APA referencing is the citation style of the American Psychological Association, now in its 7th edition. It is the standard across psychology, education, nursing, business and the social sciences at universities worldwide. This guide explains how APA 7th works, with clear examples for in-text citations and reference list entries you can copy and adapt.
If you want to save time, our free citation generator builds correctly formatted APA references for you. For a side-by-side look at the main styles, see our APA vs Harvard vs MLA vs Chicago comparison.
How APA Referencing Works
APA uses the author-date system. Every source is credited twice: a brief in-text citation in the body of your work, and a full entry in an alphabetical reference list at the end. The in-text citation points the reader to the matching reference list entry.
The two core pieces of information in every APA in-text citation are the author’s surname and the year of publication.
In-Text Citations
You can cite in two ways: parenthetical (both author and year in brackets) or narrative (the author is part of your sentence).
Parenthetical: Students often underestimate revision time (Smith, 2020).
Narrative: Smith (2020) found that students often underestimate revision time.For a direct quotation, add the page number:
(Smith, 2020, p. 15)For two authors, join them with an ampersand in brackets and with “and” in narrative text. For three or more authors, use the first author followed by “et al.” from the first citation:
(Smith & Jones, 2021) | Smith and Jones (2021)
(Smith et al., 2022)The Reference List
The reference list starts on a new page titled “References”, is ordered alphabetically by author surname, and uses a hanging indent. Here are the most common entry types, formatted in APA 7th:
1. Book
Smith, J. (2020). Title of the book (2nd ed.). Publisher.2. Journal Article (with DOI)
Smith, J., & Jones, A. (2021). Title of the article. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx3. Chapter in an Edited Book
Smith, J. (2019). Title of the chapter. In A. Jones (Ed.), Title of the book (pp. 101–120). Publisher.4. Website / Online Article
Smith, J. (2022, March 5). Title of the page. Site Name. https://www.example.com/page5. Report or Organisation Source
World Health Organization. (2021). Title of the report. https://www.who.int/xxxxKey APA 7th Rules to Remember
- Capitalise only the first word of titles and subtitles (sentence case) for articles, chapters and books; journal names keep title case.
- Italicise book titles, journal names and volume numbers — not article titles.
- Use “et al.” for three or more authors from the very first in-text citation.
- Include a DOI as a full https link where one exists; no “Retrieved from” is needed for most sources.
- List up to 20 authors in a reference entry before using an ellipsis.
- Order the reference list alphabetically by the first author’s surname.
Common APA Mistakes Students Make
- Mixing APA with another style (for example, numbered citations from Vancouver) in the same document.
- Forgetting the page number on direct quotations.
- Using “&” in narrative sentences instead of “and”.
- Listing sources in the order they appear rather than alphabetically.
- Leaving out the DOI or the access date where one is required.
Accurate referencing protects you from unintentional plagiarism and shows your reader exactly where your evidence comes from. If you are juggling several sources, our citation generator formats them in APA 7th automatically, and our editing and proofreading service can check your references before you submit.
For other styles, see our full Harvard referencing guide, OSCOLA guide for law, Vancouver guide for medicine and nursing, and IEEE guide for engineering.
APA Referencing FAQs
Is APA 6th or 7th edition current?
APA 7th edition (released in 2019) is the current standard and is what most universities now require. Always check your department’s guidance, as some may still accept 6th edition.
What is the difference between APA and Harvard referencing?
Both use the author-date system, so they look similar in-text. The differences are in the details of formatting the reference list — punctuation, capitalisation and the order of elements. See our citation styles comparison for a full breakdown.
Do I need a page number in every APA in-text citation?
No. You only need a page number for a direct quotation. For paraphrased ideas, the author and year are enough, though a page number is still helpful for the reader.
How do I cite a source with no author or no date?
Use the title in place of the author, and “n.d.” (no date) in place of the year. For example: (Title of the page, n.d.).
Related referencing guides
Harvard · OSCOLA · Vancouver · Chicago · IEEE ·
See all our referencing guides, or format your sources free with our citation generator.
