The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:
Only include references for sources cited in the body text (with an in-text citation). Don’t include references for:
- Sources that you only consulted
- Place the section label “References” in bold at the top of the page (centered).
- Order the references alphabetically.
- Double-space all text.
- Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 inches.
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For some student papers, it’s common to describe or evaluate the source in an annotation. These annotations are placed on a new line below the corresponding reference entry. The entire annotation is indented 0.5 inches.
This article reflects the APA 7th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 6th edition guidelines.
Word processors like Word or Google Docs and citation generators can usually order the reference list automatically. However, ordering becomes challenging when citing multiple works by the same author or works by authors with the same last name.
On some social media sites (such as Twitter), users go by usernames instead of or in addition to their real names. Where the author’s real name is known, include it, along with their username in square brackets:
For this kind of citation, you don’t need to include the website on the reference page. However, if you’re citing a specific page or article from a website, you will need a formal in-text citation and reference list entry.
One of the most popular social media sites, Instagram (http://instagram.com), allows users to share images and videos.
This article reflects the APA 7th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 6th edition guidelines.
Websites with no author
When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g. a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and in-text citations.
When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.
As social media posts are usually untitled, use the first 20 words of the post, in italics, as a title. Also include any relevant information about the type of post and any multimedia aspects (e.g. videos, images, sound, links) in square brackets.
Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations, as they are unreliable.
These articles showcase new advances, or modifications to an existing practice, in a scientific method or procedure. The author has data or documentation to prove that their new method, or improvement to a method, is valid. Plenty of evidence is included in this type of article. In addition, the author explains the current method being used in addition to their own findings, in order to allow the reader to understand and modify their own current practices.
Use the same formatting tables use for the number, title, and note.
In APA format, there are five levels of headings, each with a different formatting:
This citation style was created by the American Psychological Association. Its rules and guidelines can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The information provided in the guide above follows the 6th edition (2009) of the manual. The 7th edition was published in 2020 and is the most recent version.
Information related to writing and organizing your paper:
- Showing numbers in a table or graph
- Referring to information in a table or graph
- Table 7
- Including a unit of measurement directly after it. Examples APA format:
- 8 lbs.
- 5 cm
- Displaying a math equation
- 4 divided by 2
- Showing a time, age, or date
- 8:08 a.m.
- 6-month-olds
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Place the date that the source was published in parentheses after the name of the author. In APA format for periodicals, include the month and day as well. If no date is available, place n.d. in parentheses, which stands for no date. For more details, see Section 9.14 of the Publication Manual.
We’ve included a visual below to help you make sense of the five headings. Keep in mind, you do not need to have all five headings in your paper. You may only use the top two or three. It depends on the types of sections your paper includes.
Looking for an APA formatter? Don't forget that the BibMe APA citation generator creates citations quickly and easily.
Person who posted the video's Last name, F. M. [User name]. (Year, Month Day of posting). Title of video [Video]. Publishing site. URL
How to Structure Authors
For conference presentations, give the city, state/province/territory, and country. If in the US, abbreviate the state name using the two-letter abbreviation. Place a colon after the location.
Smith (2014) states that, "the Museum Effect is concerned with how individuals look at a work of art, but only in the context of looking at that work along with a number of other works" (p. 82). "The Museum Effect is concerned with how individuals look at a work of art, but only in the context of looking at that work along with a number of other works" (Smith, 2014, p. 82).
Need to cite a chapter in an e-book? No problem! Citing a chapter in an e-book is very similar to citing a chapter in a print book. Instead of including the publisher information, include a DOI number (if one is displayed) or the URL.
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Even if it is not a required part of your assignment, writing a bibliography can help you keep track of your sources and make it much easier to create your final reference page in proper APA format.
While writing an annotated bibliography might not be required for your assignment, it can be a very useful step. The process of writing an annotation helps you learn more about your topic, develop a deeper understanding of the subject, and become better at evaluating various sources of information.
Bibliographies can be a great way to keep track of information you might want to use in your paper and as a way to organize and keep track of the information that you find in different sources. In order to write an APA format bibliography, here are four steps you should take.
Your references should be listed alphabetically by the author’s last name and should be double-spaced. The first line of each reference should be flush left, while each additional line of the reference should be a few spaces to the right of the left margin, which is known as a hanging indent.
Creating an APA Bibliography
A bibliography is similar in many ways to a reference section, but there are some important differences. While a reference section includes every source that was actually used in your paper, a bibliography may include sources that you considered using but may have dismissed because they were irrelevant or outdated.
Not only is this step helpful in determining which sources to ultimately use in your paper, but also your instructor may require it as part of the assignment so they can assess your thought process and understanding of your topic.
Your working bibliography should be kept separate from the rest of your paper. Start it on a new page, with the title “Bibliography” centered at the top.