APA 7 citation guide

In-text citations

• Parenthetical: (Kwan, 2021) - narrative: Kwan (2021) argued...
• Two authors: always name both, with an ampersand in parentheses: (Kwan & Ortiz, 2021)
• Three or more authors: first author plus et al. from the first citation: (Kwan et al., 2021)
• Direct quotation: add the page or paragraph: (Kwan, 2021, p. 42)
• Secondary source: (Ferris, 1998, as cited in Kwan, 2021) - cite the original where you can

Reference formats

Journal article:
Kwan, L., & Ortiz, D. (2021). Sleep debt and working memory in first-year students. Journal of College Health, 69(3), 214-229. https://doi.org/10.1000/jch.2021.0214

Book:
Rahman, S. (2019). Learning under pressure (2nd ed.). Beacon Academic Press.

Chapter in an edited book:
Odhiambo, P. (2020). Feedback loops. In T. Grant (Ed.), Assessment in practice (pp. 55-78). Ridgeline.

Web page:
World Health Organization. (2023, April 14). Adolescent mental health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/adolescent-mental-health

Reference list rules

• Alphabetical by first author surname; hanging indent of 0.5 inch
• Sentence case for article and book titles; title case for journal names
• Italicise journal names, volume numbers and book titles
• Include the DOI as a full https link when one exists; no 'Retrieved from' unless a retrieval date is needed
• Up to 20 authors are listed before ellipsis rules apply

Paper formatting

• Double spacing throughout, including references
• 1 inch margins, a readable font such as 12pt Times New Roman or 11pt Calibri
• Student papers: title page with title, author, affiliation, course, instructor, date - no running head required
• Levels of heading: Level 1 centred bold, Level 2 flush-left bold, Level 3 flush-left bold italic

Reporting statistics in APA

Italicise statistical symbols, report exact p values to two or three decimals, and use p < .001 below that threshold.

t(48) = 2.31, p = .025, d = 0.66
F(2, 87) = 4.19, p = .018, partial eta-squared = .09
r(58) = .41, p < .001