APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Format, Examples & In-Text Rules

If you’ve ever stared at a blank reference page wondering where the italics go or whether a period comes after the author’s name—you’re not alone.

APA Style is one of the most widely used citation formats in academic writing, especially for students in psychology, education, business, and the social sciences. This guide will walk you through how to cite books, articles, websites, videos, and more using the official rules from the APA 7th Edition.

Let’s break it down in plain language.

📘 What Is APA Style?

APA stands for the American Psychological Association. It’s a set of rules for writing academic papers, especially those in the behavioral and social sciences. The current version—the 7th edition—is easier and more student-friendly than ever.

APA covers:

In-text citations
Reference page formatting
Paper layout (headings, font, spacing)
How to cite dozens of source types

🔹 APA In-Text Citation Basics

In-text citations in APA go inside the sentence and include:

The author’s last name
The year of publication
A page number (for direct quotes)

✅ Format:

(Author, Year)
(Author, Year, p. #) ← if quoting

✅ Examples:

Paraphrasing: Social media affects focus (Nguyen, 2020).
Quoting: “Sleep deprivation is a national epidemic” (Jones, 2019, p. 14).

For two authors: (Lopez & Martin, 2022)
For three or more: (Nguyen et al., 2021)

📋 How to Format the Reference Page (APA 7th)

The reference page appears at the end of your essay.

Title it “References” at the top, centered and bolded
List entries alphabetically by author’s last name
Use hanging indentation (first line flush, next lines indented)
Double-space everything
No extra spaces between entries

✍️ APA Citation Examples by Source Type

Here’s how to cite the most common types of sources:

📚 Book (1 Author)

Format:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle in italics. Publisher.

Example:
Nguyen, L. T. (2018). Mind over screen: How technology affects memory. Oxford University Press.

📘 Book (2 Authors)

Example:
Garcia, M., & Patel, S. (2020). Learning through experience. McGraw-Hill.

📰 Journal Article

Format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxx

Example:
Lee, J. (2021). The rise of mindfulness in education. Journal of Educational Psychology, 35(4), 456–472. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000442

🌐 Website

Format:
Author or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Website Name. URL

Example:
World Health Organization. (2023, June 12). Sleep and mental health. WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/facts/sleep-health

📹 YouTube Video

Format:
Name of channel. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL

Example:
Mayo Clinic. (2022, March 1). How to lower blood pressure naturally [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcd1234

📄 PDF or Online Report

Format:
Author. (Year). Title of report (Report No. if available). Publisher. URL

Example:
National Sleep Foundation. (2021). Teens and sleep quality. https://sleepfoundation.org/teensleep2021

🧾 APA Citation for Students – Quick Reference Table

Source Type	In-Text Citation	Reference Page Format
Book	(Smith, 2021)	Smith, J. (2021). Title. Publisher.
Journal Article	(Lee, 2020)	Lee, A. (2020). Title. Journal, volume.
Website	(WHO, 2023)	WHO. (2023). Title. Website. URL
YouTube Video	(Mayo Clinic, 2022)	Mayo Clinic. (2022). Title [Video]. YouTube.

❗️ Common APA Mistakes to Avoid

🚫 Forgetting the year in in-text citations
🚫 Incorrect italicization of titles
🚫 Using “Retrieved from” (not needed anymore)
🚫 Not alphabetizing the reference list
🚫 Putting commas between author and date: (Smith, 2022) ✅ — (Smith 2022) ❌

🛠 APA Citation Generators – Use With Caution

Tools like Zotero, CiteThisForMe, and Scribbr are helpful—but always double-check the format!

🧠 Tips for Mastering APA Style

✔ Start your reference list early
✔ Use Google Scholar to copy formatted citations
✔ Make a template you can reuse for all your papers
✔ Don’t rely on memory—refer to this guide or the APA Manual
✔ Use APA style consistently throughout your document

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