APA Style 7th Edition Overview

  

https://hpu.libguides.com/styleguides/apa

The American Psychological Association created APA style. It is a set of rules for publications used by writers in many disciplines around the world for concise and persuasive scholarly communication, including research papers.

 

The latest version of the style is the 7th edition, published in 2019.

APA Style

  • Basic Formatting
  • In-Text Citation
  • Reference List

Note. Source Kermit The Frog Reaction [Gif], 2016, (http://gph.is/1xhfQug).

General Format

  1. All text should be double-spaced.
  2. Use one-inch margins on all sides.
  3. All paragraphs in the body are indented.
  4. Fonts to use Times New Roman 12, Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans 10, and Georgia 11.
  5. All pages should be numbered in the upper right-hand corner.
  6. Singular "they" is required in two situations: when used by a known person as their personal pronoun or when the gender of a singular person is unknown.
  7. Use only one space after a sentence-ending period.
  8. The title page has to be centered.
  9. Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Text, and References.

     

General Format

In APA 7th edition, there are differences b/w student and professional papers. Make sure to ask your professors the expectations for your assignment; some professors may request elements that are not required in APA.

 

 

 

                               Student paper:

  • Title Page
  • Page Numbers
  • Text
  • Reference List

                              Professional paper:

  • Title Page
  • Running Head
  • Page Numbers
  • Abstract
  • Text
  • Reference List

Remember you are trying to emulate a template, so find the best one out there.   

Note. From Mom Almost Copy [Gif], by A. Okhtenberg, 2018, Giphy (https://giphy.com/3gTiFkr0fgt9K).

In-text Citation

APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and publication year for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Smith, 1999).  

 

If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. ("Mastering Zotero," 2015).

 

If there is no date, the abbreviation n.d. may be used eg. (Smith, n.d.)

Two ways of doing author-date citation in the text: 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: If there is no date, the abbreviation n.d. may be used eg. (Smith, n.d.)

 

  • Parenthetical Citation
  • Narattive Citation

In-text Citation

In-text Citation

Type of Citation Parenthetical  Narrative
No author

Use italics if the work title is in italics in reference list (books).

If title is not italicised use double quotations and title case, shorten titles

If Anonymoused is used in source use it.

A book with no author:
(Escape rooms, 2020)
 
An article with no author:
("Understanding the Gaming in Education," 2018)
 
 
(Anonymous, 2020)

A book with no author:
In Escape rooms (2020) there is ...
 
An article with no author:
In "Understanding the Gaming in Education" (2018) there is a description...
 
Anonymous (2020) examined…
Group as author with abbreviation First  citation with full name and abbreviation:
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2019)
 
Subsequent citations:
(CDC, 2019)
First citation with full name and abbreviation:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2019)
 
Subsequent citations:                      The CDC (2019) provided …
 
Citing multiple works Alphabetical order
(Jones, 2020; Ports of Auckland, 2019; Smith et al., 2020)
Any order
Smith et al. (2020), Jones (2020), and Ports of Auckland (2019) examined ...
Personal communication
Not recoverable. Do not include in the reference list.
(E. Chapman, personal communication, January 20, 2020) E. Chapman (personal communication, January 20, 2020) informed me of ...

In-text Citation

For directly quoting, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages). For example, you might write (Smith, 1999, p. 32) or (Smith, 1999, pp. 32–52).

Fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into your paragraph and enclose it in double quotation marks. Place the in-text reference before the full stop.

In-text Citation

For directly quoting, if it is an online item and no pages are found. Use the abbreviation “para.” (for paragraph) and count the paragraphs to pinpoint the reader to the exact section.

 

Quotes that have more than 40 words, include it in an indented, freestanding block of text, without quotation marks. At the end of a block quotation, cite the quoted source and the page number in parentheses, after the final punctuation mark.

In-text Citation

Generally, writers should read and cite the original sources  rather than secondary sources (works that are cited within the sources).  If you cannot access the original source.

 

 

Parenthetical Citation

Narattive Citation

In-text Citation

APA recommends using direct quotes sporadically; you should be paraphrasing mostly.

 

To include two or more different resources in one citation, use a semicolon to separate them.

Parenthetical Citation

In-Text Citation 

The license associated with the clip art or stock image determines how it should be credited.

 

A) Sometimes the license indicates no reference or attribution is needed, in which case writers can reproduce the image without any reference, citation, or attribution in an APA Style paper.

B) Other times, the license indicates that credit is required to reproduce the image, in which case writers should write an APA Style copyright attribution and reference list entry.

Clip Art or Stock Images 

 

In-text Citation 

A) Image with no attribution required

If the license associated with clip art or a stock image states “no attribution required,” then do not provide an APA Style reference, in-text citation, or copyright attribution.

In-text Citation 

B) Image that requires an attribution

If the license associated with clip art or a stock image says that attribution is required, then provide a copyright attribution in the figure note and a reference list entry for the image in the reference list. Many (but not all) images with Creative Commons licenses require attribution.

In-text Citation 

B) Image that requires an attribution

To cite clip art or a stock image without reproducing it, provide an in-text citation for the image instead of a copyright attribution. Also provide a reference list entry.

Remember in-text citations are a trail for your readers leading them to your references

Note. From Adorable Hamsters [Gif],  2019, Giphy

(https://gph.is/2QE4Z8v).

Reference Citation 

Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the paper's body.

 

  1. Start a new page for your Reference list. Centre the title, References, at the top of the page.
  2. Double-space the list.
  3. Start the first line of each reference at the left margin; indent each subsequent line five spaces (a hanging indent).
  4. Put your list in alphabetical order.

 

All APA reference list entries contain four main components: author, date, title, and source. Those components are organized as follows:

Reference Citation 

Do not include database information for works obtained from most academic research databases. This includes journal articles, books, and book chapters from academic research databases.

  •  Do not include the database or platform name in the reference list entry unless the work falls under one of the exceptions described next (databases with original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation).
  • Likewise, do not include URLs from these academic research databases in reference list entries because these URLs will not resolve for readers.
  • Instead use a DOI if the work has one. 
  • If there is no DOI, the reference would simply end after the page range, the same as the reference for a print work.

Reference Citation 

Note: APA 7 advises writers to include a DOI (if available), even when using the print source.

Reference Citation 

Note: If no DOI, use stable URLs that function similarly to DOIs. These are preferable to ordinary URLs copied and pasted from the browser's address bar.

Reference Citation 

Note: APA 7th edition no longer requires “Retrieved” before URLs. Only in websites that content is designed to change over time.

General copyright dates are not sufficient to use as the publication date. If no creation or publication date is given, use n.d. If the author and website are the same, omit the website.

Website Template

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of page. Website. http://xxxxx

Author no date

Corporate author

Content changes

over time

Reference Citation 

B) Image that requires an attribution

If the license associated with clip art or a stock image says that attribution is required, then provide a copyright attribution in the figure note and a reference list entry for the image in the reference list. Many (but not all) images with Creative Commons licenses require attribution.

Reference Citation 

Also provide a reference list entry for the image. The reference list entry for the image consists of its author, year of publication, title, description in brackets, and source (usually the name of the website and the URL).

Reference Citation 

Presentations  

Class Materials: Only include a full reference to lecture notes or class materials behind a login screen (such as Blackboard) if you are writing for an audience that will retrieve them. Otherwise, cite it as personal communication.

Template

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of presentation [Lecture notes or PowerPoint slides]. Website. http://xxxxx

Reference Citation 

Audiovisual Media

Audiovisual media refers to media that contain both audio components, visual components, or a combination of both. In general, the citation style for audiovisual media varies depending on whether the piece stands alone or is part of a larger work.

Film Template

Director, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of video [Film]. Production Company.

Reference Citation 

Audiovisual Media

Podcast Template

Host, A. A. (Host). (Year, Month Day). Episode title (No. XX)  [Audio podcast episode]. In Title of podcast. Production Company. http://xxxxx

Online Video Template

Author, A. A. [username]. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. Website. http://xxxxx

Reference Citation 

Please note: While the APA manual provides many examples of how to cite common types of sources, it does not provide rules on how to cite all types of sources. Therefore, if you have a source that APA does not include, APA suggests that you find the example that is most similar to your source and use that format.

 

See page 282 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed.

Remember your references are the evidence of your research.  

Note. From Dallas Check this Out [Gif],  nd,  Giphy

(http://gph.is/1Osd6zN).

Alas, you might need help.    

Center for Academic Success Tutoring Services

Note. Source Struggles [Gif],  WoofWagers, (https://gph.is/g/ZkRQXgp).

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APA 7th

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APA 7th

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