APA Style For Academic Writing: General Information

In the social sciences, the APA (American Psychological Association) style is typically used by students, academics, and specialists to reference sources. This citation guide from PaperTyper summarizes the most fundamental APA Publication Manual citation standards from the 7th edition (2020).

APA in-text citations

Short citations in the main body of a text that link readers to the reference section in the conclusion of the paper are known as in-text citations. Every time you cite or summarize someone else's thoughts or words, you include them.

The author-date system suggests you should include the author's surname and the year of publication in an APA in-text citation. You should also give a locator, such as a relevant page or a timestamp, if you are citing a specific section of a source. For example: (Starkey, 2019, p. 28).

Narrative vs. parenthetical citation

There are two types of in-text citations, according to the APA guidelines: parenthetical and narrative.

• A narrative citation is one in which the author's name appears in the sentence text.
• On the other hand, a parenthetical citation is one in which the author’s name and date of their publication appear in parentheses at the end of a sentence.

Cite your sources in APA Style by inserting the information about the author in parentheses at the end of a sentence or in the text of your document rather than a footnote or an endnote, which puts the source information at the bottom of the page or the end of your work.

One Author

A single author's work should include the author's surname and initials. The date of publication should be in parenthesis, and the title of the article or book should come next. Journal titles should be followed by the volume number, issue number, and page numbers of the article, while book titles should be followed by the publisher's name. For example:

Two authors

When a source has two authors, the in-text citation changes slightly. The last surnames and first initials of two authors should be separated by an ampersand in works by two authors (&). Then place the date of publication in parentheses after you state the names.

If the work is a scientific article, the title should appear right after the publication date. For example:

Three or more authors

The surnames and first initials of each author should be separated by an ampersand in publications with three or more authors. The date of publication should be put in parentheses after the author's name. In-text citations for works by three or more authors should always begin with the first author's name and end with "et al."
For example:

Corporate or Group Authors

Corporations, government entities, organizations, and others can be group authors, and a group can publish in collaboration with individuals. Simply handle the publishing house the same way you would the author's name, and structure the rest of the citation as usual. Although abbreviations may be used in your text, make sure to provide the entire name of the group author in your reference list.

Without attributed authors, any entries in reference works (e.g., dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopaedias) are also regarded as works with group authors. For example:

Unknown Author

If you do not know the author of the work, place the title of the work at the top of the references list, followed by the publication date. Use "Anonymous" only if the work's creator is signed "Anonymous." Instead of using an author's name in parenthetical citations to sources without an author, use a shorter version of the source's title. Use italics and quotation marks as needed. Parenthetical citations of the source above, for example, might look like this: (Merriam-Webster's, 2008).

APA reference page formatting

The reference page is where you list all of the sources you have used in your paper. You should insert the page after the main body and before the appendices. Create a section labeled "References" on the first line of the page (in bold and centered). Begin listing your references in alphabetical order on the second line. The APA reference page should be structured according to the following standards:

• The spacing is doubled
• ½ -inch hanging indent
• A golden-standard (easy-to-read) font
• In the top-right header, place a page number

Which sources should you use?

Only include sources that you have referenced in your work on the reference page (with an in-text citation). You should avoid mentioning personal messages that your reader will not be able to see (e.g., emails, phone conversations, or personal online content).

Other nuances of the APA style

How to properly reference a source that has no author?

Use the organization's name as the author in the reference entry and in-text citations when there is no specific author listed but the source can be credited to a specific organization, a report from an intelligence service, or a page from a website of the company. When no author can be found at all use the title instead of the author.

How to properly reference a source that does not have page numbers?

When you reference a section from a source, make sure to provide the excerpt's placement in your in-text citation. If the material is long and there are no page numbers (for example, when citing a website), you can use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two: (Austen, 2017, Linking section, para. 6).

When should I use "et al."?

In-text citations with three or more authors are abbreviated "et al." (which means "and others").

For example, just use the last name of the first author, followed by "et al.", a comma, and the year of publication (Shields et al., 2017).

When should I provide an access date?

Access date is usually not required in APA Style. When citing journal papers, e-books, or other reliable online sources, you do not have to mention one. It is a good idea to provide an access date if you are quoting a website or online content that is supposed to change over time.