# UCL Harvard referencing: the UCL referencing guide explained

**Which referencing style does UCL use?** UCL has no single referencing style. UCL Library Services says departments or programmes may set one, and its guide covers Harvard, Vancouver, APA, Chicago, OSCOLA, MHRA and MLA. UCL's own Harvard is based on Cite Them Right's 9th edition, with a full stop after the year, page numbers written as p.266, a doi: prefix, and every author listed up to seven.

Published 2026-10-02 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/referencing-at-ucl

UCL has no referencing style for the whole university: UCL Library Services leaves the choice to departments and programmes. When a UCL handbook says "Harvard", the library means its own UCL Library Services Harvard, built on the 9th edition of *Cite Them Right*: a full stop after the year, "pp.257-268" with no space, and "doi:" where EdCitation's Harvard writes "Available at:".

Every rule below was read on 2 October 2026 in UCL Library Services' public guides, linked under References. EdCitation is not affiliated with University College London; this follows its public library guide, checked on 2 October 2026.

EdCitation publishes this guide. Its free [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/harvard) builds each entry from the publisher's record, and [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) checks a finished list; both were run on UCL's own examples.

## Which referencing style does UCL use?

The one your department or programme names. UCL Library Services (2026r) says UCL has no standard style across the university, sends students to the programme handbook, and warns that Harvard and Vancouver come in many versions, so keep to one guide. Its guide links seven: Harvard, Vancouver, APA, Chicago, OSCOLA, MHRA and MLA.

Subject pages show where each turns up:

| Subject guide | Style the page names | Page it comes from |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Institute of Archaeology | Harvard, *Cite Them Right*, "its chosen referencing style" | Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (2026d) |
| Psychology | APA, 7th edition | Psychology (2026p) |
| Law | OSCOLA, "widely used in law schools (including UCL)" | OSCOLA referencing (2026q) |
| Anthropology | UCL Harvard; *Chicago Manual of Style*, notes or author-date | Anthropology (2026a) |
| Business, management and finance | UCL Harvard and Vancouver | Business guide (2026c) |
| Global health | APA's manual; *Citing Medicine*, on which Vancouver rests | Global Health (2026f) |
| Education | A Harvard pattern for Ofsted reports | Education (2026e) |
| Any of six styles, from a DOI or address | [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite), free | EdCitation |

The Medicine and Dentistry, History and Law pages name no style for their subject, so there the handbook decides. EdCitation builds APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver, not OSCOLA, MHRA or Chicago notes and bibliography: those are written by hand from their own guides. Our [guide to referencing at UK universities](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/referencing-at-uk-universities) covers others.

### Is UCL Harvard the same as Cite Them Right?

Close, not identical. UCL Library Services (2026o) calls it a style "developed for UCL staff and students", based on the 9th edition of *Cite Them Right*, by Pears and Shields, with some examples adapted from University of Birmingham guidance. *Cite Them Right* has had several editions since; EdCitation's Harvard follows the 12th.

## How do you cite in the text in UCL Harvard?

Give the surname and year, and a page number whenever you quote or paraphrase. UCL Library Services (2026l) makes the page compulsory for paraphrases too, written with no space after the point. With UCL's own examples:

1. **One page or a range.** (Skelton, 2011, p.266); (Skelton, 2011, pp.259-260) across two pages.
2. **Numbering that changes inside a source.** A comma between the pages: pp.iv, 1.
3. **Two or three authors.** Every surname, in the source's order: (Reiss and White, 2013, p.6).
4. **Four or more.** The first surname and et al.: (Darlow et al., 2013).
5. **Same author, same year.** A letter in the text and the list alike: (Kubler-Ross, 1993a).
6. **Several sources at once.** One pair of brackets, in date order: (Reiss, 1996; Black, 2013).
7. **A source quoted in another.** (Jones, 1987 cited in Smith, 2012), listing only the work you read.
8. **Missing details.** No author: the title in italics, (*Medicine in old age*, 1985, p.74). No date: "no date". No page numbers in a book: "[no pagination]".

Rules 5 to 7 come from the FAQ, UCL Library Services (2026i), and rule 8 from the page on missing details (2026m).

## How does UCL set out the reference list?

Alphabetically by surname, under the heading References, listing only what you cited. The year in round brackets takes a full stop.

### Authors and et al. in the list

Every author, up to seven. UCL Library Services (2026h) lists all names to seven and, for eight or more, the first eight followed by et al., with no "and" before the eighth.

### Journal articles

The article title in single quotation marks; the journal in italics, with a capital on each word except linking words such as and, of, the and for; volume, issue in brackets and pages; then the DOI, written "doi: 10.1080/13562517.2011.611875" with no accessed date (UCL Library Services, 2026k). An article reached through Moodle adds the module code and title in italics, the Moodle address and an accessed date.

### Books, e-books and web pages

Books keep the place of publication, "London: Picador", and give the edition only from the second (2026g); UCL's pages write it both "2nd edn." and "2nd ed.", so pick one. A web page takes its author, the year it was published or last updated, the title in italics, "Available at:" and "(Accessed: date)" (2026n).

## UCL Harvard rules at a glance

Each rule, with the page it comes from:

| Rule | UCL's form | Page |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Harvard version | UCL Library Services Harvard, from *Cite Them Right* 9th edition | Harvard welcome (2026o) |
| Page in the text | For quotations and paraphrases: p.266, pp.259-260 | Page numbers and punctuation (2026l) |
| *Et al.* in the text | From four authors | Citing authors (2026h) |
| *Et al.* in the list | Never up to seven; first eight, then et al. | Citing authors (2026h) |
| Year | (2011). with a full stop | Journal article (2026k) |
| DOI | doi: 10.xxxx, no accessed date | Journal article (2026k) |
| Web page | Title in italics; (Accessed: date) | Web page (2026n) |
| No author or date | Title first; "no date" | Missing details (2026m) |
| Generative AI | Not an author, not in the list; acknowledged instead | Generative AI (2026j) |
| Building the entry | [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/harvard), then the changes below | EdCitation |

Where AI output must be referenced, UCL Library Services (2026j) treats it as a work with no author; see [citing ChatGPT and AI tools](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-cite-chatgpt-and-ai-tools).

## What does a UCL Harvard reference list look like?

Six real sources in exactly UCL's form, four of them UCL's examples checked against the publishers' records. In the text: (Darlow et al., 2013), (Clark et al., 2020), (Department for Education, 2014), and in date order (Rogers et al., 2008; Reiss and White, 2013; Wright, 2020).

> Clark, K. A., Cletheroe, D., Gerard, T., Haller, I., Jozwik, K., Shi, K., Thomsen, B., Williams, H., et al. (2020). ‘Synchronous subnanosecond clock and data recovery for optically switched data centres using clock phase caching’, *Nature Electronics*, 3(7), pp.426-433. doi: 10.1038/s41928-020-0423-y.
>
> Darlow, B., Dowell, A., Baxter, G. D., Mathieson, F., Perry, M. and Dean, S. (2013). ‘The enduring impact of what clinicians say to people with low back pain’, *Annals of Family Medicine*, 11(6), pp.527-534. doi: 10.1370/afm.1518.
>
> Department for Education (2014). *National curriculum in England: framework for key stages 1 to 4.* Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-stages-1-to-4 (Accessed: 2 October 2026).
>
> Reiss, M. J. and White, J. (2013). *An aims-based curriculum: the significance of human flourishing for schools*. London: IOE Press.
>
> Rogers, L., Hallam, S., Creech, A. and Preti, C. (2008). ‘Learning about what constitutes effective training from a pilot programme to improve music education in primary schools’, *Music Education Research*, 10(4), pp.485-497. doi: 10.1080/14613800802547748.
>
> Wright, P. (2020). ‘Visible and socially-just pedagogy: implications for mathematics teacher education’, *Journal of Curriculum Studies*, 52(6), pp.733-751. doi: 10.1080/00220272.2020.1790667.

Clark has thirteen authors, so the first eight and et al. with no "and"; UCL's own example dates Rogers 2018, where the publisher's record says 2008; the GOV.UK page was "Last updated 2 December 2014".

## Which EdCitation style is closest to UCL Harvard, and what do you change?

Harvard. EdCitation's [Harvard style](https://edcitation.com/cite/harvard) is the *Cite Them Right* family UCL's guide descends from, so the elements arrive in order. Our changes on 2 October 2026:

| EdCitation printed | Change to, for UCL |
| --- | --- |
| Wright, P. (2020) ‘Visible…’ | Wright, P. (2020). ‘Visible…’ |
| pp. 733–751 | pp.733-751 |
| Available at: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1518. | doi: 10.1370/afm.1518. |
| Darlow, B. *et al.* (2013) | All six authors |
| Clark, K.A. *et al.* (2020) | The first eight authors, then et al.; K. A. spaced |
| ‘The Enduring Impact of What Clinicians Say…’ | Small letters after the first word, as UCL's examples have |
| A book with no place of publication | Add it: London: Bloomsbury |
| APA 6, where a module asks for it | Written by hand: Cite a source builds APA 7; UCL's APA guide (2026b) shows both |

### Vancouver at UCL

UCL's Vancouver page lists the first six authors and et al. from seven (UCL Library Services, 2026s), and EdCitation's Vancouver did the same for Clark: "Clark KA, Cletheroe D, Gerard T, Haller I, Jozwik K, Shi K, et al." UCL's examples carry no month, as in "2002;324(7337):577-81", where Cite a source printed "Nat Electron. 2020 Jul;3(7):426-33.": delete the month.

## What did Cite a source and Verify references return on UCL sources?

EdCitation is the right place to start a UCL reference list, because it looks every source up in the publisher's record and never composes an entry, which no chatbot can promise. [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) takes a DOI, title, PubMed ID, ISBN or web address, sets the entry in Harvard (Cite Them Right) or five other styles, and screens it for retraction, free and with no account. On UCL's own examples, Verify references caught two wrong years. Every sentence of a UCL essay or dissertation stays the student's own: EdCitation finds, cites and checks sources, and writes no part of the paper.

### Cite a source on five real sources

For the DOI 10.1080/00220272.2020.1790667, Harvard returned:

> Wright, P. (2020) ‘Visible and socially-just pedagogy: implications for mathematics teacher education’, *Journal of Curriculum Studies*, 52(6), pp. 733–751. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2020.1790667.

Every fact matches UCL's entry; the year's full stop, pages and DOI change by hand. For 10.1370/afm.1518 it gave "Darlow, B. *et al.* (2013) ‘The Enduring Impact of What Clinicians Say to People With Low Back Pain’, *The Annals of Family Medicine*, 11(6), pp. 527–534." and the DOI: add five authors and lower the capitals. The book *Global citizenship education*, by DOI 10.5040/9781474286749, gave "Sant, E. *et al.* (2018) *Global Citizenship Education: A Critical Introduction to Key Concepts and Debates*. Bloomsbury Academic." with its DOI: list all four authors, lower the capitals, add "London:" and, for a printed copy, drop the DOI. For the GOV.UK page above:

> Department for Education (2014) *National curriculum in England: framework for key stages 1 to 4*. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-stages-1-to-4 (Accessed: 2 October 2026).

Author and year came from the page; add the full stop after the year. UCL's own BBC News example came back as a news article, "BBC News (2014) ‘“Lights Out” ends day of WW1 centenary commemorations’, 3 August.": italicise the title, drop the day, add the full stop.

### Verify references on ten of UCL's own examples

We pasted ten entries from UCL's Harvard pages, exactly as printed, into [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references):

- **Wright (2020), Darlow et al. (2013), Clark et al. (2020) and Sant et al. (2018):** verified. UCL's in-text example for Sant says 2013.
- **Rogers et al. (2018):** "check this", "A record with this title exists, but it was published in 2008, not 2018." Right.
- **Skelton (2011):** "check this", "The work was published in 2012, not 2011; the record has no date in 2011." Crossref dates the issue June 2012; we could not confirm an earlier online date.
- **Ronson (2012), Guy (2001) and Reiss and White (2013):** "check this", each matched to a journal review of the book, Ronson's with "A work with this title is recorded in Journal of Applied Security Research (2012), not in the source your entry names." Wrong matches, made while the library catalogue was not answering.
- **BBC News (2014):** "could not check", "The library catalogue did not answer in time. Check this one again in a minute.", never "not found".

Copy UCL's patterns, then check the facts. To check a whole dissertation at once, Pro at $8 a month adds [References from a file](https://edcitation.com/tools/references-from-a-file), which matches every in-text citation to its entry; see [pricing](https://edcitation.com/pricing).

## How do you build a UCL reference list, step by step?

1. Find your style in the handbook; EdCitation's free [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) reads an assignment's instructions into a checklist, citation style included.
2. Look up each article, book and web page in [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/harvard) by DOI, ISBN or address, in Harvard.
3. Make UCL's changes: the full stop after the year, "pp." with no space, "doi:", every author up to seven, small letters in titles.
4. Add the place of publication to every book, and a page to every citation that quotes or paraphrases.
5. Paste the list into [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references), settle each "check this", and open any "could not check" source yourself.

## Quick questions

### What referencing style does UCL use?

None for the whole university. Departments and programmes choose, from Harvard, Vancouver, APA, Chicago, OSCOLA, MHRA, MLA or another.

### Is UCL Harvard the same as Cite Them Right?

Nearly. UCL Library Services Harvard is based on *Cite Them Right*'s 9th edition, with its own full stop after the year and "doi:" before a DOI.

### When does et al. start in UCL Harvard?

At four authors in the text. The list names every author up to seven, then the first eight and et al.

### Does a DOI need an accessed date in UCL Harvard?

No. UCL's journal examples end with the DOI; web pages and online e-books take one.

### Can EdCitation build UCL Harvard references?

Yes, from the publisher's record: EdCitation's [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/harvard) sets them in Harvard (Cite Them Right); the year's full stop, pages, DOI and authors change by hand.

## References

- UCL Library Services. (2026a). *Anthropology: Referencing and reference management*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/referencing](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/referencing)
- UCL Library Services. (2026b). *APA: Welcome*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/APA](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/APA)
- UCL Library Services. (2026c). *Business, Management, Entrepreneurship and Finance: Referencing and referencing software*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/management/referencing](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/management/referencing)
- UCL Library Services. (2026d). *Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies: Referencing and reference management software*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/heritage_museums/referencing](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/heritage_museums/referencing)
- UCL Library Services. (2026e). *Education (Curriculum Resources and Initial Teacher Education): Referencing and reference management software*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/Education-CR-ITE/help/referencing](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/Education-CR-ITE/help/referencing)
- UCL Library Services. (2026f). *Global Health: Referencing and reference management*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/referencing](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/referencing)
- UCL Library Services. (2026g). *Harvard: Book (printed, multiple authors or editors)*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/book-multiple-author](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/book-multiple-author)
- UCL Library Services. (2026h). *Harvard: Citing authors with Harvard*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/authors](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/authors)
- UCL Library Services. (2026i). *Harvard: FAQ*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/faq](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/faq)
- UCL Library Services. (2026j). *Harvard: Generative AI*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/generative-ai](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/generative-ai)
- UCL Library Services. (2026k). *Harvard: Journal article*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/journal-article](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/journal-article)
- UCL Library Services. (2026l). *Harvard: Page numbers and punctuation*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/page-numbers-punctuation](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/page-numbers-punctuation)
- UCL Library Services. (2026m). *Harvard: References with missing details*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/missing-details](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/missing-details)
- UCL Library Services. (2026n). *Harvard: Web page*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/web-page](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/web-page)
- UCL Library Services. (2026o). *Harvard: Welcome*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard)
- UCL Library Services. (2026p). *Psychology: Referencing and reference management*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/psychology/referencing](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/psychology/referencing)
- UCL Library Services. (2026q). *References, citations and avoiding plagiarism: OSCOLA referencing*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/oscola](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/oscola)
- UCL Library Services. (2026r). *References, citations and avoiding plagiarism: Referencing styles*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/referencing-styles](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/referencing-styles)
- UCL Library Services. (2026s). *References, citations and avoiding plagiarism: Vancouver referencing*. Library guides and databases. [https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/vancouver](https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/vancouver)