Subject guides: Harvard: In-text citation

In-text citation

Harvard style uses in-text citations when referring to or quoting people’s work. The essential elements of an in-text citation are the author surname/s and year. There are two styles of citation, known as author-prominent and information-prominent. Both styles are equally acceptable and you can use both styles within one text.

1. Information prominent

In information prominent citations, you include both the author's surname and the date of publication in parentheses.

Format

(Author's surname Year)

Example

Connections can be made between current politics and curriculum in schools based on established theories (Green 2018).

2. Author prominent

In author prominent citations, the author's surname is included in the text of the sentence, outside the parentheses, and the year (in parentheses) is included directly after the author's name.

Format

Author's surname (Year)

Example

Green (2018) makes connections between politics and curriculum drawing on preceding theorists.

Quotes and page numbers

Format

(Author's surname Year:page)

Author's surname (Year:page)

Example

'Representation is inherently, inescapably political. Representation and power go hand in hand' (Green 2018:33).

Green (2018:33) states that 'representation is inherently, inescapably political. Representation and power go hand in hand'.

Tips

You only need to include page numbers in in-text citations when you are directly quoting another person's work. Some unit coordinators may want you to include page numbers in your in-text citations as a general rule. Check your assignment instructions and ask your unit coordinator if you are unsure. See the Style Manual for more information.
The Style Manual specifies to use single quotation marks (e.g. 'quote') for direct quotes. However, text-matching software such as Turnitin does not recognise single quotation marks, it only recognises double quotation marks (e.g. "quote"). If you use single quotation marks for quotes, Turnitin will show these as text matches. If you are unsure what quotation marks to use for your assignment, check with your unit coordinator.

Examples of in-text citations

One author

In-text citation

Format

(Author's surname Year)

Author's surname (Year)

Example

(Jones 2017)

Jones (2017)

Two authors

In-text citation

Format

(Author 1's surname and Author 2's surname Year)

Author 1's surname and Author 2's surname (Year)

Example

(Francis and Black 2019)

Francis and Black (2019)

Tips

The Style Manual states to always use the term 'and' to separate authors, rather than using symbols such as '&'.

Three or more authors

In-text citation

Format

(Author 1's surname et al. Year)

Author 1's surname et al. (Year)

Example

(White et al. 2016)

White et al. (2016)

Tips

Use the term et al. (a Latin term meaning 'and others') after the first author's surname in all citations. List all authors in the reference list.

Organisation as author

In-text citation

Format

(Abbreviation of organisation Year)

Abbreviation of organisation (Year)

Example

(DFAT 2016)

DFAT (2016)

Tips

The Style Manual states to use the abbreviation for the organisation's name in all in-text citations. For organisations with no abbreviation, use the full name of the organisation.

In-text citations - no year of publication

In-text citation

Format

(Author's surname n.d.)

Example

(Francis n.d.)

Citing multiple sources at the same time

In-text citation

Format

(Author's surname Year; Author's surname Year; Author's surname Year)

Example

(Jones 2017; Francis and Black 2019; White et al. 2016)

Unknown author

In-text citation

Format

('First ten words of the work...' Year)

Example

. . . the worst election loss in the party's history ('This is the end' 1968).

Tips

Use up to the first ten words of the title. Make sure that the name that you use in the reference list matches the name that you use for these citations.

Citing secondary sources

In-text citation

Format

(Author's surname cited in work Year as cited in Author's surname you have read Year)

Example

(Thomas 1980 as cited in Williams 2015)

Tips

A secondary citation should only be used when the original source is unavailable.
In the reference list, only include the source that you actually read (Williams 2015 in the example above).

Multiple works by the same author in the same year

In-text citation

Format

(Author's surname Yeara) ... Author's surname (Yearb)

Example

(Wright 2015a) ...Wright (2015b)

Tips

Use a lower case letter after the year for each citation, and use these letters in the reference list as well, so that your readers can identify each source. Use the letter a for the first source you cite, the letter b for the second source, etc.

Personal communications

In-text citation

Format

(Interviewee/respondent surname, personal communication, Day Month Year)

Example

(Mary Smith, personal communication, 24 October 2020)

Tips

Personal communications can include emails and conversations. Don't include these sources in your reference list.