APA (American Psychological Association) style is commonly used in the social sciences, education, nursing, and business. This guide covers the 7th edition.

Basic Paper Formatting

• 1-inch margins on all sides
• 12-point readable font (Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, etc.)
• Double-spaced throughout
• Page numbers in the top right corner
• Title page required (includes title, author name, institutional affiliation, course, instructor, and due date for student papers)

In-Text Citations

In-text citations are embedded in your paper to indicate information that you are quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing from one of your sources. 

APA uses author-date format in parentheses.

One author: (Smith, 2023)

Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2023)

Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2023)

Direct quote: (Smith, 2023, p. 45)

If the author is named in the sentence: Smith (2023) argues that...

Reference List Entries

The reference list appears at the end of the paper on a new page titled "References" (centered, bold). Entries are listed alphabetically and use a hanging indent (where the second line of each citation is indented 0.5 inches). If you have a source that does not fit one of the formats below please refer to one of the additional help resources below.

Book (single author) Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter for subtitle. Publisher.

Smith, J. M. (2022). Research methods in psychology: A practical guide. Academic Press.

Book (two authors) Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of work. Publisher.

Smith, J. M., & Jones, K. L. (2021). Understanding human behavior. Norton.

Journal article with DOI Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Williams, R. T., & Chen, S. (2023). Social media and adolescent mental health. Journal of Psychology, 45(2), 112–128.   https://doi.org/10.1000/example

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

American Psychological Association. (2023, March 15). How to cite sources in APA style. https://www.apa.org/example

Database article (same as print — do not include database name) Use the same format as the journal article. Only include a DOI if available.

For More Help

• Purdue OWL APA Guide: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/
• APA Style Official Site: https://apastyle.apa.org/