Quick Reference Guide:

APA Style Guide (7th Edition)

Adapted from Purdue Online Writing Lab

In-Text Citations
Use the past tense or present tense when using signal phrases to describe earlier research, e.g. “Jones
(2020) found” or “Jones (2020) has found.” Follow the author-date method of in-text citation: (Jones,
2020)., Include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation if you are directly quoting or
borrowing from another work. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages)
before listing the page number(s).
Place direct quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of double-spaced lines and omit
quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with all lines indented 0.5 in from the left margin.
Indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation an extra 0.5 in. Place the
parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation mark.

A Work with One or Two Authors

Name the author(s) in the signal phrase or in the parentheses. Spell out “and” in signal phrases but use
the ampersand in parentheses.
Fan and Okoye (2020) found that…
… (Fan & Okoye, 2020).

A Work by Three or More Authors

Include the name of the first author plus “et al.” in each citation, including the first, unless that would
create ambiguity with another source.
Gutierrez et al. (2019) argued that…
… (Gutierrez et al., 2019).

Avoiding Ambiguity with Multiple Sources

When different sources have similar groups of authors, include as many authors as are necessary to
differentiate between the sources.
Gutierrez, Jones, Wang et al. (2019) argued that… On the other hand, Gutierrez, Jones, Patil, et al.
(2019) claimed that…

Unknown Author
If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word
or two in the parentheses. Italicise titles of books and reports; titles of articles and chapters go in
quotation marks.
A similar study was conducted with students learning to format research papers (“Using APA,”
2001).

Organisation as Author
For organisation or government agency authors, mention organisations in the signal phrase or the
parenthetical citation the first time you cite it.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA) (2020), …
Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses
When your parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them the same way they appear in
the reference list, separated by a semi-colon.
(Chen, 2020; Ruiz, 2019)

General Mentions of Common Websites, Software, and Applications

Mention the site in the text and include the address in parentheses. Software and apps use version
numbers in parentheses.
We consulted the Purdue OWL (https://www.owl.purdue.edu).

References
References lists appear at the end of papers on a separate page. All lines after the first line of each entry
in the list should be indented 0.5 in from the left margin. Author’s names are inverted; give last names
and initials for all authors of a work unless the work has more than 20 authors. Sources should be listed
in alphabetical order and double spaced.

Single Author Periodical

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. DOI
Baniya, S., & Weech, S. (2019). Data and experience design: Negotiating community-oriented digital
research with service-learning. Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International
Engagement, 6(1), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284316979

Other Author Variations

For two authors, use the ampersand and separate with a comma.
Last Name, A. A., & Last Name B. B.
For three to 20 authors, separate all names with a comma and use an ampersand before the final name,
similar to above. For 21 or more authors, follow the pattern above for the first 19 authors, use an ellipsis,
and write the final author’s name. For an organisation as author, write the whole name of the
organisation. For an unknown author, start with the title of the work and follow other guidelines.

Book
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of Book. Publisher Name.
Stoneman, R. (2008). Alexander the Great: A life in legend. Yale University Press.

Chapter in Edited Book

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book, (pp. 1-25). Publisher Name.
Armstrong, D. (2019). Malory and character. In M. G. Leitch & C. J. Rushton (Eds.), A new companion
to Malory (pp. 144-163). D. S. Brewer.

YouTube or other Streaming Video

Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL
Lushi, K. [Korab Lushi]. (2016, July 3). Albatross culture 1 [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AMrJRQDPjk&t=148s
Podcast Episode
Host, A. A. (Host). (Year, Month Date). Title of episode (No. if provided) [Audio podcast episode].
In Name of podcast. Publisher. URL
Prime, K. (Host). (2019, March 29). For whom the cowbell tolls [Audio podcast episode]. In Radiolab.
WNYC Studios. https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/whom-cowbell-tolls

Online Scholarly Journal Article

Because online materials can potentially change URLs, use its Digital Object Identifier (DOI) when it is
available. DOIs are an attempt to provide stable, long-lasting links for online articles. They are unique to
their documents and consist of a long alphanumeric code.
Last Name, F. M., & Last Name, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue), page
numbers. DOI
Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active
empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-
180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105
If an online scholarly journal article has no DOI and is published on a website, include the URL.
Last Name, F. M., & Last Name, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue), page
numbers. Retrieved Date, from URL
Perreault, L. (2019). Obesity in adults: Role of physical activity and exercise. UpToDate. Retrieved
January 12, 2020, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/obesity-in-adults-role-of-
physical-activity-and-exercise

Patents
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Unique patent identifier. Location: Patent office.
Fry, A. L. (1993). U.S. Patent No. 5,194,299. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Unpublished Manuscript
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Title of manuscript [Unpublished manuscript]. Name of Institution.
Barkley, S., Chen, M., & McDonald, P. (2018). The effects of sodium on children’s health [Unpublished
manuscript]. Department of Biology, University of Cincinnati.

Page on a Website
Most online sources that do not fall under other categories (social media posts, blog, journal) will use this
template, including articles on news websites such as BBC News and pages on government or NGO
websites. If the resource was written by a group or organization, use the name of the group/organization
as the author. Additionally, if the author and site name are the same, omit the site name from the
citation. If the page's author is not listed, start with the title instead. Additionally, include a retrieval date
when the page's content is likely to change over time (like, for instance, if you're citing a wiki that is
publicly edited). If the date of publication is not listed, use the abbreviation (n.d.).
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of page. Site Name. URL
Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium.
https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01
For more information, consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). APA Formatting And Style Guide (7th Edition). Purdue Online Writing
Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_
guide/general_format.html