APA (American Psychological Association) Style Citations are most often used by experts and students in the Behavioral and Social Sciences, Business, and Nursing.
Pro Tip: You can save yourself time by starting your paper in a document already formatted for APA. Download the one below to get started.
APA citations in the References list are in hanging indent format. That means the first line goes all the way to the left and subsequent lines start .5 inches to the right. You can create a hanging indent by highlighting the citation, right clicking on the highlighted portion, choosing Paragraph, and then choosing Hanging Indent in the Spacing section.
APA 7th Edition uses a system of up to 5 headings to organize your paper. Student papers often have 1-3 headings, while professional papers might have more.
Level 1 Heading in Title Case Bolded Centered
Level 2 Headings in Title Case Bolded Left
Level 3 Headings in Title Case Bolded Italicized Left
Level 4 Heading in Title Case Bolded Indented
Level 5 Headings in Title Case Bolded Italicized Indented
I. Guided Imagery and Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Group Psychotherapy
II. Guided Imagery
a. Features of Guided Imagery
b. Guided Imagery in Psychotherapy
III. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
a. Features of Progressive Muscle Relaxation
b. Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Group Psychotherapy
IV. Guided Imagery and Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Group Psychotherapy
V. Conclusion
a. Limitations of Existing Research
b. Directions for Future Research
(Outline taken from APA Student Paper Example)
Guided Imagery and Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Group Psychotherapy
Guided Imagery
Features of Guided Imagery
Guided Imagery in Psychotherapy
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Features of Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Group Psychotherapy
Guided Imagery and Progressive Muscle Relaxation in Group Psychotherapy
Conclusion
Limitations of Existing Research
Directions for Future Research
I. Comparison of Student Evaluations of Teaching With Online and Paper-Based Administration
a. Online Administration of Student Evaluations
b. Effects of Format on Response Rates and Student Evaluation Scores
c. Purpose of the Present Study
II. Method
a. Sample
b. Instrument
c. Design
III. Results
a. Response Rates
b. Evaluation Ratings
c. Stability of Ratings
IV. Discussion
a. Implications for Practice
i. Improving SET Response Rates
ii. Evaluation SET Scores
b. Conclusion
(Outline taken from APA Professional Paper Example)
Comparison of Student Evaluations of Teaching With Online and Paper-Based Administration
Online Administration of Student Evaluations
Effects of Format on Response Rates and Student Evaluation Scores
Purpose of the Present Study
Method
Sample
Instrument
Design
Results
Response Rates
Evaluation Ratings
Stability Ratings
Discussion
Implications for Practice
Improving SET Response Rates Italicized Left
Evaluating SET ScoresItalicized Left
Conclusion
Need help setting up Word for APA Headings or need more information? Download the APA Template with Tables and Headings for a document already set up with Headings or checkout Microsoft's article on customizing headings in Word:
Include the last name of the author every time you cite the source and the date separated by a comma. Add the page number(s) after the date separated by a comma if you are directly quoting a source.
(Bottomly, 1996).
(Bottomly, 1996, p. 7).
Include the last names of the authors every time you cite the source and connect them with an ampersand &. Add the page number(s) after the date separated by a comma if you are directly quoting a source.
(Cunningham & Tocco, 1989).
(Cohen & Fried, 2007, p. 144).
(Baider et al., 1994).
(Baider et al., 1994, pp. 347-348).
Include only the first author's last name followed by the abbreviation et al. ('and also' in Latin). Only include more authors names if you have two or more sources that would have the same citation. Then add as many authors as you need to distinguish the sources. Add the page number(s) after the date separated by a comma if you are directly quoting a source.
First time: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020).
Subsequent times: (APA, 2020).
Include the entire name of the group or organization in the citation. If there is an acronym, include it in brackets the first time you cite the source, then following citations use only the acronym. Add the page number(s) after the date separated by a comma if you are directly quoting a source.
If the source has no author, use the first few words or phrase from the source title or the first few words of the reference entry. Put the words in double quotations.
("Book of the Dead", 1901).
If there is no date, use the abbreviation n.d. for no date.
(The Cornell Lab, n.d.)
You have three different options for citing sources in text.
1.) Put all the information into the parenthesis at the end.
Happy students achieve higher grade point averages (Barker et al., 2016).
2.) Name the author(s) in the sentence and put the date in parenthesis next to them.
Barker et al. (2016) found that happy students achieve higher grade point averages.
*When directly quoting a text, the page number is also necessary separated by a comma and with a p. in front of the page.
Barker et al. (2016) conclude, “These results more generally suggest that happy students’ academic success could be derived from their ability to adaptively manage motivational benefits of time-limited periods—or bouts—of heightened negative affect” (p. 2026).
3.) Put all the information in the sentence so no parenthetical citation is necessary.
In 2016, Barker et al. found that happy students achieve higher grade point averages.
*Note this only works for a paraphrase or summary. Direct quotes will still need the page numbers in the parenthesis.
Summarizing or Paraphrasing: (Author Last Name, Year).
Direct Quotation: (Author Last Name, Year, pp. Pages).
Any time you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or use an idea from a source within the text of your project, you must give credit to the source by using an in-text citation. Usually, in-text citations go at the beginning or end of a sentence. The information found in an in-text citation includes the last name of the author(s) and the publication date. The page number is also included if you directly quote an article.
In-text citations are a visual cue for readers showing which sections are your own thoughts and which belong to someone else. They also point a reader to the full citation in the References list.
For a complete student paper example, check out this annotated PDF from APA:
What happens when the source you're citing doesn't match any of the exampes? No sweat! Here are the general formatting rules for every citation. You can use these to build your citation without an example.
Ex: Author, A. A.
Ex: Editor, A. A. and Editor, B. B. (Eds.).
Ex: In A. A. Editor (Ed.),
Ex: In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.),
Ex: In A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, and C. C. Editor (Eds.),
Ex: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., . . . Author, Z. Z.
Ex: American Psychological Association.
Ex: (2006, January 31).
Ex: (n.d.).
Ex: [Tweet], [Status update], [Comment], [Brochure], [Video file], [Motion picture], [Lecture notes], [Monograph], [Transcript], [Video webcast]
To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize
Ex: The psychology of affiliation: Experimental studies of the sources of gregariousness.
Journal Ex: American Journal of Psychology
Website Name Ex: Center of Disease Control
To Italicize or not to Italicize?
Ex: 10(2),
DOIs or Digital Object Identifiers are the preferred method for citing an electronic source. Have you ever clicked on the link to a website only to find the link was broken? DOIs are permanent urls assigned to an article to make sure a reader can always find it. They are most commonly assigned to journal articles, but sometimes ebooks, ebook chapters, and online magazine articles have them too.
Ex: https://doi.org/10.1111/napa.12020
Some publishers put the DOI in number only form. In this case, change the DOI into the url form with the prefix https://doi.org/
Ex: Change this: DOI:10.1037/arc0000014
To This: https://doi.org/10.1037/arc0000014
For electronic journal, magazine, and newspaper articles without DOI’s, you do not need to provide an alternative URL from the database or browser bar.
Websites do not have DOIs. If you’re citing a website you can use the full URL of the page you’re citing from.
Do no put a period after a DOI or URL.
The DOI or URL should not be hyperlinked unless your professor asks for it to be.
Need to see reference citation formatting explained in a different way? Check out this Scaffolded Reference Elements Worksheet by the American Psychological Association:
Books usually have at least 4 pieces of information - the author, publication date, title of the book, and the publisher name. Books may also require an editor(s), translator(s), edition, volume number, or DOI.
Much of the information you need will be on the title page of the book, such as the author/editor.translator, the title, and the publisher name. You can often find the publication date on the back of the title page, which is called the verso. Sometimes the publisher information is found here as well instead of the title page.
This example is a straightforward citation of a book with one author. Notice how this citation only requires four pieces of information – the author, publication date, title of the book, and the publisher name. Books may also require an editor(s), translator(s), edition, volume number, or DOI.
You can often find the publication date on the back of the title page, which is called the verso.
Click on the citation elements in the interactive below for more information on formatting book elements:
For up to 20 authors, list each author before the title. Authors or editors’ names at the beginning of a citation are inverted. This formatting helps with the alphabetization of the References list.
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., and Author, C. C.
If there are 21 or more authors, include the names of the first 19 authors. After the 19 author use an ellipses, then add the final author after the ellipses.
When a book has an editor, it usually means that the chapters or articles in the book are written by different authors or by a group author. You will want to cite the specific chapter you’re using rather than the whole book. Look for the editor information on the title page. If the book has an edition, include it in the parenthesis preceding the pages numbers. It should look like this:
If you viewed a book or book chapter online, include the DOI if there is one.
If you viewed the ebook through a library database or through a service you pay for, you do not need to include a URL or the database information if the ebook has no DOI. Just cite it like a print book.
If you viewed the ebook on an open platform with a stable URL that anyone can access for free, include the URL after the publisher information. If there is no stable URL, cite it like a print book.
If the author is listed as anonymous, put anonymous in the author name slot.
If there is no author, you can move the title to the beginning of the citation in place of the author. The publication date remains in the second position.
If you are citing an entire website instead of a page or section, you don’t need a reference entry. Simply put the url in parenthesis after the sentence referring to the website. For example, the APA Style website has many reference examples and tutorials for you to refer to if you get stuck while citing using APA (https://apastyle.apa.org).
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Title of webpage. Website Name. http://xxxxxxxx
Organization A. (year, month day). Title of webpage. Website Name. http://xxxxxxxx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, September 13). Key facts about influenza (flu). cdc.gov/flu/about/keyfacts.htm
Title of webpage. (year, month day). Website Name. http://xxxxxxxx
Author, A. A. (n.d.). Title of webpage. Website Name. http://xxxxxxxx
To combat bias, advance science, and promote the fair treatment of all people, APA 7th edition requires you to write in affirming and inclusive language. Biased writing can cause your readers to draw conclusions you didn’t intend, imply value judgments, and alienate or offend your readers. Using bias free language is ethical and respectful behavior, as well as good writing.
The biases we face in everyday life aren’t only hurtful; they affect scientific research and how people perceive each other. Bias in relation to people is the implied or irrelevant evaluation of groups. For example, until recently, car safety research was conducted with a crash dummy the size and weight of the average man. Whether a car passed federal safety standards was only based on the results for the average size man. As a result, cars had been predominantly designed for the safety of men, and women were 47% more likely to be seriously injured in a crash and 17% more likely to die in a crash than men. The assumption that all bodies were sized and shaped like one “average” man made everyone else less safe (Goldberg, 2020).
If you are ever unsure of language to use in your assignments, refer to these examples by category or the linked APA’s Articles on Bias-Free Language.
“Negro”
“Afro-American”
“Oriental”
“Eskimo”
“the Black race”
“the White race”
"Bi-sexual women"
"Gay men"
"Pansexual gender-fluid adolescents"
“Person with substance use disorder”
"Person with dementia from Alzheimer's"
“Wheel-chair user”
“Blind person”
“Autistic person”
“Substance abusers”
"Addicts"
“The mentally retarded”
"Wheel chair bound"
"Sight challenged person"
"Special needs"
"Man"/"Woman"
"He"/"She"
"Non-binary"/"Gender-fluid"
"Ze"
"Hir"
"People"/"Humanity"
"Flight attendant" (vs. stewardess or steward)
“Birth sex”
“Transvestite”
"He or she"
"He/she"
"Mankind"
"Policemen"
"Waitress"
"Individuals who are undocumented"
"People whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold"
"Youth experiencing homelessness"
"People with less than a high-school education"
"Economically marginalized families"
"The homeless"
"Inner city"
"Illegal aliens"
"The undocumented"
"Poor people"
"Low class"
"High school drop-outs"
"Underprivileged families"