APA style is maintained and updated by the American Psychological Association and has existed for nearly 100 years (since 1929). The most current APA guidelines come from the 7th edition of the APA Manual. This style is used in disciplines such as history, social sciences, and sciences.
APA style provides guidelines for references, in-text citations, paper formatting, and language use, which are explained in detail below.
| Source | Reference Entry | In-Text Citation | Narrative Citation |
| Journal Article |
Author Last name, Author First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal italicized, Volume number italicized(Issue number), Page numbers. DOI or URL Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185 |
(Grady et al., 2019) | According to Grady et al. (2019), insert quote or paraphrase... (p. 4). |
| Book/Ebook |
Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year of publication). Title of work in sentence case and italics. Publisher. DOI or URL (if ebook). Jackson, L. M. (2019). The psychology of prejudice: From attitudes to social action (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000168-000 |
(Jackson, 2019) | Jackson states...(2019). |
| Dataset |
Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year of publication for the version of the data used). Title of dataset (provide any numerical identifier and version number for the data in parentheses without italics, separated by a semicolon) [Data set]. Publisher of dataset. URL or DOI. O’Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks (ICPSR 36966; Version V1) [Data set]. |
(O’Donohue, 2017) | O’Donohue's findings... (2017) |
| Webpage on a website |
Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day). Webpage title in sentence case and italics. Website name. URL Schaeffer, K. (2021, October 1). What we know about online learning and the homework gap amid the pandemic. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/10/01/what-we-know- about-online-learning-and-the-homework-gap-amid-the-pandemic/ |
(Schaeffer, 2021) | According to Shaeffer (2021), quote or paraphrase...(p. 2). |
In addition to reference and citation guidelines, APA Style requires specific paper formatting.
For both paraphrases and direct quotations, APA Style requires an author-date citation. From the sentence where your source and in-text citation appear, a reader could use the brief citation to refer to your larger, alphabetized references list to locate more information about the source. Every work in your reference list must be cited in the body of your paper.
Two options for in-text citations:
Parenthetical means the in-text citation is included at the end of a sentence (Author last name, date).
Narrative means you are describing the author or their work in your written sentence.
Citing works with multiple authors or authors with multiple publications? See here.
APA provides guidelines around inclusive language with the aim "to raise awareness, direct learning, and support the use of culturally sensitive terms and phrases that center the voices and perspectives of those who have been historically marginalized or stereotyped."
For other considerations about APA style, such as brevity, tone, and word choice, see here.