How to Cite a Short Story in Harvard

• Written by Jennifer Sutcliffe

• Published on 02/21/2026

All citations of short stories typically have some common features, and may include the following elements:

• Author: The name of the short story writer. 
• Date of Publication: The year (and sometimes day and month) that the edition or version you read was published. 
• Title: The title of the story in single quotation marks.
• Name of Publication: The title of the book, journal, or website that contains the story.
• Publication Details: The publisher name, and sometimes the volume, issue, and page range.
• Online Access Information: For online stories, include “Available at:” plus URL (hyperlinked) or DOI (if given), and an access date for URLs.

Citing a Short Story on a Website

Citation	Elkins, J. (2016) ‘The day of the screwdriver’, Medium, 28 June. Available at: https://medium.com/@jffelkins/the-day-of-the-screwdriver-4d41a384eb3 (Accessed: 17 February 2026).
Structure	Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication) ‘Title of short story’, Title of Website, Day Month if available. DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Citing a Short Story in a Print Book (Edited Anthology)

Citation	Neattie, A. (2015) ‘Snow’, in R. Bausch and R.V. Cassil (eds.) The Norton anthology of short fiction: shorter 8th edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, pp. 76–77.
Structure	Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication) ‘Title of short story’, in Editor Initial(s). Editor Surname (ed(s).) Title of book. Place of Publication: Publisher, page range.

Citing a Short Story in an Ebook

Citation	Alcott, L.A. (1998) ‘Transcendental wild oats’, in N. Baym (ed.) The Norton anthology of American literature [e-book]. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, pp. 2562–2573.
Structure	Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication) ‘Title of short story’, in Editor Initial(s). Editor Surname (ed.) Title of book [e-book]. Place of Publication: Publisher, page range or chapter/loc if no pages.

Citing a Short Story in an Online Journal

Citation	Barr, A. (2025) ‘Duplex’, Kenyon Review, 47(4), pp. 30–35. Available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/980106 (Accessed: 18 February 2026).
Structure	Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication) ‘Title of short story’, Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page range or article ID. DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Citing a Short Story in a Print Journal

Citation	Butler, O.E. (1984) ‘Bloodchild’, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 8(4), pp. 5–25.
Structure	Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication) ‘Title of short story’, Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page range.

In-Text Citations: General Guidelines

In-text citations for short stories in any publication type use the author’s surname and year.

Narrative: “As demonstrated by Neattie (2015) …”
Parenthetical: “… questions its meaning (Neattie, 2015).”

If you quote directly, add page numbers or paragraph numbers where available, e.g. (Neattie, 2015, p. 76).

Cite the Version You Used: Short stories are regularly reprinted in different publications and formats, so make sure your reference matches the edition you read. Page numbers, editors, and other details can vary between versions. Retrieve Permalinks for Online Journals: When an online journal offers a DOI or other type of permalink, use that instead of a regular URL. Permalinks, especially DOIs, are less likely to break and are preferred in academic referencing. Pay Attention to Pages in Digital Texts: Some digital sources don’t always have consistent page numbers. Use the information provided even if it differs from other sources. If no page numbers were given, you can cite without a page number. You can also reference a section or paragraph instead, if applicable. Distinguish Between Author and Editor: When referencing a short story in anthologies and other edited works, it is important to include both the story author and the editor of the publication and cite them appropriately. The author comes first in the reference section citation, and is also the person cited in the in-text citation.