How to Cite a Thesis or Dissertation in Harvard

Each manual words the degree differently: a Doctoral dissertation in APA, a PhD dissertation in MLA, a PhD diss. in Chicago, a PhD thesis in Harvard. Pick the degree and the right wording is used. This page follows Harvard (Cite Them Right), Cite Them Right, 12th edition.

Harvard format for a thesis or dissertation

Harvard (Cite Them Right)

Reference list entry

Nash, J.F. (1950) Non-cooperative games. PhD thesis. Princeton University.

In-text citation

(Nash, 1950)

Style: Harvard (Cite Them Right)

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    Where to find the details

    • The title page names the degree, the university and the year it was accepted.

    Required in most styles: author, year, thesis title, degree, university.

    Cite a thesis or dissertation in another style

    Other sources

    Questions

    Citations are formatted by citeproc-js by Frank Bennett (CPAL-1.0, or AGPL-1.0), the engine behind Zotero and Mendeley, running the official Citation Style Language styles (10,863 styles, commit 2e93558) and locales (commit a89adec), used under CC BY-SA 3.0. AGLC4 citations use the LexIntellect AGLC4 engine, checked against the Guide's worked examples. Always check a citation against the manual or your institution's guide before you submit.

    What do I need to cite a thesis or dissertation in Harvard?

    At minimum: author, year, thesis title, degree, university. The title page names the degree, the university and the year it was accepted.

    What does a thesis or dissertation look like in Harvard?

    Reference list entry: Nash, J.F. (1950) Non-cooperative games. PhD thesis. Princeton University. In-text citation: (Nash, 1950)

    Is this free?

    Yes. No account and no limit. Your bibliography is saved in this browser only, and you can export it to Word, BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON.