What's New in APA 7th Ed.

In the 7th edition of APA’s publication manual, some citation and formatting rules have changed, and some new rules have been added. The citations that you create using Citation Maker follow the new rules. Here are some of the changes. 

Authors

The number of authors included in a citation has changed from 7 to up to 20 authors. When there are 21 or more authors, enter the names of the first 19 authors, and then enter the final name.    

Blogs 

Blogs and other online platforms that publish articles are cited following the format for periodicals instead of webpages.

Databases 

If you find an article in a database, it is not necessary to include the database name or URL in the citation. The exception is if the database content is from a proprietary database, which has content that is original and not available elsewhere. Some proprietary databases include A to Z the World, Cochrane, CQ Researcher, and UpToDate.   

DOIs and URLs  

  • If your source includes a digital object identifier, or DOI, enter it in URL format. The label “DOI:” is no longer used.  
  • DOIs and URLs are presented as hyperlinks.

Ex: https://doi.org/10.1037/000092

  • If there is no DOI, enter your source’s URL instead. 

Ex: https://www.sciencemag.org/content/368/6492/690  

  • The words “Retrieved from” are included only when a retrieval date is also needed. 
  • You may use either the default display from your word-processing program (usually blue font, underlined) or plain text that is not underlined. 
  • Shortened DOIs and URLs are now allowed. (More details about DOIs and URLs) 

Ebooks

For ebooks, nothing extra needs to be noted in the citation. Do not include the format, platform, or device (ex: Kindle).  

Font Styles

Both the paper and reference list should use the same font. Check with your teacher for specific requirements. APA recommends these fonts: 

    • Sans serif: 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucinda Sans Unicode 
    • Serif: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern

Journal Articles

  • Always include the issue number, if there is one. 
  • If an article has an article number, use that instead of the page numbers. 

Magazine and Newspaper Articles

  • Only include a URL if it leads to the full text of an article without requiring the user to log in. 
  • There is a difference between an online newspaper (ex: The Oregonian, USA Today, The Washington Post) and an online news source (ex: BBC News, CNN, Huffpost, MSNBC). Use the Periodical Article template when the article is from a print or online newspaper. If the article is from an online news source, use the Webpage template instead. 

Publishers

  • Book citations no longer include the publisher location. 
  • If the publisher is the same as the author, do not include the publisher in the citation. 

Reference List

 The heading References is not only centered, it is now bolded. 

Social Media

APA now has rules for citing social media, and Citation Maker now has a Social Media template.

Style Online 

The APA Style website has additional information and examples beyond the publication manual.    

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed., pp. xviii-xxii). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

American Psychological Association. (2020). Style and grammar guidelines. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines

Lawrence W. Tyree Library. APA (7th edition) citation guide. Santa Fe College. https://sfcollege.libguides.com/apa7/ew

(If the citation format does not display correctly on your device, view the image instead.)