APA Citation Style

The American Psychological Association (APA) style is widely used in the social sciences, education, and other fields. The current version is APA 7th edition.

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APA 7th Edition Format

APA style requires specific formatting for in-text citations and reference lists. Here's how to format different types of sources in APA style:

Journal Article

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), page range. DOI or URL

Example: Smith, J. D., & Johnson, K. L. (2020). Effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. Journal of Marine Biology, 45(2), 112-128. https://doi.org/10.1234/jmb.2020.45.2.112

Book

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book. Publisher.

Example: Brown, M. T. (2019). Introduction to Research Methods. Academic Press.

Website

Author, A. A. or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL

Example: World Health Organization. (2021, May 10). COVID-19 vaccines. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines

Key Features of APA Style

  • Uses author-date citation system
  • Requires a reference list at the end of the paper
  • Uses a hanging indent for reference list entries
  • Includes DOIs when available
  • Uses title case for journal names
  • Uses sentence case for article titles
  • Includes issue numbers in journal citations

In-Text Citations

APA style uses parenthetical citations that include the author's last name and the year of publication.

Narrative Citation

According to Smith (2020), climate change has significant effects on marine ecosystems.

Parenthetical Citation

Climate change has significant effects on marine ecosystems (Smith, 2020).

Multiple Authors

Two authors: (Smith & Johnson, 2020)

Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2020)

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