Leeds University Harvard Referencing

To cite a website in Leeds Harvard style, include the author or organisation, year, title of the page, [Online], date accessed, and the full URL. Websites are treated as corporate author sources when no individual author is named, and the organisation or website owner takes the author position. This citation type is frequently used for government pages, charity sites, institutional documents, and online reports that do not fit the journal or book format.

Reference format:

Author/Organisation. Year. Title of webpage. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a thesis or dissertation in Leeds Harvard style, include the author, year, title in italics, the degree level (e.g., PhD thesis or MSc dissertation), and the awarding institution. If the thesis was accessed online, add [Online], the access date, and the repository URL. Theses from institutional repositories such as White Rose eTheses or the British Library EThOS are commonly cited this way in academic research.

Reference format:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of thesis. [Degree type] thesis. University Name.

For online access: add [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite in text in Leeds Harvard style, place the author's surname and year of publication in brackets within or at the end of the sentence. If you quote directly, add a page number after the year using p. for a single page or pp. for a range. Leeds Harvard does not use ibid; if you cite the same source consecutively, you must repeat the full citation each time.

In-text citations can appear at the start, middle, or end of a sentence depending on how the author's name is integrated into the prose. When a source has three or more authors, only the first author's surname is given, followed by et al. Corporate authors such as government departments or organisations are cited using the full organisation name.

To cite a podcast in Leeds Harvard style, include the presenter or producer, year, episode title in single quotation marks, the series/programme title in italics, [Podcast], date accessed, and the URL. Podcasts are treated similarly to audio programmes in Leeds, Harvard, and the episode title is always distinguished from the series title. Researchers in media studies, social sciences, and journalism frequently cite podcasts to reference expert commentary, interviews, and public discourse.

Reference format:

Presenter/Producer, INITIAL(S). Year. 'Episode title'. Series Title. [Podcast]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a book in Leeds Harvard style, include the author's family name and initials, year of publication, title in italics, edition (if not the first), place of publication, and publisher. The edition detail is placed after the title and is only included when it is not the first edition. Leeds Harvard does not abbreviate publisher names, and the full place of publication must be listed as it appears on the title page.

Reference format:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of book. Edition (if applicable). Place: Publisher.

To cite legislation (Acts of Parliament) in Leeds Harvard style, the Act title and year serve as the reference, with no author required since legislation is a corporate document. The full title is written in italics, followed by the chapter number. For online access, [Online], the access date, and the URL from legislation.gov.uk are appended. UK legislation is cited by its official short title rather than any secondary title.

Reference format:

Title of Act Year. Chapter number. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite an image in Leeds Harvard style, include the creator's name, year, image title in italics, the medium or format in square brackets, and where the image was viewed or accessed. The in-text citation includes a page number if the image appears within a printed source. Images accessed online require [Online], an access date, and the URL. This citation type covers photographs, illustrations, artworks, and diagrams that you reproduce or reference directly.

Reference format (online image):

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of image. [Medium]. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite multiple authors in Leeds Harvard style, list all authors in the reference list, separating names with commas and using "and" before the final author. In the in-text citation, sources with one or two authors list all surnames, while sources with three or more authors use only the first author's surname followed by et al.. This rule applies consistently across all source types in Leeds Harvard, including books, journal articles, and reports.

Reference format (three or more authors):

Family name, INITIAL(S), Family name, INITIAL(S), Family name, INITIAL(S) and Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title. Place: Publisher.

To cite a report in Leeds Harvard style, include the author or organisation, year, report title in italics, report number if available, place of publication, and publisher. If the report is accessed online, add [Online], the access date, and the URL. Government reports, think-tank publications, and corporate annual reports all follow this format. The organisation name functions as the corporate author when no individual author is credited.

Reference format:

Organisation. Year. Title of report. Report number (if applicable). Place: Publisher. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a conference paper in Leeds Harvard style, include the author, year, paper title, then the conference title preceded by In:, the date and location of the conference, and the page numbers if applicable. If the proceedings were published in a volume, include the editor, place, and publisher. Conference papers are widely cited in engineering, computing, medicine, and the social sciences where findings are first disseminated at academic meetings before journal publication.

Reference format:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of paper. In: Title of Conference Proceedings, Location, Date. Place: Publisher, pp.pages.

To cite a direct quote in Leeds Harvard style, place the quoted text within double quotation marks, then include the author's surname, year, and the specific page number in brackets immediately after the closing quotation mark. The page number uses p. for a single page and pp. for a range. This distinguishes direct quotation from paraphrase, which also requires a citation but no quotation marks and may omit the page number unless you are citing a specific idea or passage.

Leeds Harvard treats quotes as evidence within your argument, not as decorative additions. The page reference is mandatory for direct quotes because it allows the reader to locate the exact passage in the original source. Excessive direct quotation is discouraged in academic writing at Leeds; paraphrasing and synthesis are preferred.

To cite a journal article in Leeds Harvard style, include the author(s), year, article title, journal title in italics, [Online] if accessed digitally, volume in bold, issue number in brackets, page numbers, access date, and the DOI or URL. Leeds Harvard requires the DOI to be presented as a full link beginning with https://doi.org/ rather than as a shortened code. The full journal title is always used; abbreviated titles are not permitted in this style.

The September 2024 update to Leeds Harvard guidance made [Online], access date, and DOI compulsory for all journal articles accessed digitally, whether via a website or PDF. This change aligns the style with best practice for digital source traceability. If no DOI is available, the direct URL to the article is acceptable.

To cite social media posts in Leeds Harvard style, include the author or organisation, year, the content of the post in single quotation marks (truncated after the first 20 words if long), the platform name in italics, [Online], the date of the post, and the URL. Different platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn, each follow the same underlying structure, with the platform name appearing where the title or journal would normally sit. The exact date of the post is included because social media content is highly time-sensitive.

Reference format:

Author/Organisation. Year. 'Content of post or title of video/image'. Platform Name. [Online]. Day Month Year. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a religious text in Leeds Harvard style, treat the text as a corporate author publication, using the edition or version name as the title in italics, followed by the year of the specific edition used, the place of publication, and the publisher. For in-text citations of sacred texts such as the Bible, Quran, or Torah, it is acceptable to cite by book, chapter, and verse in the text rather than using a page number. The edition or translation matters significantly in religious text citations and must be specified clearly.

Reference format:

Title of Religious Text. Year of edition. Place: Publisher.

To cite a newspaper article in Leeds Harvard style, include the journalist's name, year, article title, newspaper title in italics, [Online] if accessed digitally, the full date of publication, and the URL or page number. If no individual journalist is named, the newspaper title functions as the corporate author. News articles are valuable academic sources for contemporary events, public discourse analysis, policy commentary, and media studies research.

Reference format:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of article. Newspaper Title. [Online]. Day Month Year. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a standard in Leeds Harvard style, treat the issuing body (such as BSI, ISO, or BS EN) as the corporate author, followed by the year, the standard number, and the full title in italics, and the publisher. Standards are technical documents issued by recognised bodies and are frequently cited in engineering, manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and compliance-focused research. The standard number is a critical identifying element and must appear prominently in the reference.

Reference format:

Issuing Body. Year. Standard Number: Title of Standard. Place: Publisher.

To cite personal communication in Leeds Harvard style, include the type of communication (e.g., email, telephone conversation, interview), the name of the person you communicated with, and the date. Personal communications are not included in the reference list because they cannot be accessed by the reader; they appear only as in-text citations. This type of citation covers emails, letters, phone calls, interviews, face-to-face conversations, and direct messages.

Because personal communications are not publicly verifiable, Leeds Harvard treats them differently from other source types. You should always seek permission from the individual before citing private communications, particularly in published research. The in-text citation makes clear that the information came from a private, non-retrievable exchange.

To cite a YouTube video in Leeds Harvard style, include the name of the person or channel that uploaded the video, year, video title in italics, [Online video], access date, and the full YouTube URL. Leeds Harvard directs users to the Video source type for YouTube, as it is categorised under audio-visual material. If the uploader is an organisation, treat it as the corporate author; if an individual, use their channel name as displayed on the platform.

Reference format:

Uploader name. Year. Title of video. [Online video]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a PDF in Leeds Harvard style, the citation format follows the underlying source type of the document rather than the PDF format itself. A PDF that is a journal article is cited as a journal article; a PDF that is a report is cited as a report. The [Online] tag and DOI or URL are included to indicate digital access. Leeds Harvard explicitly lists PDF as a separate category in its index to address this common source of confusion, but the key principle is that the content type, not the file format, determines the citation structure.

If the document exists only as a standalone PDF with no clear source type, cite it using the closest available template and ensure the URL pointing directly to the PDF file is included.

To cite software in Leeds Harvard style, include the developer or organisation, year, software name in italics, version number, [Computer software], place, and publisher or distributor. If accessed online, include [Online], the access date, and the URL. Software citations are particularly important in research methods sections where specific analytical tools such as SPSS, NVivo, or MATLAB have been used to process data. Version numbers are essential because different versions may produce different analytical outputs.

Reference format:

Developer/Organisation. Year. Software Name. Version number. [Computer software]. Place: Publisher. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite a chapter in an edited book in Leeds Harvard style, include the chapter author's name, year, chapter title, then In: followed by the editor's initials and surname with ed. or eds., the book title in italics, place, publisher, and the page range of the chapter. This citation type recognises that the chapter author and the book editor are different people, which is a key distinction from citing a single-authored book. The In: element is a defining feature of this format.

Reference format:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of chapter. In: INITIAL(S). Family name, ed(s). Title of Book. Place: Publisher, pp.first-last.

To cite a speech in Leeds Harvard style, include the speaker's name, year, speech title in italics, the event name and location where the speech was delivered, and the date. If the speech was accessed online (as a transcript or recording), add [Online], the access date, and the URL. Public speeches, inaugural lectures, and conference keynotes are cited this way. A speech differs from a conference paper in that it typically lacks a formal proceedings publication.

Reference format:

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of speech. Speech delivered at: Event Name, Location, Day Month Year. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL

To cite generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT in Leeds Harvard style, Leeds Harvard uses the category "Generative artificial intelligence". You include the AI tool name and version as the author, year, a description of the prompt used, [Generated text] or relevant format indicator, the date the output was generated, and the URL of the platform. This citation type was formalised in University of Leeds guidance to reflect the growing use of AI in academic work and the importance of transparency in declaring AI-generated content.

Because AI-generated outputs are not reproducible in the same way a published article is, Leeds Harvard requires you to describe the prompt and record the exact date of generation. This allows readers to understand the context of the output even if they cannot retrieve the identical response. You should also follow your school's specific guidance on whether AI use is permitted in your assessments.

To cite a press release in Leeds Harvard style, include the issuing organisation or author, year, press release title in italics, [Press release], date of issue, and the URL if accessed online. Press releases are formal public statements issued by organisations to announce news, findings, or decisions. They are commonly cited in journalism studies, public relations research, business analysis, and policy work to trace the source of a published claim.

Reference format:

Organisation/Author. Year. Title of press release. [Press release]. Day Month Year. [Online]. [Accessed Day Month Year]. Available from: URL