APA 7th Edition: The 12 Rules Students Get Wrong Most Often (2026)

What is APA 7th edition format, and why do so many students — even advanced researchers — still make the same mistakes in it? APA 7th edition remains the current standard in 2026, with no APA 8th edition released or announced. Published in October 2019, it introduced significant changes from APA 6th edition that many students, supervisors, and even some published guides have not fully updated to reflect. This guide focuses specifically on the 12 errors that thesis and dissertation examiners flag most frequently — errors that are easy to correct once identified but that consistently slip through in submitted work because they are counterintuitive or different from the previous edition.

Understanding APA 7 correctly matters more than most students realize. Citation errors in a thesis are not merely cosmetic — they signal to examiners that the student has not engaged carefully with the academic standards of their field, and they slow the revision process significantly when identified in a viva.

What Is APA 7th Edition and When Is It Used?

APA (American Psychological Association) format is the citation and formatting standard used across psychology, education, social sciences, nursing, business, and many interdisciplinary fields. The 7th edition was published in October 2019 and introduced substantial changes from the 6th edition published in 2009.

APA 7 is required at most US universities for psychology, social science, education, and nursing theses. It is also widely used for master’s and doctoral dissertations at UK universities where social science or education research is involved. In continental Europe, APA 7 is increasingly used alongside national citation systems — see our German-language guide at tesify.io and our Spanish guide at tesify.es.

No APA 8th edition has been released or announced as of March 2026. The APA Style Blog provides ongoing clarifications and supplementary guidance for edge cases not covered in the original manual.

The 12 Most Common APA 7th Edition Errors

Error 1: Including a Running Head in Student Papers

Wrong: Running head in the page header of a student paper
Right: APA 7th edition removed the running head requirement for student papers. Running heads are only required for manuscripts submitted for publication in academic journals. Check whether your submission is a student paper or a manuscript for journal submission — if it is a student paper (thesis, dissertation, course assignment), no running head is needed.

Error 2: Missing DOIs on Journal Article References

Wrong: Smith, J. (2023). Academic writing practices. Journal of Education Research, 45(2), 112–128.
Right: Smith, J. (2023). Academic writing practices. Journal of Education Research, 45(2), 112–128. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123
APA 7 requires DOIs when available. If a DOI exists, it must be included — it is not optional. DOIs should be formatted as full URLs: https://doi.org/[DOI].

Error 3: Incorrect Title Capitalization in References

Wrong: Smith, J. (2023). Academic Writing Practices in Higher Education. University Press.
Right: Smith, J. (2023). Academic writing practices in higher education. University Press.
In APA 7 references, only capitalize the first word of a title, the first word after a colon or dash, and proper nouns. This applies to books and article titles. Journal names are capitalized normally (Major Word Capitalization).

Error 4: Using “Retrieved from” Before a URL When a DOI Is Available

Wrong: Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123
Right: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123
APA 7 only uses “Retrieved from” for websites where no DOI exists and where the content might change or disappear. For stable content with DOIs, just list the DOI URL directly.

Error 5: Still Using “et al.” After Three or More Authors — APA 6 Rule

Wrong (APA 6 rule): Smith, Jones, and Williams (2023) found… or Smith et al. (2023) when there are 3–5 authors on first mention
Right (APA 7): Use “et al.” for all works with 3 or more authors, including on the first mention. Example: Smith et al. (2023) found…
APA 7 simplified the rule: three or more authors = et al. in all in-text citations. This is one of the most commonly applied APA 6 rules that students carry into APA 7 work.

Error 6: Publisher Location in Book References

Wrong: Smith, J. (2023). Academic writing. New York, NY: University Press.
Right: Smith, J. (2023). Academic writing. University Press.
APA 7 removed the requirement to include publisher location. Only the publisher name is needed.

Error 7: Using “p.” or “pp.” Inconsistently for Page Numbers

In-text: Use “p. X” for single pages and “pp. X–X” for page ranges in direct quotations
In references: Do NOT use “p.” or “pp.” for journal article page ranges (just list the numbers); DO use “pp.” for chapters in edited books
Example in-text: (Smith, 2023, pp. 45–48) for a direct quote spanning multiple pages
Example in references — journal: Journal Name, 45(2), 112–128
Example in references — book chapter: In J. Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. 45–67). Publisher.

Error 8: Incorrect Formatting of “and” vs “&” in References

In in-text citations: use “&” in parenthetical citations: (Smith & Jones, 2023); use “and” in narrative citations: Smith and Jones (2023) found…
In references: always use “&” between author names, not “and”

Error 9: Website References Without Access Dates When Not Required

APA 7 only requires an access date for web content that is likely to change over time (like a Wikipedia article or a news homepage). For stable website content (published reports, organizational position statements), no access date is needed — just the URL.

Error 10: Citing Secondary Sources Incorrectly

Wrong: Smith (1999, as cited in Jones, 2023) argued… [then including Smith 1999 in your reference list]
Right: Smith (1999, as cited in Jones, 2023) argued… [only including Jones 2023 in your reference list, as that is the source you actually read]
Secondary sources should be avoided where possible — locate and read the original. When unavoidable, include only the source you actually read in your reference list.

Error 11: Incorrect Heading Levels

APA 7 uses five heading levels. Students frequently apply APA 6 heading formats, particularly for Levels 3–5, which changed significantly between editions. Key changes in APA 7: Level 3 headings are now indented, bold, and followed by a period; Level 4 and 5 headings also changed formatting. Consult the APA Style website for the current heading format table.

Error 12: Missing Year in Repeated In-Text Citations

Wrong (second paragraph): Smith found that writing quality improved.
Right: Smith (2023) found that writing quality improved.
APA 7 requires the year in every in-text citation. Unlike some other citation styles, there is no rule that allows you to drop the year after the first mention in a paragraph or section.

In-Text Citation Rules: A Complete Reference

Reference List Format: Key Rules

The APA 7 reference list appears at the end of the document, titled “References” (centered, bold, not italicized), with entries in alphabetical order by first author surname. Each entry uses a hanging indent format (first line flush left; subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches).

The general format for a journal article in APA 7:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article: Only first word and proper nouns capitalized. Journal Name in Italics and Title Case, Volume(Issue), Page–Page. https://doi.org/XXXXXXXX

Student Paper vs Professional Paper: What Changes

Tools That Format APA 7 Correctly

Several tools assist with APA 7 citation formatting, with varying degrees of accuracy:

• Zotero: Most reliable reference manager for APA 7; citation processor handles most standard formats correctly; edge cases require manual verification
• Mendeley: Good APA 7 support; Microsoft Word integration is strong
• Tesify: Includes APA 7 citation tools integrated with the writing environment, ensuring citations are generated from the student’s actual sources rather than hallucinated
• Citation Machine / BibMe: Quick generators but frequently produce errors; always verify output
• ChatGPT: Should not be used for citation generation — fabricates citations at high rates (47% in one study) and cannot reliably apply APA 7 rules for edge cases

Our guide on the best citation generators compared in 2026 provides a full evaluation of citation tool accuracy. For Portuguese-language students, the Portuguese APA guide covers the same rules with relevant examples.

Frequently Asked Questions