Skip to content
CiteSwap

Harvard to APA 6 converter

Paste Harvard references, get APA 6. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in Harvard and get them back in APA 6, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: your “Reference list” list becomes “References”, author names are written as in APA 6 (surname and initials for every author) and the date moves (straight after the authors, in parentheses). CiteSwap looks each reference up in the open Crossref catalogue, so authors, years and page numbers come from the publisher’s record rather than being rewritten by hand.

Harvard vs APA 6: the same sources side by side

Each example below was formatted by CiteSwap’s engine, exactly as the converter outputs it.

Journal article

Harvard

Suri, T. and Jack, W. (2016) ‘The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money’, Science, 354(6317), pp. 1288–1292. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

In-text: (Suri and Jack, 2016, p. 1290)

APA 6

Suri, T., & Jack, W. (2016). The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science, 354(6317), 1288–1292. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309

In-text: (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290)

Book

Harvard

Achebe, C. (1958) Things fall apart. London: Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe, 1958, p. 1290)

APA 6

Achebe, C. (1958). Things fall apart. London: Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe, 1958, p. 1290)

Web page

Harvard

World Health Organization (2023) Malaria. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria (Accessed: 1 October 2026).

In-text: (World Health Organization, 2023, p. 1290)

APA 6

World Health Organization. (2023, December 4). Malaria. Retrieved October 1, 2026, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: (World Health Organization, 2023, p. 1290)

Key differences between Harvard and APA 6

9 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleHarvardAPA 6
Reference list headingReference listReferences
In-text citationsauthor and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri and Jack, 2016)author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016); three to five authors are all named the first time, then shortened to “et al.”
Author namesSurname and initials, joined with “and”, e.g. Suri, T. and Jack, W.Surname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W.
Many authorsFour or more authors: first author followed by “et al.”List up to seven authors; for eight or more, give the first six, an ellipsis, then the last author
DateStraight after the authors, in parentheses, with no full stop: (2016)Straight after the authors, in parentheses: (2016).
Article titlesIn single quotation marks, sentence casePlain text, no quotation marks, sentence case
ItalicsJournal names and book titlesJournal name and volume number; book and report titles
Page rangesFull page range with “pp.”, e.g. pp. 1288–1292Full page range, e.g. 1288–1292
DOIs and links“Available at:” before the DOI or URL, and “(Accessed: date)” for web pagesDOI at the end; web pages use “Retrieved from” before the URL, and books give the city of publication (London: Heinemann)
List order(same)Alphabetical by first author’s surnameAlphabetical by first author’s surname
Title capitalisation(same)Sentence caseSentence case
Journal names(same)Full journal name in title caseFull journal name in title case

When to use APA 6

APA 6 was replaced by the 7th edition in 2020, but many departments and journals still ask for it. If your handbook’s examples show the publisher’s city (“London: Heinemann”) and “Retrieved from” before web links, it is APA 6. It is published by the American Psychological Association; CiteSwap follows the 6th edition (2010).

Harvard is more common in business, economics, the social sciences, while APA 6 is usual in psychology, education, nursing. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

Harvard to APA 6: frequently asked questions

How do I convert Harvard citations to APA 6?

Paste your Harvard reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says Harvard or Auto-detect and “To” says APA 6, then press Convert. You can also paste DOIs, BibTeX or RIS. Copy the result or download it for Word.

How do in-text citations change from Harvard to APA 6?

Harvard uses author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri and Jack, 2016). APA 6 uses author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016); three to five authors are all named the first time, then shortened to “et al.”. For the same article and page: Harvard gives (Suri and Jack, 2016, p. 1290), APA 6 gives (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290).

What is the reference list called in APA 6?

In Harvard the list is headed “Reference list”; in APA 6 it is “References”. Change the heading when you paste the converted list into your document.

How are author names written in APA 6?

APA 6: Surname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W. Harvard: Surname and initials, joined with “and”, e.g. Suri, T. and Jack, W. When a reference is matched in Crossref, CiteSwap uses full first names from the publisher’s record, so it can produce either form.

How are DOIs and URLs written in APA 6?

APA 6: DOI at the end; web pages use “Retrieved from” before the URL, and books give the city of publication (London: Heinemann). Harvard: “Available at:” before the DOI or URL, and “(Accessed: date)” for web pages. The converter rewrites DOIs in APA 6 format for you.

Is the Harvard to APA 6 converter accurate?

Each reference is matched against the Crossref catalogue (over 150 million records) and only accepted automatically when the title, year and first author agree. Anything uncertain is marked “Needs review” so you can pick the right match, and references that aren’t in the catalogue, like websites or local journals, are parsed from your text and marked so you can check them.