This guide shows you how to cite correctly in APA 7th edition — the foundation of academic integrity. PaperDraft helps you format citations as you draft, so you practice sound attribution, not evasion.
APA is the style of psychology, education, and most social sciences, and the 7th edition (published 2019) is the current reference. If your course specifies "APA," the 7th edition is what your instructor means unless stated otherwise. This guide covers the patterns you will use in almost every paper: how to cite in the body of the text, how to format the reference list, and the edge cases that catch students out.
Quick rules
- APA is an author–date style. Every in-text citation names an author and a year.
- The reference list is titled References (centered, bold) and uses hanging indent.
- Every source cited in text must appear in the reference list, and vice versa.
- Double-space the entire paper, including the references.
- Use the DOI when available; use a URL only when there is no DOI and the source is online.
- Up to 20 authors: list all. Twenty-one or more: list the first 19, then an ellipsis, then the last author.
In-text citation patterns
APA offers parenthetical and narrative forms; mix them for readability.
- Parenthetical: "Attention mediates the effect (Smith, 2020)."
- Narrative: "Smith (2020) found that attention mediates the effect."
- Direct quote: "Attention is the mediator" (Smith, 2020, p. 45).
- Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2020); narratively, "Smith and Jones (2020)".
- Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2020) on every citation — 7th edition dropped the first-citation-then-et-al rule from the 6th.
- Organization as author: First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020). After: (APA, 2020).
- No date: (Smith, n.d.).
- Multiple works by same author, same year: Add lowercase letters — (Smith, 2020a), (Smith, 2020b). Order alphabetically by title in the reference list.
Reference list formats
Reference list entries follow the pattern Author, A. A. (Date). Title. Source. The commas and italics matter.
Book (single author):
Smith, J. R. (2020). Attention and learning. Routledge.
Book chapter in an edited volume:
Jones, K. L. (2019). Attention in early childhood. In M. Brown & P. Green (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychology (pp. 45–67). Wiley.
Journal article with DOI:
Smith, J. R., & Jones, K. L. (2021). Mediators of attention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(4), 512–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000456
Journal article, no DOI, from a database:
Do not include the database URL. Format as the print journal article.
Webpage on a news site:
Harris, P. (2023, March 14). New findings in attention research. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/14/attention-research
Report from an organization:
World Health Organization. (2022). Global report on mental health (WHO/MSD/2022.01). https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338
Thesis (unpublished):
Garcia, M. (2022). Attention regulation in adolescents [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of California, Berkeley.
Edge cases
No author. Use the title in the author position. In-text: use a short form of the title in quotation marks for an article or in italics for a book.
No date. Use (n.d.) in place of the year.
Secondary source. If you cite Smith (1980) as discussed in Jones (2020), and you have only read Jones, cite as "(Smith, 1980, as cited in Jones, 2020)" and put only Jones in your reference list. APA discourages secondary sources where the primary can be obtained — go to the primary whenever possible.
Personal communication. Emails, interviews you conducted, and unpublished correspondence are cited only in text: "(A. A. Lastname, personal communication, May 4, 2023)." They do not appear in the reference list.
Generative AI. APA now treats outputs of ChatGPT or similar tools as software. Cite in text as (OpenAI, 2023), and in the reference list:
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
Disclose use in your methods or acknowledgments per your program's policy.
Common mistakes
- Using "et al." for two authors. APA requires both names spelled out for two.
- Forgetting page numbers on direct quotations. Direct quotes require them.
- Capitalizing every word of a title in the reference list. APA uses sentence case for article and book titles (only first word, subtitle first word, and proper nouns capitalized).
- Italicizing the title of a journal article. Only the journal name is italicized; the article title is in plain text, sentence case.
- Omitting the issue number for a journal. Include it in parentheses after the volume: 13(4).
- Missing hanging indent. Reference list entries must have hanging indent — the first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches.
How PaperDraft helps
PaperDraft stubs APA citations in the correct format as you draft. It knows sentence case, DOI placement, and the 7th edition's in-text rules, so the structural part of referencing is handled. What is not handled — and never should be — is source verification. Every citation PaperDraft stubs needs to be checked against the real source you actually read, for author spelling, year, issue number, and DOI. That verification is your work as the author, and it is the part that matters for academic integrity. See our academic responsibility guide for the full frame.
Frequently asked questions
Which edition of APA should I use?
APA 7th edition (2019) is current. If your course says "APA" without specifying, use 7th. Some older style guides and journal templates still reflect 6th edition — if your instructor or target journal specifies 6th, follow that.
How do I cite a source with no author and no date?
Use the title in author position and (n.d.) for the date. In-text, use a short form of the title — for an article: ("Short Title," n.d.); for a book: (Short Title, n.d.).
Do I need page numbers for paraphrases?
Not required, but APA encourages including them for long or complex works so a reader can locate the discussed passage. Page numbers are required for direct quotations.
How do I cite a webpage?
Format: Author. (Date). Title of page. Site Name. URL. If the author and site name are the same (an organizational site), do not repeat the site name.
Can I use citation generators?
Yes, with verification. Any generator — PaperDraft included — can get details wrong, especially for edge-case sources. Always cross-check each generated citation against the original source, matching author, date, title, and source element-by-element.
How should I disclose the use of a drafting tool in an APA paper?
APA updated guidance in 2023 to treat generative AI transparently — cite AI outputs as software and disclose use in methods or acknowledgments. For broader style and program policies, see our disclosure guide.