CNR Checklist for APA Style (7th Edition)

Version 7.1 (July 6, 2020)

The Center for Nursing Research (CNR) has developed the following checklist to address
common questions and errors encountered with use of American Psychological Association
(APA) Style, 7th edition.1 The checklist is designed to be used by faculty and students in
conjunction with the APA Publication Manual (7th edition) for preparing manuscripts for
publication and reviewing course papers. Checklist items refer to sections in the APA Manual
that should be accessed for more information. You are welcome to contact the CNR for
assistance with APA Style requirements and other formatting information regarding the
submission of manuscripts for publication.

APA
I. Paper Elements and Format Section
A. Running Heads, Page Numbers, Spacing and Margins
The running head is an abbreviated title that is left-justified and printed at the top of
all pages of a manuscript that is being submitted for publication. It has a maximum of
1. ☐ 50 characters and is displayed in uppercase letters. The running head is not required 2.8
for student papers unless it is requested by the instructor. The words "Running
head" are not used on any page.
Pages are numbered in sequence, starting with the title page. The numbers are right
2. ☐ 2.18
justified in the header.
Different fonts may be used as long as the same font is used throughout the paper.
3. ☐ An exception is to always use a sans serif font within figure images. Some sans serif 2.19
fonts include 11-point Arial or 11-point-Calibri.
The entire paper is double-spaced and left-justified, with the exception of tables and
figures, which may have single-spaced, one-and-a-half-spaced, or double-spaced
4. ☐ 2.21
text. An extra blank line is added on the title page between the title and the byline
and between the text and an embedded table or figure.
One-inch margins are used on all sides of the page except for bound dissertations
5. ☐ 2.22
and theses.
One space is used after a period or other punctuation marks at the end of a
6. ☐ 6.1
sentence.
B. Headings
Levels of headings reflect the organization of the paper. All topics of equal
7. ☐ 2.26
importance have the same level of heading.
At least two subsection headings are used within a section, or none are used in the
8. ☐ 2.26
section.
9. ☐ Headings of the same level appear in the same format. 2.27
10. ☐ First-level headings are centered, bolded, and title-cased. 2.27
11. ☐ Second-level headings are left-justified, bolded, and title-cased. 2.27
12. ☐ Third-level headings are left-justified, bolded, italicized, and title-cased. 2.27
Fourth-level headings are indented, bolded, title-cased, and end with a period. Text
13. ☐ 2.27
begins on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.
Fifth-level headings are indented, bolded, italicized, title-cased, and end with a
14. ☐ 2.27
period. Text begins on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.

1
C. Title Page
Professional papers2 include on the title page the (a) title, (b) names of author(s), (c)
15. ☐ affiliations for each author, (d) author note, (e) running head, without the words 2.1-2.3
"Running head," and (f) page number (see Fig. 2.1).
Students should follow their instructor’s guidelines when determining which title page
format to use. If not instructed otherwise, student papers, 3 at a minimum, include the
16. ☐ following on the title page: (a) title, (b) names of author(s), (c) affiliations of the 2.2-2.3
author(s), (d) course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, (e)
instructor’s name, (f) assignment due date, and (f) page number (see Fig. 2.2).
The title should be focused, succinct, in title case, bolded, centered, and positioned
17. ☐ 2.4
in the upper half of the title page.
“Every paper includes the name of the author or authors – the byline.” The author
byline follows the title with the first name, middle initial, and last name. Professional
18. ☐ 2.5
titles, academic degrees, and licenses are not included. Title and byline are
separated by one blank double-spaced line.
Institutional affiliation follows the author byline. If there is no affiliation, the city and
state of the author’s residence are included. When authors work at different
19. ☐ 2.6
institutions, superscripts are used to connect the authors to their affiliations. The
department or division is included with the name of the institution.
For professional papers only, the author note is placed several lines after the
institutional affiliation. Author notes have four paragraphs describing (a) the author’s
20. ☐ 2.7
Orchid ID, if available, (b) changes of affiliation, (c) disclosures and
acknowledgments, and (d) contact information. The words "Author Note" are bolded.
For student papers only, the (a) course number and name (b) instructor’s name in
21. ☐ their preferred format, and (c) assignment due date are placed directly after the 2.3
institutional affiliation.
D. Abstract and Keywords
The abstract meets the word limit, which is typically no more than 250 words.
22. ☐ Abstracts and keywords are not required for student papers unless requested by the 2.9
instructor.
23. ☐ The label “Abstract” is in bold title case, centered at the top of the page. 2.9
The abstract is in a paragraph or structured format, written as a single paragraph,
24. ☐ left-justified and without indentation. For a structured abstract, labels are inserted to 2.9
identify various sections.
The label “Keywords:” (in italics) is one line below the abstract, indented 0.5 in., and
25. ☐ followed by the keywords in lowercase, separated by commas. There is no 2.10
punctuation after the last keyword. The second line is not indented.
E. Introduction
26. ☐ The introduction section is not labeled with the word “Introduction.” 2.27
The paper title is at the top of the first page of text, serving as a de facto Level 1
27. ☐ 2.27
heading for the introduction section.
28. ☐ The title of the paper is centered, bolded, and in title case. 2.27
APA
II. Writing Style and Grammar Section
A. Effective Scholarly Writing
1. ☐ The paper has continuity – i.e., a logical, orderly, and smooth flow of ideas. 4.1-4.3
The paper demonstrates precision – i.e., words are selected carefully and sentences
2. ☐ 4.4-4.6
are structured so that meaning is unambiguous.
3. ☐ The writing is concise. 4.4-4.5

2
 Anthropomorphism is avoided. Human characteristics are not attributed to animals or
4. ☐ 4.11
to inanimate sources.
B. Verb Tense
Verb tenses are used consistently. The following verb tenses are used in specific
parts of the paper:
 Literature review: Past and present perfect tense
 Methods and Description of procedures: Past and present perfect tense
5. ☐  Reporting of one’s own or other researchers’ results: Past tense 4.12
 Personal reactions: Past, present perfect and present tense
 Discussion of implications of results or of previous statements: Present tense
 Presentation of study conclusions, limitations, and future directions: Present
tense
C. Active and Passive Voice
The active voice is used as much as possible to create direct, clear, and concise
6. ☐ 4.13
sentences.
D. Subject and Verb Agreement
Each verb agrees in number (i.e., singular or plural; see Section 6.11) with its
7. ☐ 4.15
subject, regardless of intervening phrases.
E. Pronouns
The first person (I/we) is used to describe the author(s)’ work. For example, “the
8. ☐ 4.16
researcher(s) found . . . .” is not used.
The singular “they” is used for a person who uses “they” as their pronoun and to
9. ☐ refer to individuals whose gender is unknown or irrelevant to the context of the 4.18
usage.
F. Parallelism
For coordinating conjunctions used in pairs (between . . . and, both . . . and, neither .
. . nor, either . . . or, not only . . . but also), the first conjunction is placed immediately
10. ☐ 4.24
before the first part of the parallelism. “Correct: between 2.5 and 4.0 years old.
Incorrect: between 2.5–4.0 years old.”
Elements in a series are parallel in form. “Correct: The participants were told to
make themselves comfortable, to read the instructions, and to ask about anything
11. ☐ they did not understand. Incorrect: The participants were told to make themselves 4.24
comfortable, to read the instructions, and that they should ask about anything they
did not understand.”
12. ☐ Items in a series are “syntactically and conceptually parallel.” 6.49
APA
III. Mechanics of Style Section
A. Capitalization
Names of “theories, concepts, hypotheses, principles, models, and statistical
1. ☐ 6.16
procedures” are not capitalized.
Nouns followed by numerals or letters denoting a specific place in a series are
2. ☐ 6.19
capitalized.
B. Italics
“Italics are used for key terms or phrases, often accompanied by a definition.” Italics
3. ☐ are used for a term or phrase only once, when it is most appropriate to draw readers’ 6.22
attention to it.
Italics are used in the “titles of books, reports, webpages, and other stand-alone
4. ☐ 6.22
works.”

3
C. Numbers and Equations
5. ☐ Anchors of a scale (but not the associated number) are italicized. 6.22
6. ☐ Letters used as statistical symbols or algebraic variables are italicized. 6.22
Numerals are used to express numbers 10 and above throughout the paper,
7. ☐ 6.32
including the abstract. (For exceptions, see Sections 6.33 - 6.35.)
8. ☐ Numbers are typically rounded to two decimal places. 6.36
Exact p values (e.g., p = .031) are reported to two or three decimal places. However,
9. ☐ 6.36
p values less than .001 are reported as p < .001.
A zero is not used before a decimal fraction when the statistic cannot be greater than
10. ☐ 6.36
1.
The percent and currency symbols are used only when they are accompanied by a
numeral; they are also used in table headings and in figure labels and legends to
11. ☐ conserve space. The word “percentage” or the name of the currency is used when a 6.44
number is not given. The symbol is repeated for a range of percentages or quantities
of currency.
12. ☐ Mathematical copy is spaced in the same way words are spaced (e.g., a + b = c). 6.45
D. Seriation
Commas are used to separate three or more elements that do not have internal 6.3
13. ☐
commas; semicolons are used when there are internal commas. 6.4
Semicolons are used to separate two independent clauses that are not joined by a
14. ☐ 6.4
conjunction and to separate items in a list that already contain commas.
Within a sentence or paragraph, lettered lists identifying elements in a series use a
15. ☐ 6.50
lowercase letter enclosed in parentheses.
A numbered list is used “to display complete sentences or paragraphs in a series
16. ☐ (e.g., itemized conclusions, steps in a procedure).” A lettered or bulleted list rather 6.51
than a numbered list is used if the items are phrases.
A bulleted list is used in place of a numbered list when ordinal position (e.g.,
17. ☐ 6.52
chronology, importance, priority) among the items should not be implied.
If bulleted list items are complete sentences, each sentence begins with a capital
18. ☐ 6.52
letter and finishes with a period or other end punctuation.
E. Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used “to introduce a word or phrase used as an ironic
comment, as slang, or as an invented or coined expression” and “to refer to a letter,
19. ☐ 6.7
word, phrase, or sentence as a linguistic example or as itself.” Use quotation marks
only for the first occurrence of the word or phrase.
Quotation marks are used in the text to set off the title of a periodical article or book
20. ☐ 6.7
chapter.
APA
IV. Tables and Figures Section
A. General Information
Tables and figures are embedded within the text after they are first mentioned, or
each table and then each figure is placed on separate pages after the reference list.
1. ☐ 6.17
Title case is used for table and figure titles (which also are italicized), axis labels,
and legends.
Tables are numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in the order in which they
2. ☐ are first mentioned in the text. Figures also are numbered consecutively with Arabic 7.10
numerals in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text.
3. ☐ Standard abbreviations and symbols for statistics, Greek letters, units of 7.15

4
 measurement, the abbreviation “no,” and “%” are used in tables and figures without
defining them in a note. Other abbreviations used in a table or figure are defined in
the table or figure title, body, or note, even if also defined in the paper. (See Section
7.28 for more on figure notes.)
It is stated whether the material was reprinted or adapted; “From” is used for a
reprinting and “Adapted from” for an adaptation. (See Tables 12.1 and 12.2 for
4. ☐ 12.18
examples. See Sections 12.14-12.18 for more information about copyright and
permission guidelines.)
The table number (e.g., Table 1) appears above the table in bold font, and the table
7.10
title appears one double-spaced line below the table number in italic title case. The
7.11
5. ☐ figure number (e.g., Figure 1) appears above the figure in bold, and the figure title
7.24
appears one double-spaced line below the figure number in italic title case. Table
7.25
and figure titles do not end with a period.
Tables and figures may have general, specific, and probability notes, as applicable. 7.14
6. ☐
These notes are placed below the body of the table. 7.28
General notes are placed below the table or figure and start with the word “Note” (in
7.14
7. ☐ italics) followed by a period (e.g., “Note. Factor loadings greater than .45 are shown
7.28
in boldface. M = match process; N = nonmatch process.”).
Specific notes are placed below any general notes, on their own line, and are
preceded by the superscript that they explain. (For example: “a n = 25. b This
7.14
8. ☐ participant did not complete the trials.”) Within each table that has specific notes, the
7.28
superscripts are ordered from left to right and from top to bottom, starting at the top
left and beginning with the letter “a.”
Probability notes are placed below any specific notes and are preceded by the 7.14
9. ☐
symbol they explain. For example, “*p < .05. **p < .01.” 7.28
B. Tables
10. ☐ All table columns include a brief heading. 7.12
Within the table body, single-, one-and-a-half, or double spacing is used. If entries
11. ☐ 7.13
are longer than one line, a hanging indent of 0.15 in. is used.
Vertical borders are not used to separate data, and borders are not used around
12. ☐ every cell in a table. Spacing is used between columns and rows, and strict 7.17
alignment is used to clarify relations among elements in the table.
C. Figures
Letters are clear, sharp, and uniformly dark, and are sized consistently throughout
13. ☐ 7.26
the figure; the font size is no smaller than 8 points and no larger than 14 points.
The image part of the figure (e.g., graph, chart, or diagram) has been saved in a
14. ☐ 7.26
resolution sufficient to allow for clear printing and viewing.
The legend is in title case, and the lettering is of the same kind and proportion as
that appearing in the rest of the figure. Only figures that have symbols, line styles, or
15. ☐ shadings needing definition include legends. When possible, legends are placed 7.27
within or below the image instead of to the side to avoid having empty space around
the legend.
APA
V. Works Credited in the Text Section
A. Multiple Authors
1. ☐ For a work with one or two authors, all author name(s) are included in every citation. 8.17
For a work with three or more authors, the name of only the first author plus “et al.” is
8.17
2. ☐ used in every citation, including the first citation, unless doing so would create
8.18
ambiguity (see Section 8.18).

5
 In parenthetical citations, an ampersand (&) is used between names for a work with
3. ☐ two authors or before the last author when all names must be included to avoid 8.17
ambiguity (see Section 8.18). In narrative citations, the word “and” is spelled out.
B. Secondary Authors and No Author
Secondary sources are cited instead of primary sources if the primary source is
unable to be located. “For example, if you read a work by Lyon et al. (2014) in which
4. ☐ Rabbitt (1982) was cited, and you were unable to read Rabbitt’s work yourself, cite 8.6
Rabbitt’s work as the original source, followed by Lyon et al.’s work as the secondary
source. Only Lyon et al.’s work appears in the reference list.”
When the author of a work is not named, the title and year of publication are
included in the in-text citation. The title in the in-text citation (a) is italicized or
5. ☐ 8.14
enclosed in double quotation marks to match how it is listed in the reference, (b) is
capitalized using title case, and (c) is shortened if it is long.
C. Two or More Works
When multiple works are cited parenthetically, the citations are placed in
6. ☐ 8.12
alphabetical order and separated with semicolons.
Two or more works by the same authors are arranged by year of publication.
Citations with no date are placed first, followed by works with dates in chronological
7. ☐ order; in-press citations appear last. The author’s surname is given once; for each 8.12
subsequent work, only the date is given. For example: (Department of Veterans
Affairs, n.d., 2017a, 2017b, 2019; Zhou, n.d., 2000, 2016, in press)
D. General Quotation Guidelines
If any incorrect spelling, punctuation, or grammar in the source might confuse
8. ☐ readers, the word “[sic],” italicized and in brackets, is inserted immediately after the 8.29
error in the quotation.
Italics are used to emphasize words in a quotation. Immediately after the italicized
9. ☐ words, “emphasis added” is inserted within square brackets as follows: [emphasis 8.31
added].
Quotations from participants who were interviewed as part of the research are in
10. ☐ quotation marks in the text if fewer than 40 words, and are in a block quotation if 40 8.36
words or more. It is stated in the text that the quotations are from participants.
p., pp., and para. are used when quoting a single page, multiple pages, and a 8.25
11. ☐
paragraph, respectively. 8.28
A paragraph number is used when a page number is not available for a quotation. A
12. ☐ 8.28
heading or section name in combination with a paragraph number may be used.
E. Quoting Fewer Than 40 Words
If a quotation consists of fewer than 40 words, it is incorporated into the text and
13. ☐ 8.26
enclosed within double quotation marks.
Quotations are formatted as follows (see Table 8.2):
 The period marking the end of a sentence follows the citation.
 The citation is outside the quotation marks.
 The period marking the end of the sentence follows the page number.
14. ☐  The page number is within the same parentheses as the year when the 8.26
quotation precedes the narrative citation.
 The question mark that ends the quotation appears within the quotation marks.
The author and year are not necessarily repeated within parentheses when they
already appear in the narrative.
F. Quoting 40 Words or More
15. ☐ If a quotation contains 40 words or more, it is treated as a block quotation. 8.27
16. ☐ Quotation marks are not used to enclose a block quotation. A block quotation is 8.27

6
 started on a new line, and the whole block is indented 0.5 in. from the left margin. If
there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, the first line of each subsequent
paragraph is indented an additional 0.5 in. The entire block quotation is double-
spaced; no extra space is added before or after it.
Either (a) the source is cited in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation or
(b) the author and year are cited in the narrative before the quotation, and only the
17. ☐ 8.27
page number is placed in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation. A
period is not added after the closing parenthesis in either case.
G. Omitting Material in a Quotation
For omitted material, either three periods are typed with spaces around each ( . . . )
18. ☐ or the ellipsis character created by a word-processing program when you type three 8.31
periods in a row is used ( … ), with a space before and after.
To show a sentence break within omitted material, four periods – i.e., a period plus
19. ☐ 8.31
an ellipsis (. … ) – are used.
APA
VI. Reference List Section
A. General Information
The reference list is started on a new page after the text and before any tables,
1. ☐ 2.12
figures, and/or appendices (when tables and figures are not included in the text).
2. ☐ The reference list is labeled, “References,” and is capitalized, in bold, and centered. 2.12
All reference list entries are double-spaced (including between and within
3. ☐ references), and a hanging indent is used for all references. That is, the first line of 2.12
each reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 in.
The spelling of author names and publication dates in the reference list entries
4. ☐ 8.4
match those in the in-text citations.
Each work cited in the text appears in the reference list, and each work in the 8.4
5. ☐
reference list is cited in the text. 8.10
“The date element of a reference list entry may include the month, season, and/or
8.4
6. ☐ day in addition to the year; however, the corresponding in-text citation includes only
8.10
the year.”
A retrieval date is provided in the source element when citing an unarchived (i.e., not
7. ☐ stable) work that is likely or meant to change. For example: “Retrieved October 11, 9.16
2020, from https://xxxxx” Most references do not use a retrieval date.
When the publication date of a work is unknown or cannot be determined, “n.d.”
8. ☐ 9.17
(which stands for “no date”) is written in parentheses.
B. Capitalization and Italicizing
Sentence case is used for titles of articles, books, reports, webpages, and other
9. ☐ works in reference list entries. Title case is used for titles of periodicals. (See Section 6.17
6.17 for a description of sentence and title case.)
In reference list entries, italics are used for titles of books, reports, webpages, and
6.22
10. ☐ other stand-alone works. Italics are also used for journal, magazine, and newspaper
9.19
titles and volume numbers (see Section 9.19).
Italics are not used for titles of documents that are part of a larger section, such as a
11. ☐ 6.22
book chapter (see also Lee, 2020).

7
C. Multiple Authors
For a journal article with 21 or more authors, the first 19 authors are listed followed
12. ☐ 10.1
by “. . .” and the last author (see example 4 in Section 10.1).
D. No Author
If a work has no author or its author is unknown or cannot reasonably be
9.12
13. ☐ determined, the title of the work is moved to the author position (followed by a
9.49
period), before the date of publication (see Section 10.3, example 49).
E. Editors
The word “In” is placed before the editors’ names when citing edited book chapters.
14. ☐ The word “In” is also used before the title of a book without editors, as shown in 10.3
Section 10.3, example 47.
The abbreviation “(Ed.)” is used for one editor, and the abbreviation “(Eds.)” is used 9.10
15. ☐
for multiple editors. 10.3
16. ☐ Editor(s) names are not inverted when citing edited book chapters. 10.3
F. Periodicals
Periodicals are formatted correctly. Page numbers are not included in the reference
list if the article number is used, but in-text citations refer to page numbers. Issue
and article numbers are included when available. Common formats include:
(a) Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of
17. ☐ Periodical, xx(x), pp–pp. https://doi.org/xxxx or 10.1
(b) Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of
Periodical, xx(x), pp–pp. https://direct_link_when_not_available_in_database or
(c) Author, A. A. (year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx(x), Article #.
https://doi.org/xxxx
18. ☐ Journal titles and volumes are italicized, but issue numbers and article titles are not. 10.1
Journal titles are written as they appear in their own work (e.g., PLOS ONE, JAMA
19. ☐ Pediatrics). New abbreviations are not created, and PubMed abbreviations are not 9.25
used if they differ from the way the journal names itself.
DOIs are included when they are available, using the format “https://doi.org/” or
“http://dx.doi.org”. Line breaks or spaces are not added within DOIs. A period is not
added after the DOI. The DOI is hyperlinked and blue or is in plain, black text. (Note. 9.34-
20. ☐
DOIs are often found within the article; however, if they are not there or not in the 9.36
correct format, go to crossref.org and select the “Search Metadata” tab. If they are
long and you want to shorten them, you can use http://shortdoi.org/.)
URLs are presented as hyperlinks (i.e., beginning with “http://” or “https://”). Line
breaks or spaces are not added within the URL, and a period is not added after the
URL. The URL is hyperlinked and blue or is in plain, black text. The words
9.30,
“Retrieved from” are used only when a retrieval date is needed. URL shorteners are
21. ☐ 9.34-
used as needed. If the URL is from a database with limited circulation like ERIC, the
9.36
database name is included with the URL. URLs are not used when (a) a DOI is
available, (b) the information is found in a widely available academic database, or (c)
the URL no longer works or does not provide readers with direct access.
G. Books, Edited Book Chapters, and Reference Works
22. ☐ Book references are formatted correctly. If the author and publisher are the same, 10.2
the publisher is omitted. A DOI is included when available. A URL is used if the DOI
is not available and the book is available electronically. (A URL is optional for books
available in print.) Common formats include:
(a) Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. Publisher. or

8
 (b) Author, A. A. (year). Title of work (2nd ed). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx or
(c) Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. Publisher. https://xxxxx
Book chapter references are formatted correctly. If a chapter is referenced in a non-
edited book, the entire book is cited. Also, the copyright date is used instead of the
release date. Common formats include:
(a) Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or entry. In A. Editor, B.
Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx–xxx). Publisher. or 9.13
23. ☐
10.3
(b) Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or entry (2nd ed.). In A.
Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xxx–xxx). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx or
(c) Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or entry (2nd ed.). In A.
Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xxx–xxx). Publisher. https://xxxxx
10.2
24. ☐ Book titles are italicized; book chapters are not.
10.3
Dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia references are formatted correctly. See
Section 10.3, examples 47 and 48 (Note that the retrieval date is used on the
APA reference because the online reference work is continuously updated.
The retrieval date is not used on the Graham reference because the work is
archived.):

(a) American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Positive transference. In APA

25. ☐ dictionary of psychology. Retrieved August 31, 2019, 10.3
from https://dictionary.apa.org/positive-transference or

(b) Graham, G. (2019). Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia

of philosophy  (Summer 2019 ed.). Stanford University.
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/behaviorism/

H. Reports
Report references are formatted correctly. If the author and the publisher are the
same, the publisher's information is not included. Common formats include:
(a) Author, A. A., & Author, B. (year). Title of report. Publisher Name.
26. ☐ 10.4
https://doi.org/xxxx or
(b) Name of Group. (year). Title of report (Report No. 123). Publisher Name.
https://xxxxx
I. Websites
Website references are formatted correctly. If the author and the website name are
the same, the website name is not included. This category is only used when there
are no other matching reference categories. Common formats include:
27. ☐ 10.16
(a) Author, A. A. (year). Title of document. Website Name. Retrieved Month day,
year, from http://xxxxx or
(b) Name of Group. (year, month day). Title of document. http://xxxxx
When referring to a website in general, an in-text citation or reference list entry is not
28. ☐ 10.16
used.
J. Videos
Audiovisual works are formatted correctly. A common format for referencing videos
is: Author, A. A. [Username]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video]. Website
Name. http://xxxxxxx
29. ☐ 10.12
See Section 10.12, example 90: Fogarty, M. [Grammar Girl]. (2016, September 30).
How to diagram a sentence (absolute basics) [Video]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/deiEY5Yq1qI

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10
 APA Checklist References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Lee, C. (2020, February 19). A tale of two reference formats. APA Style.
https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/two-reference-formats

Footnotes
1. To conserve space, APA Style requirements for block formatting of quotations and use of
double spacing and hanging indents are not used in this document. All information is taken
from the cited sections in the APA Publication Manual, 7th edition. Note that the checklist is
based on common questions and errors that have been encountered with use of APA Style.
It is not meant to replace use of the APA Publication Manual, which is the official guide to
APA Style.
2. Professional Papers: “Paper elements appear in various combinations depending on the
nature of the work. Manuscripts submitted for publication (see Sections 1.1-1.9) should
always include a title page (see Section 2.3), which contains the paper title (see Section
2.4), author names and affiliations (see Sections 2.5-2.6), and author note (see Section 2.7);
page headers with a running head and page numbers (see Sections 2.8 and 2.18); an
abstract (see Section 2.9); text (see Section 2.11); and a reference list (see Section 2.12).
Papers may also include keywords (see Section 2.10), footnotes (see Section 2.13), tables
(see Chapter 7), figures (see Chapter 7), appendices (see Section 2.14), and/or
supplemental materials (see Section 2.15). Authors seeking publication should refer to the
journal’s instructions for authors or manuscript submission guidelines for any requirements
that are different from or in addition to those specified by APA Style.” (Section 2.1)
3. Student Papers: “Student papers (e.g., narrative essays, reaction or response papers,
literature review papers; see Section 1.10) usually include, at minimum, a title page (see
Sections 2.3-2.6), page numbers (see Section 2.18), text (see Section 2.11), and a
reference list (see Section 2.12). They may also have tables (see Chapter 7), figures (see
Chapter 7), and/or appendices (see Section 2.14). Student papers do not typically include a
running head, an author note, or an abstract, unless specifically requested by the instructor
or institution. Student papers have a student-specific version of the title page (see Section
2.3).” (Section 2.2)

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 APA Style Resources

American Psychological Association. (2020). Academic writer tutorial: Basics of seventh edition
APA Style [Tutorial]. https://bit.ly/3aJ0D9z
A free APA tutorial that provides an overview of APA Style, 7th edition.

American Psychological Association. (2019, August 8). Introducing the 7th ed. APA Style
Publication Manual [Video]. YouTube. https://bit.ly/3c3MPYV
An APA video that introduces the 7th edition APA Style Publication Manual.

CHOICE Media Channel. (2020, February 14). Creating references using seventh edition APA
Style [Video]. YouTube. https://bit.ly/2W9oREG
A YouTube video that explains how to create references.

CHOICE Media Channel. (2019, October 25). What’s new in APA Style – Inside the seventh
edition of the publication manual of the APA [Video]. YouTube. https://bit.ly/3bQ6Hyw
A YouTube video that describes the APA Style Publication Manual with key updates.

http://blog.apastyle.org/
The APA Style Blog (https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/) is a useful APA resource for finding
information that is not readily located in the APA Style Publication Manual. In addition, you can
e-mail the APA style experts for difficult to find answers at SJournalsStyleExpert@apa.org.

https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/handouts-guides
This webpage within the APA Style Blog includes resources such as sample papers, citation
and reference examples, and number and statistic guides to help individuals transition to the 7th
edition.

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples
This webpage within the APA Style Blog includes reference examples to supplement the APA
Manual 7th edition.

https://digitallearning.apa.org/academic-writer
Academic Writer is APA’s tool for helping instructors support students through the process of
writing papers in courses that require APA Style.

http://crossref.org
Crossref (http://crossref.org) is a useful resource for locating DOI numbers. On the Crossref
website, click on “Search Metadata.” Then type in the article title and select the search button. If
a DOI is available, it will appear under the article title in the search results.

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