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APA 7 Citation

Click through the tabs to learn the basics, find examples, and watch video tutorials.

Just the basics

Basic Elements of APA 7 Style

  • Title page (also known as a cover page).
  • Font options:
    • sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode
    • serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern (the default font for LaTeX)
  • Double-spaced. The entire document including the title page and reference list.
  • References page always starts on a new page.
  • Page numbers. The title page is your first page. The number one (1) should be located in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
  • Margins. APA guidelines specify: one-inch margins at the top, bottom, right and left of every page. Default margins in Word are one inch.
  • Citations and reference list. Include both in-text citations and a reference list.

For more information check out the APA 7 webpage: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples

PowerPoint? Presentations?

Instructors frequently require students to use APA Style within presentations. APA Style does not provide specific guidelines for PowerPoint presentations and visuals. You will be adapting APA Style guidelines. Check with your instructor about the format. You will likely need to have in-text citations on the slides throughout your presentation for images, data, quotes and paraphrased statements, AND a slide at the end for a reference list.

What does APA mean?

American Psychological Association

APA Style® originated in 1929, when a group of psychologists, anthropologists, and business managers convened and sought to establish a simple set of procedures, or style rules, that would codify the many components of scientific writing to increase the ease of reading comprehension.

As with other editorial styles, APA Style consists of rules or guidelines that a publisher observes to ensure clear and consistent presentation of written material. It concerns uniform use of such elements as

  • selection of headings, tone, and length;
  • punctuation and abbreviations;
  • presentation of numbers and statistics;
  • construction of tables and figures,
  • citation of references; and
  • many other elements that are a part of a manuscript.

Source: What is APA Style?

The basics of APA are easy to learn, but everyone references APA Style guides to figure out the rules.

Here are some of the resources APA produces:

Use the official APA 7 Style guide online or purchase your own copy:

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

More resources - guides, online, videos