Harvard Referencing Checklist
This follows Cite Them Right, the most widely taught Harvard style. It's an author-date style, so the big rule is: every reference needs a year. Harvard has many variants — always check anything specific your course requires.
Page formatting
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides.
- Font: a readable font (such as Times New Roman or Arial) at 12 pt.
- Spacing: double-spaced, with no extra space between paragraphs.
- Indent: first line of every body paragraph indented 0.5 inch.
- Alignment: left-aligned (ragged right) — not justified.
- Page numbers: included.
- In-text citations: author-date, e.g. (Smith, 2020).
Reference list
- Starts on a new page with a heading: Reference list (or "References").
- 0.5-inch hanging indent, double-spaced, alphabetical by surname.
- A year on every entry (use "(no date)" if there isn't one).
- Each entry formatted correctly — see Harvard reference examples.
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Which Harvard does this follow?
Cite Them Right, the most common Harvard style taught at universities. Your course may use a slightly different variant.
What if a source has no year?
Use "(no date)" in place of the year.