Harvard Citation Generator (Cite Them Right 12)
Create Cite Them Right 12 Harvard citations from metadata or manual details. First 3 sources free. Confirm your institution requires this variant.
Add a website
Start with a link or identifier. We’ll find the details for you to review.
Saved in this browser. Edits, style changes, copies and exports don’t use another free citation.
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Find papers and develop your writing with linked sources. Review the evidence behind each claim. Opens in a new tab; references saved here stay in this browser. Copy or export before continuing.
How to cite in Cite Them Right 12th edition – Harvard
Generate the Cite Them Right Harvard variant. Harvard is not one universal standard; confirm that this is the variant your institution requests.
Citation software formats the information supplied to it; it cannot confirm that every field is complete or that a source is suitable for your work. Compare the output with the original source and the current instructions you must follow.
Use the selected source and style together
Harvard is a family of author–date conventions, not one universal specification. This page selects Cite Them Right, twelfth edition. Confirm that your institution asks for that variant before comparing the result with a different university’s Harvard guide. The book example shows the reference pattern of the pinned file; local Harvard punctuation from another guide can differ without indicating that the source metadata itself is wrong. Match the author and year in the short marker to the full reference entry. Add the passage locator required by your guide. Review works sharing an author and year together so their short citations remain distinguishable.
For the shared lookup and formatting walkthrough, see the citation generator guide. Keep this page’s edition and source-specific checks beside your output as you review it.
What to check
- Assuming every style called Harvard has identical rules
- Switching Harvard variants midway through a reference list
Illustrative formatted example
In-text citation
(Kahneman, 2011)
Full reference
Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Plain-text output from the pinned CSL file for Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011; ISBN 9780374275631). Italics and superscript styling are not shown here. Add quotation locators separately and check your edition.
Source fields for Cite Them Right 12 Harvard
Identify the source before deciding which fields matter. A book needs the edition and publisher; an article needs its journal and location information; a webpage needs its item title, creator and a defensible publication date. Access information can matter for online material, but an access date should not be substituted for the date the work was published. Keep those concepts separate during manual entry.
Review Cite Them Right 12 Harvard in your manuscript
When a reference seems different from a sample supplied by a course, compare the named Harvard variant first. Then check author handling, title capitalization and date placement. Add the relevant quotation locator in your writing and ensure that the short author–date marker points to the right entry. Mixing references produced by several unnamed Harvard generators can leave a visibly inconsistent list.
Metadata and formatting
DOIs use Crossref, with DataCite when Crossref has no record; PMIDs use NCBI PubMed and ISBNs use Open Library. Public URLs use page metadata; YouTube oEmbed supplies title and channel, but no upload date. Pinned CSL styles format the records. No AI generates citation details, and PDFs are not uploaded or read here.
Frequently asked questions
Which Harvard style does this generate?
Cite Them Right, 12th edition. If your institution publishes its own Harvard rules, use those instructions instead.
How do I use the Cite Them Right 12 Harvard reference in my writing?
Match the author and year in the short marker to the full reference entry. Add the passage locator required by your guide. Review works sharing an author and year together so their short citations remain distinguishable. Compare the final manuscript and reference list after edits; a correct isolated entry cannot establish that it is attached to the intended claim.
Can I enter Cite Them Right 12 Harvard source details manually?
Yes. Select the actual source type and enter verified creators, title, date and publication details. For a book, check the edition and publisher; for an article, check the journal, volume and pages; for a website, use the specific page’s metadata. Manual entry changes the source record, not the rules of the selected style.
How should I enter a corporate author in Cite Them Right 12 Harvard?
Enter an organization as a group author in braces, for example {World Health Organization}, so its words are not parsed as a person’s given name and surname. Keep individual authors in publication order. Check how the group’s name appears in the reference and the accompanying citation or note. Do not replace a credited individual with the website owner.
What if my Cite Them Right 12 Harvard source has no publication date?
Leave an unknown date blank and let the pinned style handle missing information. Do not invent a year from a footer, file timestamp or the day you looked up the source. Check the publication before accepting a provider date, and keep access information separate. Review missing-date and title treatment against the exact edition or variant required for your document.
What does the Cite Them Right 12 Harvard example demonstrate?
Plain-text output from the pinned CSL file for Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011; ISBN 9780374275631). Italics and superscript styling are not shown here. Add quotation locators separately and check your edition. The example is tied to the named source and pinned file; it does not demonstrate every source type or publisher override.
Is Cite Them Right 12 Harvard free, and can I export BibTeX or RIS?
The first 3 sources are free per browser, shared across citation pages. Copy the formatted reference or export your saved bibliography as BibTeX or RIS. These files retain structured records for compatible tools; a destination can apply a different style. Check imported fields and keep a downloaded copy, since browser storage can be cleared and opening AnswerThis does not transfer this bibliography.