How to cite a preprint in Harvard
A scientific manuscript posted before peer review (ArXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv). Author-date style widely used in UK universities. Many local variants exist.
Quick answer
To cite a preprint in Harvard, include the author(s), year, title, and container or publisher details. A concrete example is below.
Example
Chen, L. and Martinez, S. (2024) “Large Language Models Meet Clinical Reasoning,” arXiv [Preprint]. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2406.12345.
This example is rendered with the official CSL definition for Harvard. For the exact style required by your journal, paste your references into DEEPNOTIS and pick that style from the dropdown — the app covers 2,800+ variants.
What you need
For a preprint, Harvard expects these fields at minimum:
- Author(s)
- Year
- Title
- Preprint server (arXiv, bioRxiv, SSRN…)
- DOI or server ID
- Label: [Preprint]
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to mark the reference as [Preprint]. Every major style wants this flag.
- Citing the preprint after the peer-reviewed version has been published — cite the published version instead.
- Forgetting the DOI. When a DOI exists, most styles now require it (usually as a full https://doi.org/… URL).
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Last updated: 5 May 2026