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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 University¹⁾. There are many variants of “Harvard style” in use, and there is no “official” Harvard Style. You can check the many “Harvard” styles available in the Zotero Style Repository to see if there's one for your institution. If not, you can compare the options to the style guide of your institution or professional association to try to find the best match. If you're not able to find a good match and you believe your variant to be widely used, you can request a new style.

kb, styles

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.