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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Welcome

Note: This guide reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7).

APA 7th Edition

This guide reflects the latest version (7th edition) of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

What Is APA?

APA stands for American Psychological Association and is a common formatting style for publications, including research papers, in the social sciences. APA style has unique formats for in-text citations and reference pages. Its style and guidelines increase the ease of reading comprehension for viewers as well as ensure consistent presentation of content and written material.

In APA, you must cite sources that you have paraphrased, quoted, or otherwise refer to in your research paper.

Cite your sources in two places:

  1. In the body of your paper with an in-text citation.
  2. In the Reference list at the end of your paper.

Common Citations: Journal Article

Journal Article with DOI

Format

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume(Issue), #-#. DOI

Example

Bailey, N. W. (2012). Evolutionary models of extended phenotypes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 27(3), 561-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2012.05.011

Journal Article Without a DOI with a Nondatabase URL

Format

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of PeriodicalVolume(Issue), #-#. URL

Note: Separate the authors' names by putting a comma between them. For the final author listed, add an ampersand (&) after the comma and before the final author's last name.

Example

Bai, H. (2009). Facilitating students' critical thinking in online discussion: An instructor's experience. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(2), 156-164. www.ncolr.org/jiol

Common Citations: Book

Book with One Author

Format

Author, A. A. (Copyright Year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI or URL

Example

Sheingate, A. D. (2016). Building a business of politics: The rise of political consulting and the transformation of American democracy. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592718003882 

Do You Need Citation Help?

Set up a personal consultation with a librarian to get help citing sources and formatting your paper in APA style. Consultations can be held either in the library or online through Zoom.

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More APA Citation Help

Want more citation help or examples? Choose one of the links below, or if you would like to use the most recent copy of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th Edition, 2020, stop by the Research Help Desk on the 2nd floor of the Knowledge Center.

Formatting

All citations should be double-spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference list. A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

DOIs and Permalinks

For sources found using Library Search or a database, use the DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which is a type of permalink assigned to journal articles published online. If you have both a permalink and a DOI for an article, use the DOI.

The "Permalink" button in Library Search is indicated by an icon made of two connected, gray links. With the large number of sources available online, it is common for citations to include a URL. It is important to note, however, that the URL you include for any of your citations should be a permanent URL (or permalink), one that will stay active past the time that you are on that webpage.

Seneca College Libraries

This guide is used/adapted with the permission of Seneca College Libraries. For information please contact lcc@senecacollege.ca.

Note: When copying this guide, please retain this box.