APA Style 7th Edition Overview

The American Psychological Associations 7th edition (APA7) is the most recent set of guidelines for scholarly writing in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. It replaces the 6th edition (APA6) and introduces a number of changes that simplify formatting, expand inclusivity, and reflect modern research practices. This page provides a concise, yet comprehensive, guide to the most important elements of APA7.

1. General Formatting

1.1 Page Layout

• Paper size: US Letter (8.511in) or A4 (210297mm).
• Margins: 1inch (2.54cm) on all sides.
• Font: Any legible serif or sansserif font, 12pt Times New Roman, 11pt Arial, 11pt Calibri, 11pt Georgia, or 10pt Lucida Sans Unicode.
• Line spacing: Doublespace entire document, including references.
• Paragraphs: Indent first line 0.5in (1.27cm) using the Tab key; no extra spaces between paragraphs.
• Alignment: Leftaligned (ragged right); do not justify text.

1.2 Header and Running Head

Student papers no longer require a running head. Professional manuscripts continue to use a running head (shortened title, 50 characters) aligned left, with page number aligned right. The header appears on every page.

1.3 Title Page

For student papers the title page includes:

• Title (bold, centered, title case)
• Author name(s)
• Institutional affiliation
• Course name and number
• Instructors name
• Due date (Day Month Year)

All elements are doublespaced and centered vertically and horizontally.

2. InText Citations

2.1 Basic Formats

APA7 uses the authordate system.

• Parenthetical citation: (Smith, 2020)
• Narrative citation: Smith (2020) argues

2.2 Two Authors

List both names every time: (Brown & Lee, 2018) or Brown and Lee (2018).

2.3 Three or More Authors

Use et al. after the first author in every citation: (Garcia et al., 2021).

2.4 No Author

Use the title (shortened if necessary) in place of an author: (Study Finds, 2022).

2.5 Direct Quotations

Include page or paragraph number: (Miller, 2019, p.45) or (Miller, 2019, para.4). For audiovisual sources use a timestamp: (Doe, 2020, 02:15).

3. Reference List

3.1 General Rules

• Start on a new page titled References, centered, bold.
• Doublespace entries; use hanging indent of 0.5in.
• Authors names: Last name, initial(s). Use an ampersand (&) before the final author.
• Alphabetize by the surname of the first author.
• Capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.

3.2 Books

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

3.3 Journal Articles

Format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

3.4 Articles Without DOI

If no DOI is available and the article was retrieved from a database, omit the URL. If a DOI is unavailable and the article is from an openaccess source, include the URL.

3.5 Webpages

Format: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

3.6 Multiple Works by Same Author

List in chronological order, earliest first. Separate entries with a double dash () after the authors name for repeated authors.

4. Mechanics of Writing

4.1 Numbers

• Numbers 09 are written in words; 10 and above are expressed as numerals.
• Numbers representing statistical or mathematical functions are always numerals (e.g., M=3, p=.05).

4.2 Abbreviations

Spell out an abbreviation on first use, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Subsequent uses use only the abbreviation.

4.3 Singular They

APA7 endorses the singular they as an inclusive pronoun for individuals who prefer it or when gender is unknown.

4.4 BiasFree Language

Use personfirst language when appropriate, avoid labels that define people by a characteristic (e.g., students with autism instead of autistic students).

5. Tables and Figures

5.1 Tables

• Numbered sequentially: Table 1, Table 2,
• Title: Italic, title case, placed above the table.
• Headings: Use sentence case; avoid vertical lines.
• Notes: Placed below the table; use Note. for general notes, a for specific footnotes.

5.2 Figures

• Numbered sequentially: Figure 1, Figure 2,
• Title: Italic, title case, placed below the figure.
• Caption: Brief description, also below the title.
• Notes: Same format as table notes.

6. Ethical Considerations

APA7 stresses accurate citation to give proper credit and to avoid plagiarism. When using secondary sources, locate the original work whenever possible. Provide complete information for all sources so readers can retrieve them.

7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using et al. for two authorslist both names.
• Including Retrieved from before a URL unless a retrieval date is required.
• Applying & in narrative citations (use and).
• Forgetting a hanging indent in the reference list.
• Using a centered reference list; it should be leftaligned.

8. Helpful Resources

• Official APA Style Website
• APA 7th Edition Publication Manual (PDF preview)
• Purdue OWL APA Formatting Guide
• Mendeley APA Citation Guide

By following these core guidelines, writers can produce clear, consistent, and ethically responsible papers that meet the expectations of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.