Harvard or APA 7: what’s different?
Harvard (Cite Them Right) and APA 7 are both author-date styles. See the same sources in each, side by side, and the small differences between them.
- Checked 23 October 2026
What you’ll notice
- Both put the author and the year in brackets in your essay. APA joins two authors with “&” in brackets; Harvard uses “and”.
- APA puts a full stop after the year in the reference list: (2025). Harvard doesn’t.
- Harvard puts a journal article’s title in single quotation marks. APA gives it with no quotation marks.
- Harvard gives a web page’s address after “Available at:”, with the date you accessed it. APA gives the address on its own.
Your course handbook says which style to use. Don’t mix styles in one piece of work.
The same sources, side by side
| Source | Harvard | APA 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Website | REFERENCE Green, A. (2025) Why students struggle to sleep. Available at: https://www.example.org/sleep/why-students-struggle (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Green, 2025) | REFERENCE Green, A. (2025). Why students struggle to sleep. Student Sleep Project. https://www.example.org/sleep/why-students-struggle IN YOUR ESSAY(Green, 2025) |
| Book | REFERENCE Okafor, D. (2023) Attachment in early childhood. 2nd edn. Northgate Press. IN YOUR ESSAY(Okafor, 2023) | REFERENCE Okafor, D. (2023). Attachment in early childhood (2nd ed.). Northgate Press. IN YOUR ESSAY(Okafor, 2023) |
| Journal article | REFERENCE Patel, R. and Shah, M. (2024) ‘Sleep and exam results in first-year students’, Journal of Student Health, 12(3), pp. 41–58. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5555/jsh.2024.0123. IN YOUR ESSAY(Patel and Shah, 2024) | REFERENCE Patel, R., & Shah, M. (2024). Sleep and exam results in first-year students. Journal of Student Health, 12(3), 41–58. https://doi.org/10.5555/jsh.2024.0123 IN YOUR ESSAY(Patel & Shah, 2024) |
| Book chapter | REFERENCE Lee, H. (2022) ‘Revising with others’, in S. Brown (ed.) Study skills for university. Northgate Press, pp. 45–67. IN YOUR ESSAY(Lee, 2022) | REFERENCE Lee, H. (2022). Revising with others. In S. Brown (Ed.), Study skills for university (pp. 45–67). Northgate Press. IN YOUR ESSAY(Lee, 2022) |
| YouTube video | REFERENCE Study Better (2024) How to plan an essay in ten minutes. 5 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Study Better, 2024) | REFERENCE Study Better. (2024, March 5). How to plan an essay in ten minutes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example IN YOUR ESSAY(Study Better, 2024) |
| Podcast episode | REFERENCE Ahmed, S. (2024) Why we put things off [Podcast], The Study Hour. Available at: https://www.example.org/study-hour/why-we-put-things-off (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Ahmed, 2024) | REFERENCE Ahmed, S. (Host). (2024, May 2). Why we put things off [Audio podcast episode]. In The Study Hour. https://www.example.org/study-hour/why-we-put-things-off IN YOUR ESSAY(Ahmed, 2024) |
| Social media post | REFERENCE Campus Library [@campuslibrary] (2025) ‘Open until midnight all exam week’ [X] 12 January. Available at: https://x.com/campuslibrary/status/1 (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Campus Library [@campuslibrary], 2025) | REFERENCE Campus Library [@campuslibrary]. (2025, January 12). Open until midnight all exam week [Post]. X. https://x.com/campuslibrary/status/1 IN YOUR ESSAY(Campus Library, 2025) |
| Lecture slides | REFERENCE Morgan, C. (2025) ‘Week 4: Memory and learning’ [Lecture slides]. PSY104: Introduction to Psychology. Available at: https://vle.example.ac.uk/psy104/week-4 (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Morgan, 2025) | REFERENCE Morgan, C. (2025, October 6). Week 4: Memory and learning [Lecture slides]. Northgate University Moodle. https://vle.example.ac.uk/psy104/week-4 IN YOUR ESSAY(Morgan, 2025) |
| Report | REFERENCE Campus Health Trust (2024) Student wellbeing survey 2024. London: Campus Health Trust. Available at: https://www.example.org/wellbeing-survey-2024 (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Campus Health Trust, 2024) | REFERENCE Campus Health Trust. (2024). Student wellbeing survey 2024. https://www.example.org/wellbeing-survey-2024 IN YOUR ESSAY(Campus Health Trust, 2024) |
| Newspaper article | REFERENCE Khan, A. (2025) ‘Universities open their libraries for longer’, The Daily Courier, 3 February. Available at: https://www.example.org/news/libraries-open-longer (Accessed: 14 October 2026). IN YOUR ESSAY(Khan, 2025) | REFERENCE Khan, A. (2025, February 3). Universities open their libraries for longer. The Daily Courier. https://www.example.org/news/libraries-open-longer IN YOUR ESSAY(Khan, 2025) |
Referencing is easier as you go
KanBananza’s step-by-step guides show how to plan an assignment and keep your sources in order while you research and write, so the reference list is ready when you are.
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These guides and Peel’s references are here to help, but they don’t replace your course’s own referencing guide: check your references against your handbook, and ask your tutor or library if you’re not sure. You’re responsible for your own work. Style names belong to their owners, who aren’t connected with Peel or KanBananza and don’t endorse them. See our terms.