What is Harvard referencing?

Harvard is an author-date referencing style: sources are cited in the text as (Author, year) and listed alphabetically in a reference list at the end. It is the most widely used style in UK and Australian universities, particularly in the social sciences, business and health subjects.

Why does Harvard style look different at different universities?

Because Harvard has no single governing body, unlike APA or MLA. Individual institutions publish their own Harvard guides, which differ on punctuation, italics and the exact format for online sources. Cite Them Right is the most widely adopted version in the UK — use that mode if your department names it, and check your course handbook if it does not.

How do I cite a website in Harvard style?

Author or organisation, year in brackets, page title in italics, then 'Available at:' followed by the URL and '(Accessed: DD Month YYYY)'. Paste the URL above and the generator assembles this for you, flagging any part it could not determine.

Is the Harvard citation generator free?

Yes — free, no sign-up, no ads, and no limit on how many citations you generate.

Free Harvard Citation Generator

Harvard referencing from whatever details you have — URL, title, authors, year. Reference list entry and in-text citation, formatted and ready to paste.

Standard HarvardCite Them Right

0 / 10,000 characters

The result will appear here.

Why use this harvard citation generator?

Reference list and in-text

Both halves of a Harvard citation, every time — the full reference entry and the (Author, year) form to drop into your sentence.

Handles Harvard's variants

Harvard is a family of styles, not one standard. Switch to Cite Them Right for the conventions most UK universities specify.

Works from partial details

Give it a bare URL and it fills in what it can, then lists exactly which details you still need to look up.

Never invents sources

Missing authors, dates or page numbers are flagged as missing — not fabricated. Placeholders follow the standard conventions.

How to use the harvard citation generator

Paste your source details
A URL, or whatever you have: title, author, year, publisher, journal, DOI, page numbers.
Pick your Harvard variant
Standard Harvard, or Cite Them Right if your university specifies it.
Copy both parts
The reference list entry goes at the end of your document; the in-text citation goes in the sentence.

About this harvard citation generator

Harvard referencing is the author-date system most UK and Australian universities ask for: an in-text (Author, year) citation pointing to an alphabetical reference list at the end. This free Harvard citation generator builds both halves from whatever source details you can give it — a bare URL is enough to start.

The awkward thing about Harvard is that there is no single Harvard. Unlike APA or MLA, no organisation owns the style, so universities publish their own guides that disagree on italics, punctuation and how to present online sources. Cite Them Right is the version most UK institutions have settled on, and it has its own mode here; if your handbook names a different guide, generate the citation and adjust the punctuation to match.

Nothing is invented. If the year, author or page numbers are missing from what you paste, the citation uses the standard placeholders and a final line tells you exactly what to go and look up. For a different style, the citation generator handles APA, MLA and Chicago as well.

Frequently asked questions

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