APA 7 uses an author–date citation in the text and a full entry in the reference list. The reference format depends on whether you used a book, journal article or webpage. Identify the original publication type, verify its metadata and make the in-text author and year match the reference entry. Follow your department’s required style before applying this guide.
How does an in-text citation work?
Use (Jackson, 2019) for one author, (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) for two and (Dunlosky et al., 2013) for three or more, unless abbreviation creates ambiguity. In a narrative citation, the name forms part of the sentence: Dunlosky et al. (2013). The APA author–date guidance explains these patterns.
An in-text citation identifies the source of a particular claim. A link at the end of a chapter does not make the origin of each earlier idea clear.
How do you reference a book?
Give the authors, year, italicised title, edition if applicable and publisher. APA 7 omits the publisher’s location. Include a DOI when available. Here is a real book example:
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Its in-text citation is (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The edition stays outside the title’s italics. Verify your own copy: do not combine the year of one edition with the edition number of another. SAGE provides the fifth-edition companion site.
How do you reference a journal article?
Italicise the journal title and volume, but not the article title or issue number. Include pages or an article number as appropriate. Present a DOI as an https://doi.org/ link without a final full stop.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266
Use (Dunlosky et al., 2013) in the text. PubMed confirms this article’s metadata. Finding its PDF online does not turn it into a webpage reference. The official article examples cover different publication cases.
How do you reference a webpage without a date?
Give the individual or organisational author, the page’s date if available, italicised page title, website name and URL. Omit the website name when it repeats the author. Do not use the site-wide copyright year as an assumed page date.
Google. (n.d.). Google Scholar search help. https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html
The example uses n.d., meaning no date, and (Google, n.d.) in the text. It cites the help page itself. Cite the original authors when using research found through Scholar. A retrieval date is mainly needed for unarchived content designed to change, rather than every webpage.
What changes for paraphrases and quotations?
A paraphrase needs author and year; page numbers are optional but useful for locating a passage. A direct quotation also needs a page or another suitable locator. APA places quotations shorter than 40 words within quotation marks; quotations of 40 words or more use a separate block without quotation marks. Do not invent a page number for an unpaginated source.
Before submitting, alphabetise the reference list, check matching citations, DOI links, italics and hanging indents. Distinguish APA 7 from ISO 690 or a faculty adaptation. Citation software formats metadata; it does not guarantee the metadata is correct.
FAQ
Is APA 7 the same as ISO 690?
No. Follow the required style and avoid mixing formats.
Is an online article cited as a website?
A journal article remains a journal article even when you download it online.
What does n.d. mean?
No date. Use it when no publication date can be established; do not substitute the download date.
Can I trust an automatic citation?
Treat it as a draft and check it against the original publication and the applicable APA rules.
Downloadable worksheet
Related guides
- Google Scholar: How to Find Academic Sources for Your Dissertation
- Zotero for Students: Citations and References in Word, Step by Step
- Qualitative or Quantitative Research: Choosing a Design for Your Dissertation