The Harvard citation style is used in the writing of university-level academic essays and papers. In fact, this style is used to cite a wide variety of sources, and not just websites. However, citing a website in this style can be tricky, especially if you've never cited a website before in a paper or essay. With a few steps, you can create in-text citations using the Harvard citation style, or cite websites in the bibliography/references at the end of the article, similar to a bibliography.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Creating In-Text Quotes
Step 1. State the title or name of the website
Look for the title at the top of the website or in the site URL. Include the full title.
For example, you could use a title like "Tourism Canada" or "The Writer's Pen" for an in-text quote
Step 2. List the year the website was created or revised
Look for the website creation date at the bottom of the page which is usually displayed next to the trademark or text such as “Created on”. You can also look for the revision date at the bottom of the site page. Usually, dates are marked with the phrase “Revised on” or “Reviewed on” (reviewed on).
- For example, you might see notes like “Created on: January 2001” (created in January 2001) or “Revised: 2012” (revised in 2012) at the bottom of the website.
- If you can't find the year of manufacture or revision, use "n.d." on in-text citations to indicate that date information is not found on the site.
Step 3. Use brackets for in-text citations
State the title of the site, followed by the year it was created or revised in parentheses.
- For example, you might write something like this: “(Tourism Canada 2001)” or “(The Writer's Pen 2011)”.
- If there is no date information on the website, you can write it as follows: “(Tourism Canada n.d.)”.
Step 4. Place the in-text citation at the end of the quoted sentence or paraphrased information
If you are quoting text directly from the source, enclose the text in quotation marks. If you are paraphrasing information from a source, you do not need to enclose it in quotation marks. Include the in-text citation right after the quote or paraphrase. Place the quote in the text after the period at the end of the sentence.
- For example, if you quoted information directly from a source, you might write it like this: "The national average number of pregnancies has doubled in the past year." (Tourism Canada 2011)
- If the sentence is a paraphrase, you can write it as follows: The winner of this award will receive 1,660 US dollars. (The Writer's Pen 2011)
Method 2 of 2: Citing Websites in Reference List
Step 1. State the title of the website
This process is similar to the process of including a site title for an in-text citation. Look for the site title at the top of the page. The title is also usually mentioned in the site URL.
For example, you might write “Parks Ontario” or “The Canadian Cancer Society” as the title of your website
Step 2. Include the year the site was created or revised in parentheses
If you've already created an in-text citation, you probably already have this information. If you haven't already, look for the website's creation date at the bottom of the page, usually next to the trademark or note such as "Created on". You can also look for the revision date at the bottom of the page. Usually, the date is stated with the phrase “revised on” or “reviewed on”.
- For example, you might see notes like “Created on: March 2001” (created in March 2001) or “Revised: 2017” (revised in 2017) at the bottom of the website.
- You can write it in a quote like this: “Parks Ontario 2001” or “The Canadian Cancer Society 2017”.
- Use "n.d." on the citation if you can't find the site's creation or revision date information. "n.d." indicates that date information is not available on the site. For example, you might write it like this: “Parks Ontario n.d.” or “The Canadian Cancer Society n.d.”
Step 3. Mention that you accessed an official or corporate website
Type “corporate website” or “official website” in italics. Do not put punctuation between the site title and the phrase “official website” or “corporate website” (“corporate website”).
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For example, you could write a reference entry as follows: “The Canadian Cancer Society official website” or “Parks Ontario corporate website”.
Example in Indonesian: “The Canadian Cancer Society's official website” or “Parks Ontario corporate website”
Step 4. Enter the date, month and year of website access
Write “viewed” (“accessed on”) and state the date of access to the site. Always type in the date first.
- For example, you could write it as: “viewed 21 June 2016” (“accessed on 21 June 2016”) or “viewed 1 March 2011” (“accessed on 1 March 2011”).
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Here is an example of a reference entry: The Canadian Cancer Society n.d. The Canadian Cancer Society official website, viewed 1 March 2011
Example in Indonesian: The Canadian Cancer Society n.d. official website of The Canadian Cancer Society, accessed on 1 March 2011
Step 5. Include the website URL
Use open angle brackets (“”) and periods.
- For example, you could write it like this: “
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An example of a complete reference entry would look like this: The Canadian Cancer Society n.d. The Canadian Cancer Society official website, 1 March 2011
Example in Indonesian: The Canadian Cancer Society n.d. The Canadian Cancer Society official website, March 1, 2011
Step 6. Place the entry on the reference page/segment (bibliography) at the end of the article
As part of the Harvard citation style, you should have a reference page (and not a bibliography). This page contains reference entries from all the sources you used in writing your paper or essay. Make sure all sources cited in the text are also shown on the reference page or segment.
- For example, a full Harvard citation style reference entry would look like this: Parks Ontario 2011, Parks Ontario corporate website, viewed 21 June 2016,
- Example in English: Parks Ontario 2011, Parks Ontario corporate website, accessed 21 June 2016,
