Referencing a journal article in Harvard style looks simple until you meet the details that markers actually check: an article with an article number instead of page numbers, a DOI versus a URL, several authors, or an article you read online ahead of print. Getting those details right is not pedantry. In Harvard referencing, the reference list is how a reader finds your sources, and a reference that cannot be traced undermines confidence in the work behind it. This guide explains the UK Cite Them Right approach, with worked examples you can adapt to your own sources.
The core Harvard pattern for a journal article is straightforward: author surname and initials, year in brackets, article title in single quotation marks, journal title in italics, volume, and then the location details — issue number, page range or article number, and DOI or URL where required. The in-text citation is the author and year, with a page number added when you quote directly. Everything else in this guide is about applying that pattern correctly when articles do not fit the simplest case, which, in practice, is most of the time.
The basic pattern and in-text citations
For a standard article with page numbers, the reference list entry looks like this: Smith, J. (2023) ‘Understanding student motivation in online learning’, Journal of Higher Education Studies, 45(2), pp. 112-128. doi: 10.1234/jhes.2023.045. Note the details: the article title is in sentence case and single quotation marks, the journal title is in title case and italics, the volume number follows the journal title, the issue number is in brackets, and the page range is preceded by “pp.”. The DOI, where one exists, comes last, written as “doi:” followed by the identifier, without a full web address and without an access date.
In the text, the same source is cited as (Smith, 2023) when you paraphrase, or (Smith, 2023, p. 115) when you quote a specific passage. If the author’s name is part of your sentence, write it as Smith (2023) argues that… rather than repeating the name in brackets. When you cite two sources together, separate them with a semicolon inside one set of brackets: (Smith, 2023; Jones, 2021). Keep the in-text form consistent throughout your work; switching between styles within one essay is one of the fastest ways to lose presentation marks.
A common source of confusion is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography. In most UK university work using Harvard, you provide a reference list: only the sources you actually cited in the text. A bibliography, where one is requested, may also include sources you consulted but did not cite. Check your departmental guidance, because submitting a bibliography when a reference list was asked for — or the reverse — is an avoidable error.
Article numbers, DOIs, URLs and access dates
Many online-first and open-access journals no longer use page ranges. Instead, each article carries an article number, such as e12345 or 104567. In that case, replace the page range with the article number, introduced in the same position: Patel, R. and Ahmed, S. (2024) ‘Digital feedback and student engagement’, Studies in Learning and Teaching, 12(3), article 104567. doi: 10.5678/slt.2024.104567. Do not invent page numbers for such articles, and do not leave the location blank. The article number is how the reader will find it.
When an article has a DOI, give the DOI and stop there. Cite Them Right advises that a DOI is the preferred persistent link, and no URL or access date is needed alongside it. The DOI is stable even if the journal moves its website, which is precisely why it exists. If, unusually, an article has no DOI, give the URL where you accessed it, followed by the date you accessed it, in this form: Available at: https://examplejournal.ac.uk/article (Accessed: 12 March 2025). The access date matters for URLs because web content can change; for a DOI, it does not, because the identifier is permanent.
Be careful with URLs copied from a database. A long, session-specific link from a library search, full of tracking parameters, is not a useful reference. Use the stable article page on the publisher’s or journal’s site, or the DOI link, instead. If you accessed the article through your university library, the reference still cites the journal and publisher, not the library database. The database was your route to the article, not its source.
Multiple authors, editors and special cases
For two or three authors, list all of them in the reference list, joined by “and” before the final author: Jones, A., Brown, B. and Taylor, C. (2022) ‘Classroom feedback and attainment’, British Journal of Education, 38(1), pp. 45-62. For four or more authors, Cite Them Right’s Harvard guidance lists all authors in the reference list where possible, though some departments allow “et al.” after the first author in the reference list for very long author lists. Always check your department’s version, because Harvard is a family of styles rather than a single rulebook, and your marker will follow your department’s variant. In the text, four or more authors are cited as (Jones et al., 2022) from the first citation.
A worked multi-author example with a DOI and article number brings the rules together: Okafor, N., Hughes, M., Khan, F. and Davies, P. (2024) ‘Nurse-led follow-up after hospital discharge: a mixed-methods evaluation’, Journal of Clinical Nursing Practice, 19(4), article e2214. doi: 10.1111/jcnp.2024.e2214. In the text, that becomes (Okafor et al., 2024). If you quote from it, add the page or, for an unpaginated article, the section or paragraph where the quoted material appears, so the reader can locate it.
Other cases arise regularly. An article published online ahead of print, before it has volume or page details, is cited with the year of online publication and the DOI, and the entry should be updated if the final version appears before you submit. A translated article, a supplement, or an article in a journal that restarts pagination each issue may need the issue number to be findable — another reason to include the issue number in brackets whenever the journal provides one. When in doubt, include the detail that helps a reader find the article, and leave out detail that does not.
Checking your references and using the Harvard generator
Before submission, check every reference against three tests. First, does every in-text citation have a matching entry in the reference list, and does every entry correspond to a citation? Second, can each entry be traced — author, year, title, journal, volume and location all present and accurate? Third, is the formatting consistent: italics in the same places, punctuation in the same places, DOIs or URLs handled the same way throughout? A single pass through the list with those questions will catch most errors, and it is far quicker than correcting references after a marker has noticed them.
For speed and consistency, you can also use the site’s Harvard referencing generator tool to build entries, then check each generated entry against the article itself before pasting it into your list. A generator saves typing and reduces formatting slips, but it cannot verify that you entered the right volume, issue or article number, and it cannot know your department’s variant of Harvard. Treat it as a drafting aid, not a substitute for checking. The same caution applies to reference managers: they are excellent for organising sources, but an imported record with an incomplete author list or a wrong year will reproduce that error in every document until someone notices.
Finally, remember that referencing is part of academic honesty, not decoration. A correct reference shows that you have read the source, that you are distinguishing your ideas from others’, and that your argument can be checked. Markers notice when references are careful, because careful references usually accompany careful argument. The few minutes spent verifying an article number or a DOI are therefore part of the work, not an administrative extra after it.
How referencing help works
If referencing is slowing your writing down, start by gathering the full details for each source before you draft, rather than trying to reconstruct references at the end. Note the authors, year, title, journal, volume, issue, pages or article number, and DOI for each article as you read it. That habit alone prevents most last-minute referencing crises. If you are unsure about a particular source type — a preprint, a conference paper published in a journal, or an article with an unusual author list — check the Cite Them Right guidance for that type, or ask your tutor, before guessing.
United Academic Help also supports students with referencing as part of wider assignment and dissertation help, including checking a reference list against in-text citations and bringing formatting into line with your department’s Harvard variant. Share your list and your style guidance, and we can help you bring it to a consistent, checkable standard without changing the content of your argument.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an access date if the article has a DOI? No. A DOI is a permanent identifier, so Cite Them Right does not require an access date alongside it. Give the DOI only. Access dates are for URLs, where the content may change or move.
What if the article has an article number instead of page numbers? Use the article number in place of the page range, for example “article e2214” or “article 104567”, depending on how the journal presents it. Do not invent page numbers, and do not omit the location detail altogether.
How do I cite more than three authors in the text? Cite the first author followed by “et al.” and the year, for example (Okafor et al., 2024). In the reference list, list all authors where your department’s guidance allows, or follow its specific rule for long author lists.
Should I include the URL if I found the article through my university library? No. Cite the journal article itself, with its DOI if it has one. If it has no DOI, give the stable publisher URL and an access date. The library database is not the source and should not appear in the reference.
What if the journal title has changed? Cite the title under which the article was published, as it appears on the article itself. Do not update it to the journal’s current title, because the reader needs to find the article as published.
Harvard referencing rewards attention to the small details that make a source findable. Get the author, year, title, journal, volume and location right, choose DOI over URL where a DOI exists, and check every entry against your in-text citations. Do that consistently, and your reference list will do its job quietly and well.