The basic form
Harvard is an author–date system: the citation is the surname and year, placed where the claim is made.
Housing completions rose sharply after 2024 (Murphy, 2025).
Murphy (2025) argues that completions rose sharply after 2024.
Both forms are correct — use the second (“narrative”) form when the author matters to your sentence, the first when the claim matters more.
Quoting: add the page
Direct quotations and references to specific passages need a page number. Paraphrases don’t (though some lecturers like them — check your module guide).
“The market never fully recovered” (Murphy, 2025, p. 43).
Murphy (2025, pp. 43–44) describes the recovery as partial at best.
Author counts
| Authors | In-text form |
|---|---|
| One | (Murphy, 2024) |
| Two | (Murphy and Byrne, 2024) |
| Three | (Murphy, Byrne and Walsh, 2024) |
| Four or more | (Murphy et al., 2024) |
Note: “and”, not “&”, in Cite Them Right Harvard — and et al. only kicks in at four authors. The generator applies both rules automatically.
The awkward cases
- No author: use the organisation — (Health Service Executive, 2026). No organisation either? Use the title in italics.
- No date: write (Murphy, no date) — and in the reference list too.
- Two works, same author, same year: label them (Murphy, 2024a) and (Murphy, 2024b) — the letters carry into the reference list, sorted by title.
- Several sources for one claim: one bracket, semicolons, oldest first — (Byrne, 2019; Walsh, 2022; Murphy, 2024).
- A source quoted inside another source (secondary referencing): (Keane, 2010, cited in Murphy, 2024) — and only Murphy goes in your reference list, because that’s what you actually read.
The rule that ties it together
Every in-text citation must match an entry in the reference list, and every entry must be cited at least once. Markers check this in both directions — it’s the fastest plagiarism-adjacent red flag there is. Build the list as you write with the free generator: it keeps your references alphabetised and formatted, with the matching in-text form shown for every source.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Harvard in-text citation look like?
The author’s surname and year in brackets: (Murphy, 2024). If you quote directly or refer to a specific page, add it: (Murphy, 2024, p. 12). The full details go in the reference list at the end.
How do I cite a source with no author?
Use the organisation as author: (Central Statistics Office, 2026). If there is no organisation either, use the title in italics in place of the author. Never write "Anonymous" unless the source itself does.
How do I cite two sources at once?
Inside one set of brackets, separated by semicolons, in chronological order: (Byrne, 2019; Murphy, 2024). For two works by the same author in one year, label them a and b: (Murphy, 2024a; Murphy, 2024b).
Do I cite every sentence?
Cite every claim that comes from a source, but if several consecutive sentences clearly draw on the same source, one citation at the natural end of the passage is enough. Re-cite when you switch sources or start a new paragraph.