APA 7th Edition Quick Style Guide

Full Citations by Format

Full citation formatting for common publication types are listed below. For a full list of publication types see Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, located in Course Reserves in the library.

Book and Reference Work

	Citation
Format	Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Copyright Year). Title of book (x ed.). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx Note: Include URL/DOI if present. Make sure the link is active.
Example	Buikema, R., Buyse, A., & Robben, A. (2019). Cultures, citizenship and human rights. Taylor & Francis. http://www.oapen.org/download/?type=document&docid=1006489

Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers

	Citation
Format	Last name, First initial. Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. Where they live if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.
Example	Cardinal, D. Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. personal communication. April 4, 2004.

Journal Article from a Periodical (Journal, magazine, newspaper)

	Citation
Format	Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of Periodical, volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxx Note: Include URL/DOI if present. Make sure the link is active.
Example	Chen, M. (2019). Hate was not a winning ticket. Dissent, 66(1), 70–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/dss.2019.0011

Webpage from a Website with a Group Author

	Citation
Format	Author(s). (Date). Title of work. http://webpageURL Note: Make sure the link is active.
Example	Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, January 31). Diabetes and our heart. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-and-heart.htm

Webpage from a Website with an Individual Author

	Citation
Format	Author(s). (Date). Title of work. http://webpageURL Note: Make sure the link is active.
Example	Lugo, D. (2016). Virus infected plants and more alluring to bumble bees. American Association for the Advancement of Science. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/virus-infected-plants-are-more-alluring-bumble-bees

YouTube Video or Other Streaming Video

	Citation
Format	Contributor(s). (Date). Video title [Video]. Streaming video service. http://webpageURL Note: Make sure the link is active.
Example	Green, J. (2015, July 22). Paper towns and why learning is awesome [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgDGlcxYrhQ

How to Create a Reference When Information is Missing

You may come across references missing elements of the traditional citation. Use this table to create the reference.

Missing element	Solution	Reference list entry	In-text citation
Nothing--all elements present	Provide author, date, title, and source of the work.	Author, (Date). Title. Source	(Author, year) Author (year)
Author	Provide the title, date and source.	Title. (Date). Source.	(Title, year) Title (year)
Date	Provide the author, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the title and source.	Author. (n.d.). Title. Source.	(Author, n.d.) Author (n.d.)
Title	Provide the author anddate, describe the work in square brackets, and then provide the source.	Author. (Date). [Description of work]. Source.	(Author, year) Author (year)
Author and date	Provide the title, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the source.	Title. (n.d.) Source.	(Title, n.d.) Title (n.d.)
Author and title	Describe the work in square brackets, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the source.	[Description of work]. (Date). Source.	([Description of work], year) [Description of work] (year)
Date and title	Provide the author, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the source.	Author. (n.d.). [Description of work]. Source.	(Author, n.d.) Author (n.d.)
Author, date, and title	Describe the work in square brackets, write “n.d.” for “no date,”and then provide the source.	[Description of work]. (n.d.). Source.	([Description of work], n.d.) [Description of wrok] (n.d.)
Source	Cite as a personal communication or find another work to cite.	No reference list entry	(C.C. communicator, personal communication, month day, year)

In-Text Citations: Basic In-Text Citation Styles

The format of the in-text citation varies based on the number of authors. See table below for examples.

Author type	Parenthetical citation	Narrative citation
One author	(Totura, 2019)	Totura (2019)
Two authors	(Bandelay & Herrera, 2020)	Bandelay and Herrera (2020)
Three or more authors	(Ligier et al., 2020)	Ligier et al. (2020)
Group authors with abbreviation First citation* Subsequence citations	(Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2020) (CDC, 2020)	Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2020) CDC (2020)
Group author without abbreviation	(University of Rochester, 2020)	University of Rochester (2020)

*Define the abbreviation for a group author once in the text, using either the parenthetical or narrative format. Thereafter, use the abbreviation for all mentions of the group in the text.

About This Guide

Rules and explanations are taken from:

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

Additional APA resource:

Find more rules and source forms for reference list and in-text citations at the APA Guide at Purdue OWL.

Quick Guide Version

Version 4.2 (02/26/21) webpage edition by Greg Bem, Sue Wozniak, and Katherine Kelley. You can download the APA Quick style Guide as a .PDF file.