APA 7th edition referencing is an author–date citation style published by the American Psychological Association in 2019, used across psychology, nursing, education, health sciences, and the social sciences. Every source you use needs two things: a brief in-text citation (author and year) at the point you use it, and a full entry in an alphabetical reference list at the end. This guide covers both in detail, with copy-ready examples for every common source type, quoting rules, how to cite AI tools like ChatGPT, the tricky in-text situations that confuse students, the key changes from APA 6, and the mistakes that cost easy marks.
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What is APA 7 referencing?
APA 7 referencing is the seventh-edition author–date system from the American Psychological Association, used to credit sources and let readers trace them. It pairs a short in-text citation — the author’s surname and the year of publication — with a detailed reference-list entry. Australian universities use it most heavily in psychology, nursing and midwifery, education, social work, and allied health, because it handles empirical research and journal articles cleanly.
The style exists to do three things at once: give credit to the original author, let your reader find the exact source, and demonstrate that your argument is grounded in evidence. Markers treat referencing as a proxy for academic rigour — a paper with clean, consistent APA 7 signals that the writer engaged seriously with the literature. That is why getting the small details right (the comma, the “et al.”, the hanging indent) genuinely affects your grade, even though each detail seems trivial on its own.
APA 7 in-text citations
An APA 7 in-text citation gives the author’s surname and the year, either in parentheses or woven into your sentence. Add a page number for direct quotes. The two formats are parenthetical (both author and year in brackets) and narrative (the author’s name appears in your sentence and only the year is bracketed). The table shows the core patterns.
| Situation | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Smith, 2021) | Smith (2021) argued… |
| Two authors | (Smith & Jones, 2021) | Smith and Jones (2021)… |
| Three or more authors | (Smith et al., 2021) | Smith et al. (2021)… |
| Direct quote | (Smith, 2021, p. 14) | Smith (2021, p. 14) stated… |
| Organisation as author | (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020) | The World Health Organization (WHO, 2020)… |
| Two works, same citation | (Brown, 2019; Smith, 2021) | — |
| No date | (Smith, n.d.) | Smith (n.d.)… |
The big APA 7 change: for three or more authors you use “et al.” from the first citation onwards. (In APA 6 you listed all authors the first time.) This single rule trips up most students moving from the old edition. Note that “and” is spelled out in narrative citations (Smith and Jones) but becomes an ampersand inside parentheses (Smith & Jones).
Tricky in-text situations
Most marks lost on in-text citations come from a handful of awkward cases. Here is how APA 7 handles them:
- Two authors with the same surname: add initials to distinguish them — (J. Smith, 2020) and (R. Smith, 2021).
- Same author, same year: add a letter after the year — (Smith, 2021a) and (Smith, 2021b) — ordered alphabetically by title in the reference list.
- Secondary source (a source cited within another): name the original and cite the one you read — “Vygotsky’s theory (as cited in Smith, 2021)”. Only the source you actually read goes in the reference list.
- Multiple works in one citation: list alphabetically, separated by semicolons — (Brown, 2019; Lee, 2020; Smith, 2021).
- No page numbers (e.g. a webpage): for a quote, use a paragraph number (para. 4) or a section heading.
Quoting in APA 7
APA 7 treats short and long quotations differently. A short quotation (fewer than 40 words) is run into your sentence inside double quotation marks, with the author, year, and page number: Smith (2021) noted that reflection “deepens clinical reasoning over time” (p. 14). A long quotation (40 words or more) is formatted as a block quote: start it on a new line, indent the whole block 1.27 cm, omit the quotation marks, and place the citation after the final full stop. Use direct quotes sparingly — markers reward paraphrase that shows understanding over strings of quotations.
The APA 7 reference list
The APA 7 reference list is an alphabetical list of every source you cited in text, starting on a new page titled “References”, double-spaced, with a hanging indent. The general pattern is: Author, A. A. (Year). Title. Source. The table gives the exact format for the most common source types.
| Source type | Reference-list format (example) |
|---|---|
| Journal article | Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxx |
| Book | Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (edition). Publisher. |
| Edited book chapter | Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. |
| Webpage | Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL |
| Government / organisation report | Organisation. (Year). Title of report. URL |
| Thesis or dissertation | Author, A. A. (Year). Title of thesis [Doctoral dissertation, University]. Repository. URL |
| Conference paper | Author, A. A. (Year, Month). Title of paper [Paper presentation]. Conference Name, Location. |
| YouTube / video | Author or Channel. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL |
Two more APA 7 changes worth knowing: the publisher’s location is no longer included for books, and DOIs are now formatted as full URLs (https://doi.org/…) with no “doi:” prefix. When a work has a DOI, always include it — even for print sources.
How to cite ChatGPT and AI tools in APA 7
To cite ChatGPT or another generative-AI tool in APA 7, treat the AI as the author and cite the version you used. The reference-list format is: OpenAI. (Year). ChatGPT (Month Day version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com. In text, cite it as (OpenAI, 2024). Because the output is not reproducible by your reader, APA recommends describing your prompt in the body text and, where relevant, including the full response in an appendix.
Before citing any AI tool, check your unit’s academic-integrity policy — many Australian courses restrict or prohibit AI-generated content regardless of whether it is cited. Disclosing AI use correctly protects you; using it where it is banned does not become acceptable just because you referenced it.
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APA 7 formatting essentials
APA 7 is not only about citations — the document formatting is graded too. The essentials are:
- Font: a legible, accessible font (e.g. 12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Calibri or Arial).
- Spacing: double-spaced throughout, including the reference list, with no extra space between paragraphs.
- Margins: 2.54 cm (1 inch) on all sides.
- Headings: five levels, each with specific bold/italic and placement formatting; use them to signal structure.
- Reference order: alphabetical by first author surname; hanging indent of 1.27 cm; works with no author alphabetised by title.
- Title page: student papers show the title, your name, affiliation, course, instructor, and due date, centred on the page.
- Page numbers: top-right of every page.
A worked example: from in-text to reference list
Seeing how the two halves connect makes the rules click. Suppose you read a 2022 journal article by Nguyen, Patel, and O’Brien about reflective practice in nursing students, and you want to paraphrase one of their findings and quote a single sentence. In your paragraph you would write: Reflective journaling improved clinical confidence over a twelve-week placement (Nguyen et al., 2022). Later, quoting directly: the authors concluded that structured reflection “reduced anxiety in the first clinical rotation” (Nguyen et al., 2022, p. 318).
That single source then appears once in your reference list, formatted like this: Nguyen, T., Patel, S., & O’Brien, M. (2022). Reflective journaling and clinical confidence in undergraduate nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 61(6), 310–322. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx. Notice how the in-text citation is deliberately minimal — just enough for the reader to find the full entry — while the reference list carries every detail. Every in-text citation must have exactly one matching reference entry, and every reference entry must be cited at least once in the text. Markers cross-check this, and mismatches are among the easiest marks to lose.
Managing references with software
For a short essay you can format references by hand, but for a dissertation or a paper with 40-plus sources, reference-management software saves hours and prevents inconsistency. The three common tools in Australian universities are EndNote (often provided free through your library), Zotero (free and open-source), and Mendeley. Each lets you save sources as you research, insert in-text citations as you write, and generate the reference list automatically in APA 7.
The catch: no tool is perfect. Software pulls metadata from databases that sometimes have errors — missing issue numbers, wrong capitalisation, a DOI that didn’t import, an author listed as “Organization, World Health” instead of as a corporate author. Treat the auto-generated list as a first draft, then proofread every entry against an APA 7 example. A clean reference list produced by careful checking always beats a sloppy one produced by trusting the software blindly.
Student papers vs professional papers
APA 7 introduced two distinct formats, and students should follow the student version unless told otherwise. A student paper needs a simplified title page (paper title, your name, the department and university, the course number and name, the instructor, and the due date) and does not require a running head. A professional paper — the kind submitted to journals — adds a running head, an author note, and an abstract. Using the professional format for a coursework essay isn’t wrong, but it adds elements your marker doesn’t need; the student format is cleaner and is what most Australian unit guides expect.
How APA 7 differs from APA 6
If your earlier units used APA 6, five changes matter most. First, “et al.” is now used from the first citation for three or more authors. Second, up to 20 authors are now listed in full in the reference entry (APA 6 stopped at seven). Third, the publisher location is gone for books. Fourth, DOIs appear as full URLs without the “doi:” label. Fifth, APA 7 introduced a distinct, simpler title page for student papers (no running head required). Together these make APA 7 cleaner, but they also mean an old APA 6 template will produce errors — rebuild from a current APA 7 example.
Common APA 7 mistakes to avoid
- Listing all authors when there are three or more — use “et al.” from the first citation in APA 7.
- Missing page numbers on direct quotes — quotes always need a page (or paragraph) number.
- Citing sources in text that aren’t in the reference list (or vice-versa) — the two must match exactly.
- Keeping “doi:” or publisher locations — both were removed in APA 7.
- Forgetting the hanging indent — a quick formatting fix that markers notice immediately.
- Over-quoting — strings of direct quotes read as a failure to synthesise; paraphrase instead.
- Trusting a citation generator blindly — generators frequently miss issue numbers, DOIs, and capitalisation.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between APA 6 and APA 7?
The main differences between APA 6 and APA 7 are: “et al.” is used from the first citation for three or more authors (APA 6 listed all authors first time); up to 20 authors are listed in full in references; publisher location is no longer required for books; DOIs are formatted as full URLs without “doi:”; and APA 7 adds a dedicated student-paper title-page format with no running head. The heading system was also refined to five clearly formatted levels.
How do you cite a source with no author in APA 7?
To cite a source with no author in APA 7, move the title to the author position. Use the title (italicised for standalone works, in quotation marks for articles or pages) and the year in the in-text citation — for example, (Title of work, 2021). If there is also no date, use “n.d.” in place of the year, and alphabetise the entry by the first significant word of the title.
Do you need a page number for every APA 7 citation?
You need a page number in APA 7 only for direct quotations, not for paraphrases. For a quote, include the page (p. 14) or page range (pp. 14–15); for sources without pages, use a paragraph number or section heading. Page numbers are encouraged but not required when you paraphrase, though some markers prefer them for traceability.
How do you cite ChatGPT in APA 7?
To cite ChatGPT in APA 7, treat the developer as the author: OpenAI. (Year). ChatGPT (version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com, with the in-text citation (OpenAI, 2024). Describe your prompt in the text and consider placing the full AI response in an appendix. Always check your university’s policy first, as many Australian courses restrict AI use even when it is cited.
How do you reference a website in APA 7?
To reference a website in APA 7, use: Author or Organisation. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL. If the page is likely to change, add a retrieval date; if no date is given, use “n.d.” Most stable institutional and government pages do not need a retrieval date.
How do you cite a secondary source in APA 7?
To cite a secondary source in APA 7 — a source you only encountered quoted within another — name the original author in your sentence and cite the source you actually read: “Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding (as cited in Smith, 2021)”. Only the source you read (Smith) appears in the reference list. Use secondary citations sparingly; find and read the original where you can.
Is APA 7 used in Australia?
Yes, APA 7 is widely used in Australian universities, particularly in psychology, nursing, midwifery, education, social work, and the health sciences. Always check your unit guide, as some courses specify Harvard or a faculty-specific variant, but APA 7 is one of the most common styles across Australian social-science and health programs.
What does “et al.” mean in APA referencing?
“Et al.” is Latin for “and others” and is used in APA 7 in-text citations when a source has three or more authors. You cite the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” and the year — for example, (Nguyen et al., 2022) — from the very first citation onward. The full author list (up to 20 names) still appears in the reference entry.
How do you format a block quote in APA 7?
To format a block quote in APA 7, use it for any quotation of 40 words or more: start the quote on a new line, indent the entire block 1.27 cm from the left margin, double-space it, and leave off the quotation marks. Place the citation in parentheses after the final punctuation mark. Reserve block quotes for passages where the exact wording matters — over-using them signals weak synthesis.
What is a hanging indent and how do you create one?
A hanging indent is a paragraph format where the first line sits flush left and every subsequent line is indented by 1.27 cm, used for every entry in the APA 7 reference list. In Microsoft Word, select your references, open the paragraph dialog, and under “Special” choose “Hanging”. Do not create it by pressing space or tab, as that breaks when the text reflows.
