How to Cite Sources in APA 7
APA 7 references are built from four main parts: author, date, title and source. The exact source element changes for journals, websites, books and chapters.
Method
- Verify the complete author list and publication date.
- Use sentence case where APA requires it.
- Add the journal, book, publisher or website information.
- Use a DOI as a https://doi.org/ link when one is available.
Worked example
Journal pattern: Author. (Year). Article title. Journal, volume(issue), pages. DOI
Book pattern: Author. (Year). Book title (edition). Publisher.
Notes
- APA 7 can list up to 20 authors in a reference entry.
- Imported title capitalization can require manual correction.
- Instructor or journal requirements take priority.
APA 7 source types people most often need
Website or webpage
Verify the author or organization, publication date, page title, website name when required and URL. Do not invent a date when the source does not provide one.
Journal article
Check author order, year, article title in sentence case, journal title, volume, issue, pages or article number and DOI. Imported metadata should still be reviewed against the publication.
Book or book chapter
For a book, verify author, year, title, edition and publisher. A chapter in an edited book needs the chapter author and title plus editor, book title and page range.
Separate source facts from APA formatting
A reliable APA 7 citation starts with a correct source record: the right author or organization, publication date, exact title, container or journal information, volume and issue when relevant, page range or article number, and a DOI or URL when required. Formatting cannot repair incorrect source metadata.
Keep imported metadata editable. DOI services and publisher feeds can contain capitalization that needs to be converted to APA sentence case, missing dates, incomplete author information or fields that do not map cleanly to the source type you are citing. Verify the source itself before polishing punctuation.
Watch the differences between webpages, journal articles and books
For a webpage, identify whether the author is an individual or organization and whether the site name repeats the author. For a journal article, preserve the journal title and volume formatting separately from the sentence-case article title. For books and chapters, distinguish the author of the work from editors and the book container.
A chapter in an edited book is a common source of errors because it contains two levels of authorship and two titles. The chapter author and chapter title belong to the cited contribution, while the editor, book title and page range describe the larger book that contains it.
Check the in-text citation independently
A correct reference-list entry does not automatically guarantee a correct in-text citation. APA author-date citations can change when a work has multiple authors, no individual author, the same author and year as another source, or when a direct quotation requires a page or other locator.
Before submission, compare both parts: the in-text citation should point unambiguously to one reference-list entry, and every reference-list entry actually cited in the paper should be represented in the text unless the assignment uses a different convention.
Authoritative references
Primary or authoritative references for the external standard, scoring rule or identifier convention used on this page.
Editorial review and limitations
Continue with the related tools
Use the linked tools for your own inputs and scenarios.
- MLA Citation Generator — Generate MLA Handbook 9th edition Works Cited entries and matching parenthetical in-text citations for journal articles, webpages, books and book chapters.
- Chicago Citation Generator — Generate Chicago Manual of Style 18th edition bibliography or author-date references for journal articles, webpages, books and chapters.
- ASA Citation Generator — Generate American Sociological Association 7th edition references for journal articles, webpages, books and book chapters.