How to make use of the APA 7th Edition Citation Style

The American Psychological Association (APA) citation Style is widely used in the field of Psychology, Education, and Linguistics, as well as in the Social Sciences. If you aren’t sure of what citation style to use in your research, then seek advice from your supervisor or professor.

The most recent version of the APA citing style is the 7th Edition which was published in the year 2019.

APA In-text Citations

  • Include the author’s last name, a comma, and the year of publication. For instance: (Inyang, 2010)
  • Put an ampersand between the authors’ last names for works with more than one author. Example: (Mark & James, 2015)
  • Additionally, for publications having three or more writers, add “et al” the name of the first author. For Example: (Mark et al., 2018)
  • When referencing several works, group them alphabetically and separate them with a semicolon. For instance: (Mark et al., 2018; Obed, 2005).
  • Only use the page number when a direct quote (enclosed in quotation marks) is utilized. For Example: (Jones, 1995, p. 79)

APA Reference Content

  • Heading: Use the header “References” for the page.
  • Indentation: All lines after the first line of each entry should be indented one-half inch from the left margin.
  • Spacing: Double-space each item in the list (both within and between entries).
  • Author: Provide the author’s surname, then the initials of the first and middle name. To separate the initials, add a space. For instance: James, T. U.
  • Two authors: Separate them with a comma and an ampersand. For instance, Cook, M., & Croft, J. B.
  • Three or more Authors: Put a comma after each author if there are three or more. There should be a comma and an ampersand before the last author. Names and initials of up to 20 authors should be provided. Include the first 19 names of the writers when there are 21 or more, and insert an ellipsis (but no ampersand) before including the name of the last author.
  • Article title: Do not place quotation marks around the article title, but make use of “sentence case” capitalization, which is limited to the first word of the title, the first word that comes after a colon, and proper nouns. For instance: Interactive mindfulness technology: A walking labyrinth in an academic library
  • Journal Article: Do not use sentence case in the journal title; instead, capitalize all important words.
  • The Volume and Issue Number of Journal: Italicize the volume number. Include the issue number for all journals that have them. Put the issue number in parenthesis and put it right after the volume number, without a space. For Instance: 89(6)
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APA CITATION STYLE FOR DIFFERENT SOURCES

Print Book Examples

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work. Publisher.

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. American Psychological Association.

E-Book Example

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work. [Ebook]. Publisher. Nondatabase URL

De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. [Ebook]. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html


Note: For common academic research databases like ProQuest, EBSCO and ScienceDirect, do not include the name of the database.  Do provide a URL for the book’s DOI, if a DOI exists.

Print Journal Example

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), page range. 

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55(2), 893-896.


Note: Include the issue number for journals that have an issue number.

Online Journal Example

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number)page range. https://doi.org/

Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41(3), 1245-1283. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560710821161


Note:

  • For common academic research databases like ProQuest, EBSCO and ScienceDirect, do not include the name of the database.  Do provide a URL for the article’s DOI, if a DOI exists.
  • Provide the URL for the article’s DOI, if a DOI exists. Example: https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126
  • But if a DOI is not available:  For an article from a common academic database like ProQuest, EBSCO or ScienceDirect, simply omit the DOI, and do not include the name of the database.  For an article from a free non-database website, provide the full URL of the article.
  • Include also the issue number for journals that have an issue number.
  • If the article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word “Article” and then the article number. 
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Print Magazine Example

Again cite like a print journal article, but give the year and the month for monthly magazines as well. Add the day for weekly magazines.

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today’s schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

Online Magazine Example

Cite like a print magazine article, except: a) no page numbers, and b) add a DOI (preferred) or full URL.

Auerback, M. (2019, January 27). In antitrust, size isn’t everything. Salon. https://www.salon.com/2019/01/27/in-antitrust-size-isnt-everything_partner/

Note: For common academic research databases like ProQuest, EBSCO and ScienceDirect, do not include the name of the database.  But, do provide a URL for the article’s DOI, if a DOI exists.

Online Newspaper Example

Cite also like an online magazine article except that in most cases, you’ll include a URL because no DOI will be available.

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. URL

Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry. The New York Times. https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/psychiatry-handbook-linked-to-drug-industry/

Note: For common academic research databases like ProQuest, EBSCO and ScienceDirect, do not include the name of the database.  Do provide a URL for the article’s DOI, if a DOI exists.

Website Example

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of page. Title of Website. URL

Martin Lillie, C. M. (2016, December 29). Be kind to yourself: How self-compassion can improve your resiliency. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/self-compassion-can-improve-your-resiliency/art-20267193

Cleveland Clinic. (2019, July 16). Stress: 10 ways to ease stress.  https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/8133-stress-10-ways-to-ease-stress

Note: Finally, include a retrieval date in the reference when the contents of a page are designed to change over time but are not archived.

Citing an Indirect Source

Question:

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For instance, if I read a paper by Tony and it cites a fact from a paper by James, and I want to refer to the fact in the paper by James, would I cite James?

Answer:

No. You would cite Tony.

How to:

Your in-text citation would look like this:

James (2002, as cited in Tony, 2013) argued that…

Your reference list would then include the paper by Tony. The reference list would not include the paper by James, because you didn’t actually read that paper.

The major goal of Academic Hive is to ensure that you are aware of the most crucial parts of your research, that’s why we say when you’re in doubt visit your supervisor or you can speak with our consultant on any issue bordering your research.

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