The 7th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual was published in late 2019. The 7th edition differs in a few minor ways from the 6th.
If your course or study guide says to use APA 6th edition, the following examples of the 6th edition will help you.
Ask your lecturer or course coordinator if you're unsure which edition to use.
Key changes in the 7th edition
- Et al. – use in the in-text citation for sources with 3 or more authors.
- Up to 20 authors cited – give the surnames and initials for up to 20 authors in the reference list.
- Website names – include the website name and the webpage title.
- Publication location – don't include the publisher location, such as the city, country or state code.
- Ebook publisher – include the publisher, but don't include the platform, format or device, for example, Kindle.
- Retrieved from – is no longer written before a URL.
- DOIs – format DOIs the same way as URLs and don't write 'doi'.
- Spelling and capitalisation – expanded guidance on terms for specific racial groups.
- Tables and figures – figures now have titles like tables. The formatting of numbers, titles and notes is consistent across tables and figures.
- Headings – Levels 3 to 5 are now in title case.
- Quotation marks ("") – use double quotation marks to introduce a new, specialised or novel term for the first time only.
- Minor changes – inclusive language and formatting assignments.
- New! Accessibility of APA Style
Video – introducing the 7th edition
This short video lecture introduces the 7th ed. of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Citations for 3 or more authors
Et al. in citations
'Et al.' means 'and others' in Latin.
For the 6th edition, list all names in the first in-text citation for sources with 3 to 5 authors. Include only the first author followed by 'et al.' and the date for subsequent citations and all citations for sources with 6 or more authors.
For the 7th edition, use 'et al.' in the in-text citation for sources with 3 or more authors.
6th., 3 to 5 authors (first citation)
(Smith, Khan, & Zhang, 2019) or Smith, Khan, and Zhang (2019)
6th., 3 to 5 authors (subsequent citations) and all citations for 6+ authors
(Smith et al., 2019) or Smith et al. (2019).
7th., All citations for 3+ authors
(Smith et al., 2019) or Smith et al. (2019).
Up to 20 authors cited
For the 6th edition, write the names of the first 6 authors followed by an ellipsis (...) and the last author. Write a maximum of 7 names for the 6th edition.
For the 7th edition, write the names of up to 19 authors, followed by an ellipsis (...) and the last author. Write a maximum of 20 names for the 7th edition.
6th., 7 to 21+ authors
Smith, J. D., Khan, V., Zhang, H., Williams, T., Garcia, J., Sato, Y., ...Laurence, D. (1998). Management. Sydney, NSW: Prentice Hall.
7th., 7 to 20 authors
McDuff, C., Smith, J., Kensington, K., Jones, S., Coughlan, S., Bortolin, L., Witte, M., Scott, A., Newport, A., Jensen, K., Wutzler, J., van Staden, I., McLean, J., Bergsma, G., Dowman, B., Petrie, K., Higgens, D., McCloud, R., Jessop, L., & Duncan, P. (2017). An introduction to quantitative analysis in finance. Houghton.
7th., 21+ authors
McDuff, C., Smith, J., Kensington, K., Jones, S., Coughlan, S., Bortolin, L., Witte, M., Scott, A., Newport, A., Jensen, K., Wutzler, J., van Staden, I., McLean, J., Bergsma, G., Dowman, B., Petrie, K., Higgens, D., McCloud, R., Jessop, L., ... Duncan, P. (2017). An introduction to quantitative analysis in finance. Houghton.
Website names
Include the name of the website or organisation that hosts the webpage, report or other source for APA 7th edition but not for the 6th edition.
6th.
Lawson, J. F. (2019). The impacts of plastic on Indonesian migratory birds. Retrieved from https://www.doc.govt.nz/reports/birds/indonesiaplastic/
7th.
Lawson, J. F. (2019). The impacts of plastic on Indonesian migratory birds. Department of Conservation. https://www.doc.govt.nz/reports/birds/indonesiaplastic/
Publication location
The 7th edition omits the publisher location from reference list entries.
For the 6th edition, give the city in full and the country in full for publishers outside the United States.
Example
Palmerston North, New Zealand:
For publishers inside the United States, give the city in full and the abbreviation for the state instead of the country.
Example
Oxford, England:
6th.
Smith, J. D. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide (2nd ed.). Dublin, Ireland: Rata Press.
7th.
Smith, J. D. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide (2nd ed.). Rata Press.
Same author and publisher
For the 7th edition, when the author and publisher are the same, omit the publisher in the reference list. For the 6th edition, place the word Author in the publisher position.
6th.
Ministry of Education. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide. Wellington, New Zealand: Author.
7th.
Ministry of Education. (2009). Research ethics in New Zealand: A student guide.
E-book format
The 6th ed. includes the e-book format, platform, or device (e.g., Kindle) but not the publisher.
The 7th ed. omits the e-book format, platform, or device (e.g., Kindle) but includes the publisher.
6th.
Roach, M. (2010). Packing for Mars: The curious science of life in the void [Kindle version]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com
7th.
Forsyth, D. (2018). Probability and statistics for computer science. Springer Publishing Company. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319644097
Retrieved from
Include the words 'Retrieved from' before the URL for the 6th edition but not for the 7th.
6th.
Forsyth, D. (2018). Probability and statistics for computer science. Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319644097
7th.
Forsyth, D. (2018). Probability and statistics for computer science. Springer Publishing Company. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319644097
DOI format
Include the label 'doi' before the DOI number for the 6th edition but not for the 7th.
Omit https://doi.org/ from the DOI number for the 6th edition but include it for the 7th.
6th.
Gelkopf, M., Ryan, P., Cotton, S., & Berger, R. (2008). The impact of “training the trainers” for helping tsunami-survivor children on Sri Lankan disaster volunteer workers. International Journal of Stress Management, 15(2), 117-135. doi:10.1037/1072-5245.15.2.117
7th.
Gelkopf, M., Ryan, P., Cotton, S., & Berger, R. (2008). The impact of “training the trainers” for helping tsunami-survivor children on Sri Lankan disaster volunteer workers. International Journal of Stress Management, 15(2), 117-135. https://doi.org/10.1037/1072-5245.15.2.117
Spelling and capitalisation for specific racial groups
The 7th edition provides expanded guidance on terms for specific racial groups.
In the the 7th edition:
- Capitalise Indigenous and Indigenous People when you are referring to a group.
- Do not capitalise the word 'people' when when you are referring to individuals.
- Do not hyphenate multiword names, for example 'African Americans' not 'African-Americans.'
Minor changes
The 7th edition provides expanded guidance on inclusive language, formatting and style, heading levels, tables, figures, and graphs.
If you are required to use the 6th edition in your assignment, we recommend you use the guidelines for inclusive language outlined in the 7th edition as this is now considered best practice.
Tables, figures and graphs
The presentation style of table and figure numbers, titles and notes are now consistent – in the 7th edition, figure numbers and titles are the same as those for tables with titles and numbers above figures.
Table numbers
The table number is in bold for the 7th edition but not the 6th edition.
6th.
Table 1
Sales of Take Home Ice Cream in New Zealand
7th.
Table 1
Sales of Take Home Ice Cream in New Zealand
Figure number and title
In the 6th edition, the title of the figure should be below the figure in italics, not bold, followed by a full stop. The title of the figure is directly after the figure number.
In the 7th edition, the title of the figure is placed above figure. The figure number is in bold, not in italics. Do not include a full stop after the figure number. The figure title is on a new line, in italics.
6th.
Figure 1. Generic mediation model being tested.
7th.
Figure 1
Sales of Take Home Ice Cream in New Zealand
Notes
In the 6th edition, notes come directly after figure title on the same line. In the 7th edition, notes are at the bottom of the figure preceded by the word 'Note' in italics followed by a full stop.
Heading levels
Changes have been made to heading levels 3 to 5 in the 7th edition.
6th edition:
Level 3 heading
Indented, not italicised, bold, lowercase
Level 4 heading
Indented, bold, italicised, lowercase.
Level 5 heading
Indented, italicised, not bold, lowercase.
7th edition:
Level 3 Heading
Flush left, bold, italics, title case heading.
Level 4 Heading
Indented, bold, not italicised, title case heading.
Level 5 Heading
Indented, bold, italics, title case heading.
Related content
