APA 7th Edition Format: Complete Citation Guide (2026)

APA 7th Edition Format: Complete Citation Guide (2026)

Complete APA 7th Edition format guide with step-by-step instructions and examples. Use Rephrasely's free citation generator to create accurate references in seconds.

Introduction — What APA 7th Edition format is and who uses it

The APA 7th Edition format is the citation and manuscript style created by the American Psychological Association. It sets standards for formatting papers, citing sources, and presenting tables and figures.

Researchers, students, educators, and professionals in psychology, education, social sciences, nursing, and many other disciplines commonly use APA style. This guide focuses on the most-used rules for citations and references in 2026.

General Rules — Key formatting rules

• Paper formatting: Use 1-inch margins, 8.5"x11" paper (or A4), and double-spacing for the entire document.
• Font: Use a readable font (e.g., 12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Calibri, 11-pt Arial, or 11-pt Georgia). Be consistent throughout.
• Paragraphs and headings: Indent first line 0.5" for each paragraph. Use APA heading levels for structure.
• Title page and page header: Student papers typically include a title page with title, author name, and institution. Professional papers require a running head only if journal requests it.
• Numbers and abbreviations: Spell out numbers <10 in text unless they represent precise measurements, statistics, or are part of a title.
• URLs and DOIs: Present DOIs and URLs as live hyperlinks (e.g., https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx). No "Retrieved from" required unless retrieval date is needed.

How to Cite by Source Type — Step-by-step examples

Books

Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Publisher.

Example (single author): Smith, J. A. (2020). Research methods for social science. Academic Press.

Example (edited book): Lee, R. T. (Ed.). (2018). Advances in counseling. Professional Publishing.

Actionable tip: Use the publisher name as it appears on the title page, omitting business words like "Co." or "Inc." unless necessary.

Journal Articles

Format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example (with DOI): Garcia, M., & Patel, S. (2022). Cognitive flexibility and learning. Journal of Cognitive Science, 14(2), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1234/jcs.2022.014

Example (no DOI, online): Khan, L. (2019). Social media impacts on attention. Media Studies Quarterly, 9(1), 45–62. https://www.mediastudies.org/article/2019/05

Actionable tip: Prefer the DOI formatted as a URL. If a DOI exists, do not include the journal database name.

Webpages and Websites

Format: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

Example: National Institute of Mental Health. (2023, June 1). Depression. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression

Actionable tip: If no author is provided, start the reference with the page title. For undated pages use (n.d.) as the date.

Book Chapters or Entries in Edited Books

Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

Example: Cho, H. (2021). Motivation in online learning. In R. Teo (Ed.), Contemporary education research (pp. 67–88). Learning Press.

Reports, White Papers, and Government Documents

Format: Organization Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. xxx). Publisher. URL

Example: World Health Organization. (2020). Global mental health report (WHO Rep. No. 20-4). https://www.who.int/reports/global-mental-health-2020

Conference Papers and Proceedings

Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of paper. In E. Editor (Ed.), Proceedings Title (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. URL or DOI

Example: Nguyen, P. (2019). Machine learning for social good. In L. Smith (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2019 AI Symposium (pp. 55–64). TechConf Press. https://doi.org/10.5678/aisymp.2019.0055

In-Text Citations — Rules and examples

APA 7th uses author–date parenthetical citations. There are two common styles: parenthetical and narrative.

Parenthetical citation

Include author(s) and year in parentheses: (Smith, 2020). For a direct quote add page: (Smith, 2020, p. 45).

Narrative citation

Integrate the author into the sentence with the year in parentheses: Smith (2020) found that...

Multiple authors

• Two authors: cite both every time: (Garcia & Patel, 2022).
• Three or more authors: use first author et al. for every citation: (Khan et al., 2019).
• Group authors (organizations): spell out first mention and abbreviate thereafter: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2023), later (NIMH, 2023).

Multiple works and same author/year

List multiple citations alphabetically separated by semicolons: (Garcia, 2021; Patel, 2020). If same author and year, add letters: (Smith, 2020a, 2020b).

Reference List — Formatting rules and example

Place the reference list on a new page titled "References" (centered, bold is optional in student papers). Entries are alphabetized by the first author's last name.

Use a hanging indent of 0.5" for each reference and double-space all lines. Italicize book and journal titles but not article titles.

Example reference list (short):

Actionable checklist for reference entries:

1. Author(s): Last name, initials; use ampersand (&) for multiple authors in reference list.
2. Publication date: Year only for most works; include month and day for web pages when available.
3. Title: Sentence case for article and webpage titles; italicize book and journal titles.
4. Source: Provide DOI in URL format or the direct URL. Do not include database names for works with DOIs.

Common Mistakes — Errors to avoid

• Incorrect DOI format: Writing DOIs as "doi:10.x" instead of the proper URL. Use https://doi.org/10.xxxx.
• Capitalization errors: Capitalizing article titles or chapter titles incorrectly. Use sentence case (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns).
• Missing hanging indent or incorrect spacing: The reference list must be double-spaced with a 0.5" hanging indent for each entry.
• Wrong author order or missing authors: Preserve the exact author order as in the source; for group authors, use the organization name consistently.

Quick, Practical Tips

• When in doubt, find the original source and copy the author and publication details exactly as they appear.
• Use Rephrasely's free citation generator to auto-format entries and avoid punctuation errors.
• Run your document through an AI detector if you need to verify authorship claims, and check originality with the plagiarism checker.
• If you need to draft or rewrite sections to match academic tone, Rephrasely's AI writer can create properly formatted text and in-text citations you can verify afterward.

Final checklist before submission

• All in-text citations have matching entries in the reference list.
• DOIs are formatted as URLs and links are working.
• Font, margins, and spacing meet your instructor or journal requirements.
• Headings comply with APA levels and are consistently applied.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a running head in APA 7th Edition format?

For most student papers, a running head is not required unless your instructor or institution asks for one. Professional manuscripts submitted to journals may require a running head; follow the journal's submission guidelines.

How do I cite a DOI vs. a URL?

Use the DOI if available, formatted as a URL (e.g., https://doi.org/10.1234/abcd.2020.01). If there is no DOI, provide the direct URL to the work. Do not include database homepages or library links that require login.

Can Rephrasely help format my references automatically?

Yes. Rephrasely's free citation generator creates APA 7th Edition format references instantly. You can also use Rephrasely's tools to check for plagiarism, detect AI-written text, or compose content in APA style.