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APA Citation Style 7th Edition

This guide will help you cite sources in APA Citation Style 7th Edition.

Building a Citation

Each entry in your reference list usually contains the following information, in this order: author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, title of work, and source (e.g. publication data or where the source can be found):

Who. (When). What. Where.

There are specific rules around the formatting of each part of the citation. Note that different sources (e.g. book, article) will have different elements included in their references list entry. Please refer to the APA Manual for more information. The APA blog also provides a brief summary of the different elements of a reference list entry. 

Author

Who: The author information (9.7-9.12)

Authors are listed by surname and initial(s). Use only the initial(s) of the author’s given name(s), not the full name even when the full name is given by the source.

Example:
Colesberry, R. F.

If there is more than one author, use commas to separate them. For two to 20 authors, use an ampersand (&) before the last author. If there are more than 20 authors, include the first 19 authors, then an ellipses, and then the last author without using an ampersand (&).

Example: 
Jergens, B., Wilkins, T., Adelaide, X., & Turrow, E. 

Sometimes a source will have a corporate or group author as opposed to one or more individuals.

Example:
Government of Canada.

In a reference to an edited book, place the editor(s) name in the author position, with the abbreviation Ed. or Eds. in parentheses after the last editor's name. 

Example:
Mullens, T. C. (Ed.).

If there is no author, move the title to the author position, before the date of publication.

Tip: See the APA Style website for more information and examples.

Publication Date

When: The date of publication (9.13-9.17)

Give the year that the work was published, in parentheses, followed by a period.

Example:
Allan, C. B. (2019).

For works that are published more frequently (e.g. magazines) you can also include the month and day, where available.

Example:
McCall, T. (2019, May 2)

If no date is available, write use n.d. in parentheses, followed by a period.

Example:
Harken, J. (n.d.).

 

Tip: See the APA Style website for more information and examples.

Title of Source

What: The title of the document (9.18-9.22)

Capitalize only the first word of the title (and subtitle if given) and any proper nouns.

Italicize the title of a book or periodical. Do not italicize the title of works that are part of a greater work, such as a chapter within a book or an article within a periodical.

Include any additional information needed for identification of the work (e.g. an edition statement) in parentheses immediately after the title.

Tip: See the APA Style website for more information and examples.

Source Information

Where: The source information (9.23-9.37)

For books, give the name of the publisher. You do not need to indicate where the book was published, as discussed further in this entry from the APA Blog.

For periodicals (e.g. journals, magazines), provide the periodical title followed by the volume, issue, and page numbers (where applicable). Italicize the journal name and the volume number, but not the issue. Do not use the abbreviations Vol. or No. before the volume or issue.

For websites, include the URL for the source.

Some sources such as books and articles will also have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string used to identify a specific source. If a DOI is listed on either a print or an electronic source, always include it at the end of the reference.

You can find DOIs:

  • On the first page of an article or chapter
  • On the copyright page of a book
  • In a database record
  • By searching on crossref.org

Tip: See the APA Style website for more information and examples.

Missing Information

Sometimes sources are missing pieces of information that you would typically include in a citation (like an author or a date). Use this Missing Reference Information guide created by APA to help you cite these sources. Section 9.4 of the physical APA Manual also has a handy chart.