APA 7th edition
Free APA citation generator.
APA style, from the American Psychological Association, is an author–date system: you cite the author's surname and the year in the text, and list full details in a reference list at the end. This generator follows the 7th edition, published in 2019 and still the current one.
Paste a DOI, a link, an ISBN or a title. The generator finds the source's details, lets you check and edit them, then writes the reference entry and both forms of in-text citation.
The style
How APA citations work.
Used in: Psychology, education, nursing and health sciences, business, and most social sciences.
APA in-text citations
- Cite the surname and year: parenthetical (Akbari, 2016) or narrative, Akbari (2016) found…
- Two authors: name both every time, with "&" inside parentheses (Akbari & Kolokotsa, 2016) and "and" in running text.
- Three or more authors: first surname plus "et al." from the first citation: (Santamouris et al., 2017).
- Direct quotations need a page: (Akbari, 2016, p. 14) or pp. 14–16. Without page numbers, use a paragraph: (Akbari, 2016, para. 4).
- Group authors are spelled out first with an abbreviation, (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021), then (WHO, 2021).
- No date: (Smith, n.d.). Several works in one parenthesis go in reference-list order, separated by semicolons.
The reference list
- Title the page "References" (bold, centred), double-spaced with a 0.5-inch hanging indent, in alphabetical order by first author.
- Invert every author and use initials: LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. List up to 20 authors.
- Put the year in parentheses after the authors: (2015). Webpages and news add the month and day: (2023, March 4).
- Use sentence case for article, book and webpage titles; title case only for journal names.
- Italicise book and webpage titles, and the journal name and volume. The issue number goes in parentheses, not italic.
- Give DOIs as https://doi.org/… with no "doi:" label and no final full stop. Leave out the publisher's location.
APA citation examples
Journal article
LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521(7553), 436–444. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14539
In text: (LeCun et al., 2015) · LeCun et al. (2015)
Book
Austen, J. (2003). Pride and prejudice. Penguin Books.
In text: (Austen, 2003) · Austen (2003)
Book chapter
Moreno, L. (2021). Green roofs in dense districts. In R. Patel (Ed.), Cooling the city (pp. 45–68). Routledge.
In text: (Moreno, 2021) · Moreno (2021)
Webpage with no date
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Depressive disorder (depression). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
In text: (World Health Organization [WHO], n.d.)
The journal, book and webpage examples are real sources; the chapter is an illustrative example from the style rules.
Common APA mistakes
- Writing full first names or "and" in the reference list; APA uses initials and "&".
- Title-casing article or book titles; only journal names are in title case.
- Spelling out three or more authors in the text instead of using "et al." from the first citation.
- Writing "doi:" or "Retrieved from" before links, or ending a DOI with a full stop.
- Leaving the journal volume roman or italicising the issue number.
FAQ
APA citation questions.
Is this APA citation generator free?
Yes. You can create citations without an account, up to 20 an hour. EssayMate students can also cite from inside the essay editor, where the citation and reference are inserted for them.
Does it use APA 6 or APA 7?
APA 7, the current edition. The main changes from APA 6 are "et al." from the first citation for three or more authors, up to 20 authors in the reference list, no publisher location, and DOIs written as https://doi.org/ links.
How do I cite a source with no author or date in APA?
With no author, start the entry with the title and cite the first few words of it in the text, ("Cooling Cities," 2020). With no date, write n.d.: (Smith, n.d.). Group authors such as the World Health Organization count as authors.
Should I add page numbers to APA in-text citations?
Yes for direct quotations, (Akbari, 2016, p. 14), and encouraged when you paraphrase a specific point. The generator gives the citation without a page, so add the page you're quoting.
Writing the essay too?
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