Introduction to the APA 7th Edition
Citation Style
MOUNT LIBRARY TUTORIALS
The Publication Manual of the
American Psychological
Association (APA) is used for
academic writing in the social
sciences and related fields.
The manual explains how to
cite sources as well as many
aspects of writing and
formatting research papers.
APA 7th Edition
• APA 7th edition was released in October 2019
• It includes updates and changes, such as new ways of citing
electronic sources and the use of inclusive and bias-free
language.
When should you cite?
• Any time you paraphrase. Paraphrasing is when you take an
idea from the text and rewrite it in a different way.
• Any time you quote directly from a source.
• Any time you write about something that came from a book,
journal article, website, or any other source.
Every source you use to write a research assignment must be cited.
How should you cite paraphrased ideas?
• Cite your sources within the text of your essay.
• One author:
(Author’s Last Name, Year)
(Parkinson, 2009)
• Two authors:
(First Author’s Last Name & Second Author’s Last Name, Year)
(Caplivski & Sheld, 2011)
• Three or more authors:
(First Author’s Last Name et al., Year)
(Cohen et al., 2018)
In-text citations for paraphrased ideas
When you paraphrase an author’s ideas, you must include
the author’s last name and the year of publication.
One way to do this is by putting the authors’ last names
and year of publication in parentheses before the closing
punctuation at the end of the sentence.
In-text citations for paraphrased ideas
Another way is to cite paraphrased ideas using narrative
citations in which the author and date information is included
as part of your sentence.
How should you cite an author’s exact words?
• If the quote is fewer than 40 words:
• Place quotation marks around the text copied from your
source.
• Use page numbers when available, e.g. p. 35 or pp. 35-36.
• Use paragraph numbers when quoting from sources with
no page number, e.g. para. 18
In-text citations for direct quotes: fewer than 40 words
When you directly quote an author’s words,
you must include the author’s last name, year
of publication, and the page number(s) for the
quote.
Write the author’s last name, year, and page number in
parentheses after the closing quotation marks but before
the period.
How should you cite an author’s exact words?
• If the quote is 40 words or more:
• Do not use quotation marks.
• Start the block quotation on a new line indented 0.5
inches from the left margin.
• Cite the source in parentheses after the quotation’s
closing punctuation.
OR
• Cite the author and year in the narrative before the
quotation, then write only the page number in
parentheses after the quotation’s closing punctuation.
In-text citations for direct quotes: 40 words or more
Quote
starts on a
new line
without
quotation
marks
Indent 0.5
inches
from left
margin.
Author’s last name
followed by publication
year in parentheses.
Page number in parentheses
after the quote.
What is an indirect citation?
• An indirect citation is when you paraphrase or quote a source that is
cited or quoted in another source.
• For example, you might want to use a quote from an article, but then
notice the quote is followed by an in-text citation with the author and
date of a different article.
This quote is an indirect source if you use it in your paper. because you want to
use a quote or paraphrase without seeing the original source or context.
How should you cite an indirect source?
There are two ways you can deal with an indirect source
1. You can find the original source and cite it directly. In the example
from the previous slide, you could find the original article written
by Lea in 1998 and cite it. This is the recommended way of citing
sources whenever possible.
OR
2. You can use an indirect in-text citation to give credit to the original
author but let the reader know you did not read the original article.
Indirect citations
Include the
author and
publication
year for the
original
source …
Include the
phrase “as cited
in” …
…and the author
and publication
year for the
secondary source.
For direct
quotations,
include the
page number
for the
secondary
source. In our
example, the
quote can be
found on page
58 of the
article by Miller
et al.
Only include the source you read in your reference list at the end of your
essay. You do not need to include the indirect source (Lea, 1998).
Indirect citations
• To create an indirect citation, you can include some of the
information as part of a sentence, like this:
• Or you can include all the information at the end of your sentence,
like this:
Reference List
• At the end of your document, you should include a list of every
source you used in your paper
• List your sources in alphabetical order
• Double space your list
• Use hanging indentation
How to create an entry in your reference list
When you create an entry in your reference list, there are key pieces of
information that must be included. For example, an entry for a journal article
must include:
The authors’ last names and initials
How to create an entry in your reference list
When you create an entry in your reference list, there are key
pieces of information that must be included. For example, an
entry for a journal article must include:
The publication year
How to create an entry in your reference list
When you create an entry in your reference list, there are key
pieces of information that must be included. For example, an
entry for a journal article must include:
The title of the article
How to create an entry in your reference list
When you create an entry in your reference list, there
are key pieces of information that must be included.
For example, an entry for a journal article must include:
The title, volume, and
issue of the journal
How to create an entry in your reference list
When you create an entry in your reference list, there
are key pieces of information that must be included.
For example, an entry for a journal article must include:
The page range of the article
How to create an entry in your reference list
When you create an entry in your reference list, there
are key pieces of information that must be included.
For example, an entry for a journal article must include:
The DOI
or URL
How to create an entry in your reference list
The authors’ last names and initials
The page range of the article
The publication year
The DOI or URL
The title of the article
The title, volume, and issue of the
journal
There are different rules for articles, books, webpages, and other types
of sources. Make sure you check the rules for the type of source when
you create an entry.
Sample Reference List
Sources in
alphabetical
order.
Hanging
indentation
Double-spaced
More APA Information
OWL at Purdue
• Provides detailed information about how to cite many types of
sources.
• Includes information about how to format your paper according
to APA guidelines, including a sample paper.
American Psychological Association
• Provides general information about APA citation style.
Thank you!
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library@msvu.ca
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