How to Cite Sources in APA Format Step by Step (2026, 7th Edition)
If you need to know how to cite sources in APA format step by step, you are in the right place. APA (American Psychological Association) style is the standard citation format for psychology, education, social sciences, nursing, and many STEM fields. The 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020) introduced significant simplifications — shorter in-text citations, cleaner DOI formatting, and new rules for AI-generated content — and those rules are still current in 2026. This guide walks you through every step, from identifying your source type to formatting the final reference list entry, with 15 fully worked examples.
Whether you are citing a peer-reviewed journal article for your thesis, a government report for a coursework essay, or a podcast episode for a literature review, the logic is the same: collect the required elements, arrange them in the prescribed order, and apply the correct punctuation. Master the pattern once and every source type becomes straightforward.
APA Citation Fundamentals: The Two-Part System
APA uses a two-part author-date system. Every source you use appears in two places:
- In-text citation — a short parenthetical note in the body of your paper, immediately after the borrowed idea or quote.
- Reference list entry — the full bibliographic details at the end of your paper, listed alphabetically under the heading References.
These two parts must always match: every in-text citation must have a corresponding reference list entry, and every reference list entry must be cited in the text at least once. The Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020) describes this as the core principle of APA documentation.
The Four Core Elements
Almost every APA reference entry is built from four elements, sometimes called WATT:
| Element | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Author(s) or editor(s) | Smith, J. A. |
| When | Year of publication | (2024). |
| What | Title of the work | Memory consolidation in adults. |
| Where | Publication source | Journal of Cognitive Science, 12(3), 45–67. |
Step 1 — Write the In-Text Citation
The in-text citation appears inside parentheses at the point in your text where you use the source. The core format is:
(Author Last Name, Year)
Paraphrase vs. Direct Quote
| Use case | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Paraphrase / summary | (Author, Year) | (Smith, 2023) |
| Direct quote | (Author, Year, p. X) | (Smith, 2023, p. 47) |
| Narrative citation (author in sentence) | Author (Year) | Smith (2023) found that… |
| Two authors | (Author1 & Author2, Year) | (Smith & Jones, 2022) |
| Three or more authors | (First Author et al., Year) | (Smith et al., 2021) |
| No author | (Shortened Title, Year) | (Cognitive Load, 2021) |
Step 2 — Build the Reference List Entry
The reference list begins on a new page after the main text. The heading References is centred and bold. Entries are:
- Listed alphabetically by first author’s last name (or by title if no author)
- Double-spaced throughout
- Formatted with a hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches)
- Not numbered
General Reference Formula
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx
15 Worked Examples (Every Source Type)
The following examples are formatted in APA 7th edition. Each entry shows the in-text citation followed by the reference list entry.
1. Journal Article (with DOI)
In-text: (Morin & Bhatt, 2024)
Morin, C., & Bhatt, R. (2024). Working memory capacity and academic performance in undergraduate students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 116(2), 234–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000812
2. Book (Single Author)
In-text: (Kahneman, 2011)
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. Book Chapter in an Edited Volume
In-text: (Graham, 2022)
Graham, S. (2022). Motivation in the classroom. In A. Elliott & C. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of achievement motivation (3rd ed., pp. 115–138). Guilford Press.
4. Website (Individual Author)
In-text: (Willingham, 2023)
Willingham, D. T. (2023, September 14). Why students forget what they learn. Science & Education Blog. https://www.danielwillingham.com/why-students-forget
5. Government or Institutional Report
In-text: (World Health Organization, 2024)
World Health Organization. (2024). Global status report on mental health 2024. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338
6. Newspaper Article (Online)
In-text: (Roberts, 2025)
Roberts, M. (2025, March 3). Universities warn of AI plagiarism surge. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/03/universities-ai-plagiarism
7. Doctoral Dissertation or Master’s Thesis
In-text: (Ferreira, 2023)
Ferreira, A. L. (2023). Self-regulated learning strategies and thesis completion rates in online postgraduate programmes [Doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. https://doi.org/10.1234/proquest.example
8. Dataset
In-text: (UK Office for National Statistics, 2024)
UK Office for National Statistics. (2024). Higher education student statistics: UK 2022–23 [Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.57697/ons-he-2024
9. Podcast Episode
In-text: (Hidden Brain, 2024)
Hidden Brain. (2024, February 20). The anxious student (No. 243) [Audio podcast episode]. NPR. https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-anxious-student/
10. YouTube Video
In-text: (Khan Academy, 2023)
Khan Academy. (2023, November 8). How to write a research paper [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123
11. Social Media Post (X / Twitter)
In-text: (APA Style, 2024)
APA Style. [@APAStyle]. (2024, January 15). New guidance on citing AI tools is now live on the APA Style website. Check the blog for full details [Post]. X. https://x.com/APAStyle/status/example
12. AI-Generated Content (e.g., ChatGPT)
In-text: (OpenAI, 2024)
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (GPT-4o) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
Note: Because AI-generated output is not retrievable by other readers, include your exact prompt in a footnote or appendix. Some institutions require this; check your university’s academic integrity policy.
13. Conference Paper or Presentation
In-text: (Chen & Park, 2024)
Chen, L., & Park, S. (2024, July 10–13). Large-scale plagiarism detection using transformer models [Paper presentation]. ACL 2024 Annual Meeting, Bangkok, Thailand. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2024.acl-example
14. E-book (No DOI, Retrieved from Database)
In-text: (Brown, 2022)
Brown, B. (2022). Daring greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead. Avery. https://www.amazon.co.uk
When no DOI exists and the e-book was retrieved from a general retail database (not a library database), provide the URL for the publisher or retailer home page, not the specific product page.
15. Translated Book
In-text: (Vygotsky, 1978)
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds. & Trans.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1930)
10 Most Common APA Mistakes
Even experienced writers make these errors. Check your reference list against this list before submitting.
- Using “et al.” too early or too late. In APA 7th edition, use et al. for three or more authors from the first in-text citation. Many students still apply the old APA 6th rule (six or more authors).
- Capitalising every word in an article or book title. APA uses sentence case for titles in the reference list — only the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon are capitalised. Journal names are capitalised in title case.
- Omitting the DOI. Always include a DOI when one exists. Do not format it as plain text; format it as a clickable hyperlink: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx.
- Including “Retrieved from” before a URL. APA 7th edition removed this phrase. Just include the URL or DOI directly.
- Wrong hanging indent. The first line of each reference is flush left; subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches — not the other way around.
- Including the publisher’s location for books. APA 7th edition removed city and country of publication from book references. Only the publisher name is needed.
- Misformatting page ranges. Use an en dash (–) not a hyphen (-) between page numbers: pp. 45–67, not pp. 45-67.
- Not italicising volume numbers for journals. The journal name and volume number are both italicised; the issue number in parentheses is not: Journal of Psychology, 12(3), 45–67.
- Listing “References” without bold formatting. The heading should be centred and bold.
- Citing the database instead of the source. Do not cite JSTOR, PsycINFO, or Google Scholar as your source. Cite the original journal article, book, or report.
Automate Your Bibliography with Tesify
Building a reference list manually from scratch takes time and is prone to the mistakes listed above. Tesify’s Auto Bibliography feature generates correctly formatted APA 7th edition references from a DOI, ISBN, or URL in seconds. Paste in your source identifier, select APA 7th, and Tesify returns a ready-to-paste reference list entry — with the hanging indent, correct capitalisation, and hyperlinked DOI already applied.
Students writing a literature review that draws on 30–80 sources find Auto Bibliography especially useful: it eliminates repetitive formatting work and flags missing DOIs or incomplete metadata before you submit. You can also manage all your references in one place and export them as a formatted reference list or integrate them directly into your thesis document.
If you are also writing the introduction chapter of your thesis and wondering how to weave citations into academic prose naturally, see our guide on how to write a thesis introduction step by step.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the basic format for an APA in-text citation?
The basic APA in-text citation format is (Author Last Name, Year). For a direct quote, add the page number: (Author Last Name, Year, p. X). If the author is named in your sentence, only the year goes in parentheses: Smith (2023) found that…
How do I cite a source with no author in APA?
When a source has no identified author, use the first few words of the title in place of the author name. Italicise book or report titles; use quotation marks for article or chapter titles. Example: (Cognitive Load, 2021) or (“Memory and Learning,” 2021).
How do I cite ChatGPT or other AI-generated content in APA?
Cite AI-generated text similarly to personal communication, because the exact output is not retrievable by another reader. In-text: (OpenAI, 2024). Reference list: OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (GPT-4o) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com. Include the specific prompt in a footnote or appendix if your institution requires it.
What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography in APA?
An APA reference list includes only the sources you cited in the text. A bibliography includes all sources you consulted, whether cited or not. APA style uses a reference list, not a bibliography.
How do I format the APA reference list?
The reference list starts on a new page headed References (centred, bold). Entries are listed alphabetically by first author’s last name. Use a hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 in). Double-space all entries. Do not number the entries.
Do I need to include a DOI in every APA reference?
Include a DOI whenever one is available — it is preferred over a URL. Format it as a hyperlink: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx. If no DOI exists, include the URL of the journal home page. You do not need to write “Retrieved from” before the URL in APA 7th edition.
How many authors do I list in an APA reference?
For works with 1–20 authors, list all author names in the reference entry. For works with 21 or more authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipsis (…), then the final author’s name. In in-text citations, use (First Author et al., Year) for any work with three or more authors.
What changed between APA 6th and 7th edition?
Key changes in APA 7th edition (2020): (1) Running head removed for student papers. (2) et al. used from the first in-text citation for 3+ authors (was 6+). (3) Up to 20 authors listed in the reference (was 6). (4) DOI formatted as a hyperlink. (5) Publisher location removed from book references. (6) New guidance on citing AI tools, social media, and podcasts.
Reference
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
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