HarvardAuthorDate

HarvardAuthorDate refers to a family of author-date citation styles used in academic writing. It is not a single universal standard, but a set of related conventions used for both in-text citations and the reference list at the end of a document. The core idea is to record the author’s surname and the publication year in the text and to provide full bibliographic details in a separate reference section.

In-text citations typically use the author’s surname and year in parentheses, with variations depending on the version. For a single author: (Smith 2020). For two authors: (Smith and Jones 2020). For three or more authors: (Smith et al. 2020) or (Smith, Jones and Brown 2020), depending on the exact variant. Direct quotes usually require a page or page range: (Smith 2020, p. 123) or (Smith 2020, pp. 123–124). If the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence, the year may appear in parentheses after the name, e.g., Smith (2020) argues that….

Reference lists are arranged alphabetically by the first author’s surname and provide full publication details. Common formats include: Books — Smith, J., 2020. Title of Book. Edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher. Journal Articles — Smith, J., 2020. Title of Article. Title of Journal, 10(2), pp. 100–110. Digital sources — Smith, J., 2020. Title. Website, accessed Day Month Year. URL. DOIs should be included when available.

Variations exist across institutions and publishers, so it is important to consult the specific Harvard guide or style manual provided by the institution. Reference managers can help, but accuracy depends on applying the correct variant.