APA format uses an author-date citation system: a brief in-text reference points readers to a full entry on your reference list. The current standard is APA 7th edition, which simplified several rules from earlier versions. Here’s how to set up your paper, build in-text citations, and format reference list entries for the most common source types.
Page Layout Basics
Before you start citing, set up your document correctly. APA papers use 1-inch margins on all sides, double spacing throughout (including the reference list), and a legible font such as 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri. Every page gets a page number in the top-right corner.
Your title page includes the paper’s title (bold, centered, in title case), your name, your institutional affiliation, the course number and name, your instructor’s name, and the assignment due date. The title page is page 1. APA 7 dropped the running head requirement for student papers, though professional manuscripts submitted for journal publication still need one.
How In-Text Citations Work
Every time you paraphrase, quote, or reference someone else’s idea, you include a parenthetical or narrative citation in the text. The basic format is the author’s last name and the year of publication.
A parenthetical citation goes at the end of the sentence: (Smith, 2022). A narrative citation works the author’s name into the sentence itself: Smith (2022) found that… When you quote directly, add a page number: (Smith, 2022, p. 14).
For two authors, list both names every time, joined by an ampersand in parenthetical citations or “and” in narrative ones: (Garcia & Lee, 2021) or Garcia and Lee (2021). For three or more authors, use only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” from the very first citation onward: (Johnson et al., 2020). This is a change from APA 6, which required listing all authors the first time if there were fewer than six.
When a work has no individual author, use the organization’s name or the title. An organizational author like the World Health Organization is spelled out the first time and can be abbreviated afterward if the abbreviation is well known: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023) on first use, then (WHO, 2023). If there is truly no author, move the title into the author position and italicize it if it’s a book or report title, or put it in quotation marks if it’s an article or chapter title.
Building a Reference List Entry
Your reference list appears on its own page at the end of the paper, with the word “References” centered and bold at the top. Entries are double-spaced, alphabetized by the first author’s last name, and formatted with a hanging indent (the first line is flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches).
Almost every reference follows the same four-part template:
- Author. Last name, first initial, middle initial. Use an ampersand before the final author in a multi-author work.
- Date. Year of publication in parentheses, followed by a period.
- Title. Title of the work, usually in sentence case (capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns).
- Source. Where the work can be found: journal name and volume/issue, publisher, website, or URL.
For works with three to twenty authors, list every author. For works with twenty-one or more, list the first nineteen names, insert an ellipsis (with no ampersand), and then add the final author’s name.
Common Source Types
Journal Article
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Periodical, Volume(Issue), Page range. DOI or URL
Italicize the journal name and volume number. The issue number goes in parentheses, not italicized. Include the DOI whenever one exists.
Book
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. DOI or URL
For an edited book, place “(Ed.)” or “(Eds.)” after the editor’s name. For a chapter in an edited book, the chapter author and title come first, followed by “In” and the editor’s name, then the book title and page range.
Website
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site Name. URL
If the author is the same as the site name, omit the site name to avoid repetition. If there’s no date, use (n.d.).
Citing Digital and Social Media
APA 7 added specific formats for social media and streaming content. The key difference from traditional sources is that you often reproduce the first 20 words of the post as the title.
For a YouTube video, the person or group who uploaded the video counts as the author. Include their real name with their username in brackets if the two differ:
Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL
For a tweet, the format is:
Last Name, F. M. [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Tweet]. Twitter. URL
If the post includes an image, video, or link, note that in brackets after the text description. Try to replicate any emojis that appear in the original post. Facebook and Instagram posts follow the same logic, with the platform name as the source and [Facebook post] or [Instagram photo] as the format label.
For datasets, list the author or group, year, dataset title with version number if applicable, the label [Data set] in brackets, the publisher, and the DOI or URL.
DOI and URL Rules
A DOI (digital object identifier) is a permanent link assigned to a published work. Always include one when it exists, whether you read the print or online version. If a source has both a DOI and a URL, use only the DOI.
Format DOIs as full hyperlinks: https://doi.org/xxxxx. Older works sometimes display DOIs in other formats (like “doi:10.xxxx” or “DOI:”), but you should standardize all of them to the https://doi.org/ format in your reference list. Present URLs as hyperlinks too, starting with “https://”. You can leave them in your word processor’s default blue-and-underlined style or switch to plain text.
One detail that trips people up: do not put a period after a DOI or URL. A trailing period can break the link when someone clicks it.
If you accessed a print source that has no DOI, leave out both the DOI and the URL entirely. You only include a URL for online sources that lack a DOI.
Works With No Author or Date
When no author is listed, move the title of the work to the author position in both your reference list and your in-text citation. Only use “Anonymous” as the author if the work itself is literally signed “Anonymous.”
When no date is available, write (n.d.) in the date position. This stands for “no date” and appears in both the reference entry and the in-text citation: (Title of Work, n.d.).
Quick Formatting Checklist
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides
- Spacing: Double-spaced everywhere, including references
- Font: 12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Calibri, or similar
- Reference list indent: Hanging indent, 0.5 inches
- Alphabetize: Reference entries by first author’s last name
- Title case vs. sentence case: Use title case for journal names and book series; use sentence case for article titles, book titles, and webpage titles
- Italics: Book titles, journal names, volume numbers, and standalone webpage titles
- No period after DOIs or URLs