You know the drill: when writing a research paper or other academic manuscripts, you must cite sources and follow the prescribed referencing style. The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a globally recognized reference style that's been around for more than 70 years.
This guide covers everything you need to know about the APA citation process: what it is, how it works, and why it exists. We'll also provide the essential tips and tricks you need to know to format your paper in APA style like a pro. With this guide, you'll be able to write confidently — plus get better readability, engagement, and higher SEO ranking for your content.
But if you don't have the time (or simply don't want to) to read through the whole guide, worry not. Try our all-new AI-powered APA Citation Generator: the quickest and easiest way to generate accurate APA style reference entries and in-text citations for your sources with zero fuss.
What is APA Citation?
APA Citation refers to the method of documenting sources used in the social sciences field, including psychology, sociology, education, and business. It is called the "APA" style because it was created by an organization called "the American Psychological Association". The APA was founded in 1892 and has since become the largest association of psychologists worldwide.
APA style uses specific conventions for formatting author names in reference lists and bibliographies; however, there are no requirements for how you format references within your manuscript text itself. APA style is one of the most commonly used formats in academia. It has been adopted by many different types of disciplines and fields, including natural sciences (chemistry, physics), social sciences (sociology, anthropology), arts & humanities (literature), business studies (marketing, finance), etc. It is used when citing sources within research papers.
History of APA
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. Founded in 1892, APA has over 122,500 members involved in teaching, research, clinical practice, and providing services to people across the country.
The Association also publishes major journals such as "American Psychologist" that are read by many professionals and non-professionals interested in learning more about psychology.
APA style is a set of guidelines for writing, formatting, and citing sources. APA was developed by the American Psychological Association (APA) to ensure consistency in research papers and articles published within psychology.
APA referencing basics: reference list
An APA reference list is a complete list of references used in a piece of writing, including the author's name, date of publication, title, and more. It is also known as a bibliography, or works cited page. A reference list is always found at the end (footnote) section at the bottom of your paper.
An APA reference list must:
- Be centered
- Be on a new page at the end of the document
- Be alphabetically by the name of the first author (or title if the author is unknown)
- Contain full references for all in-text references used
The APA referencing is a crucial aspect of your thesis. It presents the sources you have used in your research.
The purpose of this guide is to show you how to format an APA citation correctly so that it looks professional and consistent with other parts of your paper. If you would like to learn more about other popular types of citation such as the MLA citation style, do have a look at our detailed MLA Citation Guide curated for researchers like you.
APA referencing basics: in-text citation
In-text citations are citations within the main body of the text and refer to a direct quote or paraphrase. They correspond to a reference in the main reference list. These citations include:
- the surname of the author
- the date, year of publication
- a parenthetical citation with an associated signal word indicates where you found it (e.g., 'as cited in').
Example: Mitchell (2017) states… | …(Mitchell, 2017)
If the author has put out more than one publication in that year, include a letter after the date (e.g., "2016a") to differentiate between them. The page number or other identifying information should also be included if you are referring to a specific portion of the material.
When referring to a direct quote, the citation must follow the quote directly and contain a page number after the date. When referring to a parenthetical, the page number is not needed.
Example: (Mitchell, 2017, p.104)
Citing Multiple Authors
1. Two Authors
The surname of both authors is stated with either ‘and’ or an ampersand between their names.
Example: Mitchell and Smith (2017) state… | …(Mitchell & Smith, 2017)
2. Three, Four, or Five Authors
For the first time, all names should be listed as:
Example: Mitchell, Smith, and Thomson (2017) state… | …(Mitchell, Smith, & Thomson, 2017).
After that, you can shorten it to the first author’s name, followed by et al:
Example: Mitchell et al (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell et al, 2017).
3. Six or More Authors
Only the first author’s surname should be stated, followed by et al.
Example: Mitchell et al (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell et al, 2017).
4. No Authors
When the author of a source is unknown, the first few words of the citation should be used. This is usually the title of the source.
If this is the title of a book, periodical, brochure, or report, it should be italicized.
Example: (A guide to citation, 2017)
If this is the title of an article, chapter, or web page, it should be in quotation marks.
Example: (“APA Citation”, 2017)
Citing authors with multiple works
Works should be cited using a, b, and c with the date included in parentheses. These letters are assigned within the reference list, which is sorted alphabetically by the surname of the first author.
Example: (Mitchell, 2017a) Or (Mitchell, 2017b)
Citing multiple works in one parentheses
If the works are by the same author, the surname is stated once, followed by dates in order of publication.
Example: Mitchell (2007, 2013, 2017) | (Mitchell, 2007, 2013, 2017)
If these works are written by more than one author, the references are ordered alphabetically by the first author's last name, separated by a semicolon.
Example: (Mitchell & Smith 2017; Thomson, Coyne, & Davis, 2015)
Citing a group or organisation
For the first cite, the group's full name should be used in the citation; subsequently, this can be shortened.
Example: First cite: (International Citation Association, 2015) | Later cites: (Citation Association, 2015)
Citing a secondary source
If a writer needs to cite a secondary source, the original author and date should be stated first, followed by ‘as cited in’ and the author and date of the secondary source.
Example: Lorde (1980) as cited in Mitchell (2017) | (Lorde, 1980, as cited in Mitchell, 2017)
General APA guidelines
Type your essay on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. Include a page header at the top of every page, which includes your paper's title and the page number.
To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and should not exceed 50 characters, including spacing and punctuation.
Font
The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual states that the chosen font should be legible to all readers and consistent throughout a paper. It also acknowledges that many font choices are legitimate, advising writers to check with their publishers, instructors, or institutions for guidance in cases of uncertainty.
While the APA manual does not specify a single font or set of fonts for professional writing, it recommends a few widely available fonts. These include sans serif fonts such as Calibri (11 pt.), Arial (11 pt.), and Lucida Sans Unicode (10 pt.), as well as serif fonts such as Times New Roman (12 pt.), Georgia(11 pt.), and Computer Modern (10 pt.).
Title
The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author’s name, and your institutional affiliation. A professional paper should also include a statement about relevant sources or citations, i.e., the author’s note. A student paper should also include the course number, instructor name, assignment due date, and other pertinent information.
The title should be written in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. APA recommends that a title be focused and concise and not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. A title may take up one or two lines; all text on the title page and throughout your paper should be double-spaced.
Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).
Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.
APA Format basics
APA format uses a set of rules to organize and present information in your paper. These rules are used in the body of your paper, the title page, and other sections, including appendices.
All text should be double-spaced.
Use one-inch margins on all sides.
All paragraphs in the body are indented.
Make sure that the title is centered on the page with your name and school/institution underneath it.
Use 12-point font throughout (unless otherwise noted), including footnotes and endnotes.
All pages should be numbered in the upper right-hand corner.
The manual recommends using one space after most punctuation marks.
A shortened version of the title (“running head”) should be placed in the upper left-hand corner.
APA Format 7th Edition - what's new?
When you write a paper in the APA style, there are certain rules to follow. These rules are often listed in a reference guide that is specific to that field of study. The American Psychological Association (APA) has released an updated version of its formatting guidelines, called the APA Style 7th Edition. This new edition brings some changes to the way you should cite your sources and format your paper.
There should be two main sections of an APA-style citation: In-text citations (also known as parenthetical citations or footnotes) and Reference lists that you would be adding at the end of your document.
Two of the most significant changes to this edition are regarding how you cite your sources and format your paper. When citing journal articles, you should now include a DOI (digital object identifier). This unique number identifies an article and is often found on the article's webpage.
The second change is the addition of what's called hanging indentation. Previously, each line of a reference was indented by one tab space. Now, all lines after the first line should be indented by one-half inch. Fortunately, you needn't remember all of this. This guide has been designed to solve this very purpose.
Why use SciSpace APA Citation Generator?
Using our APA citation generator, all you need to do is:
- Select the source material you need
- Select citation style (APA 7th edition)
- Input the metadata (choose from copy-and-pasting text from the source, using the search bar with the source's URL, DOI, or ISBN, or filling out fields directly)
- Click 'Generate Citation'
And that's it! Forget manually formatting and fiddling with inaccurate citations — our APA Citation Generator does it all for you efficiently and quickly. Your citations will be automatically saved, so you won't have to worry about losing your work. Plus, you don't need to check if the output is correct each time you generate a new citation, as it is trained on the latest APA guidelines.
Furthermore, if you're writing in LaTeX, our Generator can also export the output directly to BibTex files. On the whole, it supports over 2500 styles. So go ahead and try it today: see the difference it makes to your workflow, and experience the freedom of referencing with ease.
A quick checklist to creating perfectly formatted APA citations
Use this APA citation checklist to ensure that you start the citation process on a strong foundation, avoid plagiarism, and don't miss out on anything when citing your sources:
- Every work that you cite must appear in the text as well as the reference list.
- Whether you’re quoting directly or paraphrasing, you must cite the source.
- Make sure the publication dates and author name spelling match each other in the reference list and in-text citations.
- Cite only the sources you have used to build a point or an idea in your paper.
- In order to maintain legibility, cite only those sources that support your immediate point.
- While citing a specific part of the source, include the specific information in addition to the author-date citation.
- Credit sources, even if they are hard to trace.
Final thoughts
Citing in APA style is not difficult once you know the right way to do it. Your goal should be clear and concise writing that is easy to read. You’ll also want to check your grammar because the APA style has its own rules for punctuation and capitalization. But with tools like the APA citation generator, things become a lot easier. Here's a quick sneak-peek into the comparison of top citation generator tools that helps you create accurate citations.
We hope this guide helped you get a basic understanding of APA Citation and the general guidelines around APA Formatting. If you have any questions about how to cite different sources in APA, please feel free to drop a comment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How to do APA citation?
In APA format, you must use "the author-date system." It is composed of the author's last name and the year of publication. When mentioning a specific section of a source, provide a location, such as a page number or timestamp. Example: (Smith, 2020, p. 170).
2. What is APA citation?
APA Citation is a way of recording sources most commonly used in the social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, education, and business. The "APA" style was developed by an organization known as the "American Psychological Association."
3. What does APA citation look like?
Citation Format: Author, (Publication Year). Book title. Publisher. Example: Fleming, Q. (2003). Project procurement management: contracting, subcontracting, teaming. FMC Press.
4. Where to put page numbers in APA citation?
The page number, or other source section, always appears in brackets at the end of the sentence where you cited the reference in APA format.
5. What does APA citation stand for?
The acronym APA stands for "American Psychological Association". It is the most often used manuscript and documentation format in the social sciences.
6. When to use APA citation?
APA Style offers extensive instructions for producing academic papers in any area or discipline. APA is most commonly used by writers and students in the social sciences, including psychology, linguistics, sociology, economics, business, and criminology
7. How to do APA citations for a book?
The citation starts with the author's last name. A comma separates the author's first name and initials. The publishing date is surrounded by parentheses and followed by a period. The book title is italicized, written in sentence case, followed by a period. Finally, include the publisher's name, then end the APA book citation with a period. Example: Cialdini, R. (2021). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. Harper Business.
8. How do you do APA citation for a website?
To reference a website in APA format, give the author's name, publication date, page or article title, website name, and URL in that sequence. Example: Kumar, A. (2022, Aug 19). APA Citation & APA Format — A Beginner's Guide [eBook]. Typeset.
9. How to do APA citation with multiple authors?
When referencing a journal publication with three or more authors in APA, insert the last name of the first author given and add "et al." after it. "Et al." is Latin for "and others," which is why it is used as a replacement for two or more writers' last names. Example: Mitchell et al (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell et al, 2017).
10. What does DOI stand for in APA citation?
DOI stands for digital object identifier. A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies information and provides a link to its location on the Internet. When an article is published and made available electronically, the publisher assigns it a DOI.
11. Why is APA citation important?
APA Style serves as a basis for efficient scholarly communication by assisting authors in presenting their ideas in a clear, precise, and inclusive manner. Following APA format correctly offers your writing credibility. Uniformity and consistency allow readers to concentrate on the ideas being given rather than the formatting. They can swiftly examine works for essential points, results, and references.
12. Why is APA format so difficult?
When citing sources in the American Psychological Association style for the first time, it might be challenging to know where to insert each comma, colon, and period. APA style makes it tough to cite sources within your content since its format fluctuates based on the length of the title and the size of the work. For further information on how to utilize it, consult the 7th edition, APA Manual.
13. Can you write in first person in APA?
Many writers assume that in an APA Style paper, they cannot use first-person pronouns such as "I" or "we." APA Style, on the other hand, makes no such prohibition on using first-person pronouns and actively promotes their usage to eliminate ambiguity in attribution. Use first-person pronouns when describing work you conducted by yourself or work you and your coauthors did together while conducting research.
14. What size paper is used for APA Format?
Your work should be double-spaced and typed on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1 margins on both sides. You should select a clean, easily visible typeface. The APA recommends 12 point Times New Roman typeface.
15. When did APA citation start?
This APA format was created in 1929 to provide a uniform approach for researchers to document their sources. Before the creation of these rules and norms, individuals acknowledged the work of another author by including bits and pieces of information in random order.
16. How many kinds of APA citations are there?
Every citation in APA Style has two parts: an in-text citation and a reference list citation. In-text citations only employ a few details from the source, enough to find its matching reference citation in the reference list. Reference list citations give more information about the source so the reader may locate it if desired.
17. What is the current version of APA style citation being used?
The 7th edition APA Manual is the most recent edition, published in October 2019. However, many universities and publications continue to use the 6th version, which was released in 2009.
18. How many references should an APA paper have?
A research paper has an average of 45 references, with 90% of research papers having between 8 and 102 references. This figure, however, is highly dependent on the study's design. Generally, the minimum number of citations for a research publication should be approximately 25, with a maximum of 40 to 50.
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