APA 7th Edition Guide — Complete Formatting, Citation & Style Rules

The American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition is the standard citation and formatting style for psychology, education, nursing, business, and social sciences. Published in October 2019, the 7th edition simplified many rules from the 6th edition. This complete guide covers everything from title page setup to reference list formatting.

APA 7th Edition: Key Changes from 6th Edition

Change	6th Edition	7th Edition
Running head	Required on all pages	Student papers: NOT required
"Running head:" label	Required	Removed
Publisher location	Required	Not needed
"Retrieved from"	Required for websites	Use only for dynamic content
DOI format	doi:10.xxxx	https://doi.org/10.xxxx
Citations with 3-5 authors	List all first time	Use "et al." from first citation

APA 7th Edition Title Page

Student Paper Title Page

1                    Title of Your Paper

        Title of Your Paper (bold, centered, 3-4 lines from top)

        Your Name
        Department of Psychology, University Name
        PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology
        Professor Jane Smith
        March 15, 2025

Professional Paper Title Page

Professional papers (for publication) include a running head and author note:

Running head: SHORTENED TITLE (uppercase, max 50 characters)
Author note with ORCID iD, affiliation changes, disclosures

APA 7th Edition In-Text Citations

Basic Formats

Source Type	First Citation	Subsequent Citations
One author	(Smith, 2024)	(Smith, 2024)
Two authors	(Smith & Jones, 2024)	(Smith & Jones, 2024)
Three+ authors	(Smith et al., 2024)	(Smith et al., 2024)
Group author	(World Health Organization [WHO], 2024)	(WHO, 2024)
No author	("Title of Article," 2024)	("Title of Article," 2024)
Direct quote	(Smith, 2024, p. 45)	—

Narrative Citations

When the author is part of your sentence, only the year goes in parentheses:

Smith (2024) found that academic writing improves with practice.
According to Jones and Williams (2023), formatting errors are the most common reason for grade deductions.

APA 7th Edition Reference List

The reference list starts on a new page titled "References" (bold, centered). Key rules:

Alphabetical by first authors last name
Hanging indent (0.5 inches)
Double-spaced throughout
Include DOI as hyperlink when available

Reference List Examples

Journal Article:

Smith, J. A., & Jones, B. C. (2024). The psychology of academic 
    writing: A comprehensive study. Journal of Educational 
    Psychology, 116(3), 234-256. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123

Book:

Williams, D. E. (2023). Research methods in the social sciences 
    (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Chapter in Edited Book:

Brown, M. K. (2024). Digital literacy in higher education. In 
    R. T. Johnson & L. M. Davis (Eds.), Technology and learning 
    (pp. 45-67). Cambridge University Press.

Website:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, February 15). 
    Youth mental health statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth

Online News Article:

Thompson, S. (2025, March 10). Why college students struggle with 
    citations. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 
    https://www.chronicle.com/article/citation-struggles

APA 7th Edition Headings

APA uses five heading levels:

Level	Format	Example
1	Centered, Bold, Title Case	Literature Review
2	Left-Aligned, Bold, Title Case	Previous Research
3	Left-Aligned, Bold Italic, Title Case	*College Student Studies*
4	Indented, Bold, Title Case, Ending with Period.	Demographic factors.
5	Indented, Bold Italic, Title Case, Ending with Period.	*Age differences.*

APA 7th Edition Paper Format

General Formatting

Font: 12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Calibri, 11-pt Arial, 10-pt Lucida Sans
Margins: 1 inch on all sides
Spacing: Double-spaced throughout (including references)
Alignment: Left-aligned (do not justify)
Paragraph indentation: 0.5 inch for first line
Page numbers: Top right, starting with title page

APA 7th Edition Table and Figure Format

Tables and figures are numbered separately (Table 1, Table 2; Figure 1, Figure 2):

Table 1
Title of Table (italicized)

[Table content here]

Note. Explanatory information about the table.

Common APA 7th Edition Mistakes

Using "Running head:" on student papers — This is only for professional papers
Forgetting hanging indents on references
Citing "et al." incorrectly — Always use "et al." for 3+ authors from the first citation
Placing DOI as plain text — Format as hyperlink: https://doi.org/...
Using "&" in narrative citations — Use "and" outside parentheses, "&" inside
Including "Retrieved from" for non-dynamic sources — Only needed for pages that regularly update
Capitalizing every word in reference titles — Only first word of title and subtitle, and proper nouns

APA Editorial Style

APA style goes beyond citations. The APA Publication Manual also covers:

Bias-free language — Use person-first language (e.g., "people with disabilities" not "disabled people")
Numbers — Spell out numbers below 10; use numerals for 10 and above
Abbreviations — Define on first use
Seriation — Use (a), (b), (c) for lists within paragraphs; use numbered lists for steps

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