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A Harvard in-text citation puts the author’s surname and the year of publication in brackets at the point where you use a source, for example (Harris, 2015). Add a page number when you quote or paraphrase a specific passage, and give every work cited a matching entry in the reference list at the end. The rules below follow the Cite Them Right variant of Harvard as set out by the Open University and Newcastle University libraries, and flag where University College London’s own variant differs.
The format
An in-text citation has up to three elements, in this order:
- Author: the surname of the author, or the names of up to three authors, or the first author followed by et al. for four or more (the Open University says you may instead name every author for four or more, provided you stay consistent). For a document with no personal author, the name of the organisation.
- Year: the year of publication, written after a comma inside the brackets. If there is no date, write “no date”.
- Locator (when needed): “p.” for one page or “pp.” for a range, placed after the year.
Template: (Surname, Year, p. Number). You can also build the author into the sentence and bracket only the year and page: Harris (2015, p. 5). Whichever form you use, the author and year must match the first elements of the entry in your reference list exactly.
Examples
The names below are fictitious examples written to show the pattern, not real publications.
| Authors | In-text citation |
|---|---|
| One author | (Harris, 2015) |
| Two authors | (Shah and Papadopoulos, 2015) |
| Three authors | (Wong, Smith and Adebole, 2015) |
| Four or more authors | (Wong et al., 2015) |
| With a page number | Harris (2015, p. 5) |
Each of these points to one reference-list entry. For a book, the Cite Them Right pattern is Surname, Initial. (Year) Title. Publisher; so the in-text citation (Harris, 2015) would pair with a fictitious entry such as: Harris, J. (2015) Studying citation habits. Example Press. The guide to citing a book sets out the full reference pattern.
In-text citation version
These are the situations that change what goes inside the brackets. Each row follows the Open University’s quick guide to Cite Them Right Harvard.
| Situation | What to do | Fictitious example |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting, or paraphrasing a specific passage | Add the page number after the year, “p.” for one page and “pp.” for a range | Harris (2015, p. 5) |
| Summarising the whole source | No page number needed | (Harris, 2015) |
| Web page with numbered paragraphs | Use “para.” before the paragraph number | (Harris, 2015, para. 4) |
| Audio or video | Give the time as minutes:seconds | (Example Channel, 2025, 12:30) |
| No publication date | Write “no date” in place of the year | (Harris, no date) |
| Organisation as author | Use the body’s name; after giving a long name in full once, an acronym is allowed | (The Open University, 2025) |
| Same author, same year | Add lower-case letters to the year, and use the same letters in the reference list | (The Open University, 2025a), (The Open University, 2025b) |
| Secondary source (you read one work that cites another) | Name the original, then “quoted in” the work you read; list only the work you read | (West et al., 2007, quoted in Birch, 2017, p. 17) |
Common errors
Mixing et al. thresholds between text and list
In the text, the Open University’s examples and UCL both use the first author plus et al. from four authors (the Open University adds that naming all authors is acceptable if you do it consistently). The reference list is where variants diverge: Newcastle’s Cite Them Right style sheet says to list all authors and use et al. only above ten, the Open University says you can list all authors or use et al. after the first author, and to be consistent. Pick one rule and apply it to the whole document. The guide to et al. usage rules covers the wider conventions.
Quoting without a page number
Both the Open University and UCL expect a page number when you quote directly or paraphrase a specific passage. A summary of a whole source needs none. Leaving it off a direct quotation is one of the most common ways an otherwise correct citation falls short.
Listing a source you only read about
With a secondary citation, only the work you actually read goes in the reference list. The original appears in the text only.
Letters that do not match the list
If two works by the same author share a year, the letters you add in the text (2025a, 2025b) must be the same letters used in the reference list.
Using older punctuation habits
Robert Gordon University’s guide to the changes in Cite Them Right Harvard notes that the current pattern puts commas in in-text citations and single quotation marks around article titles in the reference list. Older local guides may differ.
Style-guide edition
Harvard is a family of author-date variants and not one manual with a single edition number, so there is no “current Harvard edition” to quote. The pages used here follow the Cite Them Right approach used by the Open University and Newcastle University (the Newcastle style sheet is dated August 2025), and UCL publishes its own variant. The two differ in details such as how the reference list handles long author lists and in spacing, for instance UCL writes the page locator without a space, as in (Reiss and White, 2013, p.6). Your institution, department or target journal decides which variant applies, so follow their guide and use it consistently.
For a thesis or manuscript, the in-text form maps one to one onto the reference list: the same surname spelling, the same year and the same a/b letters. If you are still choosing a style, the guide to citation styles and referencing formats compares the families, and the IEEE reference format guide shows what a numbered system looks like by contrast.
FAQ
What does a Harvard in-text citation look like?
The author’s surname and the year in brackets, such as (Harris, 2015). With a quotation, add the page: (Harris, 2015, p. 5).
When do I use et al. in Harvard in-text citations?
For four or more authors, the usual form is the first author followed by et al., as in (Wong et al., 2015); the Open University also accepts naming every author if you do so consistently. Up to three authors are named in full.
Do I need a page number for every citation?
No. Give one when you quote or refer to a specific passage. A summary of the whole source needs none.
How do I cite a source with no date?
Write “no date” where the year would go: (Harris, no date).
Is there one official Harvard style?
No. Several universities publish their own variant, so check which one your institution or journal requires.
Sources
- The Open University Library, Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right), checked 29 October 2026.
- UCL Library Services, Harvard referencing guide: authors, checked 29 October 2026.
- Newcastle University, Cite Them Right Harvard style sheet (August 2025), checked 28 October 2026.
- Robert Gordon University Library, What is different in Cite Them Right Harvard, checked 28 October 2026.
