Cite a Book with Group Author in Harvard

• Written by Tomas Elliott (Ph.D.)

• Published on 01/01/2026

• Group Author Name: The first component is the name of the entire organization that is responsible for issuing the publication. It must be written in its entirety, without any shortening by means of an acronym, except where the shorter form is recognized more widely than the full name. These include government departments, non-governmental organizations, or international or professional bodies.
• Year of Publication: The year when the book was published is enclosed in round brackets immediately following the author. This helps readers quickly identify the currency of the information.
• Title: The title of the book must be in italics. Only the first letter and proper nouns need to be in capital cases as in sentence case capitalization. 
• Place of Publication: The place of publication is listed after the title, followed by a colon. It usually includes the city where the publisher is based. If multiple cities are listed, the first city is sufficient.
• Publisher: The publisher’s name appears after the colon. This completes the reference and identifies the organization responsible for making the book available.

Example of Corporate Author Book Citation in Harvard

In-Text Citation for a Book with a Corporate Author

A Harvard in-text citation can appear in either parenthetical or narrative format. Both formats have to do with referencing the author, as well as the year of writing. They merely vary in terms of arrangement.

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

Parenthetical citations place the author and year in brackets at the end of the sentence or phrase. This style is commonly used when the author is not directly mentioned in the sentence.

Narrative In-Text Citation

Narrative citations integrate the author into the sentence itself, with the year following in round brackets immediately after the author’s name. This style emphasizes the author as part of the discussion.

Always use the full corporate author name on first mention. When citing a corporate author, write out the full name of the organization in the reference list and the first in-text citation. If the organization is commonly abbreviated, you may use the abbreviation in subsequent citations, but only after introducing it. Include the edition for updated or revised books. If the book has multiple editions, include the edition after the title to indicate which version was used. This is especially important for technical or medical texts that may be updated frequently. Use narrative citation to point the source of the authority to the organization. When the expertise or authority of the organization is a focus of the discussion, a narrative citation should be utilized in place of a parenthetical citation. This allows the author to become part of the sentence.