Cite a Chapter in an Edited Book in Harvard

• Tomas Elliott (Ph.D.)
• Published on 11/03/2025

• Contributor (Chapter Author or Organization): The reference format begins with the last name and first initials of the chapter’s author. In the case of chapter authors who are companies, organizations, or institutions, use the full name of the entity.
• Year of Publication: The publication year of the book appears in round brackets directly following the author’s name. This will aid the reader in finding the exact edition.
• Chapter Title: The title of the chapter should be in single quotation marks (‘ ’) and in sentence case—only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized.
• Label “in”: The word in introduces the editors who compiled or edited the book. This indicates to the reader that the cited material is part of a larger volume.
• Editor Details: List all the editors, with surnames followed by initials. If there is more than one editor, use “and” before the last editor’s name. In round brackets add (ed.) for one editor or (eds.) for two or more editors.
• Book Title (in Italics): The title of the book should appear in italics and in title case. Every major word should begin with a capital letter.
• Edition: Indicate the edition if it is not the first. For instance use 2nd edn. or 3rd edn. If it is the first edition, this element may be excluded.
• Place of Publication: Give the city of publication for the book. For major publishing centres, such as London or New York, the country is not needed.
• Publisher: After the publication place, add the name of the publishing company.
• Page Range for Chapter: Page numbers for the chapter are preceded by pp. and followed by full stop.

Full Example of a Harvard Chapter Citation

This example follows every element in the correct order. It credits the chapter’s author (Tiffin) rather than the book’s editors (Desai and Potter) because only the chapter titled Food security was used in the source material.

This is an example of a chapter written by one author, from a book with one editor.

Sometimes, a chapter appears in several editions of the same book, with updates or revisions. Always verify which edition your chapter comes from and include that edition number. If you reference the wrong edition, then you are giving your readers incorrect information. In case only the one chapter has been used, do not cite the whole book. Similarly, if you are discussing the work of the editor (for example, his or her introduction or commentary) cite the editor as author and exclude the chapter author field.  An organization should always be cited using the full official name so that readers could trace. Abbreviations can be used only for very well-known organizations.  For global publishers, particularly those having several locations, use the location noted on the title page of the edition you consulted. Do not guess or use online summaries.