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APA (7th edition) Style Guide: APA (7th edition) Style Guide

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Citation & Style Guides

Online Citation Generators

What Does an APA Citation Include?

There are two parts to every APA citation:

  • an in-text citation for every source quoted or paraphrased; and
  • a complete citation in an alphabetized reference list at the end of the paper.

In-Text Citations

In general, these consist of the last name of the author(s) followed by the publication date, and can be expressed as parenthetical or narrative citations. See the In-Text Citations page for further explanation and formatting information.

Reference List Entries

In general, a reference is made up of four elements: author, date, title and source. These elements provide the information required to identify and retrieve the works cited in the text. See the Building Your References page for further explanation on references.

Putting it Together

Check out this sample paperfrom the Purdue OWL site to see a sample paper written in APA citation style.

APA Top Tips

  1.  Remember why we cite: Credit your sources, build your credibility, and save time (yours, if you want to find things again, and your instructors' if they need to check)
  2. Follow an online guide or look at the official Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
  3. Before you check the guide, ask yourself 'what is this that I'm referencing?'. Don't waste time looking at examples for something different. 
  4. Use a citation tool: Many of our databases will format the references for you! But check an APA guide to make sure there are no mistakes!
  5. Use the Hanging Indent tool in Microsoft word.
  6. Use the Case tool in Microsoft word. 
  7.  Do you have a lot of assignments requiring reference lists or works cited lists? You might want to try a reference management software system like Zotero-it does the formatting for you!

The Case Tool in Microsoft Word

1. Select the text.

2. Use the Aa button on the Home ribbon of Microsoft word to select the correct case. 

Note that in APA:

  • article titles are "Sentence case" (capitalize only the first word, proper nouns, and first word after punctuation)
  • journal titles all have the first letter capitalized (except for prepositions shorter than three letters long). 

Step 1 Select the Text You Need to Edit. Step 2 On the home tab, click Aa. Choose a capitalization style.

Caption: Step 1 Select the Text You Need to Edit. Step 2 On the home tab, click Aa. Choose a capitalization style. 

Changes to APA 7.0

Description not needed: The visuals in this video only support what is spoken; the visuals do not provide additional information.

Featured Resources

Hanging Indents in Microsoft Word

The video demos: the EBSCO citing tool, formatting a hanging indent, and double-spacing your document. Click video at any time to pause.