The best examples of Harvard style reference list examples (with real citations)

Quick examples of Harvard style reference list examples

Let’s start with what you probably came for: real, finished references. These are classic examples of Harvard style reference list examples you’d actually see in a student paper.

Here are a few complete references, written in a common Harvard style used by many universities:

Book (one author)
Smith, J. (2023) Academic writing for college students. 4th edn. New York: Routledge.

Book (two authors)
Taylor, R. and Morgan, L. (2022) Introduction to social research. London: Sage.

Journal article (online, with DOI)
Chen, Y. and Patel, S. (2024) ‘Digital learning habits among first-year undergraduates’, Journal of Educational Research, 117(2), pp. 145–162. doi:10.1080/00220671.2023.9999999.

Website (organization as author)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024) Adolescent and school health. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/index.htm (Accessed: 1 December 2024).

YouTube video
Harvard University (2023) How to read a journal article [YouTube]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxxxxxxxx (Accessed: 2 December 2024).

These are the kind of real examples of Harvard style reference list examples your instructor expects to see: author, year, title, source details, and access information for online material.

Core pattern behind the best examples of Harvard style references

Once you look at enough examples of Harvard style reference list examples, a pattern jumps out. Most references follow this simple order:

Author(s) – Year – Title – Source details – Publisher or URL – Access date (if online)

Think of it like telling the story of your source:

• Who created it? (Author or organization)
• When did they publish it? (Year)
• What is it called? (Title)
• Where can someone find it? (Journal, book, website, etc.)

Every example of a Harvard style reference list entry is just a variation on this basic story. Once that clicks, the rest is much easier.

Book references: examples of Harvard style reference list examples in print

Books are usually the easiest place to start. Most universities use a Harvard pattern very close to this.

Single-author book

Format
Author surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title of book. Edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher.

Real example
Nguyen, T. (2021) Learning statistics with R. 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Notice how this example of a Harvard style reference list entry:

• Starts with the author’s last name
• Uses initials instead of full first names
• Puts the book title in italics
• Includes the edition because it’s not the first

Two or three authors

Example
Khan, A., Lopez, M. and Rivera, J. (2020) Global health policy in practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

All authors are listed in the order shown on the book, with “and” before the last name.

Four or more authors

Many Harvard guides tell you to list the first author and then add “et al.”

Example
Jackson, P. et al. (2024) Climate change and urban planning. London: Routledge.

Always check your own university’s Harvard guide, but this is one of the most common examples of Harvard style reference list examples for multi-author books.

Chapter in an edited book

If you use just one chapter from a collection, the chapter author comes first.

Format
Chapter author surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Title of chapter’, in Editor surname, Initial(s). (ed.) Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher, pp. chapter page range.

Example
Singh, R. (2023) ‘Community-based approaches to public health’, in Harris, D. and Cole, F. (eds) Public health in the 21st century. Boston, MA: Pearson, pp. 89–112.

This is a classic example of Harvard style reference list examples for book chapters: chapter author first, then the editors and book details.

Journal articles: real examples of Harvard style reference list examples

Journal articles are the backbone of most research papers. Here’s the pattern most Harvard styles follow.

Print or PDF journal article

Format
Author surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of journal, Volume(Issue), pp. page range.

Example
Lopez, C. and Green, A. (2022) ‘Workplace flexibility and employee well-being’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(5), pp. 721–739.

Online journal article with DOI

If there’s a DOI (digital object identifier), include it.

Example
Miller, D. (2024) ‘AI-assisted writing in higher education: Risks and opportunities’, Computers & Education, 210, pp. 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105123.

That DOI is a permanent link, so it often replaces the need for a URL.

Online journal article without DOI

If there’s no DOI but it’s clearly an online article, add the URL and access date.

Example
Perez, L. (2023) ‘Telehealth adoption in rural communities’, International Journal of Telemedicine, 19(3), pp. 201–219. Available at: https://www.examplejournal.org/telehealth-rural (Accessed: 30 November 2024).

All of these are strong examples of Harvard style reference list examples for journal articles: author, year, article title in quotes, journal title in italics, and then volume, issue, and pages.

Websites and online reports: examples include government and health sources

In 2024–2025, a lot of your references will be web-based: government pages, health guidance, institutional reports, and data dashboards. Let’s look at examples of Harvard style reference list examples that handle these well.

Webpage with organization as author

Example
National Institutes of Health (2024) NIH data sharing policy overview. Available at: https://www.nih.gov/research-training/nih-data-sharing-policy (Accessed: 1 December 2024).

Here, the organization name replaces the individual author.

Webpage with a named author

Example
Johnson, E. (2024) Strategies for managing academic stress. WebMD. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/academic-stress (Accessed: 28 November 2024).

You still follow the same Harvard pattern: author, year, title (often in italics for standalone web pages), site name, URL, and access date.

Government or policy report (PDF online)

Example
U.S. Department of Education (2023) Condition of education 2023. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Available at: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/ (Accessed: 27 November 2024).

This is one of the best examples of Harvard style reference list examples for official reports: organizational author, year, title in italics, place, publisher, and then the online access details.

Media, videos, and social content: modern Harvard style reference list examples

Your instructor may ask you to reference YouTube videos, podcasts, or social media posts. Let’s look at some real examples.

YouTube video

Example
Harvard University (2023) How to write an academic essay [YouTube]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyyyyyyyyyy (Accessed: 2 December 2024).

The [YouTube] tag makes the format obvious.

Podcast episode

Example
Vance, K. (2024) ‘The future of public health data’, Global Health Today [Podcast]. 15 March. Available at: https://www.examplepodcast.org/episodes/future-public-health-data (Accessed: 29 November 2024).

Social media post (X/Twitter)

Check your institution’s rules, but a common Harvard-style example would look like this:

Example
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024) ‘Flu season is here. It’s not too late to get vaccinated. Learn more about where to get your flu shot.’ X (formerly Twitter), 10 October. Available at: https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/xxxxxxxxxxxx (Accessed: 1 December 2024).

These newer media formats show how flexible Harvard style can be. Even here, the best examples of Harvard style reference list examples still follow the same basic pattern: author, year, title or description, platform, date, and URL.

Academic sources: examples of Harvard style reference list examples from universities

If you want to double-check your formatting, it helps to compare your work with official university guidance. Many Harvard-style variations exist, but the logic is very similar.

For instance:

• Harvard Library offers guidance on citing sources and building reference lists: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/cite
• University of Leeds and Anglia Ruskin University (both .ac.uk) publish detailed Harvard referencing guides with many examples.

These institutional guides often provide some of the best examples of Harvard style reference list examples for tricky sources like conference papers, theses, or datasets.

Here’s how a thesis might look:

Example (doctoral dissertation)
Garcia, M. (2023) Equity in STEM education: Barriers and pathways. PhD thesis. Stanford University.

And a conference paper:

Example (conference paper)
O’Connor, L. and Patel, R. (2024) ‘Using AI tools to support first-generation college students’, in Proceedings of the 2024 Conference on Higher Education Technology. Chicago, IL, 10–12 May. New York: ACM, pp. 55–68.

Again, the same backbone is there: author, year, title, and where it was presented or published.

Formatting your Harvard reference list: style, order, and consistency

Now that you’ve seen many examples of Harvard style reference list examples, let’s talk about how to pull them together into one clean list at the end of your paper.

Alphabetical order

• Arrange entries by the first author’s last name.
• If the author is an organization, alphabetize by the first main word (for example, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under C).

Same author, different years

If you have several works by the same author:

• List them earliest year first: 2020, 2022, 2024, and so on.
• If the year is the same, many Harvard styles use 2024a, 2024b in both in-text citations and the reference list.

Example
Brown, L. (2024a) ‘Student engagement in online courses’, Online Learning Journal, 28(1), pp. 33–49.
Brown, L. (2024b) ‘Designing inclusive digital classrooms’, Teaching in Higher Education, 29(3), pp. 201–220.

Hanging indent and spacing

Most universities expect:

• A hanging indent (first line flush left, remaining lines indented)
• Double spacing or 1.5 spacing throughout the reference list
• No extra blank lines between entries, unless your style guide says otherwise

The content of the examples of Harvard style reference list examples won’t change, but these formatting details can affect your grade.

2024–2025 trends that affect Harvard reference lists

A few things have shifted in recent years that show up in newer examples of Harvard style reference list examples:

• More DOIs: Publishers are very consistent about assigning DOIs now, so modern journal article references almost always include them.
• Stable URLs for official sources: Government and institutional sites (like CDC.gov or NIH.gov) often use stable landing pages, which are safer to cite than long tracking URLs.
• AI tools mentioned in methods: Some journals now expect authors to state if AI tools were used. If you ever need to reference an AI tool, follow your institution’s specific Harvard guidance, as there’s still variation here.
• Data and code repositories: Datasets and code on platforms like Zenodo or institutional repositories are referenced more often, usually in a journal-article-like pattern with a DOI.

These shifts don’t change the core Harvard logic, but they do show up in the best examples of Harvard style reference list examples you’ll see in recent academic work.

FAQ: common questions about Harvard style reference list examples

How many examples of Harvard style reference list examples should I copy for my own paper?

You don’t need to memorize every format. Instead, pick a few examples that match your most common sources: a book, a journal article with a DOI, a website, and maybe a report. Use those as templates and adjust details (author, year, title, etc.) for each new source.

Can I mix different Harvard styles if the examples look slightly different?

Try not to. Different universities tweak Harvard style in small ways (like where they put the year or how they handle italics). Choose one official guide—ideally your own institution’s—and stick to it. Even the best examples of Harvard style reference list examples will look messy if they’re mixed from several different styles.

Is there an example of a Harvard style reference list entry with no author?

Yes. If there is truly no author, most guides tell you to start with the title instead. For example:

Climate change indicators 2024 (2024) Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators (Accessed: 30 November 2024).

You would file this alphabetically under C for Climate.

Do I have to include access dates for every online source?

Most Harvard guides still expect an Accessed date for websites and online reports, because web content can change. For journal articles with a DOI, many institutions drop the access date, but check your local rules.

Where can I see more real examples of Harvard style reference list examples?

Look at:

• Your university library’s Harvard referencing guide
• Online guides from major universities that use Harvard
• Reference lists in recent journal articles in your field

Comparing your own references to these real examples of Harvard style reference list examples is one of the fastest ways to spot mistakes and fix them before you submit your paper.