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  • Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples

Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples

Published on 19 May 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 7 November 2022.

To reference a website in Harvard style , include the name of the author or organization, the year of publication, the title of the page, the URL, and the date on which you accessed the website.

Different formats are used for other kinds of online source, such as articles, social media posts and multimedia content. You can generate accurate Harvard references for all kinds of sources with our free reference generator:

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Table of contents

Online articles, social media posts, images, videos and podcasts, referencing websites with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard website references.

Blog posts and online newspaper articles are both referenced in the same format: include the title of the article in quotation marks, the name of the blog or newspaper in italics, and the date of publication.

The format for a magazine article is slightly different. Instead of a precise date, include the month, season, or volume and issue number, depending on what the magazine uses to identify its issues.

The URL and access date information are included only when the article is online-exclusive.

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To reference posts from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, include the username and the platform in square brackets. Write usernames the way they appear on the platform, with the same capitalization and symbols.

If the post has a title, use it (in quotation marks). If the post is untitled, use the text of the post instead. Do not use italics. If the text is long, you can replace some of it with an ellipsis.

Online content is referenced differently if it is in video, audio or image form.

To cite an image found online, such as an artwork, photograph, or infographic, include the image format (e.g. ‘Photograph’, ‘Oil on canvas’) in square brackets.

Online videos, such as those on YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo and Dailymotion, are cited similarly to general web pages. Where a video is uploaded under the name of an individual, write the name in the usual format. Otherwise, write the username of the uploader as it appears on the site.

If you want to locate a specific point in a video in an in-text citation, you can do so using a timestamp.

For a podcast reference, you just need the name of the individual episode, not of the whole series. The word ‘Podcast’ is always included in square brackets. As with videos, you can use a timestamp to locate a specific point in the in-text citation.

Online sources are often missing information you would usually need for a citation: author, title or date. Here’s what to do when these details are not available.

When a website doesn’t list a specific individual author, you can usually find a corporate author to list instead. This is the organisation responsible for the source:

In cases where there’s no suitable corporate author (such as online dictionaries or Wikis), use the title of the source in the author position instead:

In Harvard style, when a source doesn’t list a specific date of publication, replace it with the words ‘no date’ in both the in-text citation and the reference list. You should still include an access date:

It’s important to assess the reliability of information found online. Look for sources from established publications and institutions with expertise (e.g. peer-reviewed journals and government agencies).

The CRAAP test (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose) can aid you in assessing sources, as can our list of credible sources . You should generally avoid citing websites like Wikipedia that can be edited by anyone – instead, look for the original source of the information in the “References” section.

You can generally omit page numbers in your in-text citations of online sources which don’t have them. But when you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a particularly long online source, it’s useful to find an alternate location marker.

For text-based sources, you can use paragraph numbers (e.g. ‘para. 4’) or headings (e.g. ‘under “Methodology”’). With video or audio sources, use a timestamp (e.g. ‘10:15’).

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, November 07). Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 29 April 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-website-reference/

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How to Cite a Website in Harvard Referencing

3-minute read

  • 11th June 2019

With so much information now available online, you may need to cite a website in a piece of academic writing at some point.

But since most referencing systems focus on books and journals, knowing how this works can be tricky. Thus, to help out, we’ve prepared this quick guide to citing a website using Harvard referencing .

In-Text Citations (Named Author)

To cite a website in Harvard referencing, you will need to give the author’s surname and a year of publication. For instance:

Rousseau converted to Catholicism in 1728 (Bertram, 2010).

If you have already named the author in the main text, though, you don’t need to duplicate this information in the citation. Instead, you can just give a year of publication in brackets after the author’s name.

In addition, since websites don’t have page numbers, you will not usually need to give a pinpoint citation when quoting an online source.

However, for long or complicated texts, you could include a paragraph or section number (use “para.” to signal a paragraph number or the “§”  symbol to denote a section). So to cite a website like this, we would write:

According to Bertram (2010, § 2.1), Rousseau thought morality had been displaced by “the impulse to dominate, oppress and exploit.”

Make sure to check your style guide for information on citing sources with no page numbers, though, as different places will have different rules.

In-Text Citations (No Named Author/Date of Publication)

To cite a website that does not name its author, the best approach is usually to reference an organizational author instead. This will be the company or organization that runs the website:

Tax avoidance often involves using contrived transactions that serve no purpose other than exploiting legal loopholes (HMRC, 2016).

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If no date of publication is available, you can use “n.d.” in its place:

Moths are “an essential part of food chains” (RSPB, n.d.).

It can be hard to spot the author and publication date for websites, though, so make sure to check carefully before omitting this information from citations.

How to Cite a Website in the Reference List

As with any source in your work, you should add all cited websites to a reference list at the end of your document. The information you need here is:

Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year or Publication/Last Update) Title of Web Page [Online]. Available at: URL [Accessed date].

In practice, then, the reference list entry for a website would look like this:

Bertram, C. (2010) Jean Jacques Rousseau [Online]. Available at: plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/ [Accessed 24 October 2016].

Of course, if a webpage is missing a named author or date of publication, this should also be indicated in the reference list:

RSPB (n.d.) Grow Food for Moths [Online]. Available at: https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/givenatureahomeinyourgarden/gardenactivities/growfoodformoths/ [Accessed 19 September 2016].

A Quick Note on Harvard Referencing

Although Harvard referencing is a common citation style, it is not a single unified system. As such, the rules your school uses may differ, so you should always check your style guide if you are not sure how to cite sources.

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  • Bibliography Answers

How to reference a website in Harvard style

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The easiest way to reference a website in Harvard style is to use our automatic generator, but there’s a manual way too if you want to write it by hand. Here’s how to do it both ways:

 The easy way to reference a website in Harvard style

We can reference a website for you automatically (and for free) with our reference generator below. Simply paste the page URL into the search box (or search for some keywords) and then click on the result we find. It automatically find all the details required to build the reference, so you can copy it straight into your assignment.

 How to reference a website in Harvard style manually

Follow these instructions to manually reference a website in Harvard style

First, you need to locate these details for the website: page or article author, page or article title, website name, published date, access date, page URL (web address) .

  • The author can typically be found on the page, but if there isn’t one listed you can use the website name in its place.
  • The page title can be found near the top of the page, and you can also find it by hovering your mouse over the browser tab.
  • The website name can usually be found in the web address or by looking for a logo or similar at the very top of the page.
  • There often isn’t a publish date , but if there is it’ll be very close to the page title.
  • The access date is the date you took information from the article (usually today).
  • The page URL can be copied straight from the address bar of your browser and will start with either http:// or https://.

Then use this template and replace the coloured placeholders with the information you found on the page:

Author last name , Author firstname initial . ( Published year ) Page title . Website name . Available at: Page URL (Accessed: Access date ).

The final reference should look like this:

Scrivens, S. (2018) Google removes “Save to Inbox” feature from Android app, but it’s still available on the web [Updated] . Android Police. Available at: https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/08/17/google-removes-save-inbox-feature-android-app-still-available-web/ (Accessed: August 18, 2018).

 What to do when there’s no author

Often you’ll find a webpage doesn’t have a clear personable author, and in this case you can substitute the page title in the place of the author instead. Adapting the example above would look like this:

Google removes “Save to Inbox” feature from Android app, but it’s still available on the web [Updated] (2018) Android Police. Available at: https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/08/17/google-removes-save-inbox-feature-android-app-still-available-web/ (Accessed: August 18, 2018).

 What about multiple authors?

When the page has multiple authors you should include each of them in the same format, separated by a comma. The last author should also be separated by ‘and’. For example

Scrivens, S., Ferdinand F., and Masters, D. (2018) Google removes “Save to Inbox” feature from Android app, but it’s still available on the web [Updated] . Android Police. Available at: https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/08/17/google-removes-save-inbox-feature-android-app-still-available-web/ (Accessed: August 18, 2018).

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

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Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right)

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There are different versions of the Harvard referencing style. This guide is a quick introduction to the commonly-used Cite Them Right version. You will find further guidance available through the OU Library on the Cite Them Right Database .

For help and support with referencing and the full Cite Them Right guide, have a look at the Library’s page on referencing and plagiarism . If you need guidance referencing OU module material you can check out which sections of Cite Them Right are recommended when referencing physical and online module material .

This guide does not apply to OU Law undergraduate students . If you are studying a module beginning with W1xx, W2xx or W3xx, you should refer to the Quick guide to Cite Them Right referencing for Law modules .

Table of contents

In-text citations and full references.

  • Secondary referencing
  • Page numbers
  • Citing multiple sources published in the same year by the same author

Full reference examples

Referencing consists of two elements:

  • in-text citations, which are inserted in the body of your text and are included in the word count. An in-text citation gives the author(s) and publication date of a source you are referring to. If the publication date is not given, the phrase 'no date' is used instead of a date. If using direct quotations or you refer to a specific section in the source you also need the page number/s if available, or paragraph number for web pages.
  • full references, which are given in alphabetical order in reference list at the end of your work and are not included in the word count. Full references give full bibliographical information for all the sources you have referred to in the body of your text.

To see a reference list and intext citations check out this example assignment on Cite Them Right .

Difference between reference list and bibliography

a reference list only includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text

a bibliography includes sources you have referred to in the body of your text AND sources that were part of your background reading that you did not use in your assignment

Back to top

Examples of in-text citations

You need to include an in-text citation wherever you quote or paraphrase from a source. An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author(s), the year of publication, and a page number if relevant. There are a number of ways of incorporating in-text citations into your work - some examples are provided below. Alternatively you can see examples of setting out in-text citations in Cite Them Right .

Note: When referencing a chapter of an edited book, your in-text citation should give the author(s) of the chapter.

Online module materials

(Includes written online module activities, audio-visual material such as online tutorials, recordings or videos).

When referencing material from module websites, the date of publication is the year you started studying the module.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

OR, if there is no named author:

The Open University (Year of publication/presentation) 'Title of item'. Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Rietdorf, K. and Bootman, M. (2022) 'Topic 3: Rare diseases'. S290: Investigating human health and disease . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1967195 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).

The Open University (2022) ‘3.1 The purposes of childhood and youth research’. EK313: Issues in research with children and young people . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1949633&section=1.3 (Accessed: 24 January 2023).

You can also use this template to reference videos and audio that are hosted on your module website:

The Open University (2022) ‘Video 2.7 An example of a Frith-Happé animation’. SK298: Brain, mind and mental health . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2013014&section=4.9.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).

The Open University (2022) ‘Audio 2 Interview with Richard Sorabji (Part 2)’. A113: Revolutions . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1960941&section=5.6 (Accessed: 22 November 2022).

Note: if a complete journal article has been uploaded to a module website, or if you have seen an article referred to on the website and then accessed the original version, reference the original journal article, and do not mention the module materials. If only an extract from an article is included in your module materials that you want to reference, you should use secondary referencing, with the module materials as the 'cited in' source, as described above.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of message', Title of discussion board , in Module code: Module title . Available at: URL of VLE (Accessed: date).

Fitzpatrick, M. (2022) ‘A215 - presentation of TMAs', Tutor group discussion & Workbook activities , in A215: Creative writing . Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=4209566 (Accessed: 24 January 2022).

Note: When an ebook looks like a printed book, with publication details and pagination, reference as a printed book.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title . Edition if later than first. Place of publication: publisher. Series and volume number if relevant.

For ebooks that do not contain print publication details

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of book . Available at: DOI or URL (Accessed: date).

Example with one author:

Bell, J. (2014) Doing your research project . Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Adams, D. (1979) The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy . Available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-ebooks (Accessed: 23 June 2021).

Example with two or three authors:

Goddard, J. and Barrett, S. (2015) The health needs of young people leaving care . Norwich: University of East Anglia, School of Social Work and Psychosocial Studies.

Example with four or more authors:

Young, H.D. et al. (2015) Sears and Zemansky's university physics . San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.

Note: You can choose one or other method to reference four or more authors (unless your School requires you to name all authors in your reference list) and your approach should be consistent.

Note: Books that have an editor, or editors, where each chapter is written by a different author or authors.

Surname of chapter author, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of chapter or section', in Initial. Surname of book editor (ed.) Title of book . Place of publication: publisher, Page reference.

Franklin, A.W. (2012) 'Management of the problem', in S.M. Smith (ed.) The maltreatment of children . Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83–95.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference.

If accessed online:

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Journal , volume number (issue number), page reference. Available at: DOI or URL (if required) (Accessed: date).

Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326.

Shirazi, T. (2010) 'Successful teaching placements in secondary schools: achieving QTS practical handbooks', European Journal of Teacher Education , 33(3), pp. 323–326. Available at: https://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/log... (Accessed: 27 January 2023).

Barke, M. and Mowl, G. (2016) 'Málaga – a failed resort of the early twentieth century?', Journal of Tourism History , 2(3), pp. 187–212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2010.523145

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference.

Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) 'Title of article', Title of Newspaper , Day and month, Page reference if available. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Mansell, W. and Bloom, A. (2012) ‘£10,000 carrot to tempt physics experts’, The Guardian , 20 June, p. 5.

Roberts, D. and Ackerman, S. (2013) 'US draft resolution allows Obama 90 days for military action against Syria', The Guardian , 4 September. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/syria-strikes-draft-resolut... (Accessed: 9 September 2015).

Surname, Initial. (Year that the site was published/last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Organisation (Year that the page was last updated) Title of web page . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Robinson, J. (2007) Social variation across the UK . Available at: https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/social-variation... (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

The British Psychological Society (2018) Code of Ethics and Conduct . Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct (Accessed: 22 March 2019).

Note: Cite Them Right Online offers guidance for referencing webpages that do not include authors' names and dates. However, be extra vigilant about the suitability of such webpages.

Surname, Initial. (Year) Title of photograph . Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

Kitton, J. (2013) Golden sunset . Available at: https://www.jameskittophotography.co.uk/photo_8692150.html (Accessed: 21 November 2021).

stanitsa_dance (2021) Cossack dance ensemble . Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/COI_slphWJ_/ (Accessed: 13 June 2023).

Note: If no title can be found then replace it with a short description.

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Cite A Website in Harvard style

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  • Select style:
  • Archive material
  • Chapter of an edited book
  • Conference proceedings
  • Dictionary entry
  • Dissertation
  • DVD, video, or film
  • E-book or PDF
  • Edited book
  • Encyclopedia article
  • Government publication
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  • Online image or video
  • Presentation
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Use the following template or our Harvard Referencing Generator to cite a website. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator .

Reference list

Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.

In-text citation

Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.

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  • How to cite a E-book or PDF in Harvard style
  • How to cite a Edited book in Harvard style
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  • How to cite a Encyclopedia article in Harvard style
  • How to cite a Government publication in Harvard style
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  • How to cite a Music or recording in Harvard style
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  • How to cite a Presentation or lecture in Harvard style
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How to Harvard Reference a Website

Last Updated: April 21, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 75,670 times.

The Harvard referencing style is used at the university level for academic essays and papers. It’s used for referencing all sorts of materials, not just websites. However, referencing a website with this style can be tricky, especially if you have not referenced a website before in a paper or essay. In just a few steps, you can create an in-text citation using Harvard referencing style or cite the website in the reference list at the end of your paper, similar to a bibliography.

Creating an In-Text Citation

Step 1 Cite the title of the website.

  • For example, you may use the title “Tourism Canada” or “The Writer’s Pen” in the citation.

Step 2 Put in the year the website was created or revised.

  • For example, you may see a note at the bottom of the website that says “Created on: January 2001” or “Revised: 2012.”
  • If you cannot find the year, you can use “n.d.” in the citation to indicate no date can be found for the website.

Step 3 Use parentheses for the citation.

  • For example, you may write, “(Tourism Canada 2001)” or “(The Writer’s Pen 2011).”
  • If there is no date on the website, you may write, “(Tourism Canada n.d.)”

Step 4 Place the in-text citation at the end of the quoted paraphrased text.

  • For example, if the text is quoted, you may write: “The national average for home pregnancies has doubled in the last year.” (Tourism Canada 2011)
  • If the text is paraphrased, you may write: Winners of this award will receive $1,660. (The Writer’s Pen 2011)

Citing the Website in the Reference List

Step 1 List the title of the website.

  • For example, you may cite “Parks Ontario” or “The Canadian Cancer Society” as the title.

Step 2 Note the year the website was created or revised in parentheses.

  • For example, you may see a note at the bottom of the website that says “Created on: March 2001” or “Revised: 2017.”
  • You may then write in the citation, “Parks Ontario 2001” or “The Canadian Cancer Society 2017”
  • Use “n.d.” in the citation if you can’t find the creation or revision date. “N.d.” will indicate that no date can be found on the website. For example, you may write, “Parks Ontario n.d.” or “The Canadian Cancer Society n.d.”

Step 3 Note that you accessed the official or corporate website.

  • For example, you would use the citation, “ The Canadian Cancer Society official website ” or “ Parks Ontario corporate website .”

Step 4 List the day, month, and year you viewed the website.

  • For example, you may write, “viewed 21 June 2016” or “viewed 1 March 2011.”
  • Here’s an example reference: The Canadian Cancer Society n.d. The Canadian Cancer Society official website , viewed 1 March 2011

Step 5 Include the url of the website.

  • For example, you may write, “< https://www.cancer.ca/en/get-involved/take-action/what-we-are-doing/ >.”
  • An example of the complete citation is: The Canadian Cancer Society n.d. The Canadian Cancer Society official website , 1 March 2011 < https://www.cancer.ca/en/get-involved/take-action/what-we-are-doing/ >.

Step 6 Place the citation on the reference page at the end of your paper.

  • For example, the completed Harvard reference will look like: Parks Ontario 2011, Parks Ontario corporate website , viewed 21 June 2016, < https://www.ontarioparks.com/ >.

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About This Article

Christopher Taylor, PhD

To Harvard reference a website in text, put the title of the website and the year it was created in parentheses at the end of the quoted or paraphrased text. If there's no date, write "n.d." instead. For example, you would write something like "(Tourism Canada 2001)" or "(Tourism Canada n.d.)." For more tips from our English co-author, like how to cite a website in your reference list, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Harvard Referencing

  • Summarising/Paraphrasing
  • Citations/Direct Quotations
  • Books (print or online)
  • Electronic Journal Article
  • Website/Web Document
  • Journal/Magazine Article
  • Academic publications
  • Audiovisual material
  • News Article (print or online)
  • Figures/Tables
  • Public documents
  • Performance
  • Reference List Example
  • More Information

If you are quoting someone word-for-word or using someone else's ideas or statistics in your writing, you will need to reference it within the body of your work. Work the author’s surname or organisation’s name, the year of publication and the page number into the paragraph you are writing. The purpose is to give basic details so your reader can get more information from the list at the end.

Example 1: 'In the food and beverage industry, it is estimated that 25 percent of employees steal regardless of the controls in place' (Walker 2011, p. 222). Example 2: Walker (2011, p. 222) states that 'in the food and beverage industry, it is estimated that 25 percent of employees steal regardless of the controls in place'. Example 3: In his 2011 text, Walker states that 'in the food and beverage industry, it is estimated that 25 percent of employees steal regardless of the controls in place' (p. 222). Note that page numbers are only necessary for in text citations when direct quotes or precise information is used. Direct quotations  

  •    should be used sparingly in an assignment
  •    can be used if you need to record exact words or phrases
  •    are useful if you find some writing which expresses exactly what you want to say very well
  •    can be a phrase, a short sentence, or longer

Small quotations  (less than 30 words)are included in your writing with the text in single quote marks: The pearl has been 'a particularly potent literary device' (Joyce & Addison 1992, p. 15) in many cultures from ancient times. If the quotation is longer than 30 words, set it out like this: The post-war years were not a time of great innovation.  As Ewing (2001, p. 167) states:    To get back to normal, which meant to order and stability, was the general longing and fashion voiced this conservative mood in a series of smooth, well-balanced lines, embodied in clothes of notable elegance, carefully designed, well-made and flattering. OR The post-war years were not a time of great innovation:      To get back to normal, which meant to order and stability, was the general longing and fashion voiced this conservative mood in a series of smooth, well-balanced lines, embodied in clothes of notable elegance, carefully designed, well-made and flattering.  (Ewing 2001, p. 167) Points to remember for longer quotes:  

  • place a colon (:) at the end of your writing before the quote
  • leave a space of one line before and after the quotation
  • do not use quotation marks around the quotation
  • use a smaller font for the quote, e.g. if your assignment is in 12, use 10 for the quotation
  • indent the quote
  • if your assignment is in double spacing, keep the quote in single spacing

Citing Someone Else's Quotation

Sometimes an author will cite another author and you may want to use this in your assignment.  Care needs to be taken with quotations and citations taken out of context.  It is a good idea to try to track down the original work.  If you are not able to find the original work, you may still use a quotation from or a reference to the cited work, making sure that you acknowledge both of the authors.

Original text:

'Although Barnes sees the mods as a male-dominated youth culture (Barnes, 1991: p.8), Garber and McRobbie argue that the mods were the first 'softer' working-class subculture, in which girls could participate more openly and directly (Garber & Mc Robbie, 1979: p.226).'

In-text citation:

Some writers disagree with the idea that the mods were a male dominated subculture (Garber & McRobbie 1979, p. 226 in Jenss 2005, p. 192).

Garber & McRobbie (1979 p. 226 in Jenss 2005, p. 192) claim that the mods were one of the first youth subcultures in which girls could participate more fully.

Reference list:

Jenss, H. 2005, 'Sixties dress only!', in A. Palmer & H. Clark (eds), Old clothes, new looks: second hand fashion, Berg Publishers, Oxford.

Personal Communications

References to personal communications such as letters, emails, interviews, or phone conversations can be included in assignments. The in-text citation should have the author's surname followed by their initials, then the abbreviation pers. comm. and the date. These citations should  not be included in the Reference List/Bibliography.

The patient valued the knowledge and experience of other cancer patients more than medical information ( Wilson, P. 2013, pers. comm., September 10).

When interviewed, Susan Jones said she halted her information seeking because of fearful and contradictory information (Jones, S. 2013, pers. comm., September 28).

Information From More Than One Source

If you include the authors in the sentence, they are listed in chronological order by year of publication in brackets.

If the author's names are not included in the sentence, they are enclosed together in one set of brackets and presented chronologically, starting with the first published. A semi-colon is inserted after each citation of the author and year of publication.

Morrow & Young (1996), Irish & Parsons (2016) and Elish-Piper (2017) all stress the importance of parent participation in children's literacy development. 

Previous research has found that parents play a key role in their children's literacy development and school success (Morrow & Young, 1996; Irish & Parsons, 2016; Elish-Piper, 2017).

Using Abbreviations

If you are referring numerous times to an organisation with a long title, you may use the relevant acronym or initialism. The first time you refer to the organisation, include both the full title and, in parentheses (round brackets), the acronym or initialism. Thereafter, the acronym or initialism will suffice. Both acronyms and initialisms are written without full stops .

Example in text :

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has a policy on removing injured animals. The RSPCA is permitted to enter a property at any time following a report of complaint (RSPCA 2006).

In the reference list, both the long title and the acronym or initialism must be included. For example:

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) 2006, Policy statement on removal of animals at risk , RSPCA, Brisbane.

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Harvard Style Guide: Quotation

  • Introduction
  • Harvard Tutorial
  • In-text citations
  • Book with one author
  • Book with two or three authors
  • Book with four or more authors
  • Book with a corporate author
  • Book with editor
  • Chapter in an edited book
  • Translated book
  • Translated ancient texts
  • Print journal article, one author
  • Print journal article, two or three authors
  • Print journal article, four or more authors
  • eJournal article
  • Journal article ePublication (ahead of print)
  • Secondary sources
  • Generative AI
  • Images or photographs
  • Lectures/ presentations
  • Film/ television
  • YouTube Film or Talk
  • Music/ audio
  • Encyclopaedia and dictionaries
  • Email communication
  • Conferences
  • Official publications
  • Book reviews
  • Case studies
  • Group or individual assignments
  • Legal Cases (Law Reports)
  • No date of publication
  • Personal communications
  • Repository item
  • Citing same author, multiple works, same year

Harvard style - quotation

The Harvard Style dictates that when using another's exact words, known as direct quotation, then those words must be placed in inverted commas/quotation marks ('' or "") followed by an in-text citation that includes the Author Last name, Year and page numbers. Inverted commas/quotation marks can be single or double, simply be consistent or check with your lecturer/school. 

For materials without page numbers, such as eBook, it is acceptable to use other indications of location such as chapters, paragraph numbers or section headings etc.. See s hort and long quotations see example below.

Short quotations

Short quotations are generally held to be two or three lines in length. They are kept within the structure of the sentence in which they appear. An example of a short direct quotation would be

It was reported that 'findings show children have a high level of enjoyment, while exercising with the system as indicated by the positive responses to all three questions ' (Fitzgerald et al ., 2008, p. 66).

Moran (2012) describes how "mental simulation processes such as motor imagery are crucial to success in sports," particularly in high performance athletes (para. 4).

Downes (2012, p. 6) studied the development of "selective attention skills" in pre-school children with sickle cell disease.

Long quotations

Long quotations are generally held to be longer than three lines. These are laid out in a separate paragraph of text and indented. No inverted commas/quotation marks are included. An example of a long quotation would be

In their research on rehabilitation using Wobbleballs, Fitzgerald and her team conclude that:

The fourth question collected some feedback from children and while most provided positive comments a small number of children (n=13) mentioned that the wobble board was “difficult to control” or “hard to use”. We must therefore investigate some easier methods to control the game as an option for some children. Future research is needed to investigate the benefits of the system as an exercise intervention for children and to examine how training using Wobbleball could be integrated into the existing physical education curriculum in schools. (Fitzgerald et al ., 2008, p. 66)

Quoting ideas

If you are including the ideas of another person from a specific page range or page in a source, rather than direct quotation, Harvard also requires you to include a page number. Your quote would look something like this

In the review it was noted that research shows open plan office spaces damage workers' attention span, creativity and satisfaction (Davis et al ., 2011, p. 22).

If you are unclear as to when to include a page number when quoting ideas, discuss this with your lecturer or tutor. Bring along examples to show them.

Quotation - over use and plagiarism

Too much direct quotation from original sources, with less critical analysis from the writer can lead to accusations of plagiarism, even if full citations and references are provided. 

It is important that quotations are used only when absolutely necessary to the content. Otherwise, it is preferable to paraphrase and interpret the information you are discussing and use your critical analysis skills.

Harvard style quotation and first year (undergraduate or postgraduate)

Finally, because the Harvard Style does not have a manual of style with exact rules, always discuss with your lecturer or module coordinator what their expectations are around quotation, citing and referencing. Show them the advice on this guide, and clarify if they expect any alternative writing practices. This is especially important for first year students or those beginning a course/module.

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  • Referencing

Leeds Harvard introduction

Citing quotations using leeds harvard, what is quoting.

Quoting is where you copy an author's text word for word, place double quotation marks around the words and add a citation at the end of the quote. Quotes should be used sparingly. Using too many quotes can suggest you don't fully understand the text you are referring to.

In most academic writing, you should generally paraphrase from sources, rather than quote directly. Quoting more extended sections of text tends to be more common in arts and humanities subjects where it may be appropriate to quote frequently from sources that are being analysed or translated, like novels, plays or historical texts.

As you take notes, ensure you clearly mark where you have quoted directly from the source.

Direct quotations

If you use a direct quotation from an author, you should:

  • enclose it in quotation marks
  • give the author, date and page number(s) that the quotation was taken from, in brackets.

If you are quoting from a website or webpage that does not have page numbers, you do not need to include anything to indicate this in the citation.

Example: "Language is subject to change, and is not caused by unnecessary sloppiness, laziness or ignorance" (Aitchison, 1981, p.67).

Quotations more than two lines long

If the quotation is more than two lines:

  • separate it from the rest of the paragraph by one free line above and below
  • indent at left and right margins
  • it may be in a smaller point size
  • it is preceded by a colon
  • it does not use quotation marks
  • the citation includes author, date and page number(s) that the quotation was taken from.

Example: One answer to this is that language has always been subject to change, just as everything else in the world is, and we should not feel that this is a bad thing. As Aitchison (1981, p.16) puts it:

Language, then, like everything else, gradually transforms itself over the centuries. There is nothing surprising in this. In a world where humans grow old, tadpoles change into frogs, and milk turns into cheese, it would be strange if language alone remained unaltered. In spite of this, large numbers of intelligent people condemn and resent language change, regarding alterations as due to unnecessary sloppiness, laziness or ignorance.

Aitchison clearly sees every change in language as neither good nor bad, but inevitable...

Editing a quote

You may want to make minor changes to a direct quotation. This is possible (as long as you don't change the meaning), but you must follow the rules.

  • If you omit parts of the quotation, use an ellipsis. An ellipsis consists of three dots (...). Do not begin or end a direct quotation with ellipsis points. The reader already assumes that the quote has been excerpted from a larger work.
  • If you want to insert your own words, or different words, into a quotation, put them in square brackets [ ].
  • If you want to draw attention to an error in a quotation, for example a spelling mistake or wrong date, do not correct it; write [sic] in square brackets.
  • If you want to emphasise something in a quotation that is particularly relevant to your essay, put the emphasised words in italics, and state that the emphasis is your own.
  • If the original has italics, state that the italics are in the original.

Example 1: Language changes are natural and inevitable. It has been argued that language:

gradually transforms itself over the centuries. In a world where [everything changes], it would be strange if language alone remained unaltered. In spite of this, large numbers of intelligent people condemn and resent language change (Aitchison, 1981, p.16, my italics).

Example 2: According to Smith (1992, p.45), "Aitcheson [sic] appears to believe that everything changes ; but this is questionable" (italics in original).

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Class of 2024, It’s Not in Your Head: The Job Market Is Tough

An illustration depicting two large blue mortarboards hovering on either side of an orange office chair.

By Peter Coy

Opinion Writer

Here is a brutal fact for the college class of 2024: There aren’t enough college-level jobs out there for all of you. Some of you will snag them. Others will have to settle for jobs that don’t require a college education. And history shows that many of those who start out in a job that doesn’t require a college education are still toiling in that kind of job a decade later.

One mystery is why college grads’ lifetime earnings are so much higher than those of people with just a high school degree or less, if indeed so many college grads don’t do college-graduate-level work. I’ll get to that in a minute. I’ll also finish on a slightly hopeful note.

I invite college seniors to tell me about your job searches and how you feel about what you learned or wish you had learned in college by filling out the form below. Parents and employers are also welcome to write in. (And forward it to others who you think would be interested in contributing by using the gift link in the article’s share tools.) I hope to feature some of your responses in a future newsletter.

Fifty-two percent of college grads are underemployed a year after graduation, meaning they are working in jobs that don’t require the degrees they earned, according to a February report by the Burning Glass Institute, which analyzes the job market, and the Strada Institute for the Future of Work.

Five years out from school, about 88 percent of those who are underemployed are “severely” underemployed, the report said. These are the top five jobs they’re doing: information and record clerk, supervisor of sales, retail sales worker, sales representative in services, and secretary and administrative assistant.

“Even a decade after graduation, 45 percent of graduates are underemployed,” the report said.

The best way to avoid underemployment is to pick a major that employers want and to complete an internship, Burning Glass found. If you didn’t do those things and you’re a few weeks from commencement without a job lined up … um, potentially not good.

I dug a little deeper into this rather depressing report by interviewing the president of the Burning Glass Institute, Matt Sigelman, along with other labor market experts.

The first thing I asked Sigelman is whether the United States is generating too many college graduates, oversupplying the market and setting up a lot of graduates for disappointment.

“In the immediate term, it’s hard to conclude otherwise,” he said. He added that the supply-demand imbalance has gotten worse in the past four years because the strongest growth has been in jobs that have lower educational qualifications.

In the longer term, Sigelman said, “I do believe that America benefits from having a highly educated work force.” He added: “Demand for talent is not fixed. The center of gravity of our economy is increasingly in the knowledge economy. Jobs follow talent.”

That makes sense. Over time, employers should seize the opportunity to profit by reconfiguring jobs to make full use of the talent that’s currently being underused. They’ve been finding ways to put brains to work since the start of the Industrial Revolution, a time when even a high school diploma was rare and special.

In the here and now, you’re in pretty good shape if you studied computer science, engineering, mathematics or math-intensive business fields such as finance and accounting, according to Burning Glass’s research. Education and health majors are also sought after.

Not so in demand: graduates in public safety and security, recreation and wellness studies and general business fields such as marketing.

Employers are desperate to hire accounting majors, Michael Steinitz, the senior executive director of professional talent solutions at Robert Half International, a human resources consulting firm, told me.

New college grads in general are attractive to employers because they tend to be tech savvy, they cost less and they can be trained for whatever needs employers have, Steinitz said.

Underemployment of college grads is not a new problem. If anything, grads’ prospects are better than usual because of the low overall unemployment rate (3.8 percent in March). In an informal survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 83 percent of employers expected to increase or maintain the rate of hiring of new grads this spring, roughly the same as last year but down from 2022, when employers were hiring aggressively coming out of the pandemic.

I want to come back to the paradox that pay for college grads is relatively high even though they appear to be in surplus. I think the biggest reason is that the average numbers for college grads are pulled up a lot by those who make it big.

There are some blue-collar jobs, such as truck driver and plumber, that pay well but have a flat lifetime earnings profile — that is, a 55-year-old truck driver doesn’t make a lot more than a 25-year-old one. In contrast, white-collar jobs that require college degrees tend to have more growth potential in know-how and thus in earnings.

“College acts as a gateway to professional occupations, which offer more opportunity for wage growth through on-the-job learning,” David Deming, an economist at Harvard’s Kennedy School, writes in the abstract of a new working paper.

The classes of ’25, ’26 and beyond could have it rougher because artificial intelligence could come to perform some of the functions of new hires, knocking out the lowest rungs on the career ladder.

The (partial) solution is to develop a mix of skills that’s hard for A.I. to duplicate. The most successful grads have a combination of technical skills and what might be broadly called people skills, including the ability to communicate in print and in person, motivate and work in teams. Examples from Sigelman: data scientists who are good at writing and humanities majors in marketing who learn structured query language.

“If you were to design universities from scratch” with employers’ needs in mind, Deming told me, they would focus a lot more on teaching teamwork and the broad range of skills that are needed in the workplace.

Such ideas are of little use to today’s jobless seniors, of course. Then again, there will be many opportunities to overcome a poor start. Deming is guardedly optimistic, despite Burning Glass’s warnings. Life is long. He did a quick calculation for me, based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, that about 60 percent of the college grads who start in a non-college-level job find their way into a managerial or professional occupation eventually.

“It’s definitely better to get a good first job than not to get a good first job,” Deming said. But “the jury is out on this idea that if you don’t get a good job right out of college, all is lost.”

2024 college grads, how’s that job market looking?

If you expect to graduate from college this spring or winter, Times Opinion wants to hear from you.

Outlook: Consumers Are Hurting

“The savings rate is falling, and interest paid on mounting debt is spiraling higher, suggesting consumers may be nearing the breaking point,” Dana Peterson, the chief economist of the Conference Board, a business-supported research group, wrote on Friday. She added, “Our call for slower real G.D.P. growth over the second and third quarters still makes sense.” Higher-than-expected inflation has made interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve to buoy the economy less likely, Peterson wrote.

Quote of the Day

“Complex adaptive systems have the property that if you run them — by just letting the mathematical variable of ‘time’ go forward — they’ll naturally progress from chaotic, disorganized, undifferentiated, independent states to organized, highly differentiated and highly interdependent states.”

— J. Doyne Farmer in “The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution,” edited by John Brockman (1995)

Peter Coy is a writer for the Opinion section of The Times, covering economics and business. Email him at [email protected] . @ petercoy

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing / Harvard Referencing Style Examples / Referencing sources with no author in Harvard style

Referencing sources with no author in Harvard style

This guide shows you what to do when the source you need to reference has no author. Sometimes, you’ll come across sources that don’t have authors listed. These types of sources are often ones like reference books, Wikipedia pages or newspaper articles. How you reference a source with no author varies somewhat, based on the type of source. The general rule is to use the title of the book, article or newspaper in the place of the author in both the in-text citation and full reference.

Here are some examples of how to reference sources with no author in Harvard style.

Books with no author

If you are referencing a book with no author, simply use the title of the book in italics where you would have used the author’s surname.  

In-text citation template:

( Book name, Publication year, Page number)

The moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit in 27 days and 8 hours ( Children’s illustrated treasury of knowledge: Earth, 2013, p. 5).

The word ‘ballast’ is defined in the Concise Oxford English dictionary (2011, p. 101) as ‘a heavy substance, such as gravel or lead, placed in the bilge of a ship to ensure its stability’.

When referencing a book with no author in the reference list, the following format is used:

Title of the book (Publication year) Place of publication: Publisher name.

Children’s illustrated treasury of knowledge: Earth (2013) London: BPI Worldwide.

Concise Oxford English dictionary (2011) 12th edn. New York: Oxford University Press.

Web page with no author

For web pages with no author, such as Wikipedia pages, you’ll use the page title in single quotation marks in place of the author’s surname.

Here’s how the in-text citation would look:

Early New High German was an early form of German predominant in the early modern period (‘Early New High German’, 2020).

For the full reference, you’ll follow a similar format:

‘Early New High German’ (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_New_High_German (Accessed: 19 October 2020).

Often when citing websites, it may appear that the web page has no author when it actually has an organization as its author, or the author is using a handle or username instead of their real name. This guide on how to cite a website in Harvard style provides details on how to cite web pages with different types of authors.

Newspaper/magazine articles with no author

When citing a newspaper or a magazine article in which the author’s name is not given, the format used for the in-text citation is:

( Name of the newspaper, Year of publication)

The article ( The Guardian , 2020) stated that …  

For the reference list, you’ll also use the newspaper title where you would normally place the author’s name. This is followed by the year of publication, the title of the article, the day and month, and, finally, a page reference if it is a print article, or a URL and access date if it is an online article.

Full reference template:  

Newspaper title (Year of publication) ‘Title of the article’, Day Month of publication. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

The Guardian (2020) ‘Wednesday briefing: last orders in fight to avoid lockdown’, 23 September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/wednesday-briefing-last-orders-in-fight-to-avoid-lockdown (Accessed: 23 September 2020).

Published October 29, 2020.

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COMMENTS

  1. Reference a Website in Harvard Style

    To reference a website in Harvard style, include the name of the author or organization, the year of publication, the title of the page, the URL, and the date on which you accessed the website. In-text citation example. (Google, 2020) Reference template. Author surname, initial. ( Year) Page Title.

  2. How to reference a website using the Harvard referencing style

    Web pages authored by a company or organization. Here's the information you will need to include for this type of reference: Name of the company/organization. Year the site was published or last updated (in round brackets) Title of the web page (in italics) Available at: URL (Accessed: date) In-text citation.

  3. How to Cite a Website in Harvard Referencing

    In-Text Citations (Named Author) To cite a website in Harvard referencing, you will need to give the author's surname and a year of publication. For instance: Rousseau converted to Catholicism in 1728 (Bertram, 2010). If you have already named the author in the main text, though, you don't need to duplicate this information in the citation.

  4. How to reference a website in Harvard style

    Follow these instructions to manually reference a website in Harvard style. First, you need to locate these details for the website: page or article author, page or article title, website name, published date, access date, page URL (web address). The author can typically be found on the page, but if there isn't one listed you can use the ...

  5. Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right)

    There are different versions of the Harvard referencing style. This guide is a quick introduction to the commonly-used Cite Them Right version. You will find further guidance available through the OU Library on the Cite Them Right Database. For help and support with referencing and the full Cite Them Right guide, have a look at the Library's ...

  6. Harvard Referencing Style Guide

    Harvard referencing is a system that allows you to include information about the source materials. It is based on the author-date system. It includes references: 1) as in-text citations and 2) in a reference list (which is different from a bibliography). In-text citations: (Author Surname, Year Published). Reference list entry: Author Surname ...

  7. Cite A Website in Harvard style

    Cite A Website in Harvard style. Use the following template or our Harvard Referencing Generator to cite a website. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator.

  8. How to Cite Sources in Harvard Citation Format

    Citing a newspaper article is similar to citing a journal article except, instead of the volume and issue number, the edition and date of publication are needed: Author surname (s), initial (s). (Year) 'Article Title', Newspaper Title (edition), day month, page number (s). Note: edition is used only where applicable.

  9. How to Harvard Reference a Website: 10 Steps (with Pictures)

    2. Put in the year the website was created or revised. Look at the bottom of the website for a creation date, usually found next to a trademark or with the note, "Created on.". You can also look for a revised date at the bottom of the website. It is usually listed as "Revised on" or "Reviewed on.".

  10. In-text Citations in Harvard Referencing Style

    Create manual citation. When you incorporate quotes or ideas of other authors in your work, you must provide an in-text citation in order to credit those authors properly. For in-text citations, Harvard referencing style uses author-date format. In other words, Harvard style uses parenthetical and narrative citations that show the name of the ...

  11. LibGuides: Harvard Referencing: Citations/Direct Quotations

    leave a space of one line before and after the quotation. do not use quotation marks around the quotation. use a smaller font for the quote, e.g. if your assignment is in 12, use 10 for the quotation. indent the quote. if your assignment is in double spacing, keep the quote in single spacing.

  12. Quotation

    The Harvard Style dictates that when using another's exact words, known as direct quotation, then those words must be placed in inverted commas/quotation marks ('' or "") followed by an in-text citation that includes the Author Last name, Year and page numbers. Inverted commas/quotation marks can be single or double, simply be consistent or ...

  13. Harvard-style referencing for direct quotes

    As Harvard is an author-date style, you'll need to reference the source for the quotation in your paper and include the page number (s) on which you found the quote. As you write, you should use direct quotations only when they are truly relevant and supportive of your argument. Too many quotations could interrupt the flow of your paper.

  14. Referencing direct quotes in Harvard style

    The Harvard style of referencing follows an author-date format for in-text citations; this means that the surname of the author and the date of publication are used to cite a quotation or idea borrowed from another author. If you include a direct quote in your paper and that source has page numbers, you'll also need to know how to format page ...

  15. How to Cite a Website

    Citing a website in MLA Style. An MLA Works Cited entry for a webpage lists the author's name, the title of the page (in quotation marks), the name of the site (in italics), the date of publication, and the URL. The in-text citation usually just lists the author's name. For a long page, you may specify a (shortened) section heading to ...

  16. Leeds Harvard introduction

    If the quotation is more than two lines: separate it from the rest of the paragraph by one free line above and below. indent at left and right margins. it may be in a smaller point size. it is preceded by a colon. it does not use quotation marks. the citation includes author, date and page number (s) that the quotation was taken from.

  17. How to reference an article in Harvard referencing style

    The name of the author in a newspaper article is referred to as a byline. Below are examples for citing an article both with and without a byline. Reference list (print) structure: Last name, F. (Year published). 'Article title', Newspaper name, Day Month, Page (s). Example: Hamilton, J. (2018).

  18. Class of 2024, It's Not in Your Head: The Job Market Is Tough

    Here is a brutal fact for the college class of 2024: There aren't enough college-level jobs out there for all of you. Some of you will snag them. Others will have to settle for jobs that don't ...

  19. Referencing sources with no author in Harvard style

    If you are referencing a book with no author, simply use the title of the book in italics where you would have used the author's surname. In-text citation template: ( Book name, Publication year, Page number) Examples: The moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit in 27 days and 8 hours ( Children's illustrated treasury of knowledge ...