APA 7th Edition Citation Guide: Complete Reference with Examples for Every Source Type

The American Psychological Association's 7th edition publication manual is the standard citation style for psychology, education, nursing, social work, and most social sciences. This guide covers every source type you are likely to encounter as a college student, with clear examples for in-text citations and reference list entries.

In-Text Citations: The Basics

APA uses the author-date citation system. Every in-text citation has two components: the author's last name and the year of publication. For direct quotations, add the page number.

Parenthetical vs Narrative Citations

Parenthetical (both elements in parentheses):

Research suggests that sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function (Walker, 2023).

Narrative (author integrated into the sentence):

Walker (2023) demonstrated that sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function.

Number of Authors

Authors	Parenthetical	Narrative
1 author	(Smith, 2024)	Smith (2024)
2 authors	(Smith & Jones, 2024)	Smith and Jones (2024)
3+ authors	(Smith et al., 2024)	Smith et al. (2024)

Direct Quotations

For quotes under 40 words, use quotation marks and include the page number:

According to Chen (2024), "the replication crisis in psychology has fundamentally altered how researchers approach experimental design" (p. 47).

For quotes of 40 words or more, use a block quotation: indent 0.5 inches, do not use quotation marks, and place the period before the parenthetical citation.

Reference List: Formatting Rules

The reference list appears at the end of your paper on a new page titled "References" (centered, bold). Key formatting rules:

Double-space all entries
Use hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches)
Arrange entries alphabetically by first author's last name
For multiple works by the same author, order by year (earliest first)
Italicize book titles, journal names, and volume numbers

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

Example:

Reference: Rodriguez, M. L., & Kim, S. (2024). Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on test anxiety among college students: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 116(3), 412-429. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000812

In-text: (Rodriguez & Kim, 2024, p. 418)

Article Without DOI (from library database)

Do not include database URLs. Treat as a print article and end the reference after the page numbers.

Reference: Thompson, R. (2023). Rural broadband access and educational inequality. Sociology of Education, 96(2), 156-173.

Online-Only Article with Article Number

Reference: Park, J., & Williams, T. (2025). Generative AI and academic integrity: Faculty perspectives. Computers & Education, 210, Article 104956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2025.104956

Books

Print Book

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

Reference: Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Little, Brown and Company.

In-text: (Gladwell, 2008, p. 42)

Edited Book

Reference: Williams, P. J., & Chen, L. (Eds.). (2023). Critical race theory in education: A reader. Routledge.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Reference: Harris, D. N. (2023). School choice and segregation. In P. J. Williams & L. Chen (Eds.), Critical race theory in education: A reader (pp. 145-168). Routledge.

E-Book

Reference: Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00555X8OA

Websites and Online Content

Webpage with Author and Date

Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, February 14). Adolescent mental health: Data and statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

In-text: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2025) ... (CDC, 2025)

Webpage with Group Author, No Date

Reference: World Health Organization. (n.d.). Climate change and health. Retrieved May 20, 2026, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change

Blog Post

Reference: Harari, Y. N. (2024, November 3). What happens when AI reads everything humans have ever written? Sapiens. https://www.ynharari.com/blog/ai-reading

Social Media

Reference: Obama, B. [@BarackObama]. (2024, August 15). Today we celebrate the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act — the most significant climate legislation in American history [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1824093847561

Reports and Gray Literature

Government Report

Reference: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2024). 2024 Annual report to Congress (ED-2024-OCR-001). https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/ocr/report2024.pdf

Institutional Report

Reference: Pew Research Center. (2025, January 22). Teens, social media, and technology 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/01/22/teens-social-media-and-technology-2025/

Dissertations and Theses

Published Dissertation

Reference: Nguyen, T. H. (2024). Bilingual education policy implementation in California: A case study of three school districts (Publication No. 31245678) [Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Unpublished Thesis

Reference: Okafor, C. N. (2025). Code-switching and academic identity among first-generation Nigerian-American college students [Unpublished master's thesis]. Howard University.

Audiovisual Media

YouTube Video

Reference: TED. (2023, April 10). The single biggest reason why start-ups succeed [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpx7gpSqbY

Podcast Episode

Reference: Vedantam, S. (Host). (2025, March 3). The science of motivation [Audio podcast episode]. In Hidden Brain. NPR. https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-science-of-motivation/

Film or Documentary

Reference: Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2006). An inconvenient truth [Film]. Paramount Classics.

Legal Citations

Supreme Court Case

Reference: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

In-text: (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954)

Statute

Reference: Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq. (2015).

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Missing hanging indent — The most visible formatting error. Set your word processor to create a 0.5-inch hanging indent for all reference entries.
Incorrect use of "et al." — Use "et al." for three or more authors in every citation (not just the first one). Latin abbreviation "et al." means "and others." The period goes after "al." because it is an abbreviation.
DOI formatting — In APA 7th, DOIs are formatted as URLs: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx. Do not include "Retrieved from" before a DOI. Do not include a period after a DOI or URL at the end of a reference.
Italicizing the wrong elements — In APA 7th, italicize: book titles, journal names, journal volume numbers. Do not italicize: article titles, book chapter titles, journal issue numbers.
Capitalization in article titles — Use sentence case for article and book chapter titles (only capitalize the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon). Use title case for journal names.
Including retrieval dates unnecessarily — Only include a retrieval date for sources that are designed to change over time and are not archived (e.g., a live-updating webpage without a publication date).

APA 7th vs APA 6th: Key Changes

If you used APA 6th edition previously, note these changes:

Element	APA 6th	APA 7th
Publisher location	Required: New York, NY: Penguin	Omitted entirely
"Retrieved from"	Common before URLs	Not used before DOIs
In-text for 3-5 authors	First citation lists all; subsequent use "et al."	Use "et al." from first citation for 3+ authors
Running head	"RUNNING HEAD: TITLE"	"TITLE" only (no label)
Font	Times New Roman 12pt only	Multiple options: Calibri 11, Arial 11, Georgia 11, Times New Roman 12
Singular "they"	Discouraged	Endorsed as gender-neutral pronoun

APA Citation Generators: A Warning

Tools like Citation Machine, EasyBib, and even the citation feature in Google Scholar and library databases frequently produce errors. Common generator mistakes include:

Missing DOIs for articles that have them
Incorrect capitalization (using title case for article titles)
Formatting author names incorrectly (e.g., "Smith, J.A." instead of "Smith, J. A." with spaces between initials)
Listing the wrong publication date (using the database upload date instead of the original publication date)

Always verify generated citations against the official APA 7th manual or the APA Style website (apastyle.apa.org). One undetected citation error is unlikely to affect your grade. Ten undetected errors suggest carelessness that will cost you points.

Quick Reference Card

Most common source types at a glance:

Journal article: Author. (Year). Title. Journal, Vol(Iss), pages. DOI
Book: Author. (Year). Title. Publisher.
Chapter: Author. (Year). Title. In Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. xx-xx). Publisher.
Webpage: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title. Site Name. URL
Report: Author. (Year). Title (Report No. xxx). Publisher. URL

Mastering APA citation takes practice, but following the templates in this guide will handle 95% of the sources you encounter as an undergraduate or graduate student. For edge cases, consult the APA Style website or your institution's writing center.