Northumbria University has no one referencing style for every student. Its library sends you to your module handbook first, then names Harvard, in the version set out in Cite Them Right, as the Harvard "used at Northumbria" (Northumbria University Library, 2026c). APA 7 is the other style it teaches in its own sessions.
We read the library's public Skills Plus pages, the printable guides linked from them and the university's guidance for research degree theses on 2 October 2026, and every rule here comes from them. EdCitation is not affiliated with Northumbria University; this follows its public library guide, checked on 2 October 2026. This guide is published by EdCitation. Its closing sections put real sources and Northumbria's own examples through the free Cite a source and Verify references, and quote the results word for word.
Which referencing style does Northumbria University use?
The one your module handbook names. Northumbria University Library (2026d) says no single style runs across all faculties and that the wrong one can cost marks. It publishes no faculty-by-faculty list: none of its 28 subject resource pages names a style. Its taught referencing sessions come in two versions only, Harvard Cite Them Right and APA 7th (Northumbria University Library, 2026b). The brief style guide (Northumbria University Library, 2026e) covers these:
| Style | What Northumbria's pages say | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard | The Cite Them Right version "is used at Northumbria", 13th edition | Harvard page (2026c) |
| APA 7th | "Commonly used in Social Sciences subjects" | APA page (2026a) |
| MLA 9th | A Works cited list | Brief style guide (2026e) |
| Chicago notes and bibliography | Humanities; footnotes; 18th edition | Brief style guide (2026e) |
| MHRA | Arts and humanities; footnotes | Brief style guide (2026e) |
| Vancouver | Numbered; every author up to six | Brief style guide (2026e) |
| IEEE | Numbers in square brackets | Brief style guide (2026e) |
| OSCOLA | Legal citation in footnotes | Brief style guide (2026e) |
| Research degree theses | A style suited to the discipline, used consistently | Northumbria University (2021) |
| Turning a DOI, ISBN or web address into an entry | Cite a source, free, no account | EdCitation |
EdCitation builds Harvard, APA 7, MLA 9, IEEE, Vancouver and Chicago 18 author-date, but not Chicago notes and bibliography, MHRA or OSCOLA, so footnote styles are written by hand. How other UK universities compare is in referencing at UK universities.
Which edition of Cite Them Right does Northumbria follow?
The 13th, named on the Harvard page and in the two-page Harvard quick guide (Northumbria University Library, 2022). The Word version of the same page, offered as its "reader-friendly printable format", still says 12th (Northumbria University Library, n.d.). Cite Them Right online needs a university login, so this guide works from Northumbria's own pages.
What are Northumbria's Harvard rules?
The Harvard page gives each kind of source a pattern and an example, with citations it calls "author prominent" and "information prominent". The rules, with the page each comes from:
| Rule | Northumbria's form | Page |
|---|---|---|
| In the text | (Murphy, 2015), or Murphy (2015) | Harvard page |
| Two or three authors | Every surname: (Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall, 2015) | Harvard page |
| Four or more, in the text | First author and et al.: (Welman et al., 2005) | Harvard page |
| Four or more, in the list | Ask your tutor: every name, or the first and et al. | Harvard page |
| Page number | After the year, with no space: (2019, p.720) | Harvard page; secondary referencing page |
| Book | (Year) Title. 3rd edn. Publisher. | Harvard page |
| Chapter | 'Title', in P. Benson and H. Reinders (eds) Book. Publisher, pp. 59-71. | Harvard page |
| Journal article | 'Title', Journal, 25(1), pp. 53-76. | Harvard page |
| DOI | "Available at:" and the DOI, no accessed date | Harvard page |
| Web page or article by address | Available at: URL (Accessed: 26 January 2016). | Harvard page |
| Government document from abroad | The country in round brackets after the department | Harvard page |
| Secondary source | (Evans and Davies, 2010, cited in Quarmby, Sandford and Elliot, 2019, p.720) | Secondary referencing page |
| Generative AI | Public output as a work; a private chat as a personal communication | Harvard page |
| Starting from the publisher's record | Cite a source, with the hand edits listed further down | EdCitation |
Only the work you read goes in the list, so Evans and Davies stay out (Northumbria University Library, 2026f). Citing ChatGPT and AI tools covers AI output in the other styles.
Capitals and the small marks
Most of the library's titles capitalise only the first word and proper nouns, and the word after a colon stays small: "Explaining youth custody in Scotland: the new crisis of containment and convergence". Journal titles keep their capitals, page ranges take a hyphen, and et al. is italic in Harvard but roman in APA.
Where Northumbria's own examples contradict each other
Copy the patterns, not every character, because the library's documents differ in five places:
- The DOI address. All three Harvard documents write DOIs as "https://doi:", as in "https://doi:10.1111/j.1468-2311.2010.00656.x", which does not open; the APA quick guide prints the working https://doi.org/ form. Use that.
- Place of publication. The quick guide's book templates ask for "Place of publication: Publisher" while its examples give the publisher alone. Leave the place out, except in the printed government example, "London: HMSO".
- Capitals and dates. Health of the nation (1999) on the page, Health of the Nation (2015) in the quick guide; the Case example keeps "Young people" capital after its colon.
- Names. The secondary source is "Elliott" in the citations and "Elliot" in the list; the publisher's record says Elliot. "Kruger. F." should read "Kruger, F.".
- Ebooks. The page asks for the date a book was downloaded, and the quick guide's Kindle example ends "(Downloaded: 19 February 2017)", while the online ebook example uses "Accessed". Use the first for a file on your device.
The et al. thresholds of other styles are in when to use et al.
How does APA referencing work at Northumbria?
Much as Harvard does, with APA's punctuation. Northumbria University Library (2026a) points to the APA Publication manual, 7th edition, and the APA quick guide (Northumbria University Library, 2021) calls itself a "non-customised version". What changes from Northumbria Harvard:
- Ampersand and et al. (McPhee & Dias, 2020) for two authors; from three, the first surname and et al., in roman.
- The year and edition. Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). SAGE.
- No "Available at". The DOI or address ends the entry.
- An ebook with no page numbers. Quote by chapter, section heading or paragraph: (Ogden, 2023, Ch.4, What is pain? para.2).
- ChatGPT. OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (GPT-4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
The APA page's web page example begins "Retrieved from", while the quick guide's ends with the address alone, as EdCitation's APA 7 does; follow the quick guide, as our guide to APA 7 web page references explains. The page's Waters example is 2006 in the citation and 2007 in the list.
A worked example in Northumbria Harvard
Five real sources, set to the library's Harvard patterns, with working DOI addresses:
Barry (2011) reads the growth of youth custody in Scotland as a new crisis of containment and convergence. Murphy (2015) compares how willing adults and young people are to collaborate with police, while Case et al. (2011) set local opinion on young people and anti-social behaviour in two cities side by side. Quarmby, Sandford and Elliot (2019) study care-experienced young people's engagement with physical education, and schools and colleges have statutory guidance on safeguarding children (Department for Education, 2026).
Reference list
Barry, M. (2011) 'Explaining youth custody in Scotland: the new crisis of containment and convergence', The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 50(2), pp. 153-170. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2010.00656.x
Case, S., Ellis, T., Haines, K., Hayden, C., Shalev, K. and Shawyer, A. (2011) 'A tale of two cities: young people, anti-social behaviour and localised public opinion', Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 13(3), pp. 153-170. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/cpcs.2011.2
Department for Education (2026) Keeping children safe in education. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2 (Accessed: 2 October 2026).
Murphy, K. (2015) 'Does procedural justice matter to youth? Comparing adults' and youths' willingness to collaborate with police', Policing and Society, 25(1), pp. 53-76. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2013.802786
Quarmby, T., Sandford, R. and Elliot, E. (2019) '"I actually used to like PE, but not now": understanding care-experienced young people's (dis)engagement with physical education', Sport, Education and Society, 24(7), pp. 714-726. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1456418
What each entry shows
- Barry: a working DOI address, no accessed date, and the entry ends on the DOI itself.
- Case: six authors, all named, as the library's quick guide names them; et al. in the text.
- Department for Education: a web page, so an accessed date; the year is the page's "Last updated 1 September 2026".
- Murphy: the issue's year, 2015, though the publisher's record shows it online from 2013.
- Quarmby: three authors in full, spelt as the record spells them.
Which EdCitation style comes closest, and what needs changing by hand?
Harvard (Cite Them Right). EdCitation's Harvard style follows the book Northumbria names, so every element lands in its place; on 2 October 2026 we changed only these by hand:
| Cite a source gave | Northumbria wants |
|---|---|
| 'Explaining Youth Custody in Scotland: The New Crisis…' | Sentence case, small letter after the colon |
| Case, S. et al. (2011) | All six names, unless your tutor accepts et al. |
| pp. 153–170, with an en dash | A hyphen, as the library prints, or the dash throughout |
| …2010.00656.x. with a closing full stop | No full stop after the DOI |
| The GOV.UK page, author and date read from the page | Nothing: it matched Northumbria's web page pattern |
Cite a source does not build OSCOLA, MHRA or Chicago notes and bibliography: write those from the library's own pages.
What do EdCitation's free tools make of Northumbria sources?
For a Northumbria list, EdCitation is the strongest first step, and Northumbria's own examples make the case: copied references can carry slips such as a wrong year or a misspelt surname, whereas Cite a source takes every detail from the publisher's record and composes nothing itself, which no chatbot can claim. Give it a DOI, a title, a PubMed ID, an ISBN or a web address and it returns the entry in Harvard (Cite Them Right), APA 7 or one of four further styles, screens each source for retraction, and needs neither an account nor a payment. EdCitation writes no part of your assignment: it finds, cites and checks sources, and every sentence of the work is yours.
Four real sources through Cite a source
For the DOI 10.1111/j.1468-2311.2010.00656.x, Harvard returned:
Barry, M. (2011) ‘Explaining Youth Custody in Scotland: The New Crisis of Containment and Convergence’, The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 50(2), pp. 153–170. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2010.00656.x.
Every fact matches the library's example; only the capitals and the final full stop need changing. The DOI 10.1057/cpcs.2011.2 gave:
Case, S. et al. (2011) ‘A tale of two cities: Young people, anti-social behaviour and localised public opinion’, Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 13(3), pp. 153–170. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/cpcs.2011.2.
Add Ellis, Haines, Hayden, Shalev and Shawyer if your tutor wants every name, and lower "Young". For 10.1080/13573322.2018.1456418, only the dash and the closing full stop change:
Quarmby, T., Sandford, R. and Elliot, E. (2019) ‘“I actually used to like PE, but not now”: understanding care-experienced young people’s (dis)engagement with physical education’, Sport, Education and Society, 24(7), pp. 714–726. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1456418.
For the GOV.UK address, with author and year read from the page, nothing changes:
Department for Education (2026) Keeping children safe in education. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2 (Accessed: 2 October 2026).
No retraction was reported.
Northumbria's examples through Verify references
Eleven Harvard examples from the library's pages went into Verify references character for character. Seven came back verified, one "check this" and three "could not check":
- Barry (2011), broken "https://doi:" address and all: "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches." Fix the address anyway.
- Northumbria University (2016), a web page: "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
- Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall (2015), "check this": "The work was published in 2014, not 2015; the record has no date in 2015." The publisher's record it matched, DOI 10.4324/9781315763088, is dated 21 August 2014; check the year on your copy.
- Hammond and Wellington (2012), at an ebook address last accessed in 2016: "The page at this address did not answer. Check it in a browser." That is "could not check", never "not found".
Two books, Saldaña and Welman, also came back "could not check", so the "Kruger. F." slip went unremarked, and the "Elliott" slip sits in the citations, where a pasted list cannot see it. References from a file, part of Pro at $8 a month, reads the whole paper and pairs each in-text citation with its entry (pricing).
How to reference at Northumbria in five steps
- Confirm the style in the module handbook, or let EdCitation's free Check your paper turn the assignment instructions into a checklist that names it.
- Run every DOI, ISBN and web address through Cite a source.
- Apply the hand edits from the table above.
- Write secondary references, AI output and footnote styles yourself, following Skills Plus.
- Check the finished list in Verify references: resolve every "check this" at the source and open every "could not check" yourself.
Quick questions
What referencing style does Northumbria University use?
Your module handbook decides. The library names Cite Them Right Harvard as the Harvard used at Northumbria and also covers APA 7, MLA, Chicago, MHRA, Vancouver, IEEE and OSCOLA.
Is Northumbria Harvard just Cite Them Right?
Yes, the 13th edition, though one printable copy of the library's Harvard page still says 12th.
When does et al. start in Northumbria Harvard?
At four authors in the text: (Welman et al., 2005). For the reference list, the library says to ask your tutor whether to name every author.
Do DOIs take an accessed date at Northumbria?
No. A DOI follows "Available at:" alone; any other address ends with "(Accessed: day month year)".
Can EdCitation make Northumbria Harvard references?
Close to it. EdCitation's Cite a source produces Cite Them Right Harvard from the publisher's record; you then put titles in sentence case, add every author if your tutor asks, and remove the full stop after a DOI. OSCOLA, MHRA and Chicago notes are not among its styles.
References
- Barry, M. (2011). Explaining youth custody in Scotland: The new crisis of containment and convergence. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 50(2), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2010.00656.x
- Case, S., Ellis, T., Haines, K., Hayden, C., Shalev, K., & Shawyer, A. (2011). A tale of two cities: Young people, anti-social behaviour and localised public opinion. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 13(3), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.1057/cpcs.2011.2
- Department for Education. (2026). Keeping children safe in education. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2
- Murphy, K. (2015). Does procedural justice matter to youth? Comparing adults' and youths' willingness to collaborate with police. Policing and Society, 25(1), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2013.802786
- Northumbria University. (2021). Submitting for examination: Guidance for research degree students and supervisors [PDF]. https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/-/media/services/academic-registry/graduate-school/submission-guidance-for-students-and-supervisors.pdf
- Northumbria University Library. (n.d.). Harvard (Cite them Right) [Word document]. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=35528778
- Northumbria University Library. (2021). APA 7th edition: A quick guide to creating references [PDF]. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=34166215
- Northumbria University Library. (2022). Harvard (Cite them right): A quick guide to creating references [PDF]. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=34211761
- Northumbria University Library. (2026a). APA. Referencing: A brief style guide. Skills Plus. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus/referencing/apa
- Northumbria University Library. (2026b). Develop your learning skills: Referencing. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/develop-your-learning-skills/referencing
- Northumbria University Library. (2026c). Harvard (Cite Them Right). Referencing: A brief style guide. Skills Plus. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus/referencing/harvardcitethemright
- Northumbria University Library. (2026d). Introduction to referencing. Skills Plus. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus/introduction-to-referencing
- Northumbria University Library. (2026e). Referencing: A brief style guide. Skills Plus. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus/referencing
- Northumbria University Library. (2026f). Secondary referencing. Introduction to referencing. Skills Plus. https://library.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus/introduction-to-referencing/secondary-referencing
- Quarmby, T., Sandford, R., & Elliot, E. (2019). “I actually used to like PE, but not now”: Understanding care-experienced young people’s (dis)engagement with physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 24(7), 714–726. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1456418