APA Citation Style (7th Edition)

These guidelines will help you get started. For more detailed information, see the APA Manual, chapter 9; and the Elements of Reference List Entries page on the APA Style website. 

A reference list should include all of the information sources you quoted or paraphrased in the text of your paper (with some exceptions). Sort reference list entries alphabetically, and format them with a hanging indent. Double-space all entries.

Each reference includes all of the information someone would need to look up an information source. References usually include four elements: the author, date, title, and source.

Author

Format all author names with the last name first, followed by a comma and the author’s initials. For example: Cohen, D.

If a work has between two and 20 authors, include all of their names, separated with commas. Put an ampersand before the final author’s name. For example: 

• Two authors: Robinson, D. B., & Randall, L.
• Four authors: Wolsink, I., Den Hartog, D. D., Belschak, F. D., & Oosterwijk, S.

If there are 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, then an ellipsis, and then the final author’s name. 

If an organization is the author, include the full name of the organization. For example: American Psychological Association.

If a work has no author, start the reference with the title. For example: Narcissistic personality disorder.

Date

The date tells the reader when the work was published or updated. The date format depends on the type of source you are citing.

• For books, journal articles, and films, include the year the work was published or produced. For example: (2019).
• For news and magazine articles, give the year, month, and day. For example: (2019, June 4).
• If no date is available, use (n.d.), which stands for “no date.”
• An online retrieval date is only recommended for sources that are likely to change, like webpages.

Title

Use these guidelines to format titles:

• or most titles, use sentence case: Capitalize only the first word in the title and subtitle, along with any proper nouns.
• For journal, magazine, and newspaper titles, use title case: Capitalize all major words.
• Italicize the titles of any standalone works, like books or journals

For some source types, you should include a format description in brackets after the title. For example: Girl, interrupted [Film].

Source

The source element gives information about where an information source is located. This can include:

• The volume and issue number of a journal
• Page numbers within a book or journal
• A digital object identifier (DOI) or other URL

DOIs and URLs

A DOI is a unique string of letters and numbers that refers to a specific article, ebook, or other online work. A DOI can usually be found on the first page of a work or in a database record for the work. You can also visit Crossref to look up a DOI. Follow these rules for including DOIs and URLs in references:

• If a work has a DOI, include it in the reference, even if you used the print version. Do not include a URL.
• If an online work has no DOI:
  • If the work is on a website, include a URL directly to the work. You may use a URL shortening service for long links (APA Manual, section 9.36).
  • If the work is within a library database, do not provide a URL.
• You can use shortDOIs or shortened URLs for any long or complex links.

For more information, see the APA Manual, sections 9.34–9.36; and APA Style DOIs and URLs.