APA7

APA7 (American Psychological Association – 7th edition) is an 'author-date' citation style. This means it uses in-text citations which include the author’s name and the resource’s publication date, followed by a reference list containing fuller item details at the end of the document. It is a very common, multidisciplinary referencing style.

This guide has been designed to demonstrate how to reference the types of resources commonly used for your assignments, in correct APA7 referencing style. Examples using many other resource types can also be found in our full APA7 Guide.

Choose a resource type from the options below.

In-text citations

When referencing using APA7, each reference will have a corresponding “in-text citation”. These citations will always follow the same format. In brackets, include the author’s surname and the year of publication.

If there are two authors, include both in the order listed in the publication, separating them using the ampersand symbol “&”. For three or more authors, use the first author’s surname, followed by “et al”.

For example:

  • (Jones, 2021).
  • (Piaf & Montgomery, 2020)
  • (McKenzie et al., 2019)
Quotes

When directly quoting an author, page numbers must also be included in the in-text citation, after the year. The abbreviation “p.” is included before the page number for a singular page, and “pp.” for a page range”.

For example:

  • Because unfortunately “they had eaten the remaining chilli throughout the night” (Jones, 2021, p.7).
  • “It would only be an issue if Peter was unable to attend. Otherwise, they would have plenty of spots to go around” (Fletcher & Harrison, 2018, pp. 57-58).

For more detailed advice and examples, visit our APA7 Guide’s In-text Citations page.

In APA7, the same rules are used to format author names in a reference list, for all different types of resources.

For In-text citations, view this tool’s “In-text citations” section.

Author details

Format

Example

1 author

Surname, Initial.

Jones, M.

2 authors

First Surname, Initial., & Second Surname, Initial.

Jones, M., & Smith, K.

3-20 authors

First Surname, Initial., Second Surname, Initial., & Third Surname, Initial.

NOTE: For up to 20 authors, all authors must appear in the reference list in the above format.

Jones, M., Smith, K., & Harris, P.

21+ authors

First Surname, Initial., Second Surname, Initial., Third Surname, Initial., Fourth Surname, Initial., Fifth Surname, Initial., 6th Surname, Initial., 7th Surname, Initial., 8th Surname, Initial., 9th Surname, Initial., 10th Surname, Initial., 11th Surname, Initial., 12th Surname, Initial., 13th Surname, Initial., 14th Surname, Initial., 15th Surname, Initial., 16th Surname, Initial., 17th Surname, Initial., 18th Surname, Initial., 19th Surname, Initial., … Final Surname, Initial.

NOTE: For 21 or more authors, list the first 19authors as above, followed by an ellipsis (…) and the final author.

Jones, M., Smith, K., Harris, P., Montgomery, J., Walberg, L., Norton, S., Barry, T., Graham, Z., Drew, B., Strachan, F., Odessa, W., Chambers, D., Ritchie, H., McDonald, E., Palmer, R., Perry, C., Rowland, N., Lewis, A., Elliot, V., … Fitzgibbons, G.

Corporate authors

Corporate Author.

NOTE: Corporate authors are groups, societies or organisations including universities, museums, government departments, associations, etc. Include the corporate authors capitalised as shown on the referenced document.

NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Corporate authors with acronyms

Corporate Author.

NOTE: If you choose to refer to the corporate author by its acronym in your In-Text citations, ensure that the first citation introduces it appropriately (Eg. Corporate Author [ACRONYM]) and then all subsequent citations may use only the acronym. The reference list should reflect the full Corporate Author name.

Australian Library and Information Association.

Double Barrelled Surnames

Double Surname, Initial.

NOTE: Surnames with non capitalised components are still treated as double barrelled surnames.

Van der Beek, I.

Multiple initials

Surname, Initial. Initial.

NOTE: Include as many initials as are listed on the referenced work.

Williams, B. K.

Journal articles

Format
Article with DOI (print or electronic)

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), Page-Page. https://doi.org/10.xxxx

Article from a library or database (with no DOI)

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), Page-Page.

Article found on the web (with no DOI)

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), Page-Page. https://www...

Print article (with no DOI)

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), Page-Page.

Examples

Cummings, L., & Lennox Terrion, J. (2021). A “nasty woman”: Assessing the gendered mediation of Hillary Clinton’s nonverbal immediacy cues during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Feminist Media Studies, 21(3), 427-442.

Mahmood, H., Awan, J., & Chaudhry, A. (2018). Frequency of needle stick injury among dental care personnel in Islamabad Dental Hospital. Pakistan Oral & Dental Journal, 38(2), 234-236.

Vidal-García, M., & Keogh, J. S. (2017). Invasive cane toads are unique in shape but overlap in ecological niche compared to Australian native frogs. Ecology and Evolution, 7(19), 7609-7619. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3253

Newspaper article

APA 7 treats news sites differently to online newspapers. For general news sites (such as ABC News, CNN, etc.), reference as a web pages.

Format
Online newspaper article

Author Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper title. https://www...

Print article, single page

Author Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper title, Page.

Print article, no author

Article title. (Year, Month Day). Newspaper title, Page.

Article from a library or database

Follow the pattern for the type of article as shown in the print examples above

Examples

Murphy, K. (2021, December 2). Former parliament staff warn Scott Morrison to act on Jenkins review or face backlash from women. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/02/former-parliament-staff-warn-scott-morrison-to-act-on-jenkins-review-or-face-backlash-from-women

McNeilage, A. (2014, July 7). Rapper basks in the beauty of Aboriginal culture. The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 6.

Books

Format

Book

1st Author Surname, Initial., & 2nd Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle (X ed.). Publisher.

eBook

1st Author Surname, Initial., & 2nd Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle (X ed.). Publisher. DOI

Edited book

1st Editor Surname, Initial., 2nd Editor Surname, Initial., & 3rd Editor Surname, Initial. (Eds.). (Year). Title of book: Subtitle (X ed.). Publisher.

Book chapter

1st Author Surname, Initial., 2nd Author Surname, Initial., & 3rd Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of chapter: Subtitle. In Initial. Editor Surname (Ed.), Title of book: Subtitle (X ed., pp. Page-Page). Publisher. DOI

Examples

Allender, T., Clark, A., & Parkes, R. (Eds.). (2019). Historical thinking for history teachers: A new approach to engaging students and developing historical consciousness. Allen & Unwin.

Blaser, B., Bennett, C., Ladner, R. E., Burgstahler, S. E., & Mankoff, J. (2019). Perspectives of women with disabilities in computing. In C. Frieze & J. L. Quesenberry (Eds.), Cracking the digital ceiling: Women in computing around the world (pp. 159-182). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/ 10.1017/9781108609081

Solymar, L. (2021). Getting the message: A history of communications (2nd ed.). Oxford Scholarship Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198863007.001.0001

Stein, L. N. M., & Hollen, C. J. (2021). Concept-based clinical nursing skills: Fundamental to advanced. Elsevier.

Theses

Format
PhD Thesis

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Thesis title: Subtitle [Doctoral thesis, Name of University]. Name of Hosting Site. URL

Master’s Thesis

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Thesis title: Subtitle (Publication No. XXXX) [Master’s thesis, Name of University]. Name of database.

Examples

Brown, H. M. (2019). Evaluation of education strategies to optimise nutrition and dietary knowledge in pregnant women [Doctoral thesis, University of Newcastle]. Nova. https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:35614

Geraghty, K. (2017). Colors of the Western mining frontier: Painted finishes in Virginia City, Montana (Publication No. 10599315). [Master’s thesis, University of Oregon]. ProQuest.

Webpage

For APA 7 retrieval dates are only required if a web source can be expected to change over time. Therefore most websites (and all documents) accessed online do not require a retrieval date as they are unlikely to change (without being replaced by new material with different citation information).

Format
Web page authored by a person

Author Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of page: Subtitle. Title of Website. https://www...

Web page with a corporate author

Corporate Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of page: Subtitle. Title of Website. https://www...

Examples

Forward, D. (2020, January 28). How Deadpool 3 could be rated R under Disney, according to writer Rhett Reese. Screen Rant. https://screenrant.com/deadpool-3-rated-r-disney-20th-century-studios/

Australian College of Midwives. (n.d.). Midwifery practice review. https://www.midwives.org.au/mpr

Document from a Website

Format
Document by an Author

Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of document: Subtitle [Description of resource]. Title of Source Website. https://www...

Document with a corporate author

Corporate Author. (Year). Title of document: Subtitle [Description of resource]. http://www...

Examples

Levett-Jones, T. Dwyer, T., Reid-Searl, K., Heaton, L., Flenady, T., Applegarth, J., Guinea, S., & Andersen, P. (2017). Patient safety competency framework for nursing students [Brochure]. Patient Safety for Nursing Students. http://psframework.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PSCF_Brochure_UTS-version_FA2-Screen.pdf

Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation. (2015). Promoting breastfeeding [Policy brief]. http://anmf.org.au/documents/policies/P_Promoting_Breastfeeding.pdf

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2018). Code of conduct for nurses. http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards.aspx

Blog Post

Format
Posts authored by a person
Author Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of post. Title of Blog Site. http://www...
Posts with a corporate author
Corporate Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of post. http://www...
Examples

Perkins, C. (2020, May 18). The shelf life of Zora Cross. The State Library of NSW. https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/blogs/shelf-life-zora-cross

Smith, R. (2019, April 5). 11 things really annoying people do in libraries. Rachel’s List. https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/11-things-really-annoying-people-do-in-libraries/

Social Media

Format
Posts authored by a person

Author Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of post [Description]. Hosting Site. https://...

Posts authored by a person with a username/ handle

Author Surname, Initial [@username]. (Year, Month Day). Title of post [Description]. Hosting Site. https://...

Posts with a corporate author

Corporate Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of post [Description]. Hosting Site. https://...

Examples

Cook, P. [@chemteacherphil]. (2019, November 19). Alkali metals? YES! #chemistry #chemteacherphil #BornToGlow #trending #scienceexperiments #foryou #featurethis [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@chemteacherphil/video/6760774939122470150?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7054019565059278338

HBO [@hbo]. (2020, February 1). Explaining to coworkers why I need a vacation after I get back from vacation [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B7_W6yxnCqw/

Reynolds, R. (2019, August 26). Happy birthday Blake [Images attached] [Status Update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/VancityReynolds/photos/pcb. 1735196549957793/1735196203291161/

UON Library [@uonlib]. (2020, February 6). Stay connected stay informed https://t.co/tvgSu0L59K?amp=1 [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/uonlib/status/1225208827039166472

Washington Post [@washingtonpost]. (2019, December 3). News is all around us #frozen #newsroom #newspaper [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost/video/6765886712896818437?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7054019565059278338

Videos, Film & TV

Format
Online streaming videos

Screen Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Description]. Hosting Site. https://www...

Films & documentaries

Director Surname, Initial. (Director). (Year). Title of film [Description]. Production Company.

Television programs

Writer Surname, Initial. (Writer), & Director Surname, Initial. (Director). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (Season X, Episode X) [Description]. In Initial. Executive Producer Surname (Executive Producer), Title of series. Production Company.

Examples

Ayer, D. (Director). (2017). Bright [Film]. Focus Features; River Road Entertainment.

Cain, W. (Writer), & Robinson, L. (Director). (2020). Eye of the needle (Season 1, Episode 14) [TV series episode]. In S. Schechter, S. Sklaver, C. Fedak, & G. Berlanti (Executive Producers), Prodigal son. Warner Bros. Television; Fox Entertainment.

Moorhouse, J. (Director). (2015). The dressmaker [Film]. Film Art Media.

Taylor & Francis. (2013, December 10). An introduction to open access publishing. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1GTA3YxI2_E

TED. (2021, January 21). Using your voice is a political choice | Amanda Gorman [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaZBgqfEa1E

Podcasts & Audio

Format
Podcasts

Surname, Initial. (Host). (Year, Month Day). Title of podcast episode (Episode number) [Description]. In Title of podcast series. Production Company. https://www...

Songs & audio tracks

Artist Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of song [Description]. On Title of album. Label.

Classical music songs

Composer Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of song [Song recorded by Artist Name]. On Title of album. Label. (Original work published Year).

Examples

Mozart, W. A. (2011). Concerto for violin and orchestra, no. 4 in D major, K.218 [Song recorded by Pinchas Zukerman and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra]. On Concerto for violin and orchestra, no. 4 in D major, K.218. Deutsche Grammophon. (Original work published 1775).

Ronson, M. (feat. Cabello, C.). (2019). Find u again [Song]. On Late night feelings. Columbia.

Titi & Zakiya (Hosts). (2019, April 11). Lab 005: Wakanda forever [Audio podcast episode]. In Dope labs. Spotify Studios. https://www.dopelabspodcast.com/podcast-episodes/wakanda

Maps & Posters

Format
Online map or poster

Author Surname, Initial. (year). Title of map or poster [Descriptor]. Publisher. https://www...

Print map or poster

Author Surname, Initial. (year). Title of map or poster [Descriptor]. Publisher.

Google Maps

Google. (n. d.). [Descriptive title for map]. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from https://www...

Examples

Google. (n.d.) [Map of University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus, NSW, Australia]. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://goo.gl/maps/VgyRncL58kYF1UMF8

Conference papers, Reports and Government Documents

Format
Proceedings published in a journal

1st Editor Surname, Initial. & 2nd Editor Surname, Initial. (Eds.). (Year) Title of special issue [Special Issue]. Journal Title, Volume(issue)

Online report authored by a person

Author, Surname Initial. (Year). Title of report: Subtitle [Report No. X]. Publisher. https://...

Online report with a corporate author

Corporate Author. (Year). Title of report: Subtitle [Report No. X]. https://...

Online document authored by a person

Author, Surname Initial. (Year). Title of report: Subtitle [Document No. X]. Government Department. https://...

Online document with a government author

Government Department. (Year) Title of document: Subtitle [Document No. X]. https://...

Examples

Active Healthy Kids Australia. (2016). Physical literacy: Do our kids have all the tools? 2016 report card on physical activity for children and young people. https://doi.org/10.4226/78/57AAD6BD49165

Australian Institute of Health Welfare. (2021). Australian burden of disease study: Impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2018 (Catalogue number BOD 29).

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. (2021). Future Fuels and Vehicles Strategy https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/November%202021/document/future-fuels-and-vehicles-strategy.pdf

Goughari, M. S. (2021, March 11-14). A multifaceted literature review of WhatsApp: Opportunities and challenges in mobile-assisted language learning [Paper presentation]. 3rd International Conference on Advanced Research in Education, Oxford, United Kingdom. https://www.doi.org/10.33422/3rd.educationconf.2021.03.206

National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, & Universities Australia. (2018). National statement on ethical conduct in human research 2007 (Updated May 2018). https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/e72

Oo, S. (2021). Fast food and takeaway food services in Australia (AU Industry (ANZSIC) Report H4512). IBISWorld.

United Nations. (2021). The sustainable development goals report 2021. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ report/2021/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2021.pdf

More information and examples can be found on the APA7 reference guide.

Format
Lecture notes and powerpoints

Author Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of material [description]. Website Title. https://.........

Example

Burke, R. (2019, June 9). Pedagogy and inclusion [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas. https://.....

More information and examples can be found on the APA7 reference guide.

The APA manual identifies the following examples of personal communications:

  • emails
  • private letters
  • memos
  • personal interviews
  • telephone conversations
  • other sources not publicly available

To cite in-text include the initials and surname of the author, plus the day month and year of the communication.

In-text example:

C. Brisden (personal communication, June 4, 2019) commented ...

... theories and guidelines were significantly aligned (J.T. Bowen, personal communication, February 25, 2019).

Whilst personal communications should be cited in-text, an entry is not included in the reference list.

About APA 7
  • APA is an in-text referencing style. This means that short referencing information (Author, Date) must be included in the text of your assignment when you quote information from outside sources. Full details of references used are then included in a reference list at the end of the document.
  • References cited in-text must appear in the reference list and vice versa. The only exceptions are personal communications and classical works – see libguides.newcastle.edu.au/apa-7th/reference-list for more information.

For more information on APA 7th referencing, see libguides.newcastle.edu.au/apa-7th

Reference list
  • The reference list starts on a separate page and is always organised in alphabetical order.
  • Do not use numbers or bullet points.
  • The second and subsequent lines of each reference in the list must have a hanging indent.

For more on the APA reference list see libguides.newcastle.edu.au/apa-7th/reference-list

Other notes
  • When you have multiple resources from exactly the same authors in the same year, alphabetise by title for your reference list and then add a, b, c, and so on after the year to differentiate the references for the in-text citations. For example:
    • Smith, D. (2014a). Care facilities for the elderly [Brochure]. NSW Health.
    • Smith, D. (2014b). Hand hygiene [Pamphlet]. NSW Health.

The in-text references would then be (Smith, 2014a) or (Smith, 2014b), depending on which document you cite.

  • Capitalise all names and proper nouns as appropriate. Examples include Generation Z, YouTube, iPad, and PowerPoint.
  • Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are important for APA 7 and need to be included as part of reference list entries whenever available. For more information see libguides.newcastle.edu.au/apa-7th/DOIs
  • APA 7 no longer requires access URLS for ebooks from library/database sources. Only include URLs for ebooks found via the web.

APA 7th reference guide

Learn more
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/library/study-skills/referencing/apa7
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