This template is a citation hybrid that has characteristics of the long-form cs1 and cs2 and characteristics of short-form {{sfn}} and the {{harv}} families of templates. Its purpose is to provide a method that allows editors to refer to a contribution or chapter in a larger work when more than a few such referrals are required. {{harvc}} is not a substitute for a properly constructed citation.

Short-form templates {{sfn}} and {{harv}} are often used to link from an article's references section to a long-form cs1|2 template in a bibliography section:

{{sfn}}{{cite book}}

It is not uncommon for a source have multiple contributors. When it is necessary to refer to multiple contributions in the same source, repeating all of the bibliographic details in multiple long-form citation templates adds to references-section clutter. {{harvc}} is designed to hold only the detail necessary to identify a contribution and link to the enclosing work's long-form citation where all of the bibliographic detail can be found:

{{sfn}}{{harvc}}{{cite book}}

The minimal form is:

{{harvc |last=contributor name |year=publication year |c=contribution title |in=source editor/author name}}

{{harvc}} creates a CITEREF anchor from one to four contribution or chapter author surnames (|lastn=) and the value in |year=. This allows {{harvc}} to be the target of a link created by {{sfn}} or {{harv}} family templates. From |inn= and |year=, {{harvc}} creates a CITEREF link similar to those created by {{harvnb}} and {{sfn}}

|anchor-year= – optional, for use for author(s) with more than one contribution to the work; requires CITEREF disambiguator; see Examples
|author-link= – optional, title of existing Wikipedia article about the first contributor—not the contributor's website; do not wikilink; alias: |author-link1=
|author-linkn= – optional, title of existing Wikipedia article about contributorn; choose n to match n in |lastn=
|author-mask=m – optional, replaces name of the first contributor with m (commonly 2) em dashes; alias: |author-mask1=
|author-maskn=m – optional, replaces name of contributorn with m em dashes; choose n to match n in |lastn=
|author-maskn=<text> – optional, replaces name of contributorn with <text>
|c= – required, the title of chapter or contribution; rendered quoted in upright font; aliases: |chapter=, |contribution=
|display-authors= – optional, defines how {{harvc}} displays the contributor list; ignored when |name-list-style=harv:
|display-authors= – when empty or omitted, displays all contributor names in last/first format
|display-authors=n – displays n contributor names in last/first format; appends et al. when n is less than the number of contributors included in the template
|display-authors=etal – displays all contributor names in last/first format and appends et al.
|first= – optional, first contributor's given or first name; alias: |first1=
|firstn= – optional, contributorn given or first name; n begins at 2 and increases by 1 for each additional |firstn=
|id= – required when |last1=-|last4= are the same as |in1=-|in4=; otherwise optional. See Examples
|in= – required, surname or last name of first editor or author of the work that includes the contribution; aliases: |in1=
|in2= – optional, surname or last name of second editor or author
|in3= – optional, surname or last name of third editor or author
|in4= – optional, surname or last name of fourth editor or author
|last= – required, surname or last name of first author; aliases: |last1=
|lastn= – optional, contributorn surname or last name; n begins at 2 and increases by 1 for each additional |lastn=;
|loc= – optional, other location identifier, displays after |p= or |pp=
|mode= – controls rendered display to match that of adjacent CS1 or CS2 citations; defaults to CS1 style
|mode=cs2 – mimic {{citation}} style (comma separators, no terminal punctuation, static text not capitalized)
|name-list-style= – optional, controls contributor name list display style
|name-list-style=harv – mimic {{sfn}} or {{harv}} format (one to four last names); overrides |display-authors=
|name-list-style=amp – inserts an ampersand between the last two contributor names
|nb= – optional, when set to yes, instructs {{harvc}} to render source link without parentheses around the year; same format as that produced by {{harvnb}}
|p= – optional, single page number where cited material can be found; aliases: |page=
|pp= – optional, multiple page numbers, page ranges, etc where cited material can be found; aliases: |pages=
|ps= – optional, sets terminal punctuation; default is full stop; overrides |mode=cs2; aliases: |postscript=
|ps=none – renders output without terminal punctuation
|url= – optional, URL of an online location where the text of the contribution can be found; aliases: |chapter-url, |contribution-url
|url-access= – optional, use when URL links to a source behind a registration barrier or paywall; inserts cs1|2 access icon; accepted values are: limited, registration, subscription
|year= – required, publication year of the work that includes the contribution

When a Wikipedia article makes reference to a work that contains multiple chapters by different authors, bibliographies and reference sections can look rather cluttered:

  • George, Ernest J.; Read, Ralph A.; Johnson, R. W.; Ferber, A. E. (1957). "Shelterbelts and Windbreaks". In Stefferud, Alfred (ed.). Soil: The Yearbook of Agriculture 1957. United States Department of Agriculture. OCLC 704186906.
  • Stout, P. R.; Johnson, C. M. (1957). "Trace Elements". In Stefferud, Alfred (ed.). Soil: The Yearbook of Agriculture 1957. United States Department of Agriculture. OCLC 704186906.
  • Wadleigh, C. H. (1957). "Growth of Plants". In Stefferud, Alfred (ed.). Soil: The Yearbook of Agriculture 1957. United States Department of Agriculture. OCLC 704186906.


As the list grows longer, the look becomes more cluttered with the unnecessarily repeated detail of full-length citations. With {{harvc}} editors can link to shorter, less detailed contribution citations using standard implementations of {{sfn}} templates[] and {{harv}} templates (like this: (Harper, Frank & McQuilkin 1957) and also wrapped in <ref>...</ref> tags[]). {{harvc}} may also be wrapped in <ref>...</ref> tags so that it becomes part of the article's References section.[][]

Avoiding circular reference

ಸಂಪೊಲಿಪುಲೆ

It may sometimes be necessary to cite a contribution of a source's editor or author such that |last1= through |last4= are the same as |in1= through |in4=, an editor's preface for example. Such citations can, depending on placement, cause {{sfn}} or {{harv}}-family references to link directly to the citation instead of to the {{harvc}} template, or cause circular links ({{harvc}} linking to itself because its CITEREF anchor identifier is the same as the citation's CITEREF anchor identifier). If |id= is set, {{harvc}} will use it as an anchor identifier; if |id= is not set, {{harvc}} will emit an error message when |last1= through |last4= are the same as |in1= through |in4=.

For example, to reference an editor's preface from article text, create a wikilink inside <ref>...</ref> tags:[]

<ref>[[#Stefferud preface|Stefferud 1957]]</ref>

Write a {{harvc}} template with |id=Stefferud preface

{{harvc |last=Stefferud |first=A.|year=1957 |id=Stefferud preface |c=Preface |url=//archive.org/stream/yoa1957#page/n7/mode/1up |in=Stefferud}}

Example references section

ಸಂಪೊಲಿಪುಲೆ

Example bibliography section

ಸಂಪೊಲಿಪುಲೆ

More than one contribution

ಸಂಪೊಲಿಪುಲೆ

There are times when an author or authors will have contributed more than once to a work. When this occurs, it is necessary to disambiguate the CITEREF links from the {{harv}} or {{sfn}} templates to the CITEREF id of the appropriate {{harvc}} template.

{{harv|Author|YYYYa}}{{harvc|Author|Contribution 1|YYYYa}}{{citation|...}}}
{{harv|Author|YYYYb}}{{harvc|Author|Contribution 2|YYYYb}}

In this example, author David Hunt contributed two appendices to Christmas Cacti: The Genus Schlumbergera and Its Hybrids.

There are two {{harvnb}} templates that are disambiguated:

{{harvnb |Hunt |1995a}}Hunt 1995a
{{harvnb |Hunt |1995b}}Hunt 1995b

These link to two {{harvc}} templates which use |anchor-year= for their CITEREF id and for the date in the {{harvc}} rendering as a visual aid for readers:

  • {{harvc |in=McMillan |in2=Horobin |last=Hunt |first=David |c=Appendix I Names and synonyms of the species, subspecies and interspecific hybrids |year=1995 |anchor-year=1995a |mode=cs2 |nb=yes}}
    Hunt, David (1995a), "Appendix I Names and synonyms of the species, subspecies and interspecific hybrids", in McMillan & Horobin 1995
  • {{harvc |in=McMillan |in2=Horobin |last=Hunt |first=David |c=Appendix III Excerpts from a Brazilian diary |year=1995 |anchor-year=1995b |mode=cs2 |nb=yes}}
    Hunt, David (1995b), "Appendix III Excerpts from a Brazilian diary", in McMillan & Horobin 1995

and the single {{citation}} template:

  • {{Citation |last=McMillan |first=A. J. S. |last2=Horobin |first2=J. F. |year=1995 |title=Christmas Cacti: The Genus ''Schlumbergera'' and Its Hybrids |edition=p/b |publication-place=Sherbourne, Dorset, UK |publisher=David Hunt |isbn=978-0-9517234-6-3}}
    McMillan, A. J. S.; Horobin, J. F. (1995), Christmas Cacti: The Genus Schlumbergera and Its Hybrids (p/b ed.), Sherbourne, Dorset, UK: David Hunt, ISBN 978-0-9517234-6-3

{{harvc}} emits these error messages:

harvc: author missing from source list.
the source list parameters |in1=, |in2=, |in3=, and |in4= form the template's CITEREF link to the full citation. All are not required but must be used in order without numerical gaps.
harvc: invalid |anchor-year=.
when used, |anchor-year= must be a three- or four-digit number and must have a lowercase CITEREF disambiguator. When the source does not have an identifiable year, use |anchor-year=n.d.l or |anchor-year=ndl with lowercase CITEREF disambiguator.
harvc: invalid |display-authors=.
the value assigned to |display-authors= must be a number greater than 0 or the keyword etal
harvc: invalid |year=.
|year= is an integral part of the template's CITEREF anchor and link. The value of |year= must be a three- or four-digit number with an optional lowercase CITEREF disambiguator. When the source does not have an identifiable year, use |year=n.d. or |year=nd.
harvc: missing |year=.
|year= is missing; the parameter is required.
harvc: no authors in contributor list.
this error message indicates that {{harvc}} can't find any of |last=, |last1=, |author= or |author1= with an assigned value and so cannot make a usable CITEREF anchor. Add at least one of the listed parameters.
harvc: required contribution is missing.
this error message indicates that {{harvc}} can't find any of |c=, |chapter=, or |contribution= with an assigned value
harvc: required |id= parameter missing.
this error message is emitted when the {{harvc}} template's CITEREF anchor identifier would conflict with the long-form citation's CITEREF anchor identifier. See Examples
harvc: |year= / |anchor-year= mismatch.
the year portion of |anchor-year=YYYYl must match the year given in |year=YYYY