liminfoAPA Style Reference
Free reference guide: APA Style Reference
About APA Style Reference
This APA Style Reference is a comprehensive guide to the APA 7th Edition formatting and citation rules. It covers in-text citation formats for single author, two authors, three or more authors (et al.), direct quotes under and over 40 words, narrative citations, secondary citations, and same-author multiple-year works with a/b suffixes.
The reference list section provides complete formatting templates for books (single author, edited, chapters), journal articles (with and without DOI in https://doi.org/ format), websites (with and without author), dissertations, and organizational reports. All entries follow the Author-Date-Title-Source structure required by APA 7th Edition.
Beyond citations, this guide covers paper formatting rules (Letter size, 1-inch margins, 12pt Times New Roman, double spacing, 0.5-inch indentation), five heading levels with specific alignment and styling, table/figure formatting with titles and notes, number expression rules, abbreviation conventions, and reference list ordering by author last name.
Key Features
- In-text citation formats: single author, two authors, three+ (et al.), direct quotes, block quotes, narrative, and secondary citations
- Reference list templates for books, edited books, book chapters, journal articles with DOI, websites, dissertations, and reports
- Paper formatting: Letter size (8.5x11"), 1-inch margins, 12pt Times New Roman or 11pt Calibri, double spacing, 0.5" indent
- Five heading levels with specific alignment (centered/left), styling (bold/italic), and paragraph continuation rules
- Table and figure formatting with numbered titles, descriptive captions, general/specific/probability notes
- Number expression rules: words below 10, numerals for 10+, statistics formatting (M, SD, p values), percentages
- Abbreviation conventions: first-use definition, common abbreviations (e.g., i.e.), Latin abbreviation parenthetical rules
- Reference list ordering: alphabetical by last name, chronological for same author, up to 20 authors listed, DOI as URL format
Frequently Asked Questions
What in-text citation formats does this APA reference cover?
The reference covers all APA 7th Edition in-text formats: single author (Smith, 2020), two authors connected with & (Smith & Jones, 2020), three or more authors using et al. (Smith et al., 2020), direct quotes under 40 words in quotation marks with page numbers, block quotes over 40 words with 0.5-inch indent, narrative citations with author as part of the sentence, secondary citations (as cited in), and same-author same-year differentiation with a/b suffixes.
How are reference list entries formatted for different source types?
The reference provides complete templates: books follow Author, Year, Title (italic), Publisher format; edited books add (Ed.)/(Eds.) after editor names; book chapters include chapter author, editor name, and page range; journal articles use Author, Year, Title, Journal Name (italic), Vol(Issue), Pages with DOI; websites include Author, Date, Title (italic), Site Name, URL; dissertations specify [Doctoral dissertation, University] with database; reports use Organization, Year, Title (italic), URL.
What paper formatting rules are covered?
The reference covers all APA 7th Edition formatting requirements: Letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches) with 1-inch margins on all sides, 12pt Times New Roman or 11pt Calibri/Arial font, double spacing throughout with no extra paragraph spacing, 0.5-inch first-line indent for each paragraph (Tab key), and right-aligned page numbers in the header.
How are the five APA heading levels explained?
All five levels are documented: Level 1 (centered, bold, title case), Level 2 (left-aligned, bold, title case), Level 3 (left-aligned, bold italic, title case), Level 4 (indented, bold, ends with period, text continues on same line), and Level 5 (indented, bold italic, ends with period, text continues). Each entry includes visual formatting examples.
What table and figure formatting rules are included?
The reference covers table titles (numbered "Table 1" above with italic descriptive title), table notes (general notes, specific notes with superscript letters, probability notes with asterisks for p values), figure formatting (numbered "Figure 1" with bold number and italic title), figure legends within the graphic, and how to cite tables/figures in text ("As shown in Table 1" or "see Figure 2").
How are numbers and statistics formatted in APA style?
Number rules include: spell out numbers below 10, use numerals for 10 and above, always spell out numbers at sentence start, use numerals with % symbol for percentages. Statistics formatting requires italic symbols, leading zero omission for values that cannot exceed 1 (p = .013 not p = 0.013), and standard notation like M = 4.50, SD = 1.20, t(38) = 2.50.
What abbreviation rules does this reference explain?
The reference covers: spell out on first use with abbreviation in parentheses (e.g., American Psychological Association (APA)), common abbreviations usable without definition (e.g., i.e., etc., vs.), Latin abbreviations restricted to parenthetical use only (use "for example" in text, "(e.g., example)" in parentheses), and measurement units used with numerals without needing definition (5 cm, 10 kg, 200 ms).
How should the reference list be ordered?
References are ordered alphabetically by author last name (Adams before Brown before Smith). Multiple works by the same author are sorted chronologically (Smith 2018 before Smith 2019). Up to 20 authors are listed; for 21 or more, use ellipsis before the last author. DOIs must be in https://doi.org/ format. URL line breaks should occur before a slash.