APA 7th Edition: The Citation Style You Actually Need to Know
Writing a paper and don’t want to get flagged by the formatting police? Enter: APA 7th Edition — your go-to for citing sources, formatting papers, and looking like an academic pro.
Don’t worry. We’ve broken it down so it’s less “What is this?” and more “I got this.”
📚 Official APA Books (With Amazon Links)
Want to go straight to the source? Here’s the real deal:
🎥 APA Video Guides (Because Reading Isn’t Always the Vibe)
✏️ APA Formatting Basics
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Margins: 1 inch on all sides
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Font: Times New Roman 12 pt or Calibri 11 pt
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Spacing: Double. Everything. Even the references.
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Paragraphs: First line indented 0.5 inches
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Running Head: SHORT TITLE IN ALL CAPS (left), page number (right)
📄 Paper Structure (Typical Academic Format)
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Introduction (no heading)
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Method
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Results
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Discussion
🗨️ In-Text Citations
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Paraphrasing: (Smith, 2020)
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Direct Quote: (Jones, 2018, p. 45)
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Two Authors: (Smith & Johnson, 2019)
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Three or More: (Brown et al., 2021)
📚 Reference Page Rules
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Title the page: References (centered)
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Alphabetize by author’s last name
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Use a hanging indent (first line left, others indented 0.5")
🧾 Example Citations
Journal Article:
Smith, J. D., & Jones, A. B. (2017). The impact of social media on mental health. Journal of Social Psychology, 157(3), 250–265.
Book:
Brown, C. L. (2019). The history of psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley.
Website:
American Psychological Association. (2020, January 1). Stress in America 2020. APA. [URL removed for brevity]
✨ Need more examples? Check the official APA manual or a trusted guide like Purdue OWL.
🤖 Should You Use a Citation Generator?
Yes… but verify it! Tools are great, but they're not perfect. Always double-check formatting and punctuation. Don’t trust a robot with your grade (unless it’s your own robot).