APA 7th Edition Citation Style: Detailed Guide

APA (American Psychological Association) style is one of the most widely used citation and formatting styles globally, particularly prevalent in the social sciences, psychology, education, and behavioral sciences. While the official APA Style website (https://apastyle.apa.org/) provides comprehensive definitions and examples, its content can be extensive and sometimes overwhelming. This document aims to offer a concise and clear overview of APA 7th Edition formatting, allowing for a quick understanding of its key details.

Basic Principles of Reference List Entries

An APA Style reference list entry generally has four core elements: author, date, title, and source. Each element answers a fundamental question about the work:

• Author: Who is responsible for this work?
• Date: When was this work published?
• Title: What is this work called?
• Source: Where can I retrieve this work?

These four elements form the foundation for creating a reference entry for virtually any type of work, ensuring consistency and clarity in scholarly communication. Even if a specific example is not found in the Publication Manual, applying these principles allows for accurate citation.

Punctuation in Reference List Entries

Punctuation marks are crucial for grouping information within reference list entries:

• A period should appear after each of the four main reference elements (author, date, title, and source). However, do not place a period after a DOI or URL to prevent interference with link functionality. If a title ends with a question mark or exclamation point, that punctuation replaces the period.
• Commas or parentheses are used to separate parts of the same reference element. For instance, commas separate authors’ last names and initials, and also separate different authors’ names. In journal article references, commas separate the journal name from the volume number, and the issue number from the page numbers.
• No comma is used between the journal volume and issue numbers. The issue number is placed in parentheses directly after the volume number.
• Italicize punctuation marks that are part of an italicized reference element (e.g., a comma within an italicized book title). Do not italicize punctuation marks that appear between reference elements (e.g., the period after an italicized book title).

Correspondence Between In-Text Citations and Reference List Entries

Every in-text citation in an APA Style paper must correspond to a complete entry in the reference list. This allows readers to easily locate the full source information for any in-text citation. For example, an in-text citation like (Botto & Rochat, 2018) would directly link to a detailed entry for Botto and Rochat’s work in the reference list.

Works Included in a Reference List

Generally, the reference list includes only works that were cited in the text. This means that personal communications (e.g., emails, informal conversations) and general mentions of websites or common knowledge that are not directly cited are typically excluded from the reference list. The purpose of the reference list is to allow readers to find the specific sources that informed your work.

Reference List Order

Entries in an APA Style reference list are arranged in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If there are multiple works by the same author, they are ordered chronologically by publication year, with the earliest work listed first. If an author has multiple works published in the same year, lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.) are added after the year to differentiate them (e.g., Smith, J. (2020a). …; Smith, J. (2020b). …).

In-Text Citation Rules

APA Style uses an author-date citation system. This means that every time you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source, you must include an in-text citation that identifies the author and the year of publication. The specific format of the in-text citation depends on whether you are using a narrative citation (author’s name integrated into the sentence) or a parenthetical citation (author’s name and year in parentheses).

Narrative Citation

In a narrative citation, the author’s name appears in the running text, and the year of publication is placed in parentheses immediately after the author’s name.

Example: Smith (2020) found that…

Parenthetical Citation

In a parenthetical citation, both the author’s name and the year of publication appear in parentheses, separated by a comma. The citation can appear at the end of a sentence or within a sentence, before punctuation.

Example: …as has been shown in previous research (Smith, 2020).

Citations with Multiple Authors

• Two Authors: Cite both authors’ last names every time you cite the work. Use

Publication Types and Formatting

APA Style provides specific formatting guidelines for various publication types. The following sections detail the formatting requirements for common source types.

Journal Articles

Author:

• Invert all authors’ names, providing the surname first, followed by a comma and the author’s initials.
• Use a comma to separate authors’ names.
• Use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name.
• For articles with up to 20 authors, include all authors’ names in the reference list.
• For articles with 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, then an ellipsis (…), and then the last author’s name.

Date:

• Provide the year of publication in parentheses, followed by a period.

Title:

• Use sentence case for the article title, capitalizing only the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns.
• Do not italicize the article title or place it in quotation marks.

Journal Name (Source):

• Provide the full, official journal title in title case (capitalize all major words).
• Italicize the journal title.
• Follow the journal title with a comma.

Volume, Issue, and Pages:

• Italicize the volume number.
• Place the issue number in parentheses immediately after the volume number, with no space in between. Do not italicize the issue number.
• Provide the page range of the article, separated by a hyphen. Do not use “pp.” before the page numbers.
• Follow the page range with a period.

DOI or URL:

• If the article has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), include it as a hyperlink (e.g., https://doi.org/…). Do not add a period after the DOI.
• If the article does not have a DOI and is from an academic research database, the reference ends after the page range.
• If the article does not have a DOI but has a URL that will resolve for readers (e.g., from an online journal not in a database), include the URL at the end of the reference.

Example: Journal Article with DOI

Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185

Example: Journal Article with an Article Number

Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018). Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House.” PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972

Books and Ebooks

APA Style uses the same formatting for both print books and ebooks. The format, platform, or device (e.g., Kindle) is generally not included in the reference.

Author:

• Invert all authors’ names (surname first, then initials).
• Use a comma to separate authors’ names.
• Use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name.

Date:

• Provide the copyright date of the book in parentheses, followed by a period.

Title:

• Italicize the title of the book.
• Use sentence case for the book title, capitalizing only the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns.
• Include any edition information in parentheses after the title, without italics (e.g., (2nd ed.)).

Publisher:

• Provide the name of the publisher.
• Do not include the publisher location.

DOI or URL:

• If the book has a DOI, include it as a hyperlink (e.g., https://doi.org/…). Do not add a period after the DOI.
• If an ebook without a DOI has a stable URL that will resolve for readers, include the URL of the book in the reference. Do not include the name of the database.
• If an ebook is from an academic research database and has no DOI or stable URL, the reference ends after the publisher name (same as for a print book).

Example: Whole Authored Book

Jackson, L. M. (2019). The psychology of prejudice: From attitudes to social action (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000168-000

Example: Whole Edited Book

Hygum, E., & Pedersen, P. M. (Eds.). (2010). Early childhood education: Values and practices in Denmark. Hans Reitzels Forlag. https://earlychildhoodeducation.digi.hansreitzel.dk/

Webpages and Websites

APA Style provides guidelines for citing webpages and websites, distinguishing between news websites, organizational websites, and those with individual authors.

Author:

• Can be an individual author, a group author (e.g., government agency, organization), or omitted if no author is identified.
• If the author and site name are the same, omit the site name from the source element to avoid repetition.

Date:

• Provide the most specific date available (year, month day) in parentheses.
• If the content is designed to change over time and is not archived, include a retrieval date (e.g., Retrieved January 9, 2020, from).
• If no date is available, use (n.d.).

Title:

• Italicize the title of the webpage.
• Use sentence case for the title.

Source:

• Provide the name of the website.
• End the reference with the URL.

Example: Webpage on a News Website

Bologna, C. (2019, October 31). Why some people with anxiety love watching horror movies. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-love-watching-horror-movies_l_5d277587e4b02a5a5d57b59e

Example: Webpage on a Website with a Government Agency Group Author

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). Anxiety disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml

Example: Webpage on a Website with an Individual Author

Mantel, B. (2025, April 24). How to be a caregiver for someone with multiple sclerosis. AARP. https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/health/info-2025/multiple-sclerosis-care-plan/

an ampersand (&) between their last names in parenthetical citations, and the word “and” in narrative citations.

**Example (Parenthetical):** (Smith & Jones, 2020)
**Example (Narrative):** Smith and Jones (2020) found that...

• Three or More Authors: For works with three or more authors, cite only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” (Latin for “and others”) in both narrative and parenthetical citations.

  Example (Parenthetical): (Brown et al., 2019)
  Example (Narrative): Brown et al. (2019) argued that…

Direct Quotations

When directly quoting from a source, you must include the author, year, and page number (for print sources) or paragraph number (for electronic sources without page numbers).

• Print Source:

  Example: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” (Doe, 2018, p. 25).

• Electronic Source (without page numbers):

  Example: “The study revealed significant correlations” (Smith, 2021, para. 3).

Other Publication Types and Formatting

Beyond journal articles, books, and webpages, APA Style provides guidelines for a wide array of other publication types. Here’s a summary of some key categories and their general formatting principles:

Reports and Gray Literature

This category includes technical and research reports, government reports, brochures, ethics codes, fact sheets, ISO standards, press releases, and white papers. The key elements often include:

• Author: Individual author(s) or a group author (e.g., government agency, organization).
• Date: Year of publication.
• Title: Italicized title of the report or document, followed by any report number in parentheses (not italicized).
• Source: Publisher (often the organization that produced the report).
• DOI or URL: If available.

Example: Report by a Government Agency

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018). Anxiety disorders (NIH Publication No. 18-MH-8085). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml

Conference Presentations and Proceedings

This category covers papers or posters presented at conferences, as well as published conference proceedings.

• Author: Presenter(s) or author(s) of the paper.
• Date: Year, Month Day(s) of the conference.
• Title: Italicized title of the presentation or paper, followed by a description in square brackets (e.g., [Conference presentation]).
• Source: Name of the conference, and if applicable, the publisher of the proceedings and DOI/URL.

Example: Conference Presentation

Evans, A. C., Jr., Garbarino, J., Bocanegra, E., Kinscherff, R. T., & Márquez, J. (2019, August 8–11). Developing social emotional skills in a summer camp intervention [Conference presentation]. American Psychological Association 127th Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.

Dissertations and Theses

This category includes both published and unpublished dissertations and theses.

• Author: Author of the dissertation/thesis.
• Date: Year of publication.
• Title: Italicized title of the dissertation/thesis, followed by a description in square brackets (e.g., [Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley] or [Master’s thesis, University of Toronto]).
• Source: Name of the institution awarding the degree, and if applicable, the database or archive and accession number/URL.

Example: Published Doctoral Dissertation

Hollander, M. M. (2017). Resistance to authority: An application of the theory of psychological reactance (Publication No. 10260763) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Data and Assessments

This category includes datasets, software, and tests.

• Author: Creator(s) of the dataset, software, or test.
• Date: Year of publication/release.
• Title: Italicized title, followed by a description in square brackets (e.g., [Dataset], [Computer software], [Psychological test]).
• Source: Publisher or distributor, and DOI/URL if available.

Example: Dataset

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2015). Framingham Heart Study (FHS) dataset: 1948–2014 [Dataset]. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gap/phs000007

Audiovisual Media

This broad category encompasses films, TV series episodes, webinars, YouTube videos, podcasts, music albums, songs, and more.

• Author: Director, producer, host, artist, or primary creator.
• Date: Year of release.
• Title: Italicized title, followed by a description in square brackets (e.g., [Film], [TV series episode], [Video]).
• Source: Production company, studio, or platform, and URL if applicable.

Example: Film

Fleming, V. (Director). (1939). Gone with the wind [Film]. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Example: YouTube Video

American Psychological Association. (2019, September 12). APA Style 7th Edition: An introduction [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY_v08t5Q4M

Social Media

This includes posts from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).

• Author: Individual or group author (username, real name).
• Date: Year, Month Day of the post.
• Content: Up to the first 20 words of the post in standard font, followed by a description in square brackets (e.g., [Image attached], [Video attached]).
• Source: Name of the social media platform, and URL.

Example: X (formerly Twitter) Post

APA Style. [@APA_Style]. (2020, January 23). Happy #NationalReadingDay! What are you reading? [Image attached] [Tweet]. X. https://twitter.com/APA_Style/status/1220377196234981376

Key Differences in Reference Formatting: APA 7th Edition vs. APA 6th Edition

The APA 7th Edition introduced several significant changes to reference formatting compared to the 6th Edition, aiming for greater clarity, consistency, and adaptability to modern publication practices. Here are the key differences:

1. Number of Authors in Reference List Entries

• APA 6th Edition: For works with 8 or more authors, list the first 6 authors, then an ellipsis (…), and then the last author.
• APA 7th Edition: For works with 21 or more authors, list the first 19 authors, then an ellipsis (…), and then the last author. This change accommodates collaborations with a larger number of contributors.

2. Publisher Location

• APA 6th Edition: Required the inclusion of the publisher’s city and state (or country) for books and other publications.
• APA 7th Edition: No longer requires the publisher location. This simplifies reference entries and reflects the global nature of publishing.

3. “Retrieved from” for URLs

• APA 6th Edition: Often required the phrase “Retrieved from” before a URL for online sources.
• APA 7th Edition: The phrase “Retrieved from” is generally no longer needed before a URL or DOI. The URL or DOI is simply provided as a direct link.

4. DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers)

• APA 6th Edition: DOIs were presented with the label “doi:” (e.g., doi:10.1037/a0028270).
• APA 7th Edition: DOIs are now formatted as hyperlinks (e.g., https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028270). The “doi:” label is removed, and the URL format is preferred.

5. Ebook Information

• APA 6th Edition: Sometimes required information about the ebook format, platform, or device (e.g., Kindle version).
• APA 7th Edition: Does not require the format, platform, or device for ebooks. The reference for an ebook is generally the same as for a print book, unless a specific URL is needed for retrieval.

6. Website Titles

• APA 6th Edition: Website titles were typically not italicized.
• APA 7th Edition: Titles of stand-alone works (e.g., reports, webpages) are italicized.

7. In-Text Citations for Three or More Authors

• APA 6th Edition: For works with three, four, or five authors, all authors were listed in the first in-text citation, and subsequent citations used the first author followed by “et al.”. For six or more authors, “et al.” was used from the first citation.
• APA 7th Edition: For works with three or more authors, use the first author’s name followed by “et al.” from the first citation onward. This simplifies in-text citations.