The American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of the most widely used citation formats in academic writing, particularly in the social sciences, education, and psychology.

General Formatting Rules

Paper Format

  • Use 1-inch margins on all sides
  • Double-space the entire document
  • Use a readable font (12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Arial, or 11-pt Calibri)
  • Include a running head on each page
  • Number pages in the top right corner

Title Page

The title page should include:

  • Paper title (bold, centered, in title case)
  • Author name(s)
  • Institutional affiliation
  • Course information (for student papers)
  • Due date

In-Text Citations

Basic Format

APA uses author-date citations. Include the author's last name and year of publication.

Parenthetical citation: (Smith, 2023) Narrative citation: Smith (2023) found that...

Multiple Authors

  • Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2023)
  • Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2023)

Direct Quotes

Include page numbers for direct quotes:

  • (Smith, 2023, p. 45)
  • (Smith, 2023, pp. 45-47)

Reference List

Books

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

Journal Articles

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

Websites

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

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  1. Incorrect capitalization - Only capitalize the first word of titles in references
  2. Missing DOIs - Include DOIs for all sources that have them
  3. Inconsistent formatting - Use italics consistently for titles
  4. Incorrect author format - Use initials, not full first names

Quick Reference

Element Format
In-text citation (Author, Year)
Page numbers p. or pp.
Multiple authors Use & in parentheses, "and" in text
Et al. Use for 3+ authors

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