APA 7

APA 7 is one of the most widely used citation styles in the social sciences. It uses author-date citations in the text and a reference list at the end of the paper.

Want to check your citations automatically? Run your paper through Formatr and download your free error report.

In-text citation examples

  • Single author (Robertson, 2024)
  • Two authors (Robertson & Shaw, 2024) or Robertson and Shaw (2024) found that...
  • Three or more authors (Robertson et al., 2024) or Robertson et al. (2024) argued…
  • Page numbers (Robertson, 2024, p. 22) or (Robertson, 2024, pp. 25–30)
  • Slides in a PowerPoint presentation (Kennard, 2026, Slide 12)
  • No clear publication date, use "n.d." (Gregorio, n.d.).
citation-guides
APA 7 Reference List Basics

An APA reference contains four basic parts: author, date, title, source. Some general rules are the author's last names are presented first followed by the first name initial, your list should be in alphabetical order (A-Z), use hanging indentations on the second line of a source, capitalize the first letter of each word in the Academic Journal's name. Include all authors names for a publication, up to 20 authors.

APA 7 Reference List Basics

An APA reference contains four basic parts: author, date, title, source. Some general rules are the author's last names are presented first followed by the first name initial, your list should be in alphabetical order (A-Z), use hanging indentations on the second line of a source, capitalize the first letter of each word in the Academic Journal's name. Include all authors names for a publication, up to 20 authors.

Most Common Reference Examples

Journal articles (Online)

Author, A., Author, B., & Author, C. (publication year). Title of the article. Title of Journal, vol. (issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Books

Author, A. (publication year). Title of the work: Capital letter for subtitle. Publisher, DOI.

Webpage

Author, A. & Author, B. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Website name. https://www.formatrexample.com/full/url/

University lectures are not typically included in the reference list, cite the lecture in text

(A. Bernard, personal communication, Month Day, Year) or A. Bernard described the process of... (personal communication, Month Day, Year).

Common APA mistakes
  • Missing author or publication date
  • Incorrect order of author’s names
  • Missing punctuation
  • Missing retrieval date
  • Inconsistent line spacing

Formatr automatically flags these errors in your reference list.

Checklist

Before submitting your paper, review our academic paper submission checklist

  • Check in-text citations
  • Match citations to references
  • Verify punctuation and italics
  • Ensure consistent author formatting