North-West University (NWU) has adopted three referencing styles: NWU Harvard, APA (7th edition) and the NWU Faculty of Law House Style, and your faculty or lecturer decides which applies. NWU Harvard is the library's own Harvard, marked by a colon between year and page in the text, (Healy, 2011:17); et al. from three authors; the year without brackets in the list; and "Date of access:" after a web address, never after a DOI.
Every rule below was read on 2 October 2026 in the NWU Library's public NWU Harvard Referencing Guide, its 2020 PDF, and its APA, law and theology pages. EdCitation is not affiliated with North-West University; this follows its public library guide, checked on 2 October 2026.
EdCitation publishes this guide; our guide to referencing at South African universities sets NWU beside eight others. Near the end are the results of EdCitation's free Cite a source and Verify references on NWU's own examples.
Which referencing style does North-West University use?
The one your faculty uses. Coetzee (2020), the library's printed guide, says NWU adopted three styles for students and staff, and the library's Referella page asks students to choose their faculty's guide (North-West University Library, n.d.); if unsure, ask your lecturer. No NWU page we found gives a faculty-by-faculty table; this is what the pages state.
| Style | Who the NWU pages name | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| NWU Harvard | Theology, by name; any faculty that sets it | NWU Harvard Referencing Guide |
| APA, 7th edition | Any faculty that sets it | APA Referencing Guide |
| NWU Faculty of Law House Style | The Faculty of Law: footnotes and a bibliography | NWU Law Referencing Guide |
| An entry from a DOI or web address | Cite a source, free, then the changes below | EdCitation |
What the faculty pages add
Of the subject guides, only theology names a style: NWU Harvard, with the guide also in Portuguese and French (North-West University Library, 2026a). The law guide wants footnotes and sends students to OSCOLA for anything its house style omits (North-West University Library, 2026d). The APA guide follows the Publication Manual, 7th edition, with a page in the text only for a quotation or a specific place (North-West University Library, 2026b).
Is there an NWU reference guide for 2026?
Not as a PDF. The web pages, last updated on 5 March 2026, are the current guide; the PDF is still the 2020 third edition, 136 pages on all three styles, with an Afrikaans twin, the NWU-Verwysingsgids 2020. Only the web guide covers AI.
What are the NWU Harvard referencing rules?
The library's Harvard pages set these:
| Rule | NWU Harvard form | NWU page |
|---|---|---|
| Text reference | Surname, year, colon, page: (Healy, 2011:17) | Text references |
| Web page without page numbers | Surname and year: (FAO, 2018) | Text references |
| Two authors | "and" in your sentence, "&" in brackets | Text references |
| Three to seven authors | First author and et al., in italics; every name in the list | Text references |
| More than seven | First six, a comma, an ellipsis, the last author | Text references |
| Quotation over 50 words | Indented 1 cm both sides, no quotation marks | Text references |
| Organisation as author | Stats SA (Statistics South Africa) in the list | Text references |
| Heading and layout | "Reference list", new page, 1.5 spacing, left aligned, no bullets | Reference list |
| Year | No brackets: Healy, J. 2011. | Elements of an entry |
| No date | s.a., or a probable year: 1997? | Elements of an entry |
| Titles | Italic if published; capitals by the title's language; subtitle in lower case | Elements of an entry |
| Books | 2nd ed. onwards; city only; S.l. and s.n. when missing | Elements of an entry |
| Journal | Full title in italics, never abbreviated; 32(1):192-215 | Journal articles |
| DOI | As the source prints it; no date of access; no full stop | Journal articles |
| Web address | Live link, no full stop, then Date of access: 29 Jun. 2019. | Internet sources |
Authors, pages and access dates
North-West University Library (2026h) adds two cases: two sources that would both shorten to Schutte et al., 2007 get extra names until they differ, and authors sharing a surname and a year get initials in the text. North-West University Library (2026f) adds that an online article numbered from page 1 still takes a page from its PDF; an HTML-only article takes none.
Languages, editions and AI
The list keeps each source's own language, not your paper's (North-West University Library, 2026g). A foreign title takes its translation in square brackets, and an edition the source's abbreviation, such as 2de uitg. (North-West University Library, 2026c). AI may be referenced only within a formal research design that your lecturer or supervisor sets and an ethics committee approves; North-West University Library (2026e) then lists a chat as OpenAI. 2025, Aug. 21., with its italic title, "[Generative AI chat]", link and date of access. See citing ChatGPT and AI tools.
What does an NWU Harvard reference list look like?
Four real sources, set exactly in NWU Harvard. In the text:
Mthimunye et al. (2018:192) found that cognitive variables predicted second-year nursing students' academic performance more strongly than demographic ones. Freeks (2017:2) sets out to describe how adolescents see the Christian father as a mentor within the family. Parents of young tennis players reported organisational, competitive and developmental stressors (Harwood et al., 2019:1). The national plan for schools looks ahead to 2030 (Department of Basic Education, 2026).
Reference list
Department of Basic Education (South Africa). 2026. Action plan to 2019: towards the realisation of Schooling 2030. https://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/ActionPlanto2019.aspx Date of access: 2 Oct. 2026.
Freeks, F.E. 2017. Responses of adolescents regarding the indispensable role of the Christian father as mentor within the family: a qualitative study. In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi, 51(1), art. 2255. https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v51i1.2255
Harwood, C.G., Thrower, S.N., Slater, M.J., Didymus, F.F. & Frearson, L. 2019. Advancing our understanding of psychological stress and coping among parents in organized youth sport. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, art. 1600. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01600
Mthimunye, K.D.T., Daniels, F.M. & Pedro, A. 2018. Predictors of academic performance among second-year nursing students at a university in the Western Cape. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(1):192-215. http://dx.doi.org/10.20853/32-1-693
What each entry shows
- Department of Basic Education: the country in brackets, as NWU's examples write a department. The page's only date is its footer, "Copyright: Department of Basic Education 2026", and NWU accepts a copyright date.
- Freeks: both halves of the journal's two-language title, and art. for the article number.
- Harwood: five authors, all listed. NWU's guide still shows this paper as "2019?" and "Provisionally accepted"; it was published on 12 July 2019. NWU's in-press rule says to recheck before handing in.
- Mthimunye: the colon before the pages. The authors are in the article's order, Daniels before Pedro; NWU's annotated example puts Pedro first.
Each DOI is in the form its article prints, as NWU asks.
Does NWU want a reference list or a bibliography?
For assignments, a reference list: North-West University Library (2026g) keeps "bibliography" for a fuller list covering the subject. For a dissertation or thesis, the Manual for Higher Degrees Studies, approved by Senate on 1 September 2020 and linked from the library's referencing page, puts the sources under "Bibliography", set out as the Referencing Guide requires (North-West University, 2020). Ask your supervisor which heading is marked.
Where NWU's examples drift from its rules
- DOI forms. The examples mix http://dx.doi.org/, https://doi.org/, doi:10.4102/… and doi: 10.3917/…, and one gives https://doi-org.nwulib.nwu.ac.za/10.1002/pa.1858, the library's sign-in route, which opens only for NWU users.
- Order. The rule is strict alphabetical order ("nothing before something"), yet the example list puts Abrego before Abdalla and Peters before Nxumalo.
Copy NWU's patterns, not its entries.
Which EdCitation style is closest to NWU Harvard, and what do you change?
Harvard. EdCitation's Harvard follows Cite Them Right, so the facts arrive in the right order; the punctuation is what changes. Our runs on 2 October 2026 needed these:
| EdCitation's Harvard printed | Change to, for NWU Harvard |
|---|---|
| (2017) after the names | 2018. without brackets, the year the article prints |
| Daniels, F.M. and Pedro, A. | Daniels, F.M. & Pedro, A. |
| ‘Predictors of academic performance…’ | No quotation marks |
| 32(1). with no pages | 32(1):192-215. from the article |
| Available at: https://doi.org/… | The DOI alone, as the article prints it |
| Harwood, C.G. et al. | All five names: NWU lists up to seven |
| ‘Advancing Our Understanding of…’ | Advancing our understanding of… |
| (Accessed: 2 October 2026). | Date of access: 2 Oct. 2026. |
| (Mthimunye, Daniels and Pedro, 2017) | (Mthimunye et al., 2018:192) |
For NWU's other styles:
- APA 7. Start in EdCitation's APA 7, then check names' capitals: it printed "In Die Skriflig" for Freeks, and "schooling 2030" after we typed "Schooling 2030" into the web page form.
- Law House Style. Not built. Cite a source builds six styles only: APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver. Write law footnotes by hand.
How do you reference at NWU, step by step?
- Find the style in your study guide or ask your lecturer. EdCitation's free Check your paper reads an assignment's instructions into a checklist, citation style included.
- Paste each DOI, title or web address into Cite a source and choose Harvard.
- For a web page, correct the author, title and date in the form first.
- Make the changes in the table above, checking each entry against NWU's matching example.
- Add the page to every text reference: (Surname, year:page).
- Put the list through Verify references and open the source behind any "check this".
- Set out "Reference list" on a new page, 1.5 spacing, 18 pt between entries, left aligned.
A free EdCitation account saves each list and downloads it as RIS; see moving references into EndNote.
What did Cite a source and Verify references return on NWU sources?
Cite a source is the best place to start an NWU list because it builds every entry from the publisher's record and never writes one; that record exposed the swapped authors and the stale "provisionally accepted" entry above. It takes a DOI, title, PubMed ID, ISBN or web address, sets the entry in six styles and screens the source for retraction, free and with no account. EdCitation never writes any part of a student's paper: it finds, cites and checks sources, and every sentence handed in stays the student's own. We ran five DOIs and a government page on 2 October 2026; none was flagged as retracted.
Cite a source on five DOIs and a gov.za page
For 10.20853/32-1-693, NWU's annotated journal example, Harvard returned:
Mthimunye, K.D.T., Daniels, F.M. and Pedro, A. (2017) ‘Predictors of academic performance among second-year nursing students at a university in the Western Cape’, South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.20853/32-1-693.
The authors are in the article's order; the year is the record's, but the article's first page prints 2018 and pages 192-215. Freeks (10.4102/ids.v51i1.2255) lacked its article number: add art. 2255. Harwood (10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01600) shortened to et al. Ndaguba and Hanyane (10.1002/pa.1858) came back dated 2018, when the article appeared online; NWU uses 2019, the year of issue 19(1).
For 10.1051/0004-6361/201833202, NWU's example of more than seven authors, Harvard opened "Collaboration, H.E.S.S. et al. (2018)": the record names the H.E.S.S. Collaboration before its 233 physicists, and "Collaboration" was read as a surname. Write this one by hand.
From the Department of Basic Education's page alone, Harvard gave "Action Plan to 2019 (no date)"; with the department, full heading and 2026 entered in the form:
Department of Basic Education (2026) Action Plan to 2019: Towards the realisation of Schooling 2030. Available at: https://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/ActionPlanto2019.aspx (Accessed: 2 October 2026).
Add "(South Africa)." and a full stop after the year, lower every capital but Schooling 2030, delete "Available at:" and end with "Date of access: 2 Oct. 2026."
Verify references on eight entries from NWU's guide
Given eight entries exactly as NWU prints them, Verify references answered:
- Deci and Ryan, Dikobe and colleagues, and Monyeki and colleagues with NWU's ellipsis: verified, "Title, year and first author match a published record."
- Harwood, still "2019?" and "Provisionally accepted", and Ndaguba's sign-in address: verified, "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches." Neither stale detail was reported.
- The Department of Basic Education page: verified, "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
- Mthimunye: "check this", "The work was published in 2017, not 2018; the record has no date in 2018." The article itself says 2018, so NWU's year stands; the swapped authors went unreported.
- Abdalla: "check this", "The DOI and title are right, but the first author differs. Check the names."
A "check this" means: open the source and decide. For a whole assignment, References from a file (Pro, $8 a month; see pricing) checks every reference and matches every in-text citation to the list.
Quick questions
What referencing style does NWU use?
NWU has adopted NWU Harvard, APA 7 and the Faculty of Law House Style; your faculty or lecturer decides which.
When does et al. start in NWU Harvard?
At three authors, in the text. The list names up to seven; beyond seven, the first six, an ellipsis and the last.
Does NWU Harvard need a date of access?
For a web address, yes: "Date of access: 2 Oct. 2026." A DOI or permanent link takes none.
Is there an NWU referencing guide PDF?
Yes: the 2020 third edition, in English and Afrikaans, covering all three styles.
Can EdCitation build NWU Harvard references?
Nearly. EdCitation's Cite a source builds Cite Them Right Harvard from the publisher's record; then remove the year's brackets, the quotation marks and "Available at:", add the pages, and end web entries with "Date of access:".
References
- Coetzee, A. (2020). NWU referencing guide: NWU Harvard, NWU Faculty of Law House Style, APA (3rd ed.) [PDF]. North-West University Library and Information Service. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/ld.php?content_id=55809801
- Department of Basic Education. (n.d.). Action plan to 2019: Towards the realisation of Schooling 2030. https://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/ActionPlanto2019.aspx
- Freeks, F. E. (2017). Responses of adolescents regarding the indispensable role of the Christian father as mentor within the family: A qualitative study. In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi, 51(1), Article 2255. https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v51i1.2255
- Harwood, C. G., Thrower, S. N., Slater, M. J., Didymus, F. F., & Frearson, L. (2019). Advancing our understanding of psychological stress and coping among parents in organized youth sport. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1600. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01600
- Mthimunye, K. D. T., Daniels, F. M., & Pedro, A. (2018). Predictors of academic performance among second-year nursing students at a university in the Western Cape. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(1), 192–215. https://doi.org/10.20853/32-1-693
- North-West University. (2020). Manual for higher degrees studies [PDF]. http://studies.nwu.ac.za/sites/studies.nwu.ac.za/files/files/postgrad/Higher%20Degrees%20Manual_Senate_1Sept2020.pdf
- North-West University Library. (n.d.). Referella: Referencing guides. https://library.nwu.ac.za/referella
- North-West University Library. (2026a). Citation/referencing help. Theology & Ancient Language and Text Studies LibGuide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/theology-guide/citation-referencing-help
- North-West University Library. (2026b). Citing sources in the text. APA Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/apa-referencing/citing-sources-text
- North-West University Library. (2026c). Elements of a reference list entry. NWU Harvard Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/harvard-referencing/reference-entry
- North-West University Library. (2026d). General. NWU Law Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/law-referencing/general-information
- North-West University Library. (2026e). Internet and other electronic sources. NWU Harvard Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/harvard-referencing/internet-sources
- North-West University Library. (2026f). Journal articles. NWU Harvard Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/harvard-referencing/journal-articles
- North-West University Library. (2026g). Reference list. NWU Harvard Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/harvard-referencing/reference-list
- North-West University Library. (2026h). Text references. NWU Harvard Referencing Guide. https://libguides.nwu.ac.za/harvard-referencing/text-references