citing websites apa 7

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APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Websites

• Introduction
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & Ebooks
• Government & Legal Documents
• Biblical Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Films/Videos/TV Shows
• How to Cite: Other
• Additional Help

Table of Contents

Entire Website - No Separate Pages or Sections

Page or Section from a Website

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

This Microsoft support page contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.

It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.

If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the website instead.

The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.

If an original publication date and a last updated date are provided, use the last updated date. If the more current date is "last reviewed" instead of "last updated," use the original publication date (since the review may not have changed the content).

If there is no date provided, put the letters (n.d.) in round brackets where you'd normally put the date.

Titles should be italicized when the document stands alone (e.g. books, reports, websites, etc.), but not when it is part of a greater whole (e.g. chapters, articles, webpages, etc.).

Website Name

Provide website names in title case without italics after titles of work. Include a period after the website name, followed by the URL. When the author of the work is the same as the website name, omit the site name from the reference.

Retrieval Date

If the content of a website is likely to change over time (e.g. Wikis), you must provide the date you last visited the website.

If a URL is too long to fit onto one line, try to break it at a slash (/).

Entire Website

Note: If you are quoting or paraphrasing part of a website, you should create a reference for a Page or Section. If you mention a website in general, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation. Instead, include the name of the website in the text and provide the URL in parentheses.

The Department of Justice has a site called ReportCrime.gov (https://www.reportcrime.gov/) to help people identify and report crimes in their area.

Note : If you cite multiple webpages from a website, create a reference for each. Include the date you retrieved the information if the content is likely to change over time.

Created by a Corporate or Group Author

Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). Website Name. URL

Example in which the content is unlikely to change over time:

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2019, November 21). Justice served: Case closed for over 40 dogfighting victims . https://www.aspca.org/news/justice-served-case-closed-over-40-dogfighting-victims

Example in which the content is likely to change over time:

Adidas. (2020). Sustainability . Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://www.adidas.com/us/sustainability

Note: When the author and site name are the same, omit the site name in the reference.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Corporation/Group's Name, Year)

Example: (Adidas, 2020)

In-Text Quote:

(Corporation/Group's Name, year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

Example: (Adidas, 2020, Sustainability section, para. 1)

Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from.

Abbreviating Corporation/Group Author Name in In-Text citations:

Author names for corporations/groups can often be abbreviated. The first time you refer to the author, provide the full name, along with the abbreviation.

If the group name appears in the text of your paper, include the abbreviation in the in-text parenthetical citation:

Example: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA, 2019) assisted in the rescue of 40 dogs.

If the group name first appears within a parenthetical citation, include the full group name as well as the abbreviation in square brackets:

Example: Forty dogs were rescued in Bendena, Kansas (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA], 2019).

Provide the full group name (without an abbreviation) in the reference list entry: 

Created by an Individual Author 

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). Website Name. URL

Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist . Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

Shillam, S. (2018). Message from the Dean . University of Portland. Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://nursing.up.edu/about/index.html

(Author Last Name, Year)

Example: (Shillam, 2018)

(Author Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

Example: (Shillam, 2018, Message from the dean section, para. 2)

Created by an Unknown Author 

Title of page: Subtitle (if any). (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Website Name. URL

Example in which the content is unlikely to change over time (because the restaurant has closed) :

Jarra's Ethiopian Restaurant [Reviews]. (2012, November 9). Yelp. https://www.yelp.com/biz/jarras-ethiopian-restaurant-portland

Powell's City of Books [Reviews]. (2020, February 25). Yelp. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from https://www.yelp.com/biz/powells-city-of-books-portland-4

("Title," Year)

Example: ("Powell's City of Books," 2020)

("Title," Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

Example: ("Powell's City of Books," 2020, Review Highlights)

Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. In this example, there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed.

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• Skill Guides
• Subject Guides

APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Websites and Webpages

• Audiovisual Media
• Books and eBooks
• Dictionaries, Thesauruses and Encyclopedias
• Figures and Tables
• Generative AI
• Government Documents
• Journal, Magazine and Newspaper Articles
• Personal Communications
• Presentations and Class Notes
• Social Media
• Websites and Webpages
• In-Text Citation
• Reference List and Sample Papers
• Annotated Bibliography
• Citation Software

Website or Webpage?

A website is a collection of webpages that are under one domain. One website will have several webpages like Home, About Us, Contact Us, Services, Products, etc. All of these pages together make up a website. In other words, a webpage is an independent page of a website. 

If you simply mention a whole website it is not necessary to create a reference list entry. Name the website in the text of your paper and provide the URL in parentheses.

• Use the webpage and website category for your source  only if there is no better category for it . Do not use it if a source is simply available online, e.g., if a journal article is available from an online database, use a journal article format for your reference.
• Some information, (e.g., author, date), might not always be obvious on websites or webpages. Sometimes it may be necessary to check places such as the "About Us", the "Copyright" or the "Acknowledgements" page(s).
• Do not use any punctuation at the end of URLs as punctuation could interfere with the link.
• If the author of the website is the same as the name of the website, omit the website name.
• Retrieval date is normally not necessary unless the content is likely to change and the page is not archived, e.g., a Wikipedia entry. The format is: Retrieved February 1, 2020 from https://xxxxxxx

Webpage on a Website with an Individual Author

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date). Title of work . Site Name. URL

Picheta, R. (2020, July 1). This new high-tech glove translates sign language into speech in real time . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/30/health/sign-langage-glove-ucla-scn-scli-intl/index.html

Webpage on a Website with a Group Author

Name of Corporation/Group/Organization. (Date).  Title of work . Site Name. URL

World Health Organization. (2020, June 29). Timeline of WHO's response to COVID-19 . https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/29-06-2020-covidtimeline 

Note : When the author and site name are the same, omit the site name from the source element.

Webpage on a Website with No Date

Author or Group Name. (n.d.). Title of page . Site name. URL

National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Mental health conditions . https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions

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APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

• Basics of APA Formatting
• In Text Quick View
• Block Quotes
• Books & eBooks
• Thesis/Dissertation

Standard Format

Formatting rules, various examples.

• Audiovisual
• Conference Presentations
• Social Media
• Legal References
• Reports and Gray Literature
• Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
• Additional Resources
• Reference Page

Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

• Use when there is no other reference category that fits the source type and the work has no overarching publication (e.g., journal, blog, conference proceedings, etc.) other than the website itself
• If you refer to a website in general in you text, do not create a reference or in-text citation, instead refer to the websites name in the text followed by the URL in parentheses
• Provide the most specific date possible
• When site name is the designated author, omit including the site name from the reference
• Include a retrieval date when content is designed to change and the page is not archived

Website Examples

See Ch. 10 pp. 313-352 of APA Manual for more examples and formatting rules

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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Web Sites

• General Style Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with 1 Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
• Government Document
• Film and Television
• Youtube Video
• Audio Podcast
• Electronic Image
• Twitter/Instagram
• Lecture/PPT
• Conferences
• Secondary Sources
• Citation Support
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting Your Paper

Helpful Tip!

Where can I find the date of a Web page?

Usually the date is available at the bottom of the Web page.  It may state last updated , last modified or last reviewed .

If there is no date available then use (n.d.) for no date.

Situations this Section Covers

is section will cover the following examples:

• Web Page from a University Site
• Web Page with no Author
• Entry in an Online Reference Work

For youtube videos and audio podcasts , go to the Audiovisual Media tab.

For more examples and information, consult the following publications:

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

Call Number:  BF76.7 .P83 2020

Locations:  Main Reference Collection 1st Floor (1 copy); Book Stacks (5 copies)

About Citing Web Sites

When you are attempting to cite an online document or page that is more than one Web page, then cite a URL that links to the home page or entry page for the document. Remember, if there isn't a date available for the document use ( n.d. ) for no date.

For each type of source in this guide, both the general form and an example will be provided.

The following format will be used:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase) - entry that appears in the body of your paper when you express the ideas of a researcher or author using your own words.  For more tips on paraphrasing check out The OWL at Purdue .

In-Text Citation (Quotation) - entry that appears in the body of your paper after a direct quote.

References - entry that appears at the end of your paper.

Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

Subject Guide

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Citing websites & online media: APA (7th ed.) citation guide

On this page, online media, webpages or website.

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. It provides selected citation examples for common types of sources. For more detailed information consult directly a  print copy  of the style manual.

Check out APA's Guide to what's new for APA 7 .

Keep track of your document references/citations and format your reference lists easily with Citation management software .

For citing blog posts see citing articles in our guide.

Refer to APA's Online media for more reference examples and information or consult the guide directly (Section 10.15, pp. 348-349). 

Facebook, Tumblr, LinkedIn, & Reddit

Author, A. A. (YYYY, Month day). Content of the post up to 20 words . Site Name. URL

Reference list example

National Institute of Mental Health. (2020, September 14). Suicide is complicated and tragic, but is often preventable. Knowing the warning signs for suicide and how to get help [Infographic]. Facebook. https://bit.ly/3kkBF5v

Reference in text example

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)--[group name first appears in parenthetical citation] (NIMH, 2020) [subsequent use]

• Author can be the name of a group.
• Find more style guidelines when abbreviating the name of a group on APA's Group author abbreviations or directly consult the guide (Section 8.2, p. 268).
• Note any audiovisuals in square brackets [Infographic] after content element.
• Do not alter the spelling and capitalization in posts. Keep hashtags and links.
• Provide emoji's name in square brackets if unable to to replicate, for example [winking face]. Refer to Unicode Emoji Charts for emoji names. An emoji counts as one word.
•  If no published date available, use (n.d.).

Twitter & Instagram

For TikTok examples see APA's TikTok References .

Author, A. A. [@username). (YYYY, Month day). Content of the post up to the first 20 words . Site Name. URL

SFU Library (@sfu_library). (2020, September 10). Join us on Sept 22 for the first of our Fall series of hands-on, interactive, online Knowledge Mobilization workshops! [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/sfu_library/status/1303814348775673856?s=21

(SFU Library, 2020)

• Keep @ symbol when part of username and place in square brackets [ ] (Section 9.8, p. 287).
• Provide emoji's name in square brackets if unable to to replicate, for example [winking face]. Refer to Unicode Emoji Charts for emoji names.
• An emoji counts as one word.
• Use (n.d.). if no date available.

Use webpages or website if no other reference category fits for example, journal, blog, conference proceeding (Section 9.2, p.282).

A document or report found on a website

For citing a report found on a website see citing reports in our guide.

Quoting or paraphrasing part of a website

See more examples and details on APA's Webpage on a Website references or directly consult the guide (Section 10.16, pp 350-352).

Not sure how to identify and find the elements you need to cite a webpage? See What information do I need to cite a webpage

Author, A. A. (YYYY). Title of work . Site Name. https://xxxxxx

Name of Group. (YYYY, Month Day). Title of work . Site Name. https://xxxxxx

American Red Cross. (2019, April 15). Tornadoes - How to stay safe . https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2019/tornadoes-how-to-stay-safe.html

American Red Cross. (n.d.). Make a plan . https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/make-a-plan.html

Ewoldt, J. S. (2020, August 14). 6 ways to reduce your sugar intake . Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/6-ways-to-reduce-your-sugar-intake/art-20267400

The Wendy's Company. (n.d.). Community . Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://www.wendys.com/csr-what-we-value/people/community

(American Red Cross, 2019) (American Red Cross, 2019, "Tornadoes - How to stay safe") [when quoting]

(American Red Cross, "Make a plan")

(Ewoldt, 2020)

(The Wendy's Company, n.d.)

• When the author and site name are the same omit the site name [Section 9.33, p. 298].
• For in-text citation, if there is no author the title of the webpage is used in its place [Section 8.14, p. 264-265]. Capitalize major words in the title (Section 6.17, p. 167].
• For the reference list citation, if no author, the title also replaces the author [Section 9.12, p. 289]. Titles in the reference list use sentence case [Section 6.17, p. 168].
• When making in-text citations, use paragraph numbers (abbreviated to “para.”) if page numbers are not available. If there are no paragraph numbers, use the heading. The heading may be shortened if necessary.
• Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material is likely to change over time and there is no archived date. When required use the following format:  Retrieved Month Day, YYYY , from  https :// xxxxxx   after the site name. See APA's Webpage on a website with retrieval date for examples.
• Use bracketed description for works outside of peer-reviewed academic literature: [Letter to the editor], [Audiobook], [Photograph], [Brochure], [Press release], [Computer software], and [Supplemental material]. Refer to Section 9.21, p. 292 and see relevant examples in Chapter 10 of the guide.
• There is no period after the URL .
• Do not insert a hyphen when breaking a long URL.

Webpage on a news website

See more examples and details on APA's Webpage on a news website or consult the guide directly (Section 10.16, Example 110, p. 351).

Weber, B. (2020, September 28). Canada's health inequalities between rich and poor exposed in new study . HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/canada-health-inequality-study_ca_5f71f4fcc5b64deddef13346

(Weber, 2020)

• For articles published in an online news source (e.g. Bloomberg, HuffPost, Salon, Vox) not associated with daily or weekly newspapers

Whole site, not a single document or web page

See more examples and details on APA's Whole website references or directly consult the guide (Section 8.8, pp. 268-269 & Section 10.16, pp. 350-352).

• If website is mentioned in general (not any particular information on the site), provide name of website as part of the text and place URL in parentheses.
• No references or in-text citations needed.
• Link the name directly if writing online.

APA 7th referencing style

• About APA 7th
• Printing this guide
• In-text references
• Direct quotations
• Reference list
• Author information
• Additional referencing information
• Using headings
• Book chapter
• Brochure and pamphlets
• ChatGPT and other generative AI tools
• Conferences
• Dictionary or encyclopaedia
• Government legislation
• Journal article
• Lecture notes and slides
• Legal sources
• Newspaper or magazine article
• Other web sources
• Patents and standards
• Personal communication
• Press (media) release
• Secondary source (indirect citation)
• Social media
• Software and mobile apps
• Specialised health information
• Television program

Referencing webpages

Webpage within website - individual author, webpage within website - group author, webpage within website - no date.

• Works in non-English languages
• Works in non-English scripts, such as Arabic or Chinese

• If you use multiple pages from within the same website, reference each page individually.
• If referring to a website in general, do not include it in the in-text reference or in the reference list. Include website name within the text and add the web address in parentheses. For example - The survey was developed using Checkbox (http://www.checkbox.com) 
• Leave out the name of the website if the author and site name are the same.
• If a part of the date is not available eg. not specific date eg. March 16 or no month, just include the year.

The University of Queensland. (2020).

The University of Queensland. (2020, October).

The University of Queensland. (2020, October 15).

• If there is no date at all, include n.d.
• If there are references with the same author(s) and year , list them in alphabetically by title in the reference list. For he first of these references, add "a" after the year , b after the year for the second reference and so on. Use the relevant letter after the year in the in-text reference.

If there is no date or no month , these can be left out eg. Shapiro, R. E., & Cowan, R. (2017) or Shapiro, R. E., & Cowan, R. (2017, January).

If there is no date or no month , these can be left out eg. Mayo Clinic. (2017) or Mayo Clinic. (2017, March).

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APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Websites

• What Kind of Source Is This?
• Advertisements
• Books & eBooks
• Book Reviews
• Class Handouts, Presentations, and Readings
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
• Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Personal Communication (Interviews, Emails)
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• Paraphrasing
• Works Cited in Another Source
• No Author, No Date etc.
• Sample Paper, Reference List & Annotated Bibliography
• Powerpoint Presentations

On This Page

Page or section from a website created by a corporate or group author, page or section from a website created by an individual author, page or section from a website with an unknown author, report or document from a website – corporate or group author, government document from a website, in-text citation for two or more authors/editors, on the web but not a website.

Be careful! Just because you found something on the web, it doesn’t mean you are citing a website.

Look at the material closely – is it a journal article? A newspaper article? An encyclopedia? An eBook? Use the format that best describes the item. APA treats a source as a website only when it does not fit another category. 

Identifying the Elements of a Website

Citing source from websites can be challenging because they are not standardized in the same way as journal articles or books. This video from Valencia East Library walks you through the process with an example from the Centre for Disease Control website. 

How to Cite Webpages: APA 7th ed. from Valencia East Library on Vimeo .

It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.

If there is no known author, you can start the citation with the title of the website instead. However, APA tends to reserve this type of citation for a very small set of sources: for example, The Bible and some dictionaries and encyclopedias such as Wikipedia (which should not form a central part of your research). 

The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.

If there is no date provided, put the letters (n.d.) in round brackets where you'd normally put the date.

Titles of websites should be in plain text but use italics for webpages, articles, etc.

Retrieval Date

Most website citations in APA 7th Edition do not require a retrieval date. Unfortunately, however, determining which situations require this date can be challenging. If you use a stable, archived version of a web page, no retrieval date is needed. But if you use a web page that is continually updated, providing a retrieval date can help clarify inconsistencies between the page when you viewed it and when it was viewed by your reader. 

If a URL is too long to fit onto one line, try to break it at a slash (/).

Note : All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any) . URL

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any) . Website name. URL

Title of page: Subtitle (if any) . (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Name of Website. URL

Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year report was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of report: Subtitle if given  (Pub. No. Publication Number if given). Website Name if different from author. URL

Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee. (Year of Publication, Month Day). Title of document: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher if different from author. URL

Author's Last Name, First intial. Second Initial if Given or Username if real name not provided. (Year blog post was published, Month Day). Title of blog post. Title of Blog . URL

Title of entry. (Year article was edited, Month Day). In Wikipedia . URL

Note : Cite the archived version of the page you used.  To access this information on Wikipedia  select "View history," choose the version you used, and copy its URL.

Wikipedia may not be considered an acceptable source for a college or university assignment. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check your assignment.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Website Citation

How to Cite a Website in APA

This guide explains all of the important steps to referencing a website/web page in your APA research papers. The guidance below follows APA style, 7th edition.

APA format is much different than MLA format and other styles. If you need to cite websites in MLA , or you’re looking for more styles , check out the other resources on EasyBib.com!

Guide Overview

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

What is a website? Am I citing a website or a web page?

Citing a website in the text (in-text citation), citing a website on the reference page, citing a general web article without an author, titles of pages on the web, extra information, publisher information, web addresses and dois, apa format for online news articles, additional website citation examples, troubleshooting.

A website is a place on the Internet that holds a group of individual pages (called web pages).

Think of a website like a tree. A website is the tree, and the individual web pages are the branches. Use YouTube as an example. YouTube is the site, and the individual channel pages and video pages are the branches. Wikipedia is a site, and each article has its own individual web page on that site.

Most of the time, you aren’t trying to cite a whole, entire site, but actually an individual web page. If you used a YouTube video to help you with your research project, you wouldn’t cite the entire YouTube site, you would cite the specific YouTube page the video was found on.

Here’s a similar question we’re often asked when it comes to the APA citation of a web page:

Q: This page describes citing specific pages and articles. Can I cite an entire site?

A: According to the APA manual (7th edition), it is not necessary to cite a site in its entirety in a reference list. Instead, include a reference to the website in the body of your paper and cite any web page individually.

The Department of Justice has just released a new site called ReportCrime.gov at https://www.reportcrime.gov/ to help people identify and report crimes in their area.

In the above passage, the website is stated in the text rather than cited. This guide focuses on how to cite individual pages found on the web (web pages). If you used an entire website, it’s perfectly acceptable to cite the whole site in the text of your paper, as shown above, but for the most part, you want to cite the page where the information was found.

If you’re seeking out an APA citation website to take the stress away from proper referencing, try out EasyBib.com! Stop typing into the search bar, “how to cite a website APA” or “APA in-text citation website.” EasyBib.com is the answer to your referencing questions and needs!

When you include a piece of information from a site in your project, you must include two citations: a brief citation in the text and also a full citation on the reference page.

When it comes to mentions in the text, students are sometimes tempted to put the web address in the body of a project. However, URLs can be long, clunky, and distracting. They should never be written in the body of a project.

Instead of writing the full address in the text, use the last name of the author and the date the source was published. If no author is shown, write the title of the individual page and the date.

For direct quotations, you may use paragraphs to indicate the quotation’s location in the work. Count the paragraphs manually if needed and use the abbreviation “para.” for paragraph.

Check out this in-text citation APA website example:

                 Cite your source

The above APA website in-text citation (the author’s last name and the date the information was published) corresponds to the information on the final page of the project, the reference page.

Here’s how the full APA citation for a web page looks on the final page of the project:

Need more in-text citation APA website info? Here’s more on how to build an APA parenthetical citation . You may also like our full-length guide on how to create an APA in-text citation .

If you’re looking for information on structuring other styles in the text of your paper, check out our page on MLA in-text and parenthetical citations .

In the next section of this APA citation website guide, we’re going to focus on how to format an APA website citation. If you’re wondering how to create an APA citation of a web page, the majority of web references use the structure shown below.

General structure for how to cite a website in APA

Note: A retrieval date is no longer required for online sources. It’s only needed if the content is likely to change over time (such as wikis and social media). The article or page title should be italicized. The URL is at the end and does not have a period after it.

Full reference example:

View Screenshot | Cite your source

Example of an in-text citation for a website in APA:

If you’re looking for an APA format website to do the work for you, try out EasyBib.com’s citation generator. Our APA citation website makes referencing a breeze!

APA citation for website structure:

Do you need to cite a source with no author in APA ? No problem. Wikipedia pages, online dictionary sites, and online encyclopedia sites are just a few examples of sites without an author. When there is no clear individual author, use the website organization (group author) as the author.

Group authors

There are plenty of times when an individual’s name isn’t listed as the author, but the information on the site is written by a group, organization, or company.

In an APA website citation, it is completely acceptable to use the group’s name in the author position. Type it out in its entirety and add a period at the end. Check out the various APA citation of web page examples at the bottom of the page to see group authors in action!

Note: If the author name and website name is the same, just list it once in as the author; leave out the website name section in the APA citation. 

APA citation for website example:

If you’re wondering whether to include the full date in your APA citation for web pages (month, day, and year) or just the year, we have the answer for you here.

An APA citation of web page reference includes the month, day, and year if it’s a site that is updated with new information frequently. Blog posts, newspaper articles, posts from social media profiles, and YouTube videos are just a few of the sources that would display the full date. In an APA citation for web pages, it’s written in this order in parentheses: (Year, Month Day).

If there is any information missing, simply include what is available. Also, if there is no date , indicate this by using (n.d.).

No date APA website example:

If you’re using the EasyBib citation generator to create an APA citation for a web page, our technology structures dates for you in their proper order. It’s the APA format website (and also the APA in-text citation website) you’ve been waiting for. Give it a whirl!

Here’s the advice we provide on many of our guides:

• If the source you are citing is a standalone source, meaning an entire book, television series, or film, the title of such sources should be in italics.
• If, however, you are citing a piece of a larger source, i.e., a journal article, a page on a site, or an episode of a show, the title should be in sentence case and not in italics.

Long story short, do not italicize an APA citation for web pages’ title in the text and on the final page of references.

For full references on the final page of the project, only include capital letters at the beginning of the title, at the beginning of each proper noun, and at the beginning of the first word in the subtitle.

The title is written in the text only when there isn’t an author listed. So, instead of showing the reference as (Author, Date), use (“Title of Page,” Date) in any APA citation for web pages. Notice the switch from sentence case to title case in the text reference.

A little extra information goes a long way when it comes to site citations. If you’re including a unique source type, include information about the medium directly after the title. This information is placed in brackets. Only the first letter is capitalized.

Here are a few examples you might see in an APA citation for a web page:

[Image attached]

[Infographic]

[Status update]

To see some of the extra information in action, scroll down to the examples towards the bottom of this page.

Speaking of extra information, it may not hurt to get some extra details on grammar topics in that brain of yours. Brush up on your adjective , pronoun , and interjection knowledge with our comprehensive guides!

Any information related to the publisher is not invited to the web citation party. In an APA citation of a web page, you do not need to include information about the company that made the site, where its offices are located, or any other similar information about the company in any web references. One thing less to worry about in your APA citation for web pages!

Other source types are much different, so before you exclude publisher information from all of your references, make sure you check out our APA citation page. While you’re at it, check out our other helpful resources, such as APA reference page  and MLA works cited .

We also need a web address and DOI number in an APA citation for a web page. Including site addresses and DOIs are an absolute necessity. Addresses and DOIs (which stand for direct object identifiers) are usually the last item in an APA website citation.

For sites, after adding the full URL to the APA citation for a web page, do not end it with a period. If the address is very long, it is acceptable to roll it onto the next line, but break it up so that a type of punctuation mark or symbol is the first item closest to the left margin. Check out the APA citation of a webpage URL below.

APA citation of a webpage example of a properly structured URL:

DOI numbers are assigned by publishers to electronic sources such as journal articles, e-books, datasets, and more. They’re a string of numbers and sometimes other characters. If the source you’re using has a DOI number assigned to it, place it at the end of the APA website citation, instead of the URL, in this format: https://doi.org/10.XXXXXXXXX. Place the DOI string in place of the X’s shown above.

DOIs were created to combat the problem of broken links and 404 errors (pages taken down). Think about it: if a webpage is taken off of the Internet, it can be pretty difficult to find a copy of it. If you’re lucky, an archive site may have a copy stored somewhere, but for the most part, when sites are gone, they’re gone. DOIs are permanent, making them the ideal choice to include in any APA citation for webpages.

APA properly structured DOI:

APA differentiates between traditional newspapers that are online versus news websites with no daily/weekly/monthly newspaper or magazine edition. Unsure what you’re citing? Follow this decision tree:

• YES –> Cite it as a newspaper article.
• NO –> Cite it as a web page or a news site article.
• NO –> Cite it as a web page or news site article.

Online news article APA example:

News sites with no associated daily/weekly/monthly publication should be cited like a web page. That means the article title is italicized and the publisher/site name is in plan font. This format applies to articles from these sites:

• MSNBC Fox News

Newspaper article online APA example:

Sites associated with a daily/weekly/monthly publication should be cited as a newspaper article. That means the article title is in plain font and the publisher/site name is italicized. This format applies to articles from these sites:

• The New York Times
• The Guardian
• The Times of India
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Washington Post
• Yomiuri Shimbun

Below are various web reference examples to give you a quick visual of how pages are structured and organized. Quick reminder that if you’re trying to create a reference for an e-book found on the web, use the APA book citation page. In addition, if it’s an online article from journal, use our APA journal page.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to build your references, EasyBib.com is an APA citation website that does the work for you. Try it out and say hello to stress-free referencing and goodbye to constantly searching for “how to cite a website APA” or “how to cite APA” on search engines. The APA offers more information here .

How to cite a group/organization/company:

How to Cite a Blog Post in APA:

The structure is the same, but the format is slightly different: The blog article title is in plain text, and the name of the blog is italicized.

APA citation of a web page example for Facebook:

The text of the post is italicized, while the site name (Facebook) is in plain text.

APA citation of a web page example for Twitter:

Cite your source

If the name of the author is unknown, start the APA citation of a web page for Twitter with the username.

Need another set of eyes to check your paper for grammar and spelling edits? Not quite sure if every determiner , preposition , or conjunction is where it belongs? Check out our grammar and plagiarism checker . It’s the answer to all of your grammar questions!

If you’re still confused and typing into the search bar, “how to cite APA” or “how to cite a website APA,” try out EasyBib.com’s reference generator. It’s fast, easy, and allows you to focus on your writing and research, and less on your references. The best part? It creates both types of references. It has an in-text citation website APA generator and also a full reference generator! What are you waiting for? Go see the magic happen!

Here’s a quick video overview of how to cite a website in APA:

Solution #1: Determining the website company, the author, the publisher, or both (APA)

A website citation included in an APA-format bibliography doesn’t need a publisher, so you do not need to worry whether the website company is the publisher of a page you want to cite!

If an author isn’t credited on a given webpage, the website company should be listed as the author. This also goes for online encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.

Here’s an example for a full bibliography:

Roman empire. (2022, February 6). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire

Here is an example for an in-text citation:

(“Roman Empire,” 2022)

Solution #2: How to cite images and videos from social media in APA format

Making a bibliographic citation for a photo or video from social media is similar to making a citation for any website. Examples that fall into this category include photos, videos, or social media-specific mediums like highlights, reels, moments, or lives.

For your full citation in your bibliography, use the caption of the photo or video, up to 20 words, as the title. Denote the style of media in brackets, following the title.

For sources like Instagram Reels, Highlights, and other media whose exact date of posting is hard to discern, include the date you found and cited the photo or video rather than the original date the media was shared.

Here are examples of bibliographic citations:

World Wildlife Foundation [wwf]. (2021, October 20). This year marks our 60 years of action for people and nature. Together, we’ve done so much… [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVQQbF_KmA6/

New York Times [nytimes]. (n.d.) NYC Marathon 2021 [Highlight]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17928514339867051/

Here are the corresponding in-text citations:

(World Wildlife Foundation, 2021)

(New York Times, 2021)

Solution #3: How emojis are cited in APA format

If the website or social media post you are citing contains an emoji, keep the emoji in your full bibliographic citation without altering it.

Reference list example:

Grande, A [arianagrande]. (2021, October 18) the final #voicebattles begin tonight @nbcthevoice.🧚🏼‍♂️ thank you @kchenoweth, i love you. [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVLfY_vv_3c/

In-text citation example:

(Grande, 2021)

If you have trouble pasting the emoji into your full citation, put the emoji’s name followed by the word “emoji” all in brackets within your citation instead. Use Unicode’s Emoji Charts to look up the widely accepted, technical name of the emoji you want to cite.

Grande, A [arianagrande]. the final the final #voicebattles  begin tonight  @nbcthevoice . [woman fairy emoji] thank you  @kchenoweth , i love you. [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVLfY_vv_3c/

This guide is not officially associated with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, but it does provide information in line with the manual. 

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

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You will need the webpage’s author’s name, publication date, title of the page, website name, and the URL.

Here is an example with an author:

Geggel, L. (2021, July 6). A brief history of dinosaurs . LiveScience. https://www.livescience.com/3945-history-dinosaurs.html

Usually, if no author is shown the website is assumed to be the author. In these cases, the website name replaces the author name in the beginning of the reference.

For example:

National Park Service. (2018, July 23). Night skies as a cultural-historical resource . https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nightskies/cultural.htm

The URL of a website is mandatory if you cite a website or a webpage. Where you include the URL depends on the type of citation. To cite a website as a general reference without any reference to a specific page or particular details, simply add the name of the website in the text and include the URL in parentheses. There is no need to add a reference list entry. However, to cite a webpage on a website, you need to provide both an in-text citation and a reference list entry. Do not add the URL in the in-text citation. Just add the author’s name and year. The URL is given only in the reference list entry. Templates for in-text citations and reference list entries of a website or webpage along with examples are given below.

Website as a general reference

In-text style:

We took the data from the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (https://censusindia.gov.in/).

Webpage of a website

In-text citation templates and examples:

Author Surname (publication year)

Skelton (2017)

Parenthetical:

(Author Surname, publication year)

(Skelton, 2017)

Note that month and day are not mentioned in in-text citations.

Reference list entry template and example:

Author Surname, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Title of the webpage. Name of the Site. URL

Skelton, R. (2017, February 16). Fact check’s return perfect timing in ‘post truth’ age. ABC Opinion. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/fact-check-return-perfect-timing-in-post-truth-age/8277268

APA Citation Examples

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Generate citations in APA format quickly and automatically, with MyBib!

🤔 What is an APA Citation Generator?

An APA citation generator is a software tool that will automatically format academic citations in the American Psychological Association (APA) style.

It will usually request vital details about a source -- like the authors, title, and publish date -- and will output these details with the correct punctuation and layout required by the official APA style guide.

Formatted citations created by a generator can be copied into the bibliography of an academic paper as a way to give credit to the sources referenced in the main body of the paper.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an APA Citation Generator?

College-level and post-graduate students are most likely to use an APA citation generator, because APA style is the most favored style at these learning levels. Before college, in middle and high school, MLA style is more likely to be used. In other parts of the world styles such as Harvard (UK and Australia) and DIN 1505 (Europe) are used more often.

🙌 Why should I use a Citation Generator?

Like almost every other citation style, APA style can be cryptic and hard to understand when formatting citations. Citations can take an unreasonable amount of time to format manually, and it is easy to accidentally include errors. By using a citation generator to do this work you will:

• Save a considerable amount of time
• Ensure that your citations are consistent and formatted correctly
• Be rewarded with a higher grade

In academia, bibliographies are graded on their accuracy against the official APA rulebook, so it is important for students to ensure their citations are formatted correctly. Special attention should also be given to ensure the entire document (including main body) is structured according to the APA guidelines. Our complete APA format guide has everything you need know to make sure you get it right (including examples and diagrams).

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's APA Citation Generator?

Our APA generator was built with a focus on simplicity and speed. To generate a formatted reference list or bibliography just follow these steps:

• Start by searching for the source you want to cite in the search box at the top of the page.
• MyBib will automatically locate all the required information. If any is missing you can add it yourself.
• Your citation will be generated correctly with the information provided and added to your bibliography.
• Repeat for each citation, then download the formatted list and append it to the end of your paper.

MyBib supports the following for APA style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

• AUT Library
• Library Guides
• Referencing styles and applications

APA 7th Referencing Style Guide

• Websites & webpages
• Referencing & APA style
• In-text citation
• Elements of a reference
• Format & examples of a reference list
• Conferences
• Reports & grey literature
• Figures (graphs and images)
• Theses and dissertations
• Audio works
• Films, TV & video
• Visual works
• Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
• Computer software, games & apps
• Lecture notes & Intranet resources
• Legal resources
• Personal communications
• PowerPoint slides
• Social media
• Specific health examples
• Standards & patents

Websites & webpages

Citing an entire website, web documents.

• Footnotes and appendices
• Frequently asked questions

Use the webpages and websites category only if there is no other reference category that fits, and the work has no parent or overarching publication (e.g. journals, reports, social media, conference papers) other than the website itself.

If you use multiple webpages from a website, create a reference for each.

PDFs from websites:

• May be articles or reports. If this is the case, use the appropriate reference type to reference them.
• If PDF documents don't fit any other reference category, then reference them as  web documents .

If you mention a website in general, do not create a reference list entry, instead include the name of the website in the text and provide the URL in parentheses - for examples:

Reference format

• When the author name and the website name are the same, omit the website name in the reference
• Specific date : Provide the most specific date possible
• Retrieval date : Include a retrieval date only when the content is designed to change over time and the page is not archived e.g. survey data for an ongoing project, or a sports league’s page that updates its schedule and results as the season proceeds
• Last updated : If a webpage includes a "last updated" date, use the date for the reference
• Copyright : Do not use a copyright date from a webpage or website footer because this date may not indicate when the content on the site was published. You may use the copyright date applied to the content that you are citing 
• No date : If there isn't a date is indicated for the work on the webpage, treat the work as having no date
• Group authors:  Do not use abbreviations for group authors in references. Abbreviations of group authors can be used in in-text citations, check the rules on the  In-text citation page .

For more information see the APA Manual p289.

Webpage on a website with an individual author

Webpage on a website with a group author

• When the author and site name are the same, omit the site name

Webpage on a website with a government agency group author

• Include the names of parent agencies in the source element

Webpage on a website with no date

Webpage on a website with a retrieval date

• Include a retrieval date when the content is designed to change over time and the page is not archived.

Clinical guideline on the Auckland District Health Board website:

Find how to cite in text on the  In-text citation  page.

• AUT Library recommends that students should use a wide range of academic sources and not rely upon Wikipedia for their research

Wiki site - no date

• Cite the archived version of the page so that readers can retrieve the version you used
• Access the archived version on Wikipedia by selecting "View history" and then the time and date of the version you used
• If a wiki does not provide permanent link to the version you used, include the URL for the entry and the retrieval date

Web documents are files such as PDFs or Word documents which you can access via a webpage or website. You can generally download and save these to your device.

• Look for the author of the web document on the document itself or in the URL.
• Use Title of the series  only if known.

Examples of web documents:

Data sheets. For example, Augmentin data sheet Brochures. For example, Breastfeeding your baby  Prospectus . For example, AUT prospectus 

Examples of reference format:

• << Previous: Standards & patents
• Next: Footnotes and appendices >>
• Last Updated: Aug 8, 2024 9:47 AM
• URL: https://aut.ac.nz.libguides.com/APA7th

Citation Help for APA, 7th Edition: Webpages & Websites

• Books & Ebooks
• Book Chapter & Ebook Chapter
• Conference Presentations
• Course Resources (PowerPoint, Handouts, etc.)
• Encyclopedia
• Journal Article
• Legal Materials
• Magazine Article
• Master's Thesis, Dissertation, or Capstone Project
• Movies & Streaming Video
• Newspaper Article
• Personal Communication (email, interviews, lectures, course materials, etc.)
• Webpages & Websites
• Formatting Your Paper
• In-text Citations
• Ethically Use Sources

Variation - Group Author?

American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Explanation

Group authors include the name of a study group, government agency, association, corporation, task force, hospital, organization, etc. Put the name of the group author in the author position followed by a period. Do not include an abbreviation for the group author within the reference. Abbreviations should only be introduced and used within the body of the paper.

Parenthetical Citation

(American Psychological Association, 2019)

Narrative Citation

American Psychological Association (2019) ....

More information

For more information about group authors, see Section 9.11 on pages 288-289 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.

Variations - Live Hyperlinks?

Should my urls be live.

It depends. When adding URLs to a paper or other work, first, be sure to include the full hyperlink. This includes the http:// or the https://. Additionally, consider where and how the paper or work will be published or read. If the work will only be read in print or as a Word doc or Google Doc, then the URLs should not be live (i.e., they are not blue or underlined). However, if the work will be published or read online, then APA advises to include live URLs. This would allow the reader to click on a link and go to the source.   

More Information

For more information, see Section 9.35 on pages 299-300 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

NOTE: Check your instructor's preference about using live URLs. Some instructors may not want you to use live URLs. 

Variations - URLs?

Some URLs may be long and complicated. APA 7th edition allows the use of shorter URLs. Shortened URLs can be created using any URL shortener service; however, if you choose to shorten the URL, you must double-check that the URL is functioning and brings the reader to the correct website. 

Common URL Shortner websites include:

For more information about URLs, see Section 9.36 on page 300 of APA Manual, 7th edition. 

NOTE:  Check your instructor's preference about using short URLs. Some instructors may want the full URL. 

The CSS Library website (http://libguides.css.edu/CSSLibrary ) provides services and resources for all faculty, staff, and students who are currently affiliated with the institution.

When referring to an entire website in general and not citing specific content on the website, such as a particular document, it is sufficient to name the website in text and include the URL in parentheses.  Only include this information within the body of the paper and do not include a reference in the reference list.

More Information:

For more information about webpages and websites, see Section 10.16 on page 350 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.   

Webpage on a Website with a Group Author

Minnesota Department of Health. (n.d.). Workplace wellness: Making good health a priority at

work.   https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/workwellness/index.html

Author:  Minnesota Department of Health. 

Begin the reference with the author of the webpage. For a personal name, list the last name of the author, followed by the first and middle initial (if there is one provided). For group authors or companies, list the group author or company name. Do not abbreviate group authors or the company name in the reference list. Add a period after the author.  

Date: (n.d.).

Next, add the date. If there is no identifiable date, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d.". Add a period after each letter and do not add a space between the letters. Put the date in parentheses. Then, add a period after the parentheses. NOTE:   The date should be the date the webpage was created or the date the webpage was last updated .

Title & Subtitle of the Webpage:   Workplace wellness: Making good health a priority at work. 

Next, add the title of the webpage. Follow the general capitalization rule by capitalizing the first word of the title and subtitle as well as any proper nouns. Italicize the title and add a period after the title.  

Source Information:   https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/workwellness/index.html​

Complete the reference by adding the web address (URL) where the webpage can be found. Remove the hyperlink. Do not add a period after the URL. NOTE : In APA 7th edition, most webpages will identify the website where the webpage was found; however, when the author and the website are the same, skip the website name. Instead, just add the URL. Additionally, check the instructor's preference about live hyperlinks. In general, if the assignment is an online resource (e.g., Brightspace discussion, webpage, etc.), then keep live hyperlinks. If the assignment is a paper, then remove the hyperlinks.

For more information about websites and webpages, see Section 10.16 on pages 350-352 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

Parenthetical Citations:

(Minnesota Department of Health, n.d.)

Narrative Citation:

The Minnesota Department of Health (n.d.) provided suggestions ...

For more information about author format in parenthetical and narrative citations, see Section 8.17 and Table 8.1 on page 266 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

Webpage on a Website with an Individual Author

Hamman, J. (2019, November 21). What teachers should know about dysgraphia . Edutopia. 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-teachers-should-know-about-dysgraphia

Author:  Hamman, J. 

Date: (2019, november 21)..

Next, add the date. If the date includes a month and day, begin the date with the year followed by a comma. Then, add the month and the day. Fully spell out the month. Do not abbreviate. Put the date in parentheses. Then, add a period after the parentheses. NOTE:   The date should be the date the webpage was created or the date the webpage was last updated .

Title & Subtitle of the Webpage:   What teachers should know about dysgraphia . 

Next, add the title of the webpage. Follow the general capitalization rule by capitalizing the first word of the title and subtitle as well as any proper nouns. Italicize the title. Add a period after the title.  

Source Information: Edutopia.  https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-teachers-should-know-about-dysgraphia

Complete the reference by identifying the website where the webpage was found. Add a period after the website name. Then, add the web address (URL) where the webpage can be found. Remove the hyperlink. Do not add a period after the URL. NOTE : check the instructor's preference about live hyperlinks. In general, if the assignment is an online resource (e.g., Brightspace discussion, webpage, etc.), then keep live hyperlinks. If the assignment is a paper, then remove the hyperlinks.

Parenthetical Citation:

(Hamman, 2019)

Hamman (2019) shared ...

• << Previous: Personal Communication (email, interviews, lectures, course materials, etc.)
• Next: Formatting Your Paper >>
• Last Updated: Jul 2, 2024 9:40 AM
• URL: https://libguides.css.edu/APA7thEd

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• APA Style 7th edition
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APA Formatting and Citation (7th Ed.) | Generator, Template, Examples

Published on November 6, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on September 5, 2024.

The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual provides guidelines for clear communication , citing sources , and formatting documents. This article focuses on paper formatting.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Throughout your paper, you need to apply the following APA format guidelines:

• Set page margins to 1 inch on all sides.
• Double-space all text, including headings.
• Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches.
• Use an accessible font (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.).
• Include a page number on every page.

Let an expert format your paper

Our APA formatting experts can help you to format your paper according to APA guidelines. They can help you with:

• Margins, line spacing, and indentation
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• Running head and page numbering

Table of contents

How to set up apa format (with template), apa alphabetization guidelines, apa format template [free download], page header, headings and subheadings, reference page, tables and figures, frequently asked questions about apa format.

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References are ordered alphabetically by the first author’s last name. If the author is unknown, order the reference entry by the first meaningful word of the title (ignoring articles: “the”, “a”, or “an”).

Why set up APA format from scratch if you can download Scribbr’s template for free?

Student papers and professional papers have slightly different guidelines regarding the title page, abstract, and running head. Our template is available in Word and Google Docs format for both versions.

• Student paper: Word | Google Docs
• Professional paper: Word | Google Docs

In an APA Style paper, every page has a page header. For student papers, the page header usually consists of just a page number in the page’s top-right corner. For professional papers intended for publication, it also includes a running head .

A running head is simply the paper’s title in all capital letters. It is left-aligned and can be up to 50 characters in length. Longer titles are abbreviated .

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

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APA headings have five possible levels. Heading level 1 is used for main sections such as “ Methods ” or “ Results ”. Heading levels 2 to 5 are used for subheadings. Each heading level is formatted differently.

Want to know how many heading levels you should use, when to use which heading level, and how to set up heading styles in Word or Google Docs? Then check out our in-depth article on APA headings .

The title page is the first page of an APA Style paper. There are different guidelines for student and professional papers.

Both versions include the paper title and author’s name and affiliation. The student version includes the course number and name, instructor name, and due date of the assignment. The professional version includes an author note and running head .

For more information on writing a striking title, crediting multiple authors (with different affiliations), and writing the author note, check out our in-depth article on the APA title page .

The abstract is a 150–250 word summary of your paper. An abstract is usually required in professional papers, but it’s rare to include one in student papers (except for longer texts like theses and dissertations).

The abstract is placed on a separate page after the title page . At the top of the page, write the section label “Abstract” (bold and centered). The contents of the abstract appear directly under the label. Unlike regular paragraphs, the first line is not indented. Abstracts are usually written as a single paragraph without headings or blank lines.

Directly below the abstract, you may list three to five relevant keywords . On a new line, write the label “Keywords:” (italicized and indented), followed by the keywords in lowercase letters, separated by commas.

APA Style does not provide guidelines for formatting the table of contents . It’s also not a required paper element in either professional or student papers. If your instructor wants you to include a table of contents, it’s best to follow the general guidelines.

Place the table of contents on a separate page between the abstract and introduction. Write the section label “Contents” at the top (bold and centered), press “Enter” once, and list the important headings with corresponding page numbers.

The APA reference page is placed after the main body of your paper but before any appendices . Here you list all sources that you’ve cited in your paper (through APA in-text citations ). APA provides guidelines for formatting the references as well as the page itself.

Creating APA Style references

Play around with the Scribbr Citation Example Generator below to learn about the APA reference format of the most common source types or generate APA citations for free with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator .

Formatting the reference page

Write the section label “References” at the top of a new page (bold and centered). Place the reference entries directly under the label in alphabetical order.

Finally, apply a hanging indent , meaning the first line of each reference is left-aligned, and all subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches.

Tables and figures are presented in a similar format. They’re preceded by a number and title and followed by explanatory notes (if necessary).

Use bold styling for the word “Table” or “Figure” and the number, and place the title on a separate line directly below it (in italics and title case). Try to keep tables clean; don’t use any vertical lines, use as few horizontal lines as possible, and keep row and column labels concise.

Keep the design of figures as simple as possible. Include labels and a legend if needed, and only use color when necessary (not to make it look more appealing).

Check out our in-depth article about table and figure notes to learn when to use notes and how to format them.

The easiest way to set up APA format in Word is to download Scribbr’s free APA format template for student papers or professional papers.

Alternatively, you can watch Scribbr’s 5-minute step-by-step tutorial or check out our APA format guide with examples.

APA Style papers should be written in a font that is legible and widely accessible. For example:

• Times New Roman (12pt.)
• Arial (11pt.)
• Calibri (11pt.)
• Georgia (11pt.)

The same font and font size is used throughout the document, including the running head , page numbers, headings , and the reference page . Text in footnotes and figure images may be smaller and use single line spacing.

You need an APA in-text citation and reference entry . Each source type has its own format; for example, a webpage citation is different from a book citation .

Use Scribbr’s free APA Citation Generator to generate flawless citations in seconds or take a look at our APA citation examples .

Yes, page numbers are included on all pages, including the title page , table of contents , and reference page . Page numbers should be right-aligned in the page header.

To insert page numbers in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, click ‘Insert’ and then ‘Page number’.

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2024, September 05). APA Formatting and Citation (7th Ed.) | Generator, Template, Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/format/

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• About Library Databases
• Recommended Databases and Websites
• Database Search Strategies

APA 7th Ed. Manual

Free microsoft 365 access, tutorials and workshop recording, paper format: microsoft 365 and google docs, in-text citation, references list, more about dois and urls.

• Getting Research Help
• To give credit to others for their ideas
• To provide support for your argument
• To help your reader find and read the sources you used

When to Cite

• Paraphrasing, summarizing, or directly quoting from any source
• Acknowledging another person for an idea
• Using your own previous work

How to Cite

APA citation requires two parts:

• In-Text Citations : brief citations included within the text of your paper. They point your reader to the full citation at the end of your paper.
• References List : a page at the end of your paper listing all the sources you used.

The APA Publication Manual is the official guide to APA format.

All Merced College students have access to Microsoft 365 (formerly branded as Office 365), which includes Word, through student email.

• How to Use Microsoft 365 From Merced College's SSTC.
• Citing and Formatting in APA (7th ed.)

This interactive tutorial was created by Merced College Faculty Librarian Lindsay Davis and will guide you through:

• formatting a paper
• creating in-text citations
• pulling information from sources to create citations for a References page in APA 7th edition

The tutorial can be used as an assignment because there are quiz questions. Students can retake it as often as they wish, and after completing the tutorial, they can download a PDF certificate of completion with their name and score as a percentage.

• Academic Writer Tutorial: Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style

• paper elements, format, and organization   
• academic writing style  
• grammar and usage    
• bias-free language guidelines    
• mechanics of style
• tables and figures
• in-text citations, paraphrasing, and quotations
• reference list format and order

The tutorial doesn't contain checks for understanding. 

• Student Success APA 7 Workshop Recording
• Merced College Psychology instructor Susie Williamson gives a workshop about APA 7 formatting every semester.
• The latest recording is from Spring 2024.
• The next APA workshop is on September 24, 2024 from 1-2pm in LRC 156 and by Zoom .
• All upcoming workshops and recordings can be found on the Study Central Workshops page.

Paper format is covered in Chapter 2 of the  APA Publication Manual

• Paper Format From APA Style.
• APA General Format From Purdue OWL.
• APA Style From Excelsior OWL.

Watch the Video: Microsoft 365

Office 365 was rebranded to Microsoft 365 in 2020. The following "...video walks you step-by-step through setting up an Office 365 Word document in APA 7th edition format" ( lsccyfairlibrary , 4:25). 

Watch the Video: Google Docs

"APA format is easy in Google Drive! This video is based on the student guidelines for APA 7th edition, which came out near the end of 2019" ( Amy Whitson , 3:32). 

In-text citation is covered in Chapter 8 of the  APA Publication Manual

• In-Text Citations From APA Style.
• In-Text Citations: The Basics From Purdue OWL.
• APA In-Text Citations From Excelsior OWL.

Reference examples are covered in Chapter 10 of the  APA Publication Manual

• APA 7 Handout From the Merced College Library; the first page covers print resources, and the second page has electronic resources.
• Reference Examples From APA Style.
• Reference List: Basic Rules From Purdue OWL.
• APA References From Excelsior OWL.

DOI & URL Guidelines

• If an online work has both a DOI and a URL, include only the DOI.
• If the DOI is not available, treat the work as a print source. 
• Don't include the URL or database information. 
• Don't use a period after a DOI. 
• If the URL is no longer working, try to find an archived version using the  Internet Archive and use the archived URL. 
• Don't use a period after a URL. 
• Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL
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• Last Updated: Sep 8, 2024 7:49 PM
• URL: https://libguides.mccd.edu/comm01_ward

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APA Website Citation (7th Edition) Guide | Format & Examples

• Tags: Academic Writing , APA Citations , APA Style , Citations and References , Research Paper

While citing websites might seem complicated, we’ve made it easier for you! In this article, we’ve explained everything about APA website citations in the 7th edition. From how to cite websites with no author to how to cite social media sites, we’ve covered everything for you! 

We’ve also given specific examples to clarify all your doubts about citing websites. With this, we’ve also provided practical tips to ensure that you cite websites correctly. So without delaying further, let’s begin with the basics. 

How to cite a website in APA 

A simple APA 7 website citation includes the author’s last name, first and middle initials along with the website’s URL. The in-text citation in APA for a website consists of the author’s surname and publication year. Following is the basic APA citation format for a website: 

Author’s surname, first & middle initials, publishing date, article title, website name, and URL. 

Here is an example of how to cite a website in APA: 

Cherry, K. (2023, March 11). What are the big 5 personality traits? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422 

       Parenthetical in-text citation: (Cherry, 2023) 

       Narrative in-text citation: Cherry (2023) 

Here is an example of how to cite a magazine article from a website in APA: 

Daughtry, D. (2023, June 3). Overcoming Imposter Syndrome . Personal Growth Magazine.  https://www.personalgrowthmagazine.com/overcoming-imposter-syndrome/ 

     Parenthetical in-text citation: (Daughtry, 2023) 

     Narrative in-text citation: Daughtry (2023) 

Citing newspaper articles on websites 

The APA formatting guidelines to cite a newspaper article from a website is similar to that of a magazine. Only, instead of the magazine’s name, the newspaper’s name must be written. Let’s see an APA website citation example of this type: 

Grabmeier , J. (2023, January 24). How the last 12,000 years have shaped what humans are today. https://news.osu.edu/how-the-last-12000-years-have-shaped-what-humans-are-today/

Parenthetical in-text citation: (Grabmeier, 2023)

Narrative in-text citation: Grabmeier (2023) 

Note: If the newspaper article is only available online and not in print format, put the article’s name in italics.

Citing blogs from websites

Format: Author’s surname, initials, publication date, blog title, blog name, and the URL. 

Here is an example: 

King, C. R., Martinez-Cola, M., Scherer, M. L., Francis, R., & Strong, M. T. (2023, October 2). Creating a Class of Our Own: Reflections on First-Generation and Working-Class  People in Sociology. EVERYDAY SOCIOLOGY BLOG. https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2023/10/creating-a-class-of-our-own-reflections-on-first-generation-and-working-class-people-in-sociology.html

Parenthetical in-text citation: (King et al., 2023) 

Narrative intext citation: King et al. (2023) 

Citing a report from a website 

Various details such as the author’s name, the report’s publication date, title, subtitle, report number, publisher, and URL are mentioned to cite a report. The government, organization, or group’s name can be cited as the author of the report. The APA citation format to reference a report from a website is:

Author’s name, publication year, report title & subtitle, report number (if available), publisher’s name, and URL. 

U.S. Department of State. (2022, September 21). Food security action report – united  states department of state . https://www.state.gov/food-security-action-report/

Parenthetical in-text citation: (U.S. Department of State, 2022) 

Narrative in-text citation: (U.S. Department of State) 2022

Note: If the author and publisher’s name are the same, don’t include the publisher’s name in the citation.

Citing websites with no author

Websites that do not have any author are generally associated with some organization or government. Hence, instead of the author’s name, the APA citation for a website includes the relevant organization or government’s name. To create an APA in-text citation for a website with no author, add the organization or government agency’s name along with the year the source was published in parentheses. 

 Following is the format to cite websites with no author: 

Organization/ Government’s name, publication year, Title of the page, Website name, URL 

Here is an APA website citation example to understand better: 

United States Institute of Peace. (2010, January 18). Macroeconomic Stabilization. United States Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/guiding-principles-stabilization-and-reconstruction-the-web-version/sustainable-economy/macroeconomi

Parenthetical in-text citation: (United States Institute of Peace, 2010) 

Narrative in-text citation: United States Institute of Peace (2010) 

If the organization/government/author’s name is not given, you can directly begin the citation with the article title. The in-text citations for such sources will consist of the article title and the year of publication in parentheses. 

Note: When the article title is mentioned in plain text in the reference entry, it is written with quotation marks in the in-text citation. However, if the article title is italicized in the reference entry, it’s in italics in the in-text citation.

Now that we’ve understood how to create an APA citation for a website with no author, let’s understand how to reference websites with no date in APA. 

Citing websites with no date in APA 

If the date isn’t mentioned on the website, simply write (n.d) after the author’s name in parentheses. The short form n.d stands for no date. Since websites are updated, it’s suggested to mention the date you accessed the website. The APA in-text citation for a website with no date will only include the author’s last name and the short form n.d.

Format: Author’s name, (n.d.). Title of the Page, Site name, Date when you accessed the website, URL. 

Here is an APA website citation example to clarify further: 

Appleby, D. (n.d.). 10 tips for achieving financial security . Investopedia. Retrieved on October 7, 2023, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/06/10secureretirementtips.asp 

        Parenthetical In-text citation: (Appleby, n.d.) 

        Narrative In-text citation: Appleby (n.d) 

The above example clearly demonstrated how to cite a website in APA in the text and on the  APA reference page . Let us now understand the reference sources from Wikipedia. 

Citing Wikipedia as a source 

Instead of beginning the article with the author’s name, the citation directly begins with the title of the article. This is followed by various details such as the publishing date, the website’s name, and the URL. It is recommended to select the URL from the archived page from Wikipedia. To access the archived page from Wikipedia, you can select the option “View History” and choose the page date you wish to cite. 

Format: Article title, publishing date. In Wikipedia. URL of the page’s archived version. 

For example: 

Behavioural Sciences . (2023, September 22).In Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Behavioural_sciences&oldid=1176554197

  Parenthetical In-text citation: (“Behavioral Sciences”, 2023) 

  Narrative in-text citation: “Behavioral Sciences” (2023) 

Citing visual graphics from websites in APA 

If you wish to cite infographics, maps, or any images of data statistics, you’ll need to write the website name/ organization name from where you’ve taken the source image. For images with no title, briefly describe the data in the image after citing the date the post was published. 

Format: Website/organization/author name, (published date), title , image type, website name, URL. 

Here is an APA 7th edition website citation to clarify further: 

Statista (2022, October 5). Anthropology museums in Latin America 2022 . [Statistics] Statista  https://www.statista.com/statistics/1062997/latin-america-caribbean-anthropology-museums-by-country/

Parenthetical citation: (Statista, 2022)

Narrative citation: Statista (2022)

Note: If there is no publication date, mention the date you accessed the visual graphic from the website.

Citing interviews from websites 

If the interview cannot be retrieved in audio or print format, only include an in-text citation of that interview. However, if the interview has been published on an online medium such as a magazine or a newspaper website, cite the interview using the following format: 

Format: Author’s surname and initials, interview title, website name , URL 

Jeffries, S. (2015, March 21). David Graeber interview: “so many people spend their  working lives doing jobs they think are unnecessary.” The Guardian.  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/21/books-interview-david-graeber-the-utopia-of-rules 

Parenthetical in-text citation: (Jeffries, 2015)

Narrative in-text citation: Jeffries (2015) 

Citing online forum websites 

Various details such as the author’s name, publishing date, post title, publisher and URL are mentioned in the citation. 

Format: Author’s surname and initials, [username]. (Publishing date). Post title [Online forum post]. Publisher. URL. 

Machado, A. [r/sociology] (2023, June 11). Peter Berger: Accidental sociologist . [Online forum post] Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/sociology/comments/1g2xdc/peter_berger_accidental_sociologist/              

Parenthetical in-text citation: (Machado, 2023) 

Narrative in-text citation: Machado (2023)

While the above examples explain how to cite websites in APA, you may also have queries about citing sources from popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. Keep reading to understand the basics of referencing sources from social media platforms! 

How to cite sources from social media in APA 

Since social media posts usually don’t have a title, you can include their first 20 words in italics instead of the title. You’ll also need to add other important information such as the author’s surname, first initial, publication year, website name, and URL. If the author’s name isn’t mentioned, you can cite the page name in the beginning of the citation. 

Format: Author’s last name and initials [username] publication date, post’s first 20 words, post type, site name & URL. 

APA website citation for a Twitter post

Adzema, M. [@sillymickel]. (2023, October 2). We find another rich representation of our prenatal patterns — one marvelously developed and intricately detailed — in “Cinderella,” another [Tweet]. Twitter.  https://twitter.com/sillymickel/status/1708555863651434662

        Parenthetical in-text citation: (Adzema, 2023) 

        Narrative in-text citation: Adzema, 2023)

If you wish to include the Twitter profile, add it after the date when the post was published while referencing the source. For example: 

Koe, D ( [@thedankoe] (2023, October 7). Tweet [Twitter profile] Retrieved on October 10, 2023, from  https://x.com/thedankoe/status/1710673593074401299?s=20

Parenthetical in-text citation: (Koe, 2023)

Narrative in-text citation: Koe (2023)

APA website citation for a Facebook post

Format: Surname and initials or page name. (Publishing date) Post content up to the post’s 20 words [Post type] Website name and URL. 

Notes of an Observant Detective. (2020, April 2). BANDWAGON EFFECT. The  bandwagon effect refers to the tendency people have to adopt a certain  behavior, style, or attitude simply. [Text] Facebook.    https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=514241535982663&story_fbid=704339306972884

Parenthetical in-text citation: (Notes of an Observant Detective, 2020) 

Narrative in-text citation: Notes of an Observant Detective (2020)

APA website citation for an Instagram post 

Format: Surname and initials or page name. [@username]. (Publishing date). Post content up to the post’s first 20 words. [Post type]. Website name. URL

Psychologs [@psychologsmagazine]. (2023, October 4) Psychology is defined as  the study of mind and behavior. The concept of psychology was first introduced by the German.. [Text]. Instagram.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx-NSDQsxaY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

P arenthetical in-text  citation: (Psychologs, 2023) 

Narrative in-text citation: Psychologs (2023) 

The format to cite an Instagram highlight or Instagram post, the format remains the same. Only, the post type changes. If you’re citing an Instagram highlight, write [Highlight] for the post type. In contrast, if you wish to reference an Instagram photograph, include [Photograph] for the post type. 

Following is the format to cite an Instagram Story: 

Author/page name. [username]. (n.d). Post Title [Post type]. Website name. Date when the post was accessed, URL. 

LePera, N. [the.holistic.psychologist]. (n.d). If you push people away or leave before you’re left,  watch this [Highlight] Instagram. Retrieved on October 9, 2023, from https://instagram.com/stories/the.holistic.psychologist/3209241141912104683?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Parenthetical in-text citation: (LePera, n.d) 

Narrative in-text citation: LePera (n.d.) 

Other pointers while citing social media posts 

• Include any additional information about any audio, video, or images associated with the post in square brackets. 
• Try to replicate any emoji used in the Twitter post if possible. For example, you can write [smiling face emoji] if an emoji with a smiling face is used. 

Ensure perfectly formatted and correct APA website citations.  Get Started

Citing YouTube videos as sources 

To cite YouTube videos as sources, the following is the format: 

Surname and initials, [username], Video Title [Video]. Streaming medium. URL 

Welsh, M. [Michael Wesch] (2007, February 1). Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us  [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Parenthetical in-text citation: (Welsh, 2007) 

Narrative in-text citation: Welsh (2007)

Now that you have gained knowledge about APA website citations, you can use this information to create your website citations. Bookmark this article and revisit it in case of any doubts in the future! 

After citing the sources for your paper, you’ll also have to edit your paper. If you find editing a challenging task, you can consider taking our editing and proofreading services . 

To help you submit well-written and structured papers, we’ve created several useful resources on APA and other style guides. Continue reading to enhance your knowledge and write high-quality research papers! 

• Citing References: APA, MLA, and Chicago
• How to Create an APA Title Page | Free Template & Examples
• How to Write an Essay Header: MLA and APA Essay Headers
• APA Journal Citation: 7 Types, In-Text Rules, & Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

How to cite a webpage with no official title, how to cite a webpage with multiple authors, how to cite a basic website in apa style.

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

APA Style (7th Edition)

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

In this section

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• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides

APA Citation Generator

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper, a comprehensive guide to apa citations and format, overview of this guide:.

This page provides you with an overview of APA format, 7th edition. Included is information about referencing, various citation formats with examples for each source type, and other helpful information.

If you’re looking for MLA format , check out the Citation Machine MLA Guide. Also, visit the Citation Machine homepage to use the APA formatter, which is an APA citation generator, and to see more styles .

Being responsible while researching

When you’re writing a research paper or creating a research project, you will probably use another individual’s work to help develop your own assignment. A good researcher or scholar uses another individual’s work in a responsible way. This involves indicating that the work of other individuals is included in your project (i.e., citing), which is one way to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism? What is it?

The word plagiarism is derived from the Latin word, plagiare , which means “to kidnap.” The term has evolved over the years to now mean the act of taking another individual’s work and using it as your own, without acknowledging the original author (American Psychological Association, 2020 p. 21). Plagiarism can be illegal and there can be serious ramifications for plagiarizing someone else’s work. Thankfully, plagiarism can be prevented. One way it can be prevented is by including citations and references in your research project. Want to make them quickly and easily? Try the Citation Machine citation generator, which is found on our homepage.

All about citations & references

Citations and references should be included anytime you use another individual’s work in your own assignment. When including a quote, paraphrased information, images, or any other piece of information from another’s work, you need to show where you found it by including a citation and a reference. This guide explains how to make them.

APA style citations are added in the body of a research paper or project and references are added to the last page.

Citations , which are called in-text citations, are included when you’re adding information from another individual’s work into your own project. When you add text word-for-word from another source into your project, or take information from another source and place it in your own words and writing style (known as paraphrasing), you create an in-text citation. These citations are short in length and are placed in the main part of your project, directly after the borrowed information.

References are found at the end of your research project, usually on the last page. Included on this reference list page is the full information for any in-text citations found in the body of the project. These references are listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

An APA in-text citation includes only three items: the last name(s) of the author(s), the year the source was published, and sometimes the page or location of the information. References include more information such as the name of the author(s), the year the source was published, the full title of the source, and the URL or page range.

Why is it important to include citations & references

Including APA citations and references in your research projects is a very important component of the research process. When you include citations, you’re being a responsible researcher. You’re showing readers that you were able to find valuable, high-quality information from other sources, place them into your project where appropriate, all while acknowledging the original authors and their work.

Common ways students and scholars accidentally plagiarize

Believe it or not, there are instances when you could attempt to include in-text and full references in the appropriate places, but still accidentally plagiarize. Here are some common mistakes to be aware of:

Mistake #1 - Misquoting sources: If you plan to use a direct quote, make sure you copy it exactly as is. Sure, you can use part of the full quote or sentence, but if you decide to put quotation marks around any words, those words should match exactly what was found in the original source. Here’s a line from The Little Prince , by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

Here’s an acceptable option:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Here’s a misquote:

“Grown-ups barely ever understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Notice the slight change in the words. The incorrect phrasing is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Mistake #2 - Problems with paraphrasing: When we paraphrase, we restate information using our own words and writing style. It’s not acceptable to substitute words from the original source with synonyms.

Let’s use the same sentence from The Little Prince .

A correct paraphrase could be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything. It’s too bad adults are unable to comprehend anything on their own (p. 3).

An incorrect paraphrase would be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares that adults never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for kids to be always and forever clarifying things to them (p.3).

Notice how close the incorrect paraphrase is from the original. This is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Make sure you quote and paraphrase properly in order to prevent accidental plagiarism.

If you’re having a difficult time paraphrasing properly, it is acceptable to paraphrase part of the text AND use a direct quote. Here’s an example:

de Saint-Exupery (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything, and “it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” (p. 3).

Information About APA

Who created it.

The American Psychological Association is an organization created for individuals in the psychology field. With close to 121,000 members, they provide educational opportunities, funding, guidance, and research information for everything psychology-related. They also have numerous high-quality databases, peer-reviewed journals, and books that revolve around mental health.

The American Psychological Association is also credited with creating their own specific citation and reference style. Today, this format is used by individuals not only in the psychology field, but many other subject areas as well. Education, economics, business, and social sciences also use APA style quite frequently. Click here for more information . This guide covers general information about the style, but is not affiliated with the American Psychological Association.

Why was this style created?

This format was first developed in 1929 to form a standardized way for researchers in science fields to document their sources. Prior to the inception of these standards and guidelines, individuals were recognizing the work of other authors by including bits and pieces of information in random order. There wasn’t a set way to format citations and references. You can probably imagine how difficult it was to understand the sources that were used for research projects!

Having a standard format for citing sources allows readers to glance at a citation or APA reference and easily locate the title, author, year published, and other critical pieces of information needed to understand a source.

The evolution of this style

The guide below is based on APA style 7th edition, which was released in 2020. In previous versions of APA format, researchers and scholars were required to include the publisher location for books and the date that an electronic resource was accessed. Both are no longer required to be included.

Details on the differences between the 6th and 7th editions is addressed later in this guide.

Citations & References

The appearance of citations & references.

The format for references varies, but most use this general format:

%%Author’s Last name, First initial. (Date published). Title . URL

Researchers and scholars must look up the proper format for the source that they’re attempting to cite. Books have a certain format, websites have a different format, periodicals have a different format, and so on. Scroll down to find the proper format for the source you’re citing or referencing.

If you would like help citing your sources, CitationMachine.com has a citation generator that will help make the APA citation process much easier for you. To start, simply click on the source type you're citing:

• Journal articles

In-text citations

An APA in-text citation is included in research projects in three instances: When using a direct quote, paraphrasing information, or simply referring to a piece of information from another source.

Quite often, researchers and scholars use a small amount of text, word for word, from another source and include it in their own research projects. This is done for many reasons. Sometimes, another author’s words are so eloquently written that there isn’t a better way to rephrase it yourself. Other times, the author’s words can help prove a point or establish an understanding for something in your research project. When using another author’s exact words in your research project, include an APA in-text citation directly following it.

In addition to using the exact words from another source and placing them into your project, these citations are also added anytime you paraphrase information. Paraphrasing is when you take information from another source and rephrase it, in your own words.

When simply referring to another piece of information from another source, also include a citation directly following it.

Citations in the text are found near a direct quote, paraphrased information, or next to a mention of another source. To see examples of some narrative/ parenthetical citations in action, look at the image above, under “All About Citations & References.”

Note: *Only include the page or paragraph number when using a direct quote or paraphrase. Page numbers have a p. before the number, pp. before the page range, and para. before the paragraph number. This information is included to help the reader locate the exact portion of text themselves. It is unnecessary to include this information when you’re simply referring to another source.

Examples of APA in-text citations:

“Well, you’re about to enter the land of the free and the brave. And I don’t know how you got that stamp on your passport. The priest must know someone” (Tóibín, 2009, p. 52).

Student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers (Kent & Giles, 2017, p. 12).

If including the author’s name in the sentence, place the year in the parentheses directly next to his or her name. Add the page number at the end, unless it’s a source without any pages or paragraph numbers (See Section 8.10 of the Publication manual for more details).

In-text citation APA example:

According to a study done by Kent and Giles (2017), student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers.

The full references, or citations, for these sources can be found on the last part of a research project, titled the “References.”

Here’s how to create in-text citations for specific amounts of authors:

APA citation with no author

When the source lacks an author’s name, place the title, year, and page number (if available) in the text. The title should be in italics if it sits alone (such as a movie, brochure, or report). If the source is part of a whole (as many web pages and articles are), place the title in quotation marks without italics (See Section 8.14 of the Publication manual ).

Structure of an APA format citation in the text narratively, with the author's name missing:

Title of Source (Year) or “Title of Source” (Year)

Structure of an APA style format citation, in parentheses at the end of the sentence, with the author’s name missing: (Title of Source, Year) or (“Title of Source,” Year)

Structure for one author

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author (Year)...(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author, Year, page number).

Structure for two authors

Place the authors in the order they appear on the source. Only use the ampersand in the parenthetical citations (see Section 8.17 of the Publication manual ). Use ‘and’ to separate the author names if they’re in the text of the sentence.

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author 1 and Last name of Author 2 (Year)....(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author 1 & Last name of Author 2, Year, page number).

Structure for three or more authors

Only include the first listed author’s name in the first and any subsequent citations. Follow it with et al.

(Last name Author 1 et al., Year, page number)

(Agbayani et al., 2020, p. 99)

Last name of Author 1 et al. (Year)...(page).

Agbayani et al. (2020)...(p. 99)

One author, multiple works, same year

What do you do when you want to cite multiple works by an author, and the sources all written in the same year?

Include the letters ‘a’ ‘b’ ‘c’ and so on after the year in the citation.

(Jackson, 2013a)

Jackson (2013a)

Writers can even lump dates together.

Example: Jackson often studied mammals while in Africa (2013a, 2013b).

On the APA reference page, include the same letters in the full references.

Groups and organizations

Write out the full name of the group or organization in the first citation and place the abbreviation next to it in brackets. If the group or organization is cited again, only include the abbreviation. If it doesn’t have an abbreviation associated with it, write out the entire organization’s name each and every time (see Section 8.21 of the Publication manual ).

First APA citation for an organization with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], Year)

World Health Organization (WHO, Year)

Notice in the example directly above, the name of the organization is written out in full in the text of the sentence, and the abbreviation is placed in parentheses next to it.

Subsequent APA citations in the text for an organization with an abbreviation: (WHO, Year) OR WHO (Year)

All citations in the text for an organization without an abbreviation: (Citation Machine, Year) or Citation Machine (Year)

One in-text citation, multiple works

Sometimes you’ll need to cite more than one work within an in-text citation. Follow the same format (author, year) format but place semicolons between works (p. 263).

(Obama, 2016; Monroe et al., 1820; Hoover & Coolidge, 1928)

Reminder: There are many citation tools available on CitationMachine.com. Head to our homepage to learn more, check out our APA citation website, and cite your sources easily! The most useful resource on our website? Our APA citation generator, which doesn’t just create full references, it’s also an APA in-text citation website! It’ll do both for you!

Click here to learn more about crediting work .

Reference list citation components

References display the full information for all the citations found in the body of a research project.

Some things to keep in mind when it comes to the references:

• All references sit together on their own page, which is usually the last page(s) of a paper.
• Title the page ‘References’
• Place ‘References’ in the center of the page and bold it. Keep the title in the same font and size as the references. Do not italicize, underline, place the title in quotation marks, or increase the font size.
• The entire page is double spaced.
• All references are listed in alphabetical order by the first word in the reference, which is usually the author’s last name. If the source lacks an author, alphabetize the source by the title (ignore A, An, or The)
• All references have a hanging indent, meaning that the second line of text is indented in half an inch. See examples throughout this guide.
• Remember, each and every citation in the text of the paper MUST have a full reference displayed in the reference list. The citations in the text provide the reader with a quick glimpse about the sources used, but the references in the reference list provide the reader with all the information needed to seek out the source themselves.

Learn more about each component of the reference citation and how to format it in the sections that follow. See an APA sample paper reference list at the end of this entire section.

Author’s names

The names of authors are written in reverse order. Include the initials for the first and middle names. End this information with a period (see Section 9.8 of the Publication manual ).

Format: Last name, F. M.

• Angelou, M.
• Doyle, A. C.

Two or more authors

When two or more authors work together on a source, write them in the order in which they appear on the source. You can name up to 20 authors in the reference. For sources with 2 to 20 authors, place an ampersand (&) before the final author. Use this format:

Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Kent, A. G., Giles, R. M., Thorpe, A., Lukes, R., Bever, D. J., & He, Y.

If there are 21 or more authors listed on a source, only include the first 19 authors, add three ellipses, and then add the last author’s name.

Roberts, A., Johnson, M. C., Klein, J., Cheng, E. V., Sherman, A., Levin, K. K. , ...Lopez, G. S.

If you plan on using a free APA citation tool, like the one at CitationMachine.com, the names of the authors will format properly for you.

###No authors

If the source lacks an author, place the title in the first position in the reference (Section 9.12 of the Publication manual ). When the source’s title begins with a number (Such as 101 Dalmatians ), place the reference alphabetically as if the number was spelled out. 101 Dalmatians would be placed in the spot where ‘One hundred’ would go, but keep the numbers in their place.

Additionally, if the title begins with the words ‘A’, ‘An,’ or ‘The,’ ignore these words and place the title alphabetically according to the next word.

See the “Titles” section below for more information on formatting the title of sources.

###Corporate/Organization authors

On an APA reference page, corporate authors are always written out in full. In the text of your paper, you may have some abbreviations (such as UN for United Nations), but in the full references, always include the full names of the corporation or organization (following Section 9.11 of the official Publication manual ).

%%United Nations. (2019). Libya: $202 million needed to bring life-saving aid to half a million people hit by humanitarian crisis. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1031981

Publication date & retrieval date

Directly after the author’s name is the date the source was published. Include the full date for newspapers and magazine articles, and only the year for journals and all other sources. If no date is found on the source, include the initials, n.d. for “no date.”

%% Narducci, M. (2017, May 19). City renames part of 11th Street Ed Snider Way to honor Flyers founder. The Philadelphia Inquirer . http://www.philly.com/

If using our APA Citation Machine, our citation generator will add the correct format for you automatically.

Giving a retrieval date is not needed unless the online content is likely to be frequently updated and changed (e.g., encyclopedia article, dictionary entry, Twitter profile, etc.).

%%Citation Machine [@CiteMachine]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://twitter.com/CiteMachine

When writing out titles for books, articles, chapters, or other non-periodical sources, only capitalize the first word of the title and the first word of the subtitle. Names of people, places, organizations, and other proper nouns also have the first letter capitalized. For books and reports, italicize the title in the APA citation.

Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Roots: The saga of an American family.

For articles and chapters in APA referencing, do not italicize the title.

Wake up the nation: Public libraries, policy making, and political discourse.

For newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, and other periodicals, capitalize the first letter in each word and italicize the title.

The Seattle Times.

A common question is whether to underline your title or place it in italics or quotation marks in the reference list. Here’s a good general rule: When a source sits alone and is not part of a larger whole, place the title in italics. If the source does not sit alone and is part of a larger whole, do not place it in italics.

Books, movies, journals, and television shows are placed in italics since they stand alone. Songs on an album, episodes of television shows, chapters in books, and articles in journals are not placed in italics since they are smaller pieces of larger wholes.

The Citation Machine citation generator will format the title in your citations automatically.

Additional information about the title

If you feel it would be helpful to include additional information about the source type, include a descriptive noun or two in brackets immediately following the title. Capitalize the first letter.

%%Kennedy, K., & Molen, G. R. (Producers), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Jurassic Park [Film]. USA: Universal.

Besides [Film], other common notations include:

• [Audio podcast]
• [Letter to the editor]
• [Television series episode]
• [Facebook page]
• [Blog post]
• [Lecture notes]
• [PowerPoint presentation]
• [Video file]

If you are using Citation Machine citing tools, additional information about the title is automatically added for you.

Publisher information

For books and reports, include the publisher name but not the location (see Section 9.29 of the Publication manual ). Older editions of the style required the city, state and/or country, but this hasn't been the case since the 7th edition was released.

It is not necessary to include the entire name of the publisher. It is acceptable to use a brief, intelligible form. However, if Books or Press are part of the publisher’s names, keep these words in the reference. Other common terms, such as Inc., Co., Publishers, and others can be omitted.

For newspapers, journals, magazines, and other periodicals, include the volume and issue number after the title. The volume number is listed first, by itself, in italics. The issue number is in parentheses immediately after it, not italicized. There is no space after the closing parenthesis and before the volume number.

%%Giannoukos, G., Besas, G., Hictour, V., & Georgas, T. (2016). A study on the role of computers in adult education. Educational Research and Reviews , 11 (9), 907-923. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2016.2688

After including the publisher information, end this section with a period.

Perseus Books.

Electronic source information:

For online sources, the URL or DOI (Direct Object Identifier) are included at the end of an APA citation.

DOI numbers are often created by publishers for journal articles and other periodical sources. They were created in response to the problem of broken or outdated links and URLs. When a journal article is assigned a DOI number, it is static and will never change. Because of its permanent characteristic, DOIs are the preferred type of electronic information to include in APA citations. When a DOI number is not available, include the source’s URL (see Section 9.34 in the Publication manual ).

For DOIs, include the number in this format:

http://doi.org/xxxx

For URLs, type them in this format:

http:// or https://

Other information about electronic sources:

• If the URL is longer than a line, break it up before a punctuation mark.
• Do not place a period at the end of the citation/URL.
• It is unnecessary to include retrieval dates, unless the source changes often over time (like in a Wikipedia article).
• It is not necessary to include the names of databases

If using the Citation Machine APA citation website autocite features, the online publication information will be automatically replaced by the DOI. The Citation Machine APA template will properly cite your online sources for you.

Make sure you run your completed paper through the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader, which scans for grammar, spelling, and plagiarism. Whether it’s an adjective , verb , or pronoun out-of-place, our technology helps edits your paper for you!

Annotated bibliographies:

An APA annotated bibliography is a full bibliography that includes a small note for each reference citation. Each note should be short (1-2 paragraphs) and contain a summary or your evaluation about each source. When creating your citations on CitationMachine.net, there is a field at the bottom of each form to add your own annotations.

Follow the publication manual guidelines on paper format and writing style. Let your instructor guide other details about your annotations. Still confused? Read our guide on annotated bibliographies .

These types of projects look different depending on the style you’re using. Use the link at the top of the page to access resources related to the Modern Language Association’s style. Here’s information related to Chicago citation style .

Page formatting

Need help with the design and formatting of your paper? Look no further! This section provides the ins and outs of properly displaying the information in your APA essay.

• Times New Roman, 12-point size.
• Calibri, Arial, or Georgia, 11-point size
• Lucida, Sans Unicode, or Computer Modern, 10-point size
• Indents = Every paragraph should start with an indent.
• Margins = 1 inch around the entire document
• Spacing = Double space everything!

Arrange your pages in this order:

• Page 1 - APA Title Page (see below for information on the title page)
• Page 2 - Abstract (If your professor requests one)
• Page 3 - First page of text
• References begin on their own page. Include the list of references on the page after the text.
• Tables and figures

Keep in mind that the order above is the recommendation for papers being submitted for peer review. If you’re writing an APA style paper for a class, your professor may be more lenient about the requirements. Also, if you’re submitting your paper for a specific journal, check the requirements on the journal’s website. Each journal has different rules and procedures.

Just a little nudge to remind you about the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader. Whether it’s a conjunction or interjection out of place, a misspelled word, or an out of place citation, we’ll offer suggestions for improvement! Don’t forget to check out our APA citation maker while you’re at it!

Running heads

In older editions of APA, running heads were required for all papers. Since the 7th edition, that’s changed.

• Student paper: No running head
• Professional paper: Include a running head

The running head displays the title of the paper and the page number on all pages of the paper. This header is found on every page of a professional paper (not a student paper), even on the title page (sometimes called an APA cover page) and reference list (taken from Section 2.8 of the Publication manual ).

It's displayed all in capital letters at the top of the page. Across from the running head, along the right margin, is the page number.

• Use the header feature in your word processor. Both Google Docs and Word have these features available.
• Use one for the recommended fonts mentioned under "Page formatting."

Title pages

A title page, sometimes called an APA cover page, graces the cover of an essay or paper. An APA title page should follow rules from Section 2.3 of the official Publication manual and include:

• Page number, which is page 1
• Use title case and bold font
• The title should be under 12 words in length
• The title should be a direct explanation of the focus of the paper. Do not include any unnecessary descriptors such as “An Analysis of…” or “A Study of…”
• Exclude any labels such as Mr., Ms., Dr, PhD...
• Name of the school or institution
• Course number and/or class name
• Name of your instructor, including their preferred honorifics (e.g., PhD, Dr., etc.)
• Paper’s due date
• If this is a professional paper, also include a running head. If this is a student paper, do not include one.

Follow the directions for the running head and page number in the section above. Below the running head, a few lines beneath, and centered in the middle of the page, should be the title. The next line below is the author’s name(s), followed by the name of the school or institution, the class or course name, your instructor’s name, and the paper’s due date.

All components on this page should be written in the same font and size as the rest of your paper. Double space the title, names, name of school or institution, and all other information on the page (except for the running head and page number).

Example - Student Title Page APA:

Example - Professional Title Page APA:

If you’re submitting your paper to a journal for publication, check the journal’s website for exact requirements. Each journal is different and some may request a different type of APA format cover page.

Looking to create an APA format title page? Head to CitationMachine.com’s homepage and choose “Title Page” at the top of the screen.

An abstract briefly but thoroughly summarizes dissertation contents. It’s found in the beginning of a professional paper, right after the title page. Abstracts are meant to help readers determine whether to continue reading the entire document. With that in mind, try to craft the lead sentence to entice the reader to continue reading.

Here are a few tips:

• Be factual and keep your opinions out. An abstract should accurately reflect the paper or dissertation and should not involve information or commentary not in the thesis.
• Communicate your main thesis. What was the examined problem or hypothesis? A reader should know this from reading your abstract.
• Keep it brief. Stick to the main points and don’t add unnecessary words or facts. It should not exceed 250 words.
• Consider your paper’s purpose. It’s important to cater your abstract to your paper type and think about what information the target audience for that paper type would want. For example, an empirical article may mention methodology or participant description. A quantitative or qualitative meta-analysis would mention the different variables considered and how information was synthesized.
• Use verbs over noun equivalents, and active voice. Example: “There was research into…” becomes “We researched…”

Formatting guidelines:

• The abstract goes after the title page.
• It should have the same font (size and type) as the rest of the paper.
• It should stick to one page.
• Double-space all page text.
• Center and bold the word “Abstract” at the top of the paper.
• Don’t indent the first line of the abstract body. The body should also be in plain text.
• For the keywords, place it on the line after the abstract and indent the first line (but not subsequent lines). The word “Keywords:” is capitalized, italicized, and followed by a colon. The actual keywords are sentence case and in plan font.
• List each keyword one after the other, and separate them by a comma.
• After the last keyword, no ending punctuation is needed.

Tables & Figures

If your paper includes a lot of numerical information or data, you may want to consider placing it into a table or a figure, rather than typing it all out. A visual figure or simple, organized table filled with numerical data is often easier for readers to digest and comprehend than tons of paragraphs filled with numbers. Chapter 7 of the Publication manual outlines formatting for tables and figures. Let's cover the basics below.

If you’d like to include a table or figure in your paper, here are a few key pieces of information to keep in mind:

• At the end of the paper after the APA reference page
• In the text after it is first mentioned
• The table first mentioned in the text should be titled ‘Table 1.’ The next table mentioned in the text is ‘Table 2,’ and so on. For figures, it would be 'Figure 1,' 'Figure 2,' and so forth.

• Even though every table and figure is numbered, also create a title for each that describes the information it contains. Capitalize all important words in the title.
• For tables, do not use any vertical lines, only use horizontal to break up information and headings.
• Single spacing is acceptable to use in tables and figures. If you prefer double spacing your information, that is okay too.
• Do not include extra information or “fluff.” Keep it simple!
• Do not include the same exact information in the paper. Only include the complete information in one area—the table or the text.
• All tables and figures must be referenced in the text. It is unacceptable to throw a table or figure into the back of the paper without first providing a brief summary or explanation of its relevance.

Publication Manual 6th Edition vs 7th Edition

The 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was released in 2009. The current 7th edition came out in the fall of 2019 and was designed to be more student focused, provide more guidance on accessibility, and address changes that have developed over the last 10 years.

Below, we’ve listed what we feel are the most relevant changes related to APA format.

Journals and DOIs

DOI stands for “digital object identifier.” Many journal articles use and have a unique DOI that should be included in a full citation.

When including a DOI in a citation, format it as a URL. Do not label it “DOI.” Articles without DOIs from databases are treated as print works. For example:

6th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

7th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

Citing Books

There are few new guidelines when you are citing a book. First, the publisher location no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. Bloomington, IN: First Books Library.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. First Books Library.

Second, the format of an ebook (e.g., Kindle, etc.) no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic [Kindle].

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic .

Lastly, books from research databases without DOIs are treated the same as print works.

When using a URL in a citation, you no longer need to include the term “Retrieved from” before URLs (except with retrieval dates). The font should be blue and underlined, or black and not underlined.

6th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

7th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

Within a full APA citation, you may spell out up to 20 author names. For two to 20 authors, include an ampersand (&) before the name of the last author. For sources with 21 or more authors, structure it as follows:

Structure: First 19 authors’ names, . . . Last author’s name.

7th edition example: Washington, G., Adams, J., Jefferson, T., Madison, J., Monroe, J., Adams, J. Q., Jackson, A., Van Buren, M., Harrison, W. H., Tyler, J., Polk, J. K., Taylor, Z., Filmore, M., Pierce, F., Buchanan, J., Lincoln, A., Johnson, A., Grant, U. S., Hayes, R. B., Garfield, . . . Trump, D.

When creating an in-text citation for a source with 3 or more authors, use “et al.” after the first author’s name. This helps abbreviate the mention.

6th Edition: (Honda, Johnson, Prosser, Rossi, 2019)

7th Edition: (Honda et al., 2019)

Tables and Figures

Instead of having different formats for tables and figures, both use one standardized format. Now both tables and figures have a number, a title, name of the table/figure, and a note at the bottom.

If you’re still typing into Google “how to cite a website APA” among other related questions and keywords, click here for further reading on the style .

When you’re through with your writing, toss your entire paper into the Citation Machine Plus plagiarism checker , which will scan your paper for grammar edits and give you up to 5 suggestions cards for free! Worry less about a determiner , preposition , or adverb out of place and focus on your research!

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) (2020). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Updated March 3, 2020

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto. Michele Kirschenbaum has been an awesome school librarian since 2006 and is an expert in citing sources. Wendy Ikemoto has a master’s degree in library and information science and has been working for Citation Machine since 2012.

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Citation Examples

• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Edited Book Chapter
• Dictionary Entry
• Government Report
• YouTube Video
• Facebook Post
• Webpage on a Website
• Supplemental Reference Examples
• Archival Documents and Collections

Parenthetical citations:  (Grady et al., 2019; Jerrentrup et al., 2018)

Narrative citations:  Grady et al. (2019) and Jerrentrup et al. (2018)

• If a journal article has a DOI, include the DOI in the reference.
• If the journal article does not have a DOI and is from an academic research database, end the reference after the page range (for an explanation of why, see the  database information  page). The reference in this case is the same as for a print journal article.
• Do not include database information in the reference unless the journal article comes from a database that publishes original, proprietary content, such as UpToDate (see an example on the  database information  page).
• If the journal article does not have a DOI but does have a URL that will resolve for readers (e.g., it is from an online journal that is not part of a database), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference.
• If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the article number instead of the page range (as shown in the Jerrentrup et al. example).

Parenthetical citations:  (Rabinowitz, 2019; Sapolsky, 2017)

Narrative citations:  Rabinowitz (2019) and Sapolsky (2017)

• If the book includes a DOI, include the DOI in the reference after the publisher name.
• Do not include the publisher location.
• If the book does not have a DOI and comes from an academic research database, end the book reference after the publisher name. Do not include  database information  in the reference. The reference in this case is the same as for a print book.

Parenthetical citations:  (Schaefer & Shapiro, 2019; Schulman, 2019)

Narrative citations:  Schaefer and Shapiro (2019) and Schulman (2019)

• If a magazine article has a DOI, include the DOI in the reference.
• If the magazine article does not have a DOI and is from an academic research database, end the reference after the page range. Do not include  database information  in the reference. The reference in this case is the same as for a print magazine article.
• If the magazine article does not have a DOI but does have a URL that will resolve for readers (e.g., it is from an online magazine that is not part of a database), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference.
• If the magazine article does not have volume, issue, and/or page numbers (e.g., because it is from an online magazine), omit the missing elements from the reference (as in the Schulman example).

Parenthetical citation:  (Carey, 2019)

Narrative citation:  Carey (2019)

• If the newspaper article is from an academic research database, end the reference after the page range. Do not include  database information  in the reference. The reference in this case is the same as for a print newspaper article.
• If the newspaper article has a URL that will resolve for readers (e.g., it is from an online newspaper), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference.
• If the newspaper article does not have volume, issue, and/or page numbers (e.g., because it is from an online newspaper), omit the missing elements from the reference, as shown in the example.
• If the article is from a news website (e.g., CNN, HuffPost)—one that does not have an associated daily or weekly newspaper—use the format for a  webpage on a website  instead.

Parenthetical citation:  (Aron et al., 2019)

Narrative citation:  Aron et al. (2019)

• If the edited book chapter includes a DOI, include the chapter DOI in the reference after the publisher name.
• If the edited book chapter does not have a DOI and comes from an academic research database, end the edited book chapter reference after the publisher name. Do not include  database information  in the reference. The reference in this case is the same as for a print edited book chapter.
• Do not create references for chapters of authored books. Instead, write a reference for the whole book and cite the chapter in the text if desired (e.g., Kumar, 2017, Chapter 2).

Parenthetical citation:  (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)

Narrative citation:  Merriam-Webster (n.d.)

• Because entries in  Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary  are updated over time and are not archived, include a  retrieval date  in the reference.
• Merriam-Webster is both the author and the publisher, so the name appears in the author element only to avoid repetition.
• To quote a dictionary definition, view the pages on quotations and  how to quote works without page numbers  for guidance. Additionally, here is an example:  Culture  refers to the “customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” (Merriam-Webster, n.d., Definition 1a).

Parenthetical citation:  (National Cancer Institute, 2019)

Narrative citation:  National Cancer Institute (2019)

The specific agency responsible for the report appears as the author. The names of parent agencies not present in the  group author name  appear in the source element as the publisher. This creates concise in-text citations and complete reference list entries.

Parenthetical citation:  (Harvard University, 2019)

Narrative citation:  Harvard University (2019)

• Use the name of the account that uploaded the video as the author.
• If the account did not actually create the work, explain this in the text if it is important for readers to know. However, if that would mean citing a source that appears unauthoritative, you might also look for the author’s YouTube channel, official website, or other social media to see whether the same video is available elsewhere.

Parenthetical citations:  (APA Databases, 2019; Gates, 2019)

Narrative citations:  APA Databases (2019) and Gates (2019)

• Present the name of the individual or group author the same as you would for any other reference. Then provide the Twitter handle (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets, followed by a period.
• Provide the first 20 words of the tweet as the title. Count a URL, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each, and include them in the reference if they fall within the first 20 words.
• If the tweet includes an image, a video, a poll, or a thumbnail image with a link, indicate that in brackets after the title: [Image attached], [Video attached], [Thumbnail with link attached].
• The same format used for Twitter is also used for Instagram.  

Parenthetical citation:  (News From Science, 2019)

Narrative citation:  News From Science (2019)

• Provide the first 20 words of the Facebook post as the title. Count a URL or other link, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each, and include them in the reference if they fall within the first 20 words. 
• If a status update includes images, videos, thumbnail links to outside sources, or content from another Facebook post (such as when sharing a link), indicate that in square brackets.

Parenthetical citations:  (Fagan, 2019; National Institute of Mental Health, 2018; Woodyatt, 2019; World Health Organization, 2018)

Narrative citations:  Fagan (2019), National Institute of Mental Health (2018), Woodyatt (2019), and World Health Organization (2018)

• Provide as specific a  date  as is available on the webpage. This might be a year only; a year and month; or a year, month, and day.
• Italicize the title of a webpage.
• When the author of the webpage and the publisher of the website are the same, omit the publisher name to avoid repetition (as in the World Health Organization example).
• When contents of a page are meant to be updated over time but are not archived, include a  retrieval date  in the reference (as in the Fagan example).
• Use the webpage on a website format for articles from news websites such as CNN and HuffPost (these sites do not have associated daily or weekly newspapers). Use the  newspaper article category  for articles from newspaper websites such as  The New York Times  or  The Washington Post .
• Create a reference to an open educational resources (OER) page only when the materials are available for download directly (i.e., the materials are on the page and/or can be downloaded as PDFs or other files). If you are directed to another website, create a reference to the specific webpage on that website where the materials can be retrieved. Use this format for material in any OER repository, such as OER Commons, OASIS, or MERLOT.
• Do not create a reference or in-text citation for a whole website. To mention a website in general, and not any particular information on that site, provide the name of the website in the text and include the URL in parentheses. For example, you might mention that you used a website to create a survey.

The following supplemental example references are mention in the  Publication Manual:

• retracted journal or magazine article
• edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
• edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)
• religious work
• annotated religious work

Archival document and collections are not presented in the  APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition . This content is available only on the APA Style website .  This guidance has been expanded from the 6th edition.

Archival sources include letters, unpublished manuscripts, limited-circulation brochures and pamphlets, in-house institutional and corporate documents, clippings, and other documents, as well as such nontextual materials as photographs and apparatus, that are in the personal possession of an author, form part of an institutional collection, or are stored in an archive such as the Archives of the History of American Psychology at the University of Akron or the APA Archives. For any documents like these that are available on the open web or via a database (subscription or nonsubscription), follow the reference templates shown in Chapter 10 of the Publication Manual.

The general format for the reference for an archival work includes the author, date, title, and source. The reference examples shown on this page may be modified for collections requiring more or less specific information to locate materials, for different types of collections, or for additional descriptive information (e.g., a translation of a letter). Authors may choose to list correspondence from their own personal collections, but correspondence from other private collections should be listed only with the permission of the collector.

Keep in mind the following principles when creating references to archival documents and collections:

• As with any reference, the purpose is to direct readers to the source, despite the fact that only a single copy of the document may be available and readers may have some difficulty actually seeing a copy.
• Include as much information as is needed to help locate the item with reasonable ease within the repository. For items from collections with detailed finding aids, the name of the collection may be sufficient; for items from collections without finding aids, more information (e.g., call number, box number, file name or number) may be necessary to help locate the item.
• If several letters are cited from the same collection, list the collection as a reference and provide specific identifying information (author, recipient, and date) for each letter in the in-text citations (see Example 3).
• Use square brackets to indicate information that does not appear on the document.
• Use “ca.” (circa) to indicate an estimated date (see Example 5).
• Use italics for titles of archival documents and collections; if the work does not have a title, provide a description in square brackets without italics.
• Separate elements of the source (e.g., the name of a repository, library, university or archive, and the location of the university or archive) with commas. End the source with a period.
• If a publication of limited circulation is available in libraries, the reference may be formatted as usual for published material, without the archival source.
• Note that private letters (vs. those in an archive or repository) are considered personal communications and cited in the text only.

1. Letter from a repository

Frank, L. K. (1935, February 4). [Letter to Robert M. Ogden]. Rockefeller Archive Center (GEB Series 1.3, Box 371, Folder 3877), Tarrytown, NY, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Frank, 1935)
• Narrative citation: Frank (1935)
• Because the letter does not have a title, provide a description in square brackets.

2. Letter from a private collection

Zacharius, G. P. (1953, August 15). [Letter to William Rickel (W. Rickel, Trans.)]. Copy in possession of Hendrika Vande Kemp.

• Parenthetical citation: (Zacharius, 1953)
• Narrative citation: Zacharius (1953)
• In this example, Hendrika Vande Kemp is either the author of the paper or the author of the paper has received permission from Hendrika Vande Kemp to cite a letter in Vande Kemp’s private collection in this way. Otherwise, cite a private letter as a  personal communication .

3. Collection of letters from an archive

Allport, G. W. (1930–1967). Correspondence. Gordon W. Allport Papers (HUG 4118.10), Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Allport, 1930–1967)
• Narrative citation: Allport (1930–1967)

To cite specific letters in the text, provide the author and range of years as shown in the reference list entry, plus details about who wrote the specific letter to whom and when the specific letter was written.

• Parenthetical citation: (Allport, 1930–1967, G. Boring to Allport, December 26, 1937)
• Narrative citation: Allport (1930–1967, Allport to G. Boring, March 1, 1939)
• Use the parenthetical citation format to cite a letter that E. G. Boring wrote to Allport because Allport is the author in the reference. Use either the parenthetical or narrative citation format to cite letters that Allport wrote.

4. Unpublished papers, lectures from an archive or personal collection

Berliner, A. (1959). Notes for a lecture on reminiscences of Wundt and Leipzig. Anna Berliner Memoirs (Box M50), Archives of the History of American Psychology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Berliner, 1959)
• Narrative citation: Berliner (1959)

5. Archival/historical source for which the author and/or date is known or is reasonably certain but not stated on the document

Allport, A. (presumed). (ca. 1937). Marion Taylor today—by the biographer [Unpublished manuscript]. Marion Taylor Papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Allport, ca. 1937)
• Narrative citation: Allport (ca. 1937)
• Because the author is reasonably certain but not stated on the document, place the word “presumed” in parentheses after the name, followed by a period.
• Because the date is reasonably certain but not stated on the document, the abbreviation “ca.” (which stands for “circa”) appears before the year in parentheses.

6. Archival source with group author

Subcommittee on Mental Hygiene Personnel in School Programs. (1949, November 5–6). Meeting of Subcommittee on Mental Hygiene Personnel in School Programs. David Shakow Papers (M1360), Archives of the History of American Psychology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Subcommittee on Mental Hygiene Personnel in School Programs, 1949)
• Narrative citation: Subcommittee on Mental Hygiene Personnel in School Programs (1949)

7. Interview recorded and available in an archive

Smith, M. B. (1989, August 12). Interview by C. A. Kiesler [Tape recording]. President’s Oral History Project, American Psychological Association, APA Archives, Washington, DC, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Smith, 1989)
• Narrative citation: Smith (1989)
• For interviews and oral histories recorded in an archive, list the interviewee as the author. Include the interviewer’s name in the description.

8. Transcription of a recorded interview, no recording available

Sparkman, C. F. (1973). An oral history with Dr. Colley F. Sparkman/Interviewer: Orley B. Caudill. Mississippi Oral History Program (Vol. 289), University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Sparkman, 1973)
• Narrative citation: Sparkman (1973)

9. Newspaper article clipping, historical, in personal collection

Psychoanalysis institute to open. (1948, September 18). [Clipping from an unidentified Dayton, OH, United States, newspaper]. Copy in possession of author.

• Parenthetical citation: (“Psychoanalysis Institute to Open,” 1948)
• Narrative citation: “Psychoanalysis Institute to Open” (1948)
• Use this format only if you are the person who is in possession of the newspaper clipping.

10. Historical publication of limited circulation

Sci-Art Publishers. (1935). Sci-Art publications [Brochure]. Roback Papers (HUGFP 104.50, Box 2, Folder “Miscellaneous Psychological Materials”), Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (Sci-Art Publishers, 1935)
• Narrative citation: Sci-Art Publishers (1935)

11. Archived photographs, no author and no title

[Photographs of Robert M. Yerkes]. (ca. 1917–1954). Robert Mearns Yerkes Papers (Box 137, Folder 2292), Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, New Haven, CT, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: ([Photographs of Robert M. Yerkes], ca. 1917–1954)
• Narrative citation: [Photographs of Robert M. Yerkes] (ca. 1917–1954)
• Because the archived photographs do not have a title, provide a bracketed description instead.
• Because the archived photographs do not have an author, move the bracketed description to the author position of the reference.

12. Microfilm

U.S. Census Bureau. (1880). 1880 U.S. census: Defective, dependent, and delinquent classes schedule: Virginia [Microfilm]. NARA Microfilm Publication T1132 (Rolls 33–34), National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, United States.

• Parenthetical citation: (U.S. Census Bureau, 1880)
• Narrative citation: U.S. Census Bureau (1880)

Read the full APA guidelines on citing ChatGPT 

OpenAI. (2023).  ChatGPT  (Mar 14 version) [Large language model].  https://chat.openai.com/chat

• Parenthetical citation:  (OpenAI, 2023)
• Narrative citation:  OpenAI (2023)

Author:  The author of the model is OpenAI.

Date:  The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.

Title:  The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.

The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.

Bracketed text  is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.

Source:  When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is  https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).

DOIs and URLs

The DOI or URL is the final component of a reference list entry. Because so much scholarship is available and/or retrieved online, most reference list entries end with either a DOI or a URL.

• A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet. DOIs can be found in database records and the reference lists of published works.
• A URL specifies the location of digital information on the internet and can be found in the address bar of your internet browser. URLs in references should link directly to the cited work when possible.

Follow these guidelines for including DOIs and URLs in references:

• Include a DOI for all works that have a DOI, regardless of whether you used the online version or the print version.
• If a print work does not have a DOI, do not include any DOI or URL in the reference.
• If an online work has both a DOI and a URL, include only the DOI.
• For works without DOIs from websites (not including academic research databases), provide a URL in the reference (as long as the URL will work for readers).
• For works without DOIs from most  academic research databases , do not include a URL or database information in the reference because these works are widely available. The reference should be the same as the reference for a print version of the work.
• For works from databases that publish original, proprietary material available only in that database (such as the UpToDate database) or for works of limited circulation in databases (such as monographs in the ERIC database), include the name of the database or archive and the URL of the work. If the URL requires a login or is session-specific (meaning it will not resolve for readers), provide the URL of the database or archive home page or login page instead of the URL for the work. See the page on including  database information in references  for more information. 
• If the URL is no longer working or no longer provides readers access to the content you intend to cite, follow the guidance for works with  no source .
• Other alphanumeric identifiers such as the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) are not included in APA Style references.

Follow these guidelines to format DOIs and URLs:

• Present both DOIs and URLs as hyperlinks (i.e., beginning with “http:” or “https:”).
• Because a hyperlink leads readers directly to the content, it is not necessary to include the words “Retrieved from” or “Accessed from” before a DOI or URL.
• It is acceptable to use either the default display settings for hyperlinks in your word-processing program (e.g., usually blue font, underlined) or plain text that is not underlined.
• Leave links live if the work is to be published or read online.
• Follow the current recommendations of the International DOI Foundation to format DOIs in the reference list, which as of this publication is as follows:

https://doi.org/ xxxxx

• The string “https://doi.org/” is a way of presenting a DOI as a link, and “xxxxx” refers to the DOI number.
• The preferred format of the DOI has changed over time. Although older works use previous formats (e.g., “http:/dx.doi.org/” or “doi:” or “DOI:” before the DOI number), in your reference list, standardize DOIs into the current preferred format for all entries. For example, use  https://doi.org/10.1037/a0040251  in your reference even though that article, published in 2016, presented the number in an older format.
• Copy and paste the DOI or URL from your web browser directly into your reference list to avoid transcription errors. Do not change the capitalization or punctuation of the DOI or URL. Do not add line breaks manually to the hyperlink; it is acceptable if your word-processing program automatically adds a break or moves the hyperlink to its own line.
• Do not add a period after the DOI or URL because this may interfere with link functionality.

When a DOI or URL is long or complex, you may use shortDOIs or shortened URLs if desired.

• Use the  shortDOI service  provided by the International DOI Foundation to create shortDOIs. A work can have only one DOI and only one shortDOI; the shortDOI service will either produce a new shortDOI for a work that has never had one or retrieve an existing shortDOI.
• Some websites provide their own branded shortened URLs, and independent URL shortening services are available as well. Any shortened URL is acceptable in a reference as long as you check the link to ensure that it takes you to the correct location.
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• URL: https://guides.lib.udel.edu/HDFS328

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APA Style Guidelines

• About this Guide
• Blogs, Podcasts, and Social Media
• Content Marketing
• Popular Magazines
• Professional Organizations
• Trade Publications
• Scholarly Journals
• Attributive Tags or Signal Phrases
• Citation Generators - Problems & Limitations
• Date Retrieved for Website Reference Entries & When to Use “n.d.” (no date)
• Differentiating between Sources with the Same Author and Date
• Hyperlinks & Attribution: "Citation" for Digital Documents
• Identifying & Citing Content Marketing
• Indirect Citations, or How to Cite a Quote or Paraphrase from a Source
• In-text Citations: Conveying Credibility
• In-text Citations: Using a Source Multiple Times
• In-text Citations: Principles & Formatting
• References Page: Principles & Formatting
• Synthesizing Multiple Sources
• URLs - When to Include to Entire Address
• Company Report
• General Website, Non-government Website

Government Publication or Website

• Industry Report from IBISWorld
• Informational Interview
• Job Advertisement
• Lecture or Conference Presentation
• O*Net Online
• Popular Business Magazine
• Professional/Trade Organization Website
• Reference Works (Dictionary, Investopedia, Wiki, etc.)
• Review Sites
• Scholarly Journal Article
• Social Media Posts
• Trade Journal or Magazine Article

Cite government publications as a book, report, or website as appropriate. If there is no named author on the cover or title page, use the agency or department as the author. If the document is a report or publication, include the report number or other identifier after the title. If citing a website, include the entire URL.

General Rules: Citing Online Government Sources

In-text Citation: Information to Include

In-text citations and signal phrases can be woven into sentences and paragraphs in multiple ways, and what you emphasize depends on what information will be most relevant and/or persuasive to your reader. However, the following information should always be included:

• Attributive tag or signal phrase that introduces your source
• Author or government entity
• Page number, if applicable

Reference Citation: Information to Include

Government Entity. (Year, Month Day). Publication title in sentence case and italics . Parent Agency If Applicable. URL_but_not_active_hyperlink

Specific Example: Government Website

In-text Citation Options

Land conservationists can support wildlife refuges, particularly those for migratory birds, by purchasing a Federal Duck Stamp, which, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2021) also are “miniature works of art.”

Land conservationists can support wildlife refuges, particularly those for migratory birds, by purchasing a Federal Duck Stamp, which are also “miniature works of art” (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2021).

References Page Entry

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2021, June 28). Duck stamp: Put your stamp on conservation . U.S. Department of the Interior. https://www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp.php

Note : This government web page has a “last updated” date, so you can use that.  For government websites with no date, use n.d. in place of the date and add a retrieval date.  See our page for General Website to see how this should look.

The Internal Revenue Service (2023) reported that the Inflation Reduction Act included clean energy tax credits for low-income communities.

The Inflation Reduction Act included clean energy tax credits for low-income communities (Internal Revenue Service, 2023).

Internal Revenue Service. (2023, September). Increased energy investment credit for solar and wind facilities benefitting low-income communities . U.S. Department of the Treasury. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/increased-energy-investment-credit-for-solar-and-wind-facilities-benefitting-low-income-communities

Specific Example: PDF of a Government Report

In the 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2018) reported that Americans spent $75.9 billion dollars – 48 percent of all wildlife recreation expenditures – on wildlife watching (p. 39).

Wildlife watchers spent $12.1 billion dollars in 2016 purchasing equipment (e.g., cameras and bird feed) in pursuit of their hobby (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2018, p. 39).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2018, April). 2016 national survey of fishing, hunting, and wildlife-associated recreation (Publication FHW/16-NAT). U.S. Department of the Interior. https://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/subpages/nationalsurvey/nat_survey2016.pdf

Specific Example: O*Net Entry

O*Net’s report on auditing mentioned that to stand out in this industry, auditors must have excellent communication skills (National Center for O*NET Development, 2019). 

To stand out, auditors must have excellent communication skills (National Center for O*NET Development, 2019).

 References Page Entry  

National Center for O*NET Development. (2019). Auditors (O*Net Report No. 13-2011.02). https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-2011.02

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• URL: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/APAStyleGuide

• CSU Stanislaus
• Research Guides

APA 7th Edition Style Guide

• Reference List
• About APA Style
• Format Your Paper
• In-Text Citations
• Practice Your APA Style Skills!

Video: Formatting the APA Reference Page

Reference Page

A reference list contains sources that specifically support the ideas, claims, and concepts in your paper. References provide the information necessary for readers to identify and retrieve each source. 

Formatting Your Reference Page

APA Style includes the following guidelines on how to format the reference list of your paper.  

• The reference list starts on a new page.
• The reference list is directly after the main body of text and before any supplemental information like tables and appendices.
• The page should be labeled "References" bold and centered on the page.
• Double space all reference list entries.
• Use a hanging indent for all references.
• Organize your references in alphabetical order by author. 

A reference list entry generally has four elements: the author, date, title, and source.

• author:   Who  is responsible for this work?
• date:   When  was this work published?
• title:   What  is this work called?
• source:   Where  can I retrieve this work?

See below for templates of commonly used reference types or the attached handout of examples. 

Reference Templates and Examples

Journal article with a DOI: 

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article.  Title of Periodical ,  Volume number (Issue number), Page numbers. https://doi.org/xxxx 

Example: 

McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development.  Psychological Review ,  126 (1),1-51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126

Book:  

Author, A. A. (Year).  Title: Subtitle . Publisher Name. 

Christian, B., & Griffiths, T. (2016).  Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions . Henry Holt and Co. 

Chapter in Edited Book:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the book chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. #–#). Publisher. DOI or URL.

Zeleke, W. A., Hughes, T. L., & Drozda, N. (2020). Home–school collaboration to promote mind-body health. In C. Maykel & M. A. Bray (Eds.), Promoting mind–body health in schools: Interventions for mental health professionals (pp. 11–26). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000157-002

Web page: 

Author, A. A. (Year).  Title of work . Site Name. https://xxxxxx

Example: ​

Avramova, N. (2019).  The secret to a long, happy, healthy life? Think age-positive . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/health/respect-toward-elderly-leads-to-long-life-intl/index.html

Handout: Common Reference Examples

Are you missing information for your source.

Use the below link for help creating references with missing information.

APA Legal Citation

Check out our APA Legal Citation guide for more help on citing legal materials!

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• Last Updated: Sep 9, 2024 10:51 AM
• URL: https://library.csustan.edu/APA7_StyleGuide

Basic Principles of Citation

APA Style uses the author–date citation system , in which a brief in-text citation directs readers to a full reference list entry. The in-text citation appears within the body of the paper (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix) and briefly identifies the cited work by its author and date of publication. This enables readers to locate the corresponding entry in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper.

Each work cited must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix).

Both paraphrases and quotations require citations.

The following are guidelines to follow when writing in-text citations:

• Ensure that the spelling of author names and the publication dates in reference list entries match those in the corresponding in-text citations.
• Cite only works that you have read and ideas that you have incorporated into your writing. The works you cite may provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer critical definitions and data.
• Readers may find a long string of citations difficult to understand, especially if they are using assistive technology such as a screen reader; therefore, include only those citations needed to support your immediate point.
• Cite primary sources when possible, and cite secondary sources sparingly.
• Cite sources to document all facts and figures that you mention that are not common knowledge.
• To cite a specific part of a source , provide an author–date citation for the work plus information about the specific part.
• Even when sources cannot be retrieved (e.g., because they are personal communications ), still credit them in the text (however, avoid using online sources that are no longer recoverable).

Basic principles of citation are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.1 to 8.36 and the Concise Guide Sections 8.1 to 8.34

Related handouts

• In-Text Citation Checklist (PDF, 227KB)
• Six Steps to Proper Citation (PDF, 112KB)

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The “outdated sources” myth

The “outdated sources” myth is that sources must have been published recently, such as the last 5 to 10 years. There is no timeliness requirement in APA Style.

From COVID-19 to demands for social justice: Citing contemporary sources for current events

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In-text citations

• Reference list

Choose a reference style

• Chicago 17, Author-date

What to cite?

• Journal articles
• Official reports
• Online documents
• Previous work of your own*

Why do we cite?

• Acknowledge the work of others
• Are familiar with your subject
• Place your own work in an academic context
• Master the technique of citing
• Avoid plagiarism (You can read more about plagiarism on Search & Write )
• Retrieve the sources you have used
• Check your facts and verify your results
• Become better acquainted with the topic

How to cite?

• Examples on how to cite The Citation compass and The official APA style website (references and quotations).

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