APA 7th Edition Style Guide

• This is an APA Style Guide, 7th Edition
• Covers reference lists, in-text citations and paper formatting

Reference Lists

• Located at the end of a standard APA paper
• Lists the references used as citations in the paper
• Most sources follow straightforward rules
• Academic journal sources have special rules

Basic Rules for Most Sources

• Sequence: Who, When, What, Where
• Author names are inverted and written with initials, e.g., Mohammad Jafar Iqbal = Iqbal, M. J.
• Up to 20 author names are listed, separated by commas, with an ampersand (&) before the last author
• For 21+ authors, use an ellipsis after the 19th author, then add the final author's name with no ampersand
• Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the author
• Multiple articles by the same author should be listed in chronological order
• For Book, Chapter, Article or Report Titles: Capitalize first letter of the first word of the Title, Subtitle, after a colon, after a dash, and proper nouns
• Italicize titles of longer works, such as books, newspapers, and edited collections
• Do not italicize, underline, or quote titles of chapters in books or essays in collections
• Titles should be underlined if handwriting
• Hanging indent: indent all lines after the first line of each entry one half inch from the left margin

Basic Rules for Articles in Academic Journals

• Academic journals follow slightly special rules
• Journal titles are presented full and italicized, capitalizing all major words
• Do no italicize or underline the article title

Author Guidelines

• Rules apply to handling works by a single author or multiple authors, regardless of work type

Single Author

• Last name first
• Followed by author initials
• Example: Brown, E. (2013). Comedy and the feminine middlebrow novel. Pickering & Chatto.

Two Authors

• List by last names and initials
• Separate author names with a comma
• Use an ampersand instead of "and."
• Example: Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017)

Three to Twenty Authors

• List by last names and initials
• Separate author names with commas
• The last author's name is preceded again by ampersand
• Example: Nguyen, T., Carnevale, J. J., Scholer, A. A., Miele, D. B., & Fujita, K. (2019)

More Than Twenty Authors

• Commas separate author names
• After the first 19 authors’ names, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining author names
• End with the final author's name
• There should be no more than twenty names in the citation in total
• Example: Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R.,... Kim, H. (2019)

Group Author

• Group authors include corporations, government agencies, organizations, etc
• The publishing organization is treated as the author, citing it normally
• Full name of the group author in the reference list should be used
• Abbreviations may be used in the text
• Reference works without credited authors are considered works with group authors
• For multiple layers of group authorship, list the most specific agency as the author and the parent agency as the publisher

Unknown Author

• If a work does not have an author, move the title of the work to the beginning of references
• Follow with the date of publication
• Only use “Anonymous” if the author is signed this way

Two or More Works by the Same Author

• Use the author's name for all entries
• List the entries by the year (earliest comes first)
• References with no dates should be listed before references with dates
• When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, list the one-author entries first
• References that have the same first author and different second and/or third authors are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the second author, or of the third if the first and second authors are the same

Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

• Check to see if they have more specific dates
• Works with only a year should be listed before those with more specific date
• List specific dates chronologically
• If two works have the same publication date, organize them alphabetically by the article/chapter title
• If references share a date and are part of a series, list them in series order and assign letter suffixes to the year

Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords, and Afterwords

• Cite publication information like a book, but cite Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword as the chapter when applicable

Articles in Periodicals

Basic Form Format

• Order should be: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), page numbers. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Article in Print Journal

• Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
• Include a DOI if available, even for print sources.

Article in Electronic Journal

• Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
• Include a DOI, or stable URL if DOI is unavailable

Article in a Magazine

• Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time, 135(17), 20–21
• Start with the title if there is no author.

Article in a Newspaper

• Schultz, S. (2005, December). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The Country Today, 1A
• Start with the title if there is no author.

Review

• Reviewer’sLastname, F. (Year). Title of review [Review of media Title of media, by F. Author’sLastname]. Title of publication, volumenumber(issuenumber), pages

Books

Basic Format for Books

• Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name

Edited Book, No Author

• Editor, E. E. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher

Edited Book with an Author or Authors

• Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (E. Editor, Ed.). Publisher.

Translation

• Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (T. Translator, Trans.). Publisher. (Original work published YEAR)

Edition Other Than the First

• Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (# edition). Publisher

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

• Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher
• Use "pp." before listing chapter/essay pages and edition number separated by a comma.

Multivolume Work

• Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (Vol. #). Publisher.

Other Print Sources

Entry in a Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia with a Group Author

• Institution or organization name. (Year). Title of entry. In Title of reference work (edition, page numbers). Publisher name.

Entry in a Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia with an Individual Author

• Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of entry. In F. M. Lastname (Ed.), Title of reference work (edition, page numbers). Publisher.

Dissertation Abstract

• Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation. Dissertation Abstracts International, Vol., Page.

Dissertation or Master’s Thesis, Published

• Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation/thesis (Publication No.) [Doctoral dissertation/Master’s thesis, Name of Institution Awarding the Degree]. Database or Archive Name
• If a dissertation/thesis is not published in a database, the URL should be included

Dissertation or Master’s Thesis, Unpublished

• Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation/thesis [Unpublished doctoral dissertation/master’s thesis]. Name of Institution Awarding the Degree.

Report by a Government Agency or Other Organization

• Organization Name. (Year). Title of report. URL.

Report by Individual Authors at Government Agency or Other Organization

• Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of report. Organization Name. URL.

Conference Proceedings

• Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Eds.). (Year). Title of Proceedings. Publisher. URL (if applicable)

Electronic Sources

• Electronic sources require the publishing year, month, and date in references
• If a specific date isn't available, use the year of publication
• Omitting "Retrieved from" is per latest style guid

Webpage or Piece of Online Content

• For individual Author: Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL
• For group/organization as author, use name of group/organization and omit site if name is the same

Wikipedia Article

• Title of article. (Year, Month Date). In Wikipedia. URL of archived version of page
• Link archived version (from specified date) of page, not current version

Newspaper Article

• Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Publication. URL

Electronic or Kindle Books

• No need to specify eBook/audiobook format if content is same as physical book
• Distinguish if different or abridged, or if citing narrator

Dissertation/Thesis from a Database

• Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation or thesis (Publication No.) [Doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis, Name of Institution Awarding Degree]. Database Name

Entry in an Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia with a Group Author

• If an online source is continuously updated with no stated publication date, use "n.d." and provide retrieval date

Graphic Data

• (e.g. Interactive Maps, Infographics, and Others)
• Begin with name of organization/individual, date, title, bracketed description of data type/format as needed, and URL

Qualitative Data and Online Interviews

• Cite the interview transcript the same as the medium if published online

Online Lecture Notes and Presentation Slides

• Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation [Lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, etc]. Publisher. URL

Computer Software/Downloaded Software

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group. (Year). Title of software (Version No.). Publisher. URL
• Do not cite standard office software or programming languages.

Email

• Not included in reference list, but cited parenthetically in main text.

Online Forum or Discussion Posting

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of post [Online forum post]. Publisher. URL

Tweet

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Tweet]. Site Name. URL
• If tweet includes images, videos, or outside links, indicate in brackets and replicate emojis when possible.

Twitter Profile

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [@username]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL.

Facebook Post

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Type of post]. Site Name. URL
• If post includes images, videos, or outside links, indicate in brackets and replicate emojis when possible.

Facebook Page

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Site name. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Instagram Photo or Video

• Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Type of post]. Site Name. URL

Blog Post

• Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of post. Publisher. URL

YouTube or other Streaming Video

• Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL
• Person/group uploading is the author, and the username can be omitted if same as the author's name.

Ted Talk

• Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of talk [Video]. TED. URL
• Or, if onYouTube: Username. (Year, Month Date). Title of talk [Video]. YouTube. URL

Audiovisual Media

• Includes media with audio, visual components, or both

Film or Video

• Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Film]. Production company.

Film or Video in Another Language

• Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture in original language [Translated title] [Film]. Production company.

TV Series

• Executive Producer, P. P. (Executive Producer). (Date range of release). Title of series [TV series]. Production company(s).

TV Series Episode

• Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Original air date). Title of episode (Season number, Episode number) [TV series episode]. In P. Executive Producer (Executive Producer), Series title. Production company(s).

Music Album

• Recording artist. (Year of release). Title of album [Album]. Record label.

Single Song or Track

• Recording artist. (Year of release). Title of song [Song]. On Title of album [Album]. Record label.
• Omit album portion if song is not associated with an album

Podcast

• Executive Producer, E. P. (Executive Producer). (Range of publication). Title of podcast [Audio podcast]. Production company. URL.
• The host can be listed in place of the executive producer
• Omit URL if the podcast was not accessed online

Single Podcast Episode

• Executive Producer, E. P. (Executive Producer). (Date of publication). Title of podcast episode (Episode number) [Audio podcast episode]. In Title of podcast. Production company. URL.
• The host can be listed in place of executive producer.
• Omit URL if not accessed online

Artwork in a Museum or on a Museum Website

• Artist, A. (Year of release). Title of artwork [medium]. Name of museum, City, State, Country. URL of museum.
• Cite website if artwork available there; omit URL otherwise
• Give a description in brackets if there is no title

Photograph (not associated with a museum)

• Photographer, P. (Year of publication). Title of photograph [Photograph]. Source. URL.
• Include description in square brackets when title unavailable

In-Text Citations

Basics

• After adding an entry in your reference list, in-text citations reference the author's last name and year of publication: (Jones, 1998)
• If referring to an idea NOT directly quoting, cite only author and year, not page number
• If directly quoting/borrowing, include page number after citation as well

Signal and Non-Signal Phrases

• In-text citations must use signal or non-signal method
• A signal phrase includes the author's name in the sentence
• If signal, no need to repeat author/date in citation

Short Quotations

• If directly quoting, add author, year, page number, preceded by "p." for one page or "pp." for multiple pages
• Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase
• Signal phrase indicates paraphrasing or quoting an idea; without it, work is plagiarized
• Common signal phrases include argued, believed, claimed, illustrated, pointed out, suggested, and wrote
• If the author is not included in the sentence, the author's last name, year, and page number should be included in parentheses after the quotation

Long Quotations

• For direct quotations of 40+ words, use a separate block of typewritten lines without quotation marks
• Indent quote 1/2 inch from the left margin/same as new paragraph
• Double-space throughout and don't add extra line before/after
• Parenthetical citation goes after closing punctuation

Quotations From Sources Without Pages

• Reference another logical ID, like a paragraph, chapter, or section number
• For audiovisual sources, only use the author's last name and year
• Older works can include special identifiers like verse number

Summary or Paraphrase

• Citing summaries/paraphrases of entire texts requires stating the author and year, but no page or paragraph numbers are needed
• For specific ideas from print texts, include page numbers as required by APA; for electronic texts, include paragraph numbers

A Work by Two Authors

• Names of both authors should be in signal phrase or in parentheses each time cited
• Use "and" between authors' names within the text
• Use the ampersand in parentheses

A Work by Three or More Authors

• Use the first author's name followed by “et al.” in every citation, unless that creates ambiguity
• “et al.” should follow a period
• If citing multiple works with similar authors, avoid ambiguity by writing out additional names

Unknown Author

• Cite source by its title in signal phrase or use the first word or two in parentheses
• Titles of books/reports are italicized
• Titles of articles, chapters, and webpages are in quotation marks
• Capitalize important words in titles in the main text
• Treat "Anonymous" as author name if in source

Organization as an Author

• Reference the origination in a signal phrase or citation the first time
• Include abbreviation in initial citation if applicable, using abbreviation thereafter
• Do not use abbreviations if ambiguity between organizations

Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses

• Order multiple works in a parenthetical citation as they appear in reference list (alphabetical), separated by semi-colons
• When citing multiple works by the same author in a parenthetical citation, reference the author once with dates after, and to list no date citations first, and then the year

Authors with the Same Last Name

• Use first initials with last name

Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

• Sources by same author for the same year in reference list require lower-case letters (a, b, c)
• Use the lowercase letter with the year in the citation

Personal Communication

• For interviews, letters, e-mails, and other person-to-person communications cite the communicator's name and the date of the communication
• Do not include in the reference list

Electronic Sources

• Cite electronic sources the same as any other document when possible, using the author-date style

Unknown Author and Date

• Cite title in signal phrase and use abbreviation “n.d." for no date in parentheses if there is no known author or date

Sources Without Page Numbers

• Try using information to assist the reader locate the passage being cited
• Use heading or section name,abbreviated, paragraph number, or a combination
• Never use website page numbers, Kindle location numbers; instead, use the page number (available in many Kindle books) or the method above

Paper Formatting

Basics

• Your paper must be typed
• Your paper should be double-spaced
• Paper margin should be set at 1 inch on all sides
• Use 11 pt. standard font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia, Calibri)
• Printed on standard-sized paper (A4 or Letter)
• Every page of your paper must include the page number in the upper right corner

Content

• Contains four sections:
  • Cover Page
  • Abstract
  • Main Body
  • References

Cover Page

• Provides the document title
• Name of the author
• School being attended
• Course number, name
• Instructor's full name
• Date of assignment

Abstract

• A summary of 150-250 words in length that describes the:
• Brief introduction
• Outline of the hypothesis
• Summary of main research findings
• Brief conclusion on whether the findings support the hypothesis