Citing using the Harvard style

When, in your work, you use an idea from a book, journal article, etc., you must acknowledge this in your text. This is referred to as ‘citing'.

Citing in the body of your text

When you insert a citation using the Harvard style you must always state the author/editor and the year of publication. If the work has two authors/editors you must include both names.

If you cannot identify a clear date of publication, you need to indicate in your citation and full reference that there is no date of publication. This should be done by using the phrase ‘no date’ in place of the year in your citation (and in the full reference); the abbreviation ‘n.d.’ is also acceptable.

You do not need to include the title, place of publication, etc.; the full details of the work are written in your reference list.

The following examples illustrate the different methods of writing an in-text citation. Your writing style will influence how references are cited in your text.

Examples