How to reference an article in Harvard referencing style
What is an article?
Almost all writers and academics reference other people’s writing in their works. Referencing demonstrates that you have researched your topic, are well versed in its arguments and theories, and it also helps avoid charges of plagiarism.
The Harvard citation system is just one of many referencing styles – and which style you choose is normally guided by the institution or publication you are writing for.
In this article, you will learn how to use the Harvard citation system to reference the following types of articles:
- journal article
- newspaper article
- magazine article
Properly citing article details in the reference list will help the readers to locate your source material if they wish to read more about a particular area or topic.
Information you need:
- Author name
- (Year published)
- ‘Article title’
- Journal/newspaper/magazine name
- Day and month published, if available
- Volume number, if available
- (Issue) number, if available
- Page number(s), if available
If accessed online:
- Available at: URL or DOI
- (Accessed: date).
Journal articles
Academic or scholarly journals are periodical publications about a specific discipline. No matter what your field is, if you are writing an academic paper, you will inevitably have to cite a journal article in your research. Journal articles often have multiple authors, so make sure you know when to use et al. in Harvard style. The method for referencing a journal article in the reference list is as follows:
Reference list (print) structure:
Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Journal name, Volume(Issue), Page(s).
Example:
Shepherd, V. (2020) ‘An exploration around peer support for secondary pupils in Scotland with experience of self-harm’, Educational Psychology in Practice, 36(3), pp. 297-312.
Note that the article title uses sentence case. However, the title of the journal uses title case. Additionally, the volume number comes immediately after the journal title followed by the issue number in round brackets.
If the original material you are referencing was accessed online, then the method for citing it in the reference list will be the same as that in print, but with an additional line at the end.
Reference list (online) structure:
Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page(s). Available at: URL or DOI (Accessed: date).
Example:
Shepherd, V. (2020) ‘An exploration around peer support for secondary pupils in Scotland with experience of self-harm’, Educational Psychology in Practice, 36(3), pp. 297-312. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02667363.2020.1772726 (Accessed: 08 October 2020).
In-text citation (print or online) structure:
In-text citations are written within round brackets and start with the last name of the author followed by the year published, both separated by a comma.
You can also mention the author within the text and only include the publication year in round brackets.
Examples:
In this article (Shepherd, 2020) deals with…
According to Shepherd (2020), when peer support is available…
Talking about the secondary education system, Shepherd (2020, p.299) suggests that…
Newspaper articles
Even if you are referring to an incident which is public knowledge, you still need to cite the source.
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). ‘Massive fire at local department store’, The Daily Local, 10 August, p. 1.
Reference list (online) structure:
Last name, F. (Year published). ‘Article title’, Newspaper name, Day Month, Page(s). Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example:
Gambino, L. (2020) ‘Kamala Harris and Mike Pence clash over coronavirus response in vice-presidential debate,’ The Guardian, 8 October. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/07/debate-kamala-harris-mike-pence-latest-news (Accessed: 8 October 2020).
Reference list structure, no byline:
The basic reference list structure for the reference is the same for both print and online articles. If information isn’t available, simply omit it from the reference.
Newspaper name (Year published) ‘Article Title’, Day Month, Page(s). Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Example:
The Chronicler (2016) ‘Local man wins lottery jackpot twice in one year’, 30 May, p. 14. Available at: https://thechroniclerpaper.com/local-man-wins-lottery-twice (Accessed: 1 October 2020).
In-text citation structure (print or online):
The last name of the author and date are written in round brackets, separated by a comma. The method is similar to referencing journal articles in in-text citations.
Examples:
(Hamilton, 2018)
In his paper, Gambino (2020) mentioned that…
For articles accessed online which do not have an author, the name of the publication is mentioned in place of the author’s name and is italicized.
Example:
(The Chronicler, 2016)
Magazine articles
The structure of magazine articles is similar to that of a journal article.
Reference list (print) structure:
Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Magazine Name, Volume(Issue), Page(s).
Example:
Ornes, S. (2020). “To save Appalachia’s endangered mussels, scientists hatched a bold plan”, ScienceNews, (198), p.2.
Reference list (online) structure:
Last name, F. (Year published) ‘Article title’, Magazine name, Volume(Issue), Page(s). Available at: URL (Accessed: Date).
Example:
Ornes, S. (2020) ‘To save Appalachia’s endangered mussels, scientists hatched a bold plan’, ScienceNews, (198), p.2. Available at: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/endangered-mussels-appalachia-rivers-biologists-conservation-plan (Accessed: 3 October 2020).
In-text citation (print or online) structure:
(Author last name, Year published)
Example:
(Ornes, 2020)
Published October 29, 2020.