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APA Citation Style & Formatting

A guide to citing sources and to creating a list of references.

What's New with APA 7e?

APA 7 Quick Reference Guide, APA Style

Let's Break It Down: APA Journal Article Citation 7th edition

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Overview

Above shows is the formatting for citing a journal article in APA Style (7th edition). Use the tabs above to see the explanations about how each portion of your citation is assembled.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the Author(s)

  • Invert names so that the last name comes first, followed by a comma and the initials.
  • Leave a space between initials.
  • Retain the order of the authors' name as written in the article.
  • This format is used for 1-19 authors. If an article has more than 19 authors, see Purdue's Writing Lab Resource for additional information.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the Year

  • Place the year in parentheses.
  • End with a period.
  • Even if there is a month or date given for the article, only include the year in your citation.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting an Article Title

  • Capitalize only the first letter of the first word.
  • For a two-part title, capitalize the first work of the second part of the title (also know as the subtitle).
  • Capitalize proper nouns.
  • Do not italicize.
  • End with a period.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the Name of a Publication

  • Capitalize all major words in the periodical name.
  • Follow with a comma.
  • Italicize the publication name (but on the comma after).

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the Volume Number

  • Italicize the volume number.
  • Do not put a space between the volume number and the parentheses around the issue number.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the Issue Number

  • Do not italicize the issue number or parentheses.
  • Follow the parentheses with a comma.
  • No issue number? That's okay. Follow the volume number with a comma.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the Page Numbers

  • Include the article page range.
  • Use a dash; do not put spaces around the dash.
  • End with a period.

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of the Publication, volume(issue), #-#. https://doi.org/xxxx

 

Formatting the DOI

  • Does the article have a DOI? Include a DOI for all works that have one.
  • Do not put a period after the DOI.
  • If there is no DOI then finish your citation after the page number.