How to Cite in APA 7th Edition Format: Step-by-Step Guide

This guide explains how to cite APA 7th Edition and gives clear, step-by-step examples you can use immediately. It’s written for students, researchers, and professionals who need accurate references for papers, articles, or reports.

What APA 7th Edition is and who uses it

APA (American Psychological Association) 7th Edition is a style and formatting system commonly used in psychology, education, social sciences, nursing, and many other fields. It standardizes in-text citations, reference list entries, and general manuscript formatting to ensure clarity and consistency.

Whether you’re a student preparing a term paper or a researcher submitting to a journal, following APA 7th reduces errors and improves credibility. For quick, formatted references, consider using Rephrasely’s free citation generator.

General Rules

These core rules apply to most APA 7th citations and formatting tasks.

Use 1-inch margins and a readable font (e.g., 11- or 12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Calibri, or 11-pt Arial).
Double-space all text, including reference list entries and block quotes.
Use a hanging indent of 0.5 inches on every reference list entry.
Italicize titles of books and journals; do not italicize article or webpage titles.
Include DOIs as URLs (https://doi.org/xxxxx) when available. No period after DOI/URL.
List up to 20 authors in the reference. For 21+ authors, list the first 19, then an ellipsis, then the final author.

How to Cite by Source Type

Below are step-by-step examples you can copy into your reference list. All examples use code-style formatting for clarity.

1. Books (single author)

Format:

AuthorLast, A. A. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle (Edition). Publisher.

Example:

Smith, J. A. (2020). Understanding psychology (3rd ed.). Academic Press.

Actionable tip: If the book has a DOI, place it at the end as a URL: https://doi.org/xxxx.

2. Journal articles (with DOI)

Format:

AuthorLast, A. A., & AuthorLast, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), pp–pp. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example:

Garcia, L. M., & Brown, T. R. (2021). Sleep and memory consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Research, 14(2), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1234/jcr.2021.014

Actionable tip: If no DOI and the article was retrieved from a database that does not publish DOIs, omit the URL and use the reference as you would a print article.

3. Web pages

Format:

AuthorLast, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. https://xxxxx

Example (with date):

Lee, S. (2022, August 5). Climate change and urban planning. CityGreen. https://citygreen.org/climate-urban

Example (no date):

World Health Org. (n.d.). Health topics. https://www.who.int/health-topics

Actionable tip: Use (n.d.) when the publication date is not available and include the site name if it differs from the author.

4. Book chapters or edited books

Format:

AuthorLast, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor & F. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

Example:

Nguyen, P. H. (2019). Language acquisition theories. In D. King & S. Patel (Eds.), Advances in linguistics (pp. 45–68). University Press.

5. Reports, dissertations, and government documents

Format (report):

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

Example:

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018). Mental health statistics (NIH Publication No. 18-1234). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/stats

Format (dissertation):

AuthorLast, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation (Publication No. xxxx) [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. Database or Archive. URL

Example:

Patel, R. (2017). Social networks and adolescent identity (Publication No. 102345) [Doctoral dissertation, State University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

6. Online videos (e.g., YouTube)

Format:

Author, A. A. [Screenname]. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. Site Name. URL

Example:

Jones, M. [MJonesAcademy]. (2020, October 10). Cognitive biases explained [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=xxxx

In-Text Citations

Use in-text citations to connect claims to sources. APA 7 uses author–date format in parentheses or narrative form.

Basic parenthetical citation: include author and year.

(Smith, 2020)

Narrative citation: integrate the author into the sentence.

Smith (2020) argues that...

Multiple authors:

Two authors: (Garcia & Brown, 2021)
Three or more authors: use et al. from the first citation: (Lopez et al., 2019)
No author: use a shortened title in quotes and year: ("Study Finds," 2020)

Direct quotes require page numbers or paragraph numbers for nonpaginated sources.

(Smith, 2020, p. 45)

Actionable tip: For subsequent citations of works with three or more authors, always use the first author’s surname followed by et al..

Reference List: Rules and Example

The reference list appears at the end of the document and contains full bibliographic details for every source cited in-text.

Title the page "References" (centered, bold is optional depending on instructor/journal).
Alphabetize entries by the surname of the first author or by title when no author is given.
Use a hanging indent of 0.5 inches for each entry.
Double-space between and within entries.

Reference list example (mixed types):

References

Garcia, L. M., & Brown, T. R. (2021). Sleep and memory consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Research, 14(2), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1234/jcr.2021.014

Lee, S. (2022, August 5). Climate change and urban planning. CityGreen. https://citygreen.org/climate-urban

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018). Mental health statistics (NIH Publication No. 18-1234). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/stats

Smith, J. A. (2020). Understanding psychology (3rd ed.). Academic Press.

Actionable tip: After drafting references, run them through Rephrasely’s citation generator to auto-format entries and check DOI formatting. Use the plagiarism checker to confirm originality and the AI writer if you need help drafting content. Use the AI detector to verify AI-generated text where required.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are frequent APA 7 errors and how to fix them.

Incorrect DOI format. DOIs must appear as full URLs: https://doi.org/10.xxxx. Don’t precede with "doi:" or add a period after the DOI.
Mis-capitalization of titles. In article and webpage titles use sentence case (only first word and proper nouns capitalized). Journal titles use title case and are italicized.
Forgetting hanging indents and double spacing. These formatting elements are required in the references and help readability.
Using "et al." incorrectly. For three or more authors, use et al. in-text from the first citation; do not use it in the reference list unless there are 21+ authors where ellipsis rules apply.

Actionable fix: Proofread your reference list against a checklist: DOI format, title casing, italics for source titles, hanging indent, and correct author order. Use Rephrasely tools to automate checks and catch common formatting problems.

Quick Checklist Before Submission

All in-text citations have matching reference list entries.
References are alphabetized and have hanging indents.
DOIs are formatted as URLs and there are no unnecessary retrieval dates (unless required).
Page is double-spaced and uses an approved font and 1-inch margins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a DOI for every journal reference?

No. Use a DOI when one exists and format it as a URL (e.g., https://doi.org/10.xxxx). If no DOI is available and you accessed the article via a database that does not provide a stable URL, cite it like a print article without a URL.

How do I cite a source with no author in APA 7th?

Use a shortened title in place of the author in the in-text citation and alphabetize the entry by the title in the reference list. For example: in-text ("Study Finds," 2020) and reference list entry starting with the title.

Can I use a citation generator for APA 7th?

Yes. Citation generators (such as Rephrasely’s free citation generator) can save time and reduce errors. Always verify automatically generated citations against official APA guidelines and consult your instructor or publisher for any specific requirements.

How to Cite in APA 7th Edition Format: Step-by-Step Guide