APA Format & Citation Guide (7th Edition)
Meta description: Learn how to format APA citations and references, 7th edition — with in-text citation examples, reference list rules, and paper formatting tips.
APA (American Psychological Association) style is the most widely used citation format in psychology, education, business, and the social sciences. This guide covers the current 7th edition (2020), still the official standard as of 2026 — there's no 8th edition yet.
Looking for another style? See our MLA format guide and Chicago format guide.
Why Citations Matter
Citing your sources shows readers where your information came from and helps you avoid plagiarism — using someone else's work without giving them credit. APA citations have two parts:
- In-text citations — short references placed in the body of your paper, right after borrowed information
- References — the full source details, listed alphabetically on a separate page at the end
Every in-text citation needs a matching entry in the reference list, and vice versa.
Avoiding Accidental Plagiarism
Two common mistakes trip people up even when they're trying to cite correctly:
- Misquoting. A direct quote must match the original word-for-word. Don't paraphrase inside quotation marks.
- Over-close paraphrasing. Swapping in a few synonyms isn't paraphrasing — you need to restate the idea in your own sentence structure, not just reshuffle words.
If you're unsure whether your paraphrase is too close to the original, it's fine to keep a short direct quote alongside your own explanation.
In-Text Citations
An in-text citation includes the author's last name, the year, and (for direct quotes or paraphrases) a page or paragraph number.
Direct quote:
"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves," stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).
Paraphrase:
de Saint-Exupéry (1943) suggests that adults often fail to understand things without help from children (p. 3).
Author cited in the sentence: Kent and Giles (2017) found that student teachers who use technology tend to keep using it throughout their careers.
Author cited parenthetically: (Kent & Giles, 2017, p. 12)
By number of authors
| Authors | First citation | Later citations |
| 1 | Angelou (2013) | Angelou (2013) |
| 2 | Kent and Giles (2017) or (Kent & Giles, 2017) | same |
| 3+ | Agbayani et al. (2020) | same |
Other common cases
- No author: use the title — Strange Case (2019) or ("Strange Case," 2019)
- Same author, same year, multiple works: add a, b, c — (Jackson, 2013a)
- Organizations: spell out the full name with the abbreviation in brackets on first mention — (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020) — then just (WHO, 2020)
- Multiple sources in one citation: separate with semicolons — (Obama, 2016; Monroe et al., 1820)
Reference List Basics
- Title the page "References," centered and bold
- Double-space the entire page
- Alphabetize by the author's last name (or by title if there's no author)
- Use a hanging indent (second line and beyond indented ½ inch)
General format:
Author's Last name, F. M. (Date published). Title. Publisher/Source. URL or DOI
Authors
List up to 20 authors, using "&" before the last one:
Kent, A. G., Giles, R. M., Thorpe, A., Lukes, R., Bever, D. J., & He, Y.
For 21+ authors, list the first 19, add an ellipsis, then the final author.
Titles
- Books, reports, and other standalone works: italicize, sentence case (only first word, subtitle, and proper nouns capitalized)
- Articles and chapters: no italics, sentence case
- Journals, magazines, newspapers: italicize, capitalize each major word
Publisher info
City/state is no longer required for books — just the publisher name.
Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. First Books Library.
For journals, include volume (italicized) and issue number (not italicized):
Giannoukos, G., et al. (2016). A study on the role of computers in adult education. Educational Research and Reviews, 11(9), 907–923. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2016.2688
URLs and DOIs
- No "Retrieved from" needed before a link
- DOIs are formatted as a full URL:
https://doi.org/xxxx
- Retrieval dates are only needed for content likely to change (e.g., a wiki page or social media profile)
Common Source Types
Website
United Nations. (2019). Libya: $202 million needed to bring life-saving aid to half a million people hit by humanitarian crisis. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1031981
Newspaper article
Narducci, M. (2017, May 19). City renames part of 11th Street Ed Snider Way to honor Flyers founder. The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/
Journal article (with DOI)
Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576(7785), 61–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8
Film/video
Add a bracketed descriptor after the title — Jurassic Park [Film].
Paper Formatting
- Font: Times New Roman 12pt, Calibri/Arial/Georgia 11pt, or Lucida Sans Unicode 10pt
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides
- Spacing: double-spaced throughout, including references
- Indents: first line of every paragraph indented
Page order: Title page → Abstract (if required) → Body → References → Tables/Figures
Running heads
- Student papers: no running head needed
- Professional papers: include one — the paper's title in all caps, top-left, with the page number top-right
Title page
Include: page number, title (bold, title case, under 12 words), author name(s), school/institution, course info, instructor name, and due date. Professional papers also need a running head.
Abstract
- Comes right after the title page, on its own page
- Under 250 words, double-spaced, no first-line indent
- Center and bold the word "Abstract"
- List keywords on the next line, indented, introduced by italicized "Keywords:"
APA 6th vs. 7th Edition: What Changed
| | 6th Edition | 7th Edition |
| Publisher location | Required | Dropped |
| E-book format tag | Required (e.g., [Kindle]) | Dropped |
| "Retrieved from" before URLs | Required | Dropped |
| 3+ authors in-text | List several, then et al. | First author + et al. immediately |
| DOI format | doi: 10.xxxx | https://doi.org/10.xxxx |
| Running head | Required for all papers | Student papers exempt |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is APA 7th edition still current?
Yes. As of 2026, APA 7th edition (2020) remains the official standard — there is no 8th edition.
Do I need to include the publisher's city in APA references?
No, as of the 7th edition, only the publisher name is required.
How many authors do I list before using "et al."?
In-text: after the first author for sources with 3+ authors. In the full reference list: up to 20 authors by name.
Do I need a running head as a student?
No — running heads are only required for professional/journal submissions, not student papers, under the 7th edition.
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Written and edited by Arpit Puri, Product Manager of Writing Tools at Chegg.
