Journal articles
Deakin’s Australian Harvard guide was retired in February 2026. Students should now use the referencing style required by their unit, such as APA7 or Chicago author-date. The former Harvard PDF is still available, but it is no longer maintained.
Deakin guide to Australian Harvard (PDF, 1.1 MB)
Last updated: 2 April 2026
Overview
A journal article in the context of academic study often refers to an article published in a peer-reviewed academic publication, but the term can apply more broadly to a range of articles that you may find online.
Be aware that some news and magazine sites may not always be credible sources of information for the purposes of your assessment. Discuss this further with the teaching staff in your unit. Learn more about evaluating sources.
The best way to find journal articles is via the Deakin Library:
See also the Harvard topic: News articles.
Most academic journal articles (whether in print or online) have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). DOIs can usually be found on the first page of the article or in the entry on the Library catalogue. Note that there are different formats for DOIs. Use the format provided in the article.
For further details, see the Harvard Explained topic: DOIs and URLs.
In-text citations
Whelan and Fink (2016) observe that sustainable practices can lower operational costs.
Benford et al. (2013:68–9) explore how user discomfort can be managed carefully and ethically to foster emotional engagement of computer users.
For longer online articles with no page numbers, you can use paragraph numbers or section headings.
It is ‘a future in which our every move, our every word … is trackable, traceable, and data-mineable’ (Klein 2020:para.9).
Reference list
Provide as much detail as is available. If a detail is not given, for example a journal issue number, simply leave it out.
- Place article titles in single quote marks, and only capitalise the first letter of the first word and any names.
- Format journal titles in italics, and use capital letters as they are used in the publication.
- Place the journal issue number in brackets after the volume number.
- Include a colon between the issue and the page range.
- Provide a DOI, where available. Do not place a full stop after a DOI.
- Do not include the name of the library database where you sourced the article, nor a library database URL.
Author (year) 'Title of article', Title of Journal, volume(issue):page range, DOI
Denmark D, Ward I and Bean C (2012) 'Gender and leader effects in the 2010 Australian election', Australian Journal of Political Science, 47(4):563–578, https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2012.731485
Benford S, Greenhalgh C, Giannachi G, Walker B, Marshall J and Robben T (2013) 'Uncomfortable user experience', Communications of the ACM, 56(9):66–73, doi:10.1145/2500889
Article on website
Some articles published on a website have no issue, volume number or DOI. In this case,
- Provide the full date, where available.
- Hyperlink the title to the URL of the article, or provide the full URL at the end of the reference list entry.
- Include the date you accessed the article.
Author (day month year) 'Title of article', Title of Journal, accessed date. URL
Klein N (9 May 2020) ‘Screen new deal’, The Intercept, accessed 12 August 2020.
Klein N (9 May 2020) ‘Screen new deal’, The Intercept, accessed 12 August 2020. https://theintercept.com/2020/05/08/andrew-cuomo-eric-schmidt-coronavirus-tech-shock-doctrine/
Whelan T and Fink C (21 October 2016) ‘The comprehensive business case for sustainability’, Harvard Business Review, accessed 27 August 2020.
Whelan T and Fink C (21 October 2016) ‘The comprehensive business case for sustainability’, Harvard Business Review, accessed 27 August 2020. https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-comprehensive-business-case-for-sustainability
Article number
Some journals use article numbers rather than volume numbers, issue numbers or page numbers.
Author (year) 'Title of article', Title of Journal, article number, DOI
Chou CL, Teherani A and Masters D (2014) 'Workplace learning through peer groups in medical school clerkships', Medical Education Online, article no. 25809, doi:10.3402/meo.v19.25809
Article in press
- Use the term in press to refer to a peer-reviewed article accepted for publication in a future issue of a journal.
- Leave out any details that cannot be confirmed, for example, the year, issue, volume, DOI or page number. Never guess any of the details.
In-text citations
Russell and Carlton (in press) reported similar results.
Reference list
Russell EK and Carlton B (in press) ‘Counter–carceral acoustemologies: sound, permeability and feminist protest at the prison boundary’, Theoretical Criminology.
Review
In-text citations
Include the name of the reviewer.
It is this sort of ‘archaeological precision’ (Ames-Lewis 1987) that tends to overlook the broader context of the artist’s work and world.
Reference list
- In addition to details of the review and the journal it was published in, include the publication details of the work being reviewed.
- Note: some reviews, like the one below, do not have a title – in this case, simply leave out the title of the review.
Reviewer (year) 'Title of review', review of Title of work by Author in Title of Journal, volume(issue):page range.
Ames-Lewis F (1987) Review of Mantegna by Lightbrown R in Renaissance Studies, 1(2):273–279.