Cite an Article from a Database in Harvard

• Tomas Elliott (Ph.D.)
• Published on 08/29/2025

Citing sources is one of the most important tasks in academic writing. Every time an article is taken from an online database such as JSTOR, PubMed, ProQuest, or the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, it must be cited correctly so that readers can trace the source, verify the information, and give proper credit to the original authors. 

This is a step-by-step guide on referencing an article from a database in Harvard style. It explains the correct format and the most essential elements to be included. It further illustrates how to make accurate in-text references depending on the number of authors.

General Structure of a Database Article Citation 

The standard structure for citing an article from a database in Harvard referencing is:

• Contributor – The person or organization who has authored the article. It is usually the surname of the author with initials. In the event of two or more authors, they must be stated in correct sequence, and et al. is used if authors exceed three.
• Year of publication – This appears in round brackets immediately after the author’s name.
• Title of article – The title should be placed in single quotation marks (‘ ’). Sentence case should be used, meaning only the first word and any proper nouns should be capitalized.
• Title of database – The name of the database must be italicised. Each main word should begin with a capital letter, except for linking words such as “and,” “of,” or “the.”
• DOI or URL – If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, it should be included in plain text format, without a hyperlink. If there is no DOI, the stable URL of the article should be given.
• Accessed date – This is only required if a URL is used. It should appear in round brackets after the link.

Example with DOI

Citation	Kumar, S. et al. (2021) ‘Air pollution and its association with hospital admissions: Evidence from a multi-city analysis’, ScienceDirect. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111436.
Structure	Author Surname, Author Initial. et al. (Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Database. doi: DOI.

Example with Organization as Author

Citation	United Nations (2021) ‘Climate action and sustainable development goals: Progress and challenges’, ProQuest Central. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.05.014.
Structure	Organization Name (Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Database. doi: DOI.

Two Author Example with URL and Access Date

Citation	Barker, T. and Phillips, M. (2019) ‘Renewable energy policies and global sustainability’, JSTOR. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26842015 (Accessed: 12 August 2022).
Structure	Author Surname, Author Initial. and Author Surname, Author Initial. (Year) ‘Title of article’, Title of Database. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Example with No Date

Citation	Lee, H. (no date) ‘Artificial intelligence in modern business strategies’, EBSCOhost. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx (Accessed: 20 February 2023).
Structure	Author Surname, Author Initial. (no date) ‘Title of article’, Title of Database. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

In-Text Citation Rules

In-text citations for database articles follow standard Harvard referencing patterns. The exact format depends on the number of authors or whether the author is an organization.

One Author

Parenthetical citation:

Example	(Chen, 2021)
Structure	(Author Surname, Year)

Narrative citation:

Example	Chen (2021)
Structure	Author Surname (Year)

Two Authors

Parenthetical citation:

Example	(Hughes and Carter, 2020)
Structure	(Author Surname and Author Surname, Year)

Narrative citation:

Example	Hughes and Carter (2020)
Structure	Author Surname and Author Surname (Year)

Three Authors

Parenthetical citation:

Example	(Lopez, Kim and Turner, 2022)
Structure	(Author Surname, Author Surname and Author Surname, Year)

Narrative citation:

Example	Lopez, Kim and Turner (2022)
Structure	Author Surname, Author Surname and Author Surname (Year)

More Than Three Authors

Parenthetical citation:

Example	(Kumar et al., 2021)
Structure	(Author Surname et al., Year)

Narrative citation:

Example	Kumar et al. (2021)
Structure	Author Surname et al. (Year)

Organization as Author

Parenthetical citation:

Example	(United Nations, 2020)
Structure	(Organization Name, Year)

Narrative citation:

Example	United Nations (2020)
Structure	Organization Name (Year)

Forgetting quotation marks around article titles – The article title must always appear in single quotation marks. Capitalizing every word in the title – Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. Use consistent database names – Use one title for databases throughout your list of references (e.g., always Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews). Indicate updated editions – Where the article is marked as an updated or revised edition, indicate this after the title. Double-check punctuation – Commas, full stops, and brackets must be in their right positions because punctuation errors lead to the wrong citation.