APA 7th Citation Guide

Print books

For books, the publisher location is no longer included in the reference.

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing different types of books, see our Book: Print tab.

APA 6th: 

Cochrane, A. (2007). Understanding urban policy: A critical approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

APA 7th: 

Cochrane, A. (2007). Understanding urban policy: A critical approach. Blackwell.

In-text citations

The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is now shortened right from the first citation.

Only include the first author’s name and “et al.”.

For more detailed guidelines on in-text citations go to our Citing In-Text tab.

APA 6th:  

(Duffy, Deakin, Wieniawa-Narkiewicz, & Wilson, 2001)
and subsequently (Duffy et al., 2001)

APA 7th: 

From the get-go:

(Duffy et al., 2001)

OR Duffy et al. (2001)

Journal articles - issue number

The issue number of the journal article is always included in the reference list.

The issue number is in parentheses, in regular font emphasis, right after the volume number. 

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing different types of eJournal articles, see our eJournal articles tab. 

APA 6th:

Draper, A. R. (2019). Democracy in the middle school music classroom. Music Educators Journal, 105, 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432118816147

APA 7th: 

Draper, A. R. (2019). Democracy in the middle school music classroom. Music Educators Journal, 105(3), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432118816147

Surnames in reference list 

Surnames and initials for up to 20 authors are supplied in the reference list, instead of 7.  

APA 6th:  

Miller, T. C., Brown, M. J., Wilson, G. L., Evans, B. B., Kelly, R. S., Turner, S. T., … Lee, L. H. (2018).

APA 7th:  

Miller, T. C., Brown, M. J., Wilson, G. L., Evans, B. B., Kelly, R. S., Turner, S. T., Lewis, F., Lee, L. H., Cox, G., Harris, H. L., Martin, P., Gonzalez, W. L., Hughes, W., Carter, D., Campbell, C., Baker, A. B., Flores, T., Gray, W. E., Green, G., … Nelson, T. P. (2018).

eJournal articles with DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers)

eJournal article DOIs are always displayed as https://doi.org/xxxx instead of with the doi: prefix.

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing different types of eJournal articles, see our eJournal articles tab. 

APA 6th:  

doi:10.1177/0027432118816147 

APA 7th:

https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432118816147 

ejournal articles without DOIs

If the electronic journal article does not have a DOI, do not add 'Retrieved from' info.

Treat it as if it is a print journal article.

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing different types of eJournal articles, see our eJournal articles tab. 

APA 6th:  

Day, C. B. (2016). A tribute to the power of a teacher- the Ruby Bridges story. YC: Young Children, 71, 45–46. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc

APA 7th: 

Day, C. B. (2016). A tribute to the power of a teacher- the Ruby Bridges story. YC: Young Children, 71(1), 45–46.

Websites

Website URLs are no longer preceded by “Retrieved from,” unless a retrieval date is needed*

Include the website name, unless it’s the same as the author, and italicize the web page titles.

*A retrieval date is only needed if the webpage is designed to change over time and won't be archived.

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing different types of webpages and websites, see our webpages and websites tab. 

APA 6th:  

Tiffany, K. (2019). Online ads can be targeted based on your emotions. Retrieved from Vox website: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/21/18634323/new-york-times-emotion-based-ad-targeting-sadness

APA 7th: 

Tiffany, K. (2019). Online ads can be targeted based on your emotions. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/21/18634323/new-york-times-emotion-based-ad-targeting-sadness

Videos online

Video URLs are no longer preceded by "Retrieved from," unless a retrieval date is needed.

[Video file] is changed to [Video]. Include the video platform name before the URL.

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing specific types of streaming videos, see our YouTube or other streaming video tab.

APA 6th: 

Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (2020, Mar 31). A short mindfulness exercise for anxiety with Robert Hindman, PhD [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/J0vYnzpNTZE

APA 7th: 

Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (2020, Mar 31). A short mindfulness exercise for anxiety with Robert Hindman, PhD [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/J0vYnzpNTZE

eBooks

For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g. Kindle) is no longer included in the reference, and the publisher is included instead.

Include the DOI if that is available. Omit the 'Retrieved from' if the eBook is from a website.

For more detailed guidelines and examples on referencing different types of ebooks, see our Book: Electronic (ebook) tab.

APA 6th:

Bates, B. (2015) Learning theories simplified: ... And how to apply them to teaching. [Kindle version]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com

APA 7th:

Bates, B. (2015) Learning theories simplified: ... And how to apply them to teaching. Sage. http://www.amazon.com