APA 7th edition is the current version of the American Psychological Association's style, used widely in psychology, education, nursing and the social sciences. It uses author-date in-text citations linked to an alphabetical reference list.
This guide covers the APA 7th rules graduate writers use most: in-text citation formats, author rules, quotations, reference list layout and examples for the most common source types.
The APA 7th Pattern in Brief
In the text, cite the author's surname and year: (Nguyen, 2022) or Nguyen (2022). Add a page or paragraph number for direct quotations. In the reference list, entries follow the pattern author, date, title, source, with a DOI or URL where available.
Nguyen, T. (2022). Title of the article in sentence case. Journal Name in Title Case, 14(3), 210–225. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
What Changed from APA 6th
| Rule | APA 6th | APA 7th |
|---|---|---|
| In-text, three or more authors | All names on first citation (up to five) | First author plus "et al." from the first citation |
| Authors in the reference list | Up to seven listed | Up to 20 listed |
| Book publisher location | Required | Omitted |
| DOI format | doi:10.xxxx | https://doi.org/10.xxxx |
| "Retrieved from" before URLs | Common | Omitted unless a retrieval date is needed |
| Running head on student papers | Required | Not required unless the instructor asks |
In-Text Citations
APA 7th offers two formats. Parenthetical citations put author and year in brackets; narrative citations make the author part of the sentence.
| Authors | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One | (Okafor, 2021) | Okafor (2021) |
| Two | (Okafor & Lind, 2021) | Okafor and Lind (2021) |
| Three or more | (Okafor et al., 2021) | Okafor et al. (2021) |
| Group author with abbreviation | First: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023); then (WHO, 2023) | First: World Health Organization (WHO, 2023); then WHO (2023) |
Use "&" inside brackets and "and" in running text. Cite several works in one bracket in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons: (Lind, 2020; Okafor et al., 2021).
Quotations and Page Numbers
Direct quotations need a page number, or a paragraph number for unpaginated sources. Paraphrases do not require one, though APA encourages it for long or complex works.
Short quotation: Patients described discharge as "a door closing too fast" (Lind, 2020, p. 44).
Unpaginated source: (Okafor et al., 2021, para. 6)
Quotations of 40 words or more become block quotations: start on a new line, indent the whole block 0.5 inch, omit quotation marks and place the citation after the final punctuation.
Reference List Format
- Title the page "References", bold and centered, on a new page.
- Double-space all entries and use a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
- Order entries alphabetically by the first author's surname.
- Use initials for given names, with an ampersand before the final author.
- Use sentence case for article, book and chapter titles; title case for journal names.
- Italicize journal names and volume numbers, and book titles.
- List up to 20 authors; for 21 or more, give the first 19, an ellipsis, then the final author.
Reference Examples by Source Type
Journal Article
Okafor, C., Lind, M., & Brennan, S. (2021). Nurse-led discharge education and 30-day readmission: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(9), 3802–3814. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/jan.xxxxx
Book
Lind, M. (2020). Leaving hospital: Patient experiences of transition (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Chapter in an Edited Book
Brennan, S. (2019). Measuring readiness for discharge. In P. Hale & R. Ito (Eds.), Transitions in care (pp. 55–78). Springer.
Webpage with an Organizational Author
World Health Organization. (2023, March 14). Title of the webpage in sentence case. https://www.who.int/xxxxx
When the author and site name are the same, omit the site name. Italicize the titles of stand-alone webpages.
Doctoral Dissertation from a Database
Hale, P. (2022). Moral distress among intensive care nurses during staffing shortages [Doctoral dissertation, University of Leeds]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
DOIs in these examples are placeholders. Always copy the real DOI from the article page or Crossref.
Missing Information
| Missing | What to do | In-text example |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Move the title to the author position | (Title of Work, 2022) |
| Date | Use "n.d." | (Okafor, n.d.) |
| Page numbers | Use paragraph numbers or section names for quotations | (Lind, 2020, Discussion section) |
Secondary Sources and Personal Communications
Cite secondary sources sparingly, when the original is unavailable. Name the original work in the text and cite the source you read: Hale's study (as cited in Lind, 2020) found... Only Lind (2020) appears in the reference list.
Personal communications, such as emails, interviews you did not record as research data or lectures without a retrievable record, are cited in the text only: (S. Brennan, personal communication, May 3, 2024). They do not appear in the reference list because readers cannot retrieve them.
Common APA 7th Errors
- Listing all authors in the first in-text citation of a three-author work.
- Including publisher location for books.
- Writing journal article titles in title case.
- Forgetting to italicize the volume number.
- Using "doi:" instead of the https://doi.org/ format.
- Citations that do not match the reference list in spelling or year.
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Frequently Asked Questions
APA 7th uses "et al." from the first citation for three or more authors, lists up to 20 authors in references, drops publisher locations and formats DOIs as URLs.
Use the first author's surname and "et al." from the first citation, for example (Okafor et al., 2021).
Yes for direct quotations. For paraphrases they are optional but encouraged for long works.
Not for student papers unless your instructor requires one. Professional manuscripts include a running head.
As a full URL, for example https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx, with no full stop after it.
Use "n.d." in both the in-text citation and the reference entry.