How to cite an online report in Harvard

Harvard online report citation

To cite an online report in a reference entry in Harvard style include the following elements:

  1. Author or organization: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J.) of up to three authors with the last name preceded by 'and'. For four authors or more include the first name followed by et al., unless your institution requires referencing of all named authors.
  2. Year of publication: Give the year in round brackets.
  3. Title of the online report: Give the title as presented in the source. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
  4. Place of publication: List the city and the US state using the two-letter abbreviation. Spell out country names if outside of the UK or the USA.
  5. Publisher: Give the name of the publisher.
  6. URL: Give the full URL of the web page including the protocol (http:// or https://).
  7. Date of access: Give the day month and year.

Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of an online report in Harvard style:

Author or organization. (Year of publication) Title of the online report. Place of publication: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: Date of access).

Take a look at our reference list examples that demonstrate the Harvard style guidelines in action:

Examples

A report retrieved online

Department of Making Pregnancy Safer. (2006) Annual report, 2005. Available at: https://apps.who.int/ iris/bitstream/handle/10665/69505/WHO_MPS_07.01_eng.pdf (Accessed: 6 September 2010).

A report retrieved online

Bureau of Fiscal Service, Department of Treasury. (2018) Financial Report of the United States Government. Available at: https://fiscal.treasury.gov/files/reports-statements/financial-report/2018/03282019-FR(Final).pdf (Accessed: 2 September 2019).

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