What is the official Harvard style?#

“Harvard style” is a popular name for the author-date type of parenthetical referencing.

This way of referencing does not originate from Harvard University.[1] There are many variants of “Harvard style” in use, and there is no “official” Harvard Style.

If you are looking for a style called “Harvard”, you can check the many “Harvard” styles available in the Zotero Style Repository to see if there’s one for your institution.

If there isn’t a style for your institution, you can use the CSL Search by Example tool to find a style that matches your institution’s style guide.

If you’re not able to find a good match, you can request a new style.

[1] Anecdotal evidence suggests the name originates with an English visitor of the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. See Chernin, Eli (1988). “The ‘Harvard system’: a mystery dispelled”, British Medical Journal. October 22, 1988, pp. 1062–1063.