By AssignmentHelpKit Editorial Team, reviewed by subject experts · · 6 min read
APA 7th edition is the most common referencing style in psychology, nursing, education, business and the social sciences. Every source you use needs an in-text citation and a full entry in your reference list.
In-text citations
| Authors | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Smith, 2023) | Smith (2023) |
| Two authors | (Smith & Lee, 2023) | Smith and Lee (2023) |
| Three or more | (Smith et al., 2023) | Smith et al. (2023) |
| Organisation | (World Health Organization, 2024) | World Health Organization (2024) |
For a direct quotation, add the page number: (Smith, 2023, p. 45). Use "&" inside brackets and "and" in the sentence.
Book
Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book in sentence case (edition). Publisher. DOI if available
Example: Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2023). Research methods for business students (9th ed.). Pearson.
Journal article
Format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxx
Example: Hayes, A. F., & Rockwood, N. J. (2020). Conditional process analysis: Concepts, computation, and advances in the modeling of the contingencies of mechanisms. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(1), 19–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219859633
Web page
Format: Author or Organisation. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL
Example: National Health Service. (n.d.). Depression in adults. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/depression-in-adults/overview/
When the author and site name are the same, as here, leave out the site name. Use (n.d.) when a page has no date.
Key APA 7 rules students miss
- No publisher location for books. That was APA 6.
- Up to 20 authors are listed in the reference list.
- DOIs are written as links (https://doi.org/...), without "doi:".
- "Retrieved from" is no longer used, except for pages designed to change.
- The reference list is alphabetical by first author's surname, double-spaced, with a hanging indent.
- Use sentence case for article and book titles, but title case for journal names.
Save time
Create APA references and in-text citations instantly with our free citation generator. Using a different style? Read our Harvard referencing guide or referencing styles explained. Want your whole reference list checked? Our proofreading service includes referencing.