How a 49-year-old student can cite sources in APA Style (APA 7th Edition)

Step-by-step APA 7th edition citation guidance with practical templates and examples for citing websites, books, journal articles, reports, and other sources.

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Overview

APA style citations have two parts: reference entries (in the reference list) and in-text citations. The reference entry includes author(s), year, title, and source details, plus a DOI or URL when available. In-text citations show the author and year, and a page or paragraph number for direct quotes.

Step-by-step guide

  1. Identify the source type — journal article, book, website, report, video, etc.
  2. Gather required details — author names, year, title, publication venue, volume/issue (if applicable), page range, publisher, DOI or URL.
  3. Choose the correct reference template based on the source type and apply APA 7th edition rules.
  4. Add in-text citations — for paraphrases use (Author, Year) or Author (Year); for direct quotes include page or paragraph numbers (Author, Year, p. X).
  5. Check formatting — use italics for titles of longer works, apply proper capitalization, and use a hanging indent in the reference list.

Templates and examples

  • Journal article (with DOI)

    Format: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Page range. https://doi.org/DOI

    Example: Smith, J. A., Lee, K. M., & Patel, R. V. (2020). Understanding APA style. Journal of Examples, 12(3), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1000/abcd.2020.00123

  • Journal article (no DOI)

    Format: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Page range. Retrieved from URL

    Example: Smith, J. A., Lee, K. M., & Patel, R. V. (2020). Understanding APA style. Journal of Examples, 12(3), 45-60. Retrieved from https://www.examplejournal.org/articles/2020/

  • Book

    Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (Edition). Publisher.

    Example: Smith, J. A. (2018). The guide to APA style (2nd ed.). Academic Press.

  • Website

    Format: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site name. URL

    Example: American Psychological Association. (2020, January 15). Writing in APA style. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/

  • YouTube video

    Format: Author, A. A. [Username]. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. Platform. URL

    Example: APA Help [APA_Helper]. (2021, June 5). How to cite sources in APA (7th ed.) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/...

  • In-text citations

    Paraphrase: (Author, Year)

    Direct quote: (Author, Year, p. Page) or Author (Year, p. Page)

Notes on authors

For sources with multiple authors, APA 7th edition allows listing up to 20 authors in the reference entry. If a source has more than 20 authors, include the first 19, then …, then the final author.

Practical tips

  • Always include a DOI if available. If no DOI, use a stable URL or the publisher homepage.
  • Italicize titles of longer works (books, journals). Use sentence case for article titles and title case for book titles.
  • Apply a hanging indent in your reference list (the first line flush left, subsequent lines indented).

If you share the actual source details (author, year, title, etc.), I can generate the exact APA reference for you.

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