How to Cite Reddit in Harvard

There are two types of citations for Reddit: posts (the original topic) and the comments (replies to the original topic).

How to Cite Reddit Posts in Harvard

  • Author’s Username: The username of the individual or organization that posted on Reddit, preceded by “u/” (Reddit shorthand for username). The author’s real name can be used if it is known.
  • Year: The year that the post was published.
  • Title of post: The post title.
  • Day and Month: The date that the post was published.
  • Website name: The site name (Reddit).
  • URL: The full URL and the date it was accessed.

Reddit Post Citation Example

Citation
u/Paullearner (2025) ‘When does your Christmas break start’ [Reddit] 14 December. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1pmvunl/christmas_break/ (Accessed 15 December 2025).
Structure
u/username (Year) ‘Title of post.’ [Site name] Day Month. Available at: URL (Accessed Day Month Year).

How to Cite Reddit Comments in Harvard

  • Commenter’s Username: The Reddit username of the commenter on the original post. The author’s real name can be used if it is known.
  • Year: The year that the comment was published.
  • Comment Text: The first 10 words of the comment.
  • Post Title: The title of the original post.
  • Website name: The site name (Reddit).
  • Day and Month: The date that the comment was published.
  • URL: The full URL and the date it was accessed.

Reddit Comment Citation Example

Citation
u/moonthenrose (2025) ‘I have a small trip planned but I also plan…’ Comment on: ‘When does your Christmas break start and what do you plan to do during it?’ [Reddit] 14 December. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/TeachersInTransition/comments/1pmvunl/comment/nu36q9i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button (Accessed 15 December 2025).
Structure
u/username (Year) ‘First 10 words of comment…’ Comment on: ‘Title of original post’ [Reddit] Day Month. Available at: permalink URL to the specific comment (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Refer to General Harvard Styles for Social Media Posts: When citing Reddit posts, refer back to the general format for social media posts as a similar type of citation. The Reddit citation format is similar, such as including the title of the message in quotes and writing the social media site in brackets.

Use the Correct Date Format: Harvard style cites the year of publication after the author name and additional date information after the title of the work, as appropriate. For the references page, it uses the Day-Month format like MLA rather than the Month-Day format used in APA. Month names are fully spelled out, and only the year is needed in the in-text citation. 

Note Title Styles: Both posts and comments on Reddit are cited using single quotation marks. This style differs from some other citations in Harvard where the title of the main work, such as a book or website name, is given in italics.

Abbreviate Comments as Titles (And Posts, When Needed): When citing a Reddit comment in Harvard, the actual text of the comment is given as the title of the comment. Shorten the comment for the citation to include only the first 10 words. Reddit posts that do not have a title can be cited similarly. In lieu of the post title, use the first 10 words of the post content. In both cases, follow the text with an ellipsis.

Use Permalinks for Comments: To link directly to a comment so readers don’t need to search for it on the post page, go to the “Share” button on the comment and copy the link. 

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Jennifer Sutcliffe

Jennifer Sutcliffe has more than 15 years of experience in education, former academic and public librarian, and Ph.D. candidate in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. She has expertise in digital literacies, library and Internet research, online learning, and instructional design. Jenn holds an M.Ed. from the University of Georgia, M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas, and B.A. in Anthropology and Journalism from Emory University.

Learn how to cite in Harvard