If you've ever gotten a paper back with red marks all over the references page and no idea what changed between APA 6 and APA 7, you're in the majority. Most common APA mistakes are not about understanding citation theory — they're about small mechanical habits that quietly break the style. Ampersands in the wrong place. A DOI formatted like a hyperlink when it shouldn't be. An in-text citation that says "Smith et al." when APA 7 wants just "Smith."
PaperDraft is a writing assistant, not a paper generator — the draft is your starting point, not your submission. You are responsible for editing, verifying sources, and following your school's academic integrity policy.
This post walks through the 12 APA errors we see most often, why each one happens, and how to fix it in under a minute. For the correct format rules themselves, see our APA citation page; for the underlying mechanics of source citation across styles, the pillar how to cite sources is your reference.
The 12 Most Common APA Mistakes
Each item below follows the same structure: the mistake, why it happens, how to fix it, and a short example.
1. Using "et al." for two authors
- Why it happens: Writers remember "et al." means "and others" and apply it too early.
- Fix: APA 7 uses "et al." only when there are three or more authors. For two authors, always name both.
- Wrong: (Smith et al., 2024)
- Right: (Smith and Jones, 2024)
2. Formatting DOIs as bare numbers instead of URLs
- Why it happens: Older APA 6 habits linger. APA 6 accepted "doi:10.xxxx/yyyy"; APA 7 wants a full URL.
- Fix: Always present the DOI as
https://doi.org/10.xxxx/yyyy. - Wrong: doi:10.1037/abc1234
- Right: https://doi.org/10.1037/abc1234
3. Missing or wrong hanging indent
- Why it happens: Students type the reference list with regular paragraph indents or no indent at all.
- Fix: Every reference uses a hanging indent — first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches. In Word, select the references and apply Paragraph greater than Special greater than Hanging.
4. Ampersands in the wrong place
- Why it happens: Confusion between in-text narrative vs parenthetical citation rules.
- Fix: Use "&" only inside parentheses and in the reference list. Use "and" in running narrative.
- Wrong narrative: Smith & Jones (2024) argued...
- Right narrative: Smith and Jones (2024) argued...
- Right parenthetical: (Smith & Jones, 2024)
5. Still using a running head on student papers
- Why it happens: Templates from pre-2019 still float around campus printers.
- Fix: APA 7 student papers do not require a running head unless the instructor asks for one. The page number in the top right is enough.
6. Wrong capitalization in titles
- Why it happens: Students apply title case everywhere; APA uses sentence case for most reference titles.
- Fix: In the reference list, capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Journal names themselves stay in title case.
- Wrong: Smith, J. (2024). How Cities Adapt To Climate Risk.
- Right: Smith, J. (2024). How cities adapt to climate risk.
7. Italics in the wrong place
- Why it happens: Writers italicize article titles because they look important.
- Fix: Italicize journal names and book titles. Do not italicize article titles or chapter titles.
- Right: Smith, J. (2024). How cities adapt. Urban Studies Quarterly, 12(3), 45-60.
8. Dropping the issue number from journal citations
- Why it happens: It's easy to forget when copying from a database.
- Fix: Include the issue number in parentheses right after the volume, not italicized.
- Right: Urban Studies Quarterly, 12(3), 45-60.
9. Missing page range or using "pp." incorrectly
- Why it happens: Confusion between book chapters and journal articles.
- Fix: Journal articles use a bare page range (45-60). Book chapters use "pp." before the range.
10. Initials with no space between them
- Why it happens: Autocorrect or copy-paste strips the space.
- Fix: APA wants a space: "Smith, J. R." not "Smith, J.R."
11. Wrong year for online-first articles
- Why it happens: The publication has both an online-first date and a print year.
- Fix: Use the year the final version of record was published. If it's still online-first only, use the online-first year and note "Advance online publication."
12. Reference list not alphabetized
- Why it happens: You added sources as you wrote and forgot to sort at the end.
- Fix: Alphabetize by the first author's surname. Multiple works by the same author are ordered chronologically, oldest first.
Why These Mistakes Keep Happening
These are not intelligence errors. They happen because APA has a lot of small rules, and the small rules shift between editions. The APA 6 to APA 7 transition alone changed the running head, the maximum author list before "et al.," DOI format, and in-text citation for three-plus authors. If you learned APA in high school and haven't relearned it, you're using a style that no longer exists.
Three habits cut most of these errors:
- Check the edition your professor expects. Most universities are on APA 7. A few holdouts still teach APA 6. The assignment sheet matters more than a general guide.
- Verify the reference list at the end, not as you go. Dedicate one revision pass to nothing but APA mechanics.
- Never trust a citation generator's output without reading it line by line. See the section below.
Still finding red marks on your reference list minutes before submission? PaperDraft gives you a structured first draft with citation stubs in the style you choose — APA, MLA, or Chicago — which you verify against the original source. It's a drafting assistant, not a submission. Try PaperDraft — free
Common Pitfalls With Citation Tools
Machine-produced citations have a real error rate. Zotero, Mendeley, Word's built-in citation manager, and free web generators all make the same categories of mistakes: wrong author order when the source metadata is messy, missing issue numbers, broken DOI format, and wrong capitalization pulled straight from the source's own inconsistent record.
Always verify the following against the original source page:
- DOI. Copy it from the publisher page, not from Google Scholar.
- Page numbers. Confirm the range matches the final version of record.
- Author order. Especially for articles with five or more authors.
- Publication date. Online-first vs print can differ by a year.
- Title capitalization. Many databases store titles in all caps or title case; APA wants sentence case.
A two-minute manual check prevents the most common deductions.
How a Drafting Assistant Fits
PaperDraft produces citation stubs in your chosen style so you can scaffold a draft without stopping to format each reference by hand. Those stubs are a starting point. You — the student — verify each one against the original source, correct any metadata errors, and ensure the final reference list meets your instructor's edition of APA. We do not claim to produce accurate final citations; we claim to save you the cold-start work of formatting each one so your revision time goes to the parts that actually carry points.
FAQ
Does my paper have to be in APA 7, or is APA 6 still okay?
Check the assignment sheet. Most North American programs switched to APA 7 in 2020. If the instructor doesn't specify, default to APA 7 — it's the current edition.
Can I use a citation generator instead of writing citations by hand?
You can use one as a starting point, not a finished product. Every citation generator — Zotero, Mendeley, Word, free web tools — produces reference entries with mechanical errors in a nontrivial percentage of cases. Use the tool to scaffold, then verify every reference against the original source. See our citation tools guide for a verification workflow.
Are in-text citations in APA 7 really different from APA 6?
Yes, in one key way. APA 7 uses "et al." starting at three authors (instead of six). That single change catches most students off guard on long reference lists.
What's the fastest way to catch APA mistakes before submitting?
Do a dedicated mechanics pass. Sort the reference list alphabetically, check every DOI is a full URL, confirm sentence case on article titles, and scan in-text citations for the three-author "et al." rule. Fifteen focused minutes removes most deductions.
Is there a difference between APA for a student paper and a professional paper?
Yes. APA 7 explicitly distinguishes the two. Student papers have a simpler title page and usually no running head. Professional papers (for journal submission) require the running head and author note. Use the student template unless your instructor says otherwise.
Get the mechanics right and graders stop circling formatting — they start engaging with your argument. For cross-style errors, our common MLA mistakes post covers the MLA equivalents.