Clear examples of Harvard referencing: book examples

Before we get fancy, let’s lock in the basic pattern using a simple example of Harvard referencing for a book.

Most Harvard styles use a structure very close to this:

Author last name, Initial(s). (Year) Title of book: Subtitle if any. Edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher.

Here’s a clean, real‑world example of Harvard referencing: book examples in that format:

Smith, J. (2022) Learning statistics with R: A beginner’s guide. 2nd edn. New York: Routledge.

Notice the rhythm:

• Author
• Year in parentheses
• Title in italics (only the first word and proper nouns capitalized)
• Edition (if it’s 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
• Place
• Publisher

Once you see this pattern, the other examples of Harvard referencing: book examples are mostly variations on this same backbone.

Single‑author and two‑author Harvard book examples

Let’s start with the books you’re most likely to use: one or two authors.

Single‑author book: example of a standard print book

Imagine you’re citing a classic education text. A standard example of Harvard referencing for a single‑author book might look like this:

Bransford, J. D. (2000) How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

You’ll see very similar formatting in university guides, such as those from Harvard Library and many UK universities that follow a Harvard‑style system.

Key points illustrated by this example of Harvard referencing:

• Only the first word of the title and proper nouns are capitalized.
• The city is followed by a colon, then the publisher.

Another simple book example:

Pink, D. H. (2018) When: The scientific secrets of perfect timing. New York: Riverhead Books.

Both of these are straightforward examples of Harvard referencing: book examples you can model when your source has one clear author.

Two‑author book: how to handle the ampersand

Harvard typically uses “and” between authors in the reference list (not an ampersand). Here’s a clean example:

Dweck, C. S. and Yeager, D. S. (2019) Mindsets and resilience in education. London: Academic Press.

In‑text, you’d usually write: (Dweck and Yeager, 2019), or (Dweck and Yeager, 2019, p. 45) for a specific page.

Once you’re comfortable with these basic examples of Harvard referencing: book examples, the rest are just small tweaks.

Multiple authors and “et al.” in Harvard book references

Modern research, especially in health, psychology, or education, often has several authors. Harvard still expects you to list them all in the reference list (unless your specific institution says otherwise).

Three or more authors in the reference list

Here’s an example of Harvard referencing for a book with four authors:

Gerrig, R. J., Zimbardo, P. G., Campbell, A. J. and Cumming, S. R. (2020) Psychology and life. 21st edn. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Every named author appears in the reference list. In‑text, though, you’d shorten it after the first mention in many Harvard variants:

• First in‑text citation: (Gerrig, Zimbardo, Campbell and Cumming, 2020)
• Later citations: (Gerrig et al., 2020)

Check your university’s Harvard guide for the exact rule, because some allow et al. from the very first in‑text citation.

When you see a long list of authors

If you’re citing something like a health or medical text with many authors – common in fields that rely on sources like NIH or CDC reports that later become textbooks – the pattern is the same. You simply keep listing authors in the reference list until your style guide tells you to stop.

For example:

Katz, D. L., Elmore, J. G., Wild, D. M. G. and Lucan, S. C. (2019) Jekel’s epidemiology, biostatistics, preventive medicine, and public health. 5th edn. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.

Again, it follows the same spine as all the other examples of Harvard referencing: book examples.

Edited books and chapters: Harvard book chapter examples

Many academic readings come from edited collections where each chapter has a different author. In Harvard referencing, you treat the chapter author and the editor differently.

Whole edited book: example of Harvard referencing

If you’re citing the entire edited book, you highlight the editor with (ed.) or (eds):

Nussbaum, M. C. and Sen, A. (eds) (1993) The quality of life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Here, both Nussbaum and Sen are editors, not chapter authors. This is a classic example of Harvard referencing: book examples for edited volumes.

Chapter in an edited book: best examples of how to format

Now, imagine you’re citing a specific chapter written by someone else inside that edited book. The pattern shifts to:

Chapter author last name, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Title of chapter’, in Editor last name, Initial(s). (ed.) Title of book. Place: Publisher, page range.

Here’s a concrete example of Harvard referencing for a chapter:

Sen, A. (1993) ‘Capability and well-being’, in Nussbaum, M. C. and Sen, A. (eds) The quality of life. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 30–53.

Another example from education research:

Gee, J. P. (2015) ‘Discourse and learning’, in Sawyer, R. K. (ed.) The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. 2nd edn. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–62.

These are some of the best examples of Harvard referencing: book examples when you’re dealing with chapters, because they clearly show:

• Who wrote the chapter
• Who edited the book
• The page range where the chapter appears

E‑books and online books in Harvard referencing

By 2024–2025, it’s completely normal for your books to be digital. Harvard referencing has adapted, usually by adding the platform or URL and the date you accessed the book.

A common pattern for e‑books is:

Author last name, Initial(s). (Year) Title of book. [E‑book] Place: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Here’s a real‑style example of Harvard referencing: book examples for an e‑book from an academic publisher:

Kimmerer, R. W. (2020) Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. [E‑book] Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions. Available at: https://www.overdrive.com/ (Accessed: 5 May 2024).

If you access an open‑access academic book hosted by a university or international organization, it might look like this:

World Health Organization (2021) Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. [E‑book] Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/ (Accessed: 10 March 2025).

The important thing is that your examples of Harvard referencing: book examples for e‑books still follow the same author–year–title–publisher pattern, with the digital details added at the end.

For detailed guidance on electronic sources, many students check university writing centers, such as the Purdue OWL or major university libraries.

New editions, no date, and other awkward book cases

Real life is messy. Not every book fits the neat “Author, Year, Title, Publisher” mold. Let’s look at examples of Harvard referencing: book examples for trickier situations.

New editions: show which version you used

If your book is not the first edition, you should show which edition you actually used. That matters because content can change between editions.

Example of Harvard referencing for a later edition:

Kuhn, T. S. (2012) The structure of scientific revolutions. 4th edn. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Here, the original book is from 1962, but you’re citing the 2012 4th edition, so that’s the year you use. This is one of the most common real examples of Harvard referencing: book examples in philosophy and science history.

Another edition example:

Turabian, K. L. (2018) A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations. 9th edn. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

No date (n.d.) book example

Sometimes online book PDFs or older scanned texts don’t clearly show a publication year. In those cases, many Harvard styles use (n.d.) for “no date.”

Example of Harvard referencing:

Johnson, M. (n.d.) Introduction to environmental policy. Boston, MA: GreenLeaf Press.

In‑text, you’d write (Johnson, n.d.).

No place or publisher

If the place or publisher is genuinely unavailable, some Harvard guides allow you to write [no place] or [no publisher]. However, try hard to locate this information first, especially by checking library catalogs or publisher sites.

An example of Harvard referencing: book examples when details are missing might look like:

Lee, A. (2015) Global health communication strategies. [no place]: [no publisher].

Use this kind of format sparingly, and follow your institution’s version of Harvard.

Government, organizational, and corporate authors as “authors”

Not every book‑like source has a person as the author. In fields like public health, education policy, or social sciences, you’ll often cite books or reports produced by organizations.

In Harvard referencing, the organization simply takes the author position.

Here are two strong examples of Harvard referencing: book examples with institutional authors:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2020) The CDC field epidemiology manual. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

National Research Council (2012) Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

These institutional examples include the same components as any other book: author (here, an organization), year, title, place, publisher.

If you use a report that’s more like a PDF monograph than a traditional book, some universities still treat it as a book in Harvard style, especially if it has an ISBN and a clear publisher.

In‑text citations that match your Harvard book references

All the examples of Harvard referencing: book examples in your reference list must match your in‑text citations. That pairing is what makes your work easy to follow.

The basic in‑text pattern is:

(Author last name, Year)

Or, if you’re quoting directly:

(Author last name, Year, p. Page number)

Some quick pairings:

• Reference: Pink, D. H. (2018) When: The scientific secrets of perfect timing. New York: Riverhead Books.
  In‑text: (Pink, 2018) or (Pink, 2018, p. 76)

• Reference: Katz, D. L. et al. (2019) Jekel’s epidemiology, biostatistics, preventive medicine, and public health. 5th edn. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.
  In‑text (first mention, depending on your guide): (Katz, Elmore, Wild and Lucan, 2019); later: (Katz et al., 2019)

• Reference: World Health Organization (2021) Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. [E‑book] Geneva: World Health Organization.
  In‑text: (World Health Organization, 2021)

If your reference list is consistent and your in‑text citations clearly match, readers and graders can easily trace any claim back to its source.

2024–2025 trends: what students get wrong with Harvard book references

In recent years, as more students rely on citation generators, a few patterns keep showing up in assignments:

• Over‑capitalizing titles. Harvard usually wants only the first word and proper nouns capitalized in book titles, not Every Important Word.
• Mixing styles. Students sometimes blend APA or MLA with Harvard, especially around punctuation and capitalization. Pick one style guide and stick with it.
• Forgetting editions. With textbooks updated regularly, not giving the edition can mislead readers about which version you used.
• Dropping access dates for e‑books. Many Harvard variants still want an access date for online books, even from stable platforms.

If you’re unsure, cross‑check your examples of Harvard referencing: book examples against a trusted academic source, such as your university library guide or an institution like Harvard Library or Purdue OWL, and then keep your format consistent.

FAQ: Short answers with real Harvard book examples

What are some simple examples of Harvard referencing: book examples?

Two of the simplest are:

Smith, J. (2022) Learning statistics with R: A beginner’s guide. 2nd edn. New York: Routledge.
Pink, D. H. (2018) When: The scientific secrets of perfect timing. New York: Riverhead Books.

Both follow the core Harvard pattern: author, year, title in italics, edition (if needed), place, publisher.

Can you give an example of Harvard referencing for an edited book chapter?

Yes. Here’s a clear example of Harvard referencing for a chapter in an edited book:

Gee, J. P. (2015) ‘Discourse and learning’, in Sawyer, R. K. (ed.) The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. 2nd edn. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–62.

This shows the chapter author, year, chapter title in single quotes, editor, book title in italics, edition, place, publisher, and page range.

How do I reference an e‑book in Harvard style?

Follow the usual book format, then add the format and access details. For example:

Kimmerer, R. W. (2020) Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. [E‑book] Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions. Available at: https://www.overdrive.com/ (Accessed: 5 May 2024).

Your own platform and URL will vary, but the structure stays similar.

Do I always need the place of publication in Harvard book references?

Most Harvard guides still ask for the city, especially for print books. Some more modern or simplified institutional styles are starting to drop it, but unless your university says otherwise, include the place. The examples of Harvard referencing: book examples in this guide all show the place for that reason.

Where can I check if my Harvard book references are correct?

Your university library or writing center is your best starting point, because each institution can tweak Harvard slightly. For general guidance and more examples, you can also look at:

• Harvard Library research and citation guides
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• Subject‑specific guidance from organizations like NIH or CDC when you’re working with health and medical texts

Use those as models, then keep your own reference list consistent from top to bottom.