APA 7th edition citation has two linked parts: a short in-text citation with the author and year, and a full entry in the reference list. Every source you cite in the text must appear in the list, and every entry must be cited.
This guide covers the rules students use most, with correct examples for the common source types. For a quick start on individual entries, the free Bibloq citation generator builds APA 7 references with no sign-up.
The Two Parts of Every APA 7 Citation
In the text, give the author's surname and the year: (Nguyen, 2021) or Nguyen (2021). Add a page number for direct quotations: (Nguyen, 2021, p. 14).
In the reference list, give the author, date, title and source, in that order: Nguyen, T. (2021). Title of the work. Publisher. Entries are alphabetical, double-spaced and use a hanging indent.
APA 7 in-Text Citations
APA uses the author-date system. Citations come in two forms: parenthetical, where everything sits in brackets, and narrative, where the author's name is part of your sentence.
| Authors | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Okafor, 2020) | Okafor (2020) |
| Two authors | (Okafor & Lee, 2020) | Okafor and Lee (2020) |
| Three or more | (Okafor et al., 2020) | Okafor et al. (2020) |
| Group author, first cite | (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022) | World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) |
| Group author, later cites | (WHO, 2022) | WHO (2022) |
Use the ampersand (&) only inside brackets and in the reference list. In running text, write "and". In APA 7, "et al." is used from the first citation for any work with three or more authors.
Works with No Author
If there is no author, move the title into the author position. Use the first few words of the title in the citation, in quotation marks for an article or webpage and in italics for a book or report.
("Sleep and Memory," 2023)
(Guide to Safe Handling, 2021)
Only use "Anonymous" as the author if the work is actually signed that way.
Quotations and Page Numbers
Direct quotations need a page number (p. 12) or a page range (pp. 12–13). For sources without pages, use a paragraph number (para. 4) or a section heading.
Quotations of 40 words or more become block quotations: start them on a new line, indent the whole block 0.5 inch, leave out quotation marks, and put the citation after the final full stop.
Paraphrases do not require a page number in APA 7, but APA encourages one where it would help a reader find the passage in a long work.
Special in-Text Cases
A few situations come up in almost every longer paper. Each has a fixed APA 7 rule.
Several Sources in One Citation
Put the works in alphabetical order by first author, as they would appear in the reference list, and separate them with semicolons: (Adams, 2019; Chen & Ruiz, 2021; Patel et al., 2020).
For two or more works by the same author, give the name once and list the years in order: (Okafor, 2018, 2021).
Secondary Sources
If you read about a study in another author's work and could not access the original, name the original in the text and cite the work you actually read: (Bowlby, 1969, as cited in Green, 2020). Only Green goes in the reference list.
Use secondary citations sparingly. Tutors usually expect you to find and read the original where you can.
Personal Communications
Emails, interviews you conducted and private conversations that a reader cannot retrieve are cited in the text only: (J. Mwangi, personal communication, April 3, 2024). They do not appear in the reference list.
Authors with the Same Surname
If two first authors share a surname, add their initials in every citation so readers can tell them apart: (A. Kim, 2020; J. Kim, 2022).
Reference List Rules
The reference list starts on a new page with the label "References", bold and centered. These rules apply to every entry.
- Order: alphabetical by the first author's surname. Works by the same author go in date order, oldest first.
- Same author, same year: add lowercase letters after the year (2021a, 2021b), ordered by title.
- Spacing and indent: double-spaced, with a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
- Authors: surname and initials. List up to 20 authors; for 21 or more, list the first 19, an ellipsis, then the final author.
- Titles: sentence case for article, chapter and book titles. Journal names keep title case.
- Italics: book and report titles, journal names and journal volume numbers.
- DOIs: written as a link, https://doi.org/..., with no "Retrieved from" or "DOI:" label.
Citing Journal Articles
Most student references are journal articles. The pattern is author, year, article title, journal name, volume, issue, pages and DOI.
Format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxx
Example: Patel, R., & Moreno, L. (2022). Nurse staffing and patient falls in acute care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 31(5), 1123–1134. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16012
If an article has no DOI and comes from an academic database, end the reference after the page range. Include a URL only if the article is available on the open web from a stable address.
For an article published online before it is assigned to an issue, add "Advance online publication." before the DOI and leave out the volume, issue and pages.
Citing Books and Chapters
APA 7 dropped the publisher location. Give the publisher's name only, and add a DOI if the book has one.
Book: Clarke, J. (2019). Research methods for health professionals (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Edited book: Ahmed, S. (Ed.). (2020). Contemporary issues in social policy. Policy Press.
Chapter in an edited book: Brown, K. (2020). Housing and health. In S. Ahmed (Ed.), Contemporary issues in social policy (pp. 45–67). Policy Press.
Ebooks follow the same format as print books. Do not add the format, platform or device, such as "Kindle edition".
Citing Webpages and Online Sources
For a webpage, give the author, the most specific date available, the title in italics, the site name and the URL.
Format: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL
Example: Hughes, M. (2023, March 8). How to read a nutrition label. Healthy Eating Hub. https://www.example.org/labels
- When the author and the site name are the same, leave the site name out.
- If there is no date, write (n.d.).
- Add a retrieval date only for content designed to change over time, such as a live dictionary entry: Retrieved May 2, 2024, from URL.
Reports, Government Documents and Other Sources
Reports from organizations and government agencies are common in health, education and policy papers. The agency is the author, and the report number goes after the title if there is one.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2021). Depression (NIH Publication No. 21-MH-8079). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.example.gov/depression
When the publisher is the same as the author, leave the publisher out. Other common types follow the same author, date, title, source logic.
| Source | Key detail to include |
|---|---|
| YouTube video | Uploader as author, exact date, [Video] after the title, YouTube, URL |
| Dissertation from a database | [Doctoral dissertation, University Name] after the title, then the database name |
| Conference paper in proceedings | Cite like a chapter or journal article, depending on how the proceedings are published |
| Dataset | [Data set] after the title, publisher, DOI or URL |
Common APA 7 Citation Mistakes
| Mistake | Correct APA 7 practice |
|---|---|
| Publisher location included | Leave it out; give the publisher name only |
| "Retrieved from" before every URL | Only use it with a retrieval date for changing content |
| Full author list in text for three authors | Use the first author and "et al." from the first citation |
| Title case for article titles | Use sentence case; keep journal names in title case |
| "&" in running text | Use "and" in narrative citations |
| DOI written as "doi:10..." | Write https://doi.org/10... |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Author surname and year in brackets, such as (Garcia, 2020), or the name in your sentence with the year in brackets: Garcia (2020). Add a page number for direct quotes.
For any work with three or more authors, from the very first citation. Write the first author's surname followed by et al., then the year.
No. APA 7 removed the publisher location. Give only the publisher's name.
Up to 20. For 21 or more, list the first 19, add an ellipsis, then give the final author's name.
As a full link beginning https://doi.org/, with no label in front of it and no full stop after it.
Yes. The whole reference list is double-spaced, with a 0.5-inch hanging indent and no extra lines between entries.
Use n.d. in place of the year, both in the text, (Smith, n.d.), and in the reference list.
They are not required, but APA encourages them when they would help a reader find the passage, for example in a long book.