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APA 7th referencing style Examples

This is a guide to using the APA 7th referencing style from the American Psychological Association. It is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

One author

In-text reference:

Format (Author last name, Year)
Example

.....finding information (Berkman, 1994)

OR

Berkman (1994) claimed that …

Reference List:

Format

Author(s) – last name and initials.
Example

Berkman, R. I. (1994). Find it fast: How to uncover expert information. Harper Perrenial.

Two authors

In-text reference:

Format (Author last name & Author last name, Year)
Example

(Kendall & Watson, 2015)

Kendall and Watson (2015)

Reference List:

Format

List both author names - last name, initials. Use & between the author names. 
Example

Moir, A., & Jessel, D. (1991). Brain sex: The real difference between men and women. Mandarin.

Three to twenty authors

In-text reference:

Format

(First author last name et al., Year)

First author last name et al. (Year)
Example

(O'Keefe et al., 2016)

O'Keefe et al. (2016)

Reference List:

Format

List all author names - last name, initials.

Use & between last two author names.
Example

O'Keefe, J. H., Bell, D. S. H., & Wyne, K. L. (2009). Diabetes essentials. Jones and Bartlett.

21 or more authors

In-text reference:

Format

(First author last name et al., Year)

First author last name et al. (Year)
Example

(Nath et al., 2019)

Nath et al. (2019)

Reference List:

Format

Cite the last names & initials of the first 19 authors then follow with a comma and three spaced ellipsis points (. . .), then the last author’s name. 
Example

Nath, A. P., Ritchie, S. C., Grinberg, N. F., Tang, H. H., Huang, Q. Q., Teo, S. M., Ahola-Olli, A. V., Wurtz, P., Havulinna, A. S., Santalahti, K., Pitkanen, N., Lehtimaki, T., Kahonen, M., Lyytikainen, L. P., Raitoharju, E., Seppala, I., Sarin, A. P., Ripatti, S., Palotie, A., . . . Inouye, M. (2019). Multivariate genome-wide association analysis of a cytokine network reveals variants with widespread immune, haematological, and cardiometabolic pleiotropy. American Journal of Human Genetics, 105(6), 1076-1090. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.10.001

Anonymous designated as author

In-text reference:

Format

(Anonymous listed as author name, 1996)

Anonymous listed as author name (1996)
Example

(Anonymous, 1996)

Anonymous (1996)

Only ever use Anonymous when it is the listed author.

If no author is listed, use the title. See Work with no author(s) or editor(s).

Group authors with known abbreviation

In-text reference:

  First Use Subsequent Uses
Format

(Group Name [abbreviation], Year)

Group Name (abbreviation, Year)

(Abbreviation, Year)

Abbreviation (Year)
Example

(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2012)

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2012)

(AIHW, 2012)

AIHW (2012)

Important information  Groups as authors include government departments, professional associations, company names, organisations

Groups authors with no abbreviation

In-text reference:

Format

(Group Name, 2015)

Group Name (2015)
Example

(Tourism Queensland, 2016)

Tourism Queensland (2016)

No author(s) or editor(s)

In-text reference:

Format

("First words of article, chapter title" - in title case, Year)

"First words of article, chapter title - in title case" (Year)

(Title of book, journal - in title case, Year)

Title of book, journal - in title case (Year)
Example

("Social Media", 2013)

"Social Media" (2013)

(Social Media Security, 2014)

Social Media Security (2014)

Use double quotation marks "....." and title case (capitalise each word) for title of article, chapter or web page with no author.

Italicise title of journal, book, brochure or report with no author. Use title case.

Use title case for in-text references only. 

Authors with same last name

In-text reference:

Format

(First author - first name initial. last name, Year)

First author - first name initial. last name  (Year)

(First author - first name initial. last name & second author - last name, Year)

First author - first name initial. last name and second author - last name (Year)
Example

(J. P. Lewis, 2007)

J. P. Lewis (2007) argues that….

(R. Lewis, 2007)

R. Lewis (2007) stated that...

(S. Lewis & Edwards, 2015) found that .....

S. Lewis and Edwards (2015) found that .....

Include each first author’s initial(s) in all citations. Do this for the FIRST author only when there are multiple authors in a single reference. 

Initial(s) are included even if year of publication differs.

Three or more authors with same last name & same year

In-text reference:

Format

(Author last name, Author last name, Author last name et al., Year)

Author last name, Author last name, Author last name et al. (Year)

Include first author last name and as many of the subsequent author last names to distinguish them. 

For remaining authors, replace with et al.
 
Important information If only final author name different, include author name instead of et al.
Example

(Harris, Lewis, Peterson, Kane et al., 2017)

(Harris, Lewis, Peterson, Morris et al., 2017) 

Authors with same last name and first initial

In-text reference:

Format

(Author - full first name last name, Year)

Author - full first name last name (Year) has argued that ....
Example

(Jessica Lewis, 2017)

Jessica Lewis (2017) has argued that ....

(James Lewis, 2014)

James Lewis (2014) notes that ....

Authors included as "with"

In-text reference:

Format

(Author last name, Year)

Do not include "with" Author name.
Example

.....finding information (Sternberg, 2004)

OR

Sternberg (2004) claimed that …

Reference List:

Format

Author(s) – last name and initial(s), & Author - last name and initial(s) (with Author - last name and initial(s)).
Example

Sternberg, R. J. (with Wilson, J. F.). (2004). Psychology. Thomson/Wadsworth.