Cape Peninsula University of Technology Harvard Referencing

To cite a website in CPUT Harvard style, list the author's surname and initials, the year of publication, the page title (not in italics), the full URL, and the date you accessed it in square brackets.

Websites are cited this way because they are not traditionally published works and may change or disappear over time. The access date confirms the URL was live and active when you consulted it. When no individual author is named, use the name of the corporate or organisational author. When no date is available, use n.d. in place of the year.

To cite a book in CPUT Harvard style, write the author's surname and initials, the year, the title in italics, the edition (if not the first), the place of publication, and the publisher.

The book title is always italicised in CPUT Harvard style. For subsequent editions, include the edition number after the title. The first edition is never stated. CPUT students across all faculties, including engineering, business, and health sciences, rely on correctly cited books because books carry the most authoritative and peer-reviewed knowledge in most subject areas.

To write an in-text citation in CPUT Harvard style, place the author's surname, year of publication, and page number either at the start of the sentence (without brackets around the surname) or at the end of the sentence (with all elements in brackets).

The two formats are:

Start of sentence: Surname (Year:page) states that…

End of sentence: …(Surname, Year:page).

Note the use of a colon between the year and page number, not a comma. This is a specific CPUT rule and differs from some other Harvard variants. When you cite multiple sources within one sentence, list them chronologically inside one set of brackets, separated by semicolons: (Tshabalala, 2020; Adams, 2018; Smit, 2015). When citing multiple pages from the same source, separate the pages with semicolons: (Booi, 2020:11-14; 18; 21).

To cite a journal article in CPUT Harvard style, write the author's surname and initials, the year, the article title (not in italics), the journal name in italics, the volume and issue number, and the page range.

Critically, in CPUT Harvard style, the article title is not italicised; only the journal name is. This is because the journal is the published container that can be independently located, while the article is a piece within it. Academic researchers and postgraduate students in South African universities most frequently use journal articles as their primary scholarly evidence. When an online link is available, include the DOI or stable URL followed by the access date.

To cite a PDF in CPUT Harvard style, treat the PDF as the source type it represents (a report, e-book, or journal article) and add the direct URL to the file and the date of access at the end of the reference.

The reference list format follows the base source type, but appends the PDF URL and access date. PDFs are very common in South African academic institutions because many government reports, CPUT library resources, and journal articles are distributed as downloadable PDF files. The access date confirms that the file was retrievable at that URL. If the PDF has no individual author, use the organisation as the author.

To cite a chapter in an edited book in CPUT Harvard style, write the chapter author's details first, followed by the chapter title, then "In" followed by the editor's details, the book title in italics, the publisher information, and the page numbers.

This format specifically applies to edited books where each chapter is written by a different author. CPUT students in social sciences, education, and humanities regularly encounter edited volumes where chapter authorship matters for attribution. The page numbers at the end refer to the chapter's full page span in the book, not the specific pages you cited from.

To cite multiple authors in CPUT Harvard style, use "&" between names in the reference list, spell out "and" in running text, and use "et al." for three or more authors in all in-text citations.

CPUT Harvard applies clear rules depending on author count. For two authors in the reference list: Surname, Initials & Surname, Initials. For three or more in the reference list: list all authors. In-text always shortens to Surname et al. for three or more. This rule prevents in-text citations from becoming excessively long while still crediting all contributors fully in the reference list.

To cite a direct quote in CPUT Harvard style, enclose the exact words in inverted commas, and immediately follow with the author's surname, year, and the specific page number where the quote appears.

CPUT Harvard requires a specific page number for direct quotations. This is not optional. Providing the page number allows your reader to find the exact passage in the original source and verify the quote accurately. Excessively long quotations (more than three lines) should be presented as an indented block rather than in running text.

To cite an online image in CPUT Harvard style, treat the image creator or hosting organisation as the author, include the year, the title or description of the image in square brackets as [Image], the URL, and the date accessed.

Images are cited this way in CPUT Harvard because visual materials carry intellectual property rights and must be acknowledged just as text-based sources are. Design students, engineers producing technical reports, and researchers reproducing data visualisations all need to cite images properly. Where an image creator is unknown, use the organisational source.

To cite a report in CPUT Harvard style, use the authoring organisation as the author, followed by the year, the report title (not in italics), and the URL with access date if accessed online.

Reports are formally published documents produced by government departments, NGOs, research institutes, and corporations. CPUT students in public administration, engineering, and business management regularly cite reports as evidence of institutional data and policy positions. Because many South African government and organisational reports are available online, the URL and access date are almost always required.

To cite a thesis or dissertation in CPUT Harvard style, write the author's name, the year, the title in italics, the qualification type, and the name of the awarding institution.

Theses and dissertations are original research works that hold significant academic authority. CPUT postgraduate students writing literature reviews frequently cite MTech, DTech, and PhD theses from South African repositories such as the CPUT Institutional Repository, the National Research Foundation, and EThOS. If accessed online, include the URL and access date.

To cite a YouTube video in CPUT Harvard style, write the name of the person or channel that uploaded the video, the year, the video title, followed by [Online video, DD Month], the YouTube URL, and the date accessed.

YouTube videos are cited in CPUT Harvard style in much the same way as podcasts, as the manual groups online audio-visual content under the same structural logic. Academic use of YouTube is common in education studies, public health communication, and technology disciplines, where instructional or documentary videos serve as legitimate evidence sources.

To cite a podcast in CPUT Harvard style, write the author or speaker's surname and initials, the year, the episode title, followed by [Podcast, DD Month], the URL, and the date accessed.

The CPUT manual explicitly provides a podcast citation format based on this structure, using the example of Yuval Noah Harari's 2018 podcast episode. Podcast citations are increasingly important because many academics, journalists, and industry professionals distribute original research and commentary through audio platforms. CPUT students in media studies, public policy, and management regularly reference podcasts as primary sources.

To cite an online news article in CPUT Harvard style, write the author's surname and initials, the year, the article title (not in italics), the newspaper name, the date of the article, the URL, and the date accessed.

When an article has no author, use the article title as the first element and enclose the first significant words in the in-text citation in inverted commas. CPUT students in journalism, law, social sciences, and business frequently cite newspaper articles to contextualise current events alongside peer-reviewed sources. South African newspapers such as Mail & Guardian, Daily Maverick, and News24 are commonly referenced.

To cite a dictionary in CPUT Harvard style, write the author or editor's surname and initials (or the dictionary title if no editor is named), the year, the entry title, the dictionary title in italics, the edition, and the publisher details.

For online dictionaries, include the URL and access date. Dictionary citations are used most frequently in humanities, law, language studies, and social science assignments where precise definitions of technical or contested terms are required. CPUT nursing and law students often cite medical or legal dictionaries to anchor their argument in formally defined terminology.

To cite South African legislation in CPUT Harvard style, write the full title of the Act, the year it was promulgated, the Act number, and the place of publication.

Legislation is treated as a non-authored document in the CPUT Harvard style. The title of the Act serves as the author element. CPUT students in law, public administration, social work, and health sciences routinely cite legislation because their professional practice is governed by specific statutes. When legislation is accessed online, include the URL and access date at the end.

To cite a lecture or class handout in CPUT Harvard style, write the lecturer's surname and initials, the year, the title of the lecture or handout (not in italics), the description in brackets such as [Lecture notes] or [Class handout], and the module and institution.

Course notes and handouts are classified as unpublished materials in the CPUT system, which means they do not carry italics in the title. CPUT students most commonly cite lecture notes when they are explicitly directed to do so by their lecturer. You should confirm with your lecturer before citing their unpublished notes, as institutional policy varies across faculties.

To cite your own appendix within your document in CPUT Harvard style, you do not create a reference list entry for it; you refer to it in the body text using its label, such as (see Appendix A).

When you cite an appendix from a published source (another author's work), however, you cite the original source normally in the reference list and indicate the appendix in the in-text citation. For example: (Cresswell, 2020: Appendix B). CPUT does not treat an appendix as an independent citable source unless it comes from an external publication. Students in research methodology, engineering, and health sciences most frequently include and refer to appendices when presenting raw data, interview transcripts, or survey instruments.

To cite an annual report in CPUT Harvard style, treat it exactly as a report — write the organisation as the author, the year, the title, and the URL with access date if it was accessed online.

Annual reports are official, audited documents that corporations and public institutions publish to disclose financial and operational performance. CPUT business, accounting, and management students regularly cite annual reports as primary data sources for financial analysis projects, case studies, and strategic management assignments.

To cite a website with no individual author in CPUT Harvard style, use the corporate or organisational name as the author; if no organisation is identifiable either, use the website title as the first element of the citation.

This approach mirrors how CPUT handles newspaper articles with no named author. The key difference between a website with no author and a website with a corporate author is that a corporate author is a named entity (e.g., World Health Organization), whereas a truly anonymous site uses its title. When there is no publication date, use n.d..

To cite a personal interview in CPUT Harvard style, write the interviewee's surname and initials, the year, a brief description of the interview, including date, and the label Personal interview.

Interviews are classified as personal communications in the CPUT Harvard style and are not italicised because they are unpublished. The CPUT manual example (Rammutloa, 2021) demonstrates this format explicitly. Researchers in social sciences, journalism, and management frequently conduct fieldwork interviews. Unlike published sources, interviews cannot be fully verified by the reader, which is why the date and description of context are included in the reference.

To cite ChatGPT or another AI tool in CPUT Harvard style, write the name of the developing organisation as the author, the year, the name of the AI tool and model in brackets, a brief description of your query, and the URL with access date.

CPUT has not yet published a dedicated AI citation template in its 2024 manual, but the general CPUT Harvard structure for computer programs and websites provides the closest applicable format. The CPUT manual's computer program example uses: IBM Corporation. 2020. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 27.0. [computer program]. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. — a pattern that translates directly to AI tools. Students must note that many CPUT faculties restrict or prohibit the use of generative AI in assessments, so you should always check your faculty's academic integrity policy before citing an AI tool.

To cite a conference paper in CPUT Harvard style, write the author's surname and initials, the year, the paper title (not in italics), the conference name in italics, the date and location of the conference, and the page numbers.

Conference papers are peer-reviewed contributions that represent cutting-edge research not yet published in journals. CPUT engineering, computer science, and health science students frequently cite conference proceedings because the most current technical advances appear there first before journal publication. If the paper is available online, include the URL and access date.

To cite a social media post in CPUT Harvard style, write the author's name or account name, the year, the full text of the post or a short description in square brackets if it is too long, the platform, and the exact date, and the URL with access date.

The CPUT manual explicitly includes Facebook, Twitter (now X), and Pinterest as citable social media sources. Social media is particularly relevant for CPUT students in media studies, marketing, political science, and public health, where institutional announcements and public discourse happen in real time on these platforms. Only cite social media when the content is uniquely available there and adds genuine evidence value to your work.

To cite an e-book in CPUT Harvard style, follow the format for a printed book but add the URL where the e-book was accessed and the date in square brackets at the end.

The CPUT manual gives a specific e-book example using the EBSCO platform, demonstrating that the URL replaces physical location data for retrieval purposes. CPUT students access e-books through the library's subscriptions to platforms such as EBSCOhost, ProQuest Ebook Central, and JSTOR. The access date is essential because e-book platforms occasionally revise their content or change access arrangements.