APA 7th Edition Style Guide

A concise reference for academic writers using APA format.

General Format In-Text Citations Reference List Books Journal Articles Websites

General Formatting

  • Font: 12-point Times New Roman, Calibri 11, Arial 11, Georgia 11, or Lucida Sans Unicode 10.
  • Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides.
  • Line spacing: Double-spaced throughout, including references.
  • Paragraph indent: 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) first line of every paragraph.
  • Page header (running head): No longer required for student papers in APA 7. Professional manuscripts include a shortened title (≤50 characters) flush left and page number flush right.
  • Title page: Title (bold, centred), author name(s), institutional affiliation, course (student papers), instructor name, due date, and author note (professional papers).
  • Abstract: 150–250 words on a new page; no indentation of first line; keywords below in italics.

In-Text Citations

APA uses the author–date format. Cite the author's surname and year of publication, separated by a comma, inside parentheses.

One author: (Smith, 2021) or Smith (2021) found that…
Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2021) — always use ampersand inside parentheses.
Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2021) — use et al. from the first citation.
Direct quotation: Include page number. (Smith, 2021, p. 45) or (Smith, 2021, pp. 45–46).
No author: Use a shortened title in italics. (Style Guide, 2021).
Multiple works in one citation: List alphabetically, separated by semicolons. (Brown, 2019; Smith, 2021).

Reference List Rules

  • Start on a new page titled References (bold, centred).
  • Alphabetise by the first author's surname.
  • Use a hanging indent: first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inch.
  • Double-space the entire list.
  • Include DOIs as hyperlinks (https://doi.org/xxxxx) wherever available.
  • Do not include "Retrieved from" before a URL unless the content changes over time.
  • Up to 20 authors: list all. 21+ authors: list first 19, insert ellipsis (…), then the last author.

Books

Single author

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

Smith, J. (2019). Academic writing skills. Oxford University Press.

Edited book

Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (Year). Title of work. Publisher.

Chapter in an edited book

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

Journal Articles

Article with DOI

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

Article without DOI (print)

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), page–page.

Advance online publication

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Websites and Online Sources

Web page with individual author

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

Web page with group/organisation author

Organisation Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. URL

No date

Author, A. A. (n.d.). Title of page. Site Name. URL

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