Notable Changes in APA 7th edition

Books and ebooks

Publisher location

APA 7th: omit publisher location, e.g.

Gray, P., & Bjorklund, D. F. (2014). Psychology (7th ed.). Worth Publishers.

Li, Z. (2014). Understanding vision: Theory, models, and data. Oxford University Press.

APA 6th: publisher location, full country name or for the U.S. the 2-letter state abbreviation, e.g.

Gray, P., & Bjorklund, D. F. (2014). Psychology (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

Li, Z. (2014). Understanding vision: Theory, models, and data. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Publisher names

APA 7th

Write publisher names as on the work (though omit business designations, e.g. Inc., Ltd., LLC), e.g.
John Wiley & Son.
List all publishers, separated by a semicolon, e.g.
American Psychological Association; De Gruyter Mouton
If the publisher is also the author, do not repeat the publisher name in the source area of the reference, e.g.

Ministry of Health. (2006). Problem gambling intervention services in New Zealand: 2005 service-user statistics (Monitoring Report No. 8).

APA 6th

Shorten publisher names for publishing houses, e.g.
Wiley.
List the first publisher only, e.g.
American Psychological Association.
If the publisher is also the author, use Author in the source area of the reference instead of the author name, e.g.

Ministry of Health. (2006). Problem gambling intervention services in New Zealand: 2005 service-user statistics (Monitoring Report No. 8). Wellington, New Zealand: Author.

ebooks

APA 7th:

Include the publisher or publishers.
Give the DOI if available.
If there is no DOI, give the URL but only if the URL is available to all readers (so not a library database URL)
If there is no DOI or any URL available to all readers, reference as for a print book, e.g.

Li, Z. (2014). Understanding vision: Theory, models, and data. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564668.001.0001

Veseth, M. (2010). Globaloney 2.0: The crash of 2008 and the future of globalization (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.

APA 6th:

Omit the location and publisher
Give the DOI if available
If there is no DOI, give the URL and if from a library database, the homepage URL of the database, e.g.

Li, Z. (2014). Understanding vision: Theory, models, and data. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564668.001.0001

Veseth, M. (2010). Globaloney 2.0: The crash of 2008 and the future of globalization (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Illustrated books

Books in which the illustrations are essential to the content (for example, children’s picture books).

APA 7th:

Include the illustrator name in parentheses after the title
Only the author appears in in-text citations, e.g.

Reference list

Cowley, J. (2010). Fly pie (P. Webb, Illus.). Scholastic.

In-text citation

Cowley (2010) ... OR ... (Cowley, 2010)

More details on Illustrated Books

APA 6th:

List the author and illustrator in the author area of the reference
Include both author and illustrator in in-text citations, e.g.

Reference list

Cowley, J., & Webb, P. (2010). Fly pie. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.

In-text citation

Cowley and Webb (2010) ... OR ... (Cowley & Webb, 2010)

More details on the APA Style blog, 6th edition

Wikipedia

APA 7th (APA Manual, p. 329)

Cite the archived version
Template: Article title. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia. URL

APA 6th

Cite the general entry
Template (reflects its changeable nature): Article title. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL
See How to Cite Wikipedia in APA Style on the APA Style Blog

Journal articles

Issue numbers

APA 7th: include the issue number if available, e.g.

Kacmar, K. M., Andrews, M. C., Harris, K. J., & Tepper, B. J. (2013). Ethical leadership and subordinate outcomes: The mediating role of organizational politics and the moderating role of political skill. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1373-8

APA 6th: omit the issue number if the volume has continuous pagination (i.e. the paging does not restart at p. 1 for each issue), e.g.

Kacmar, K. M., Andrews, M. C., Harris, K. J., & Tepper, B. J. (2013). Ethical leadership and subordinate outcomes: The mediating role of organizational politics and the moderating role of political skill. Journal of Business Ethics, 115, 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1373-8

Electronic journal article without a DOI

APA 7th: use the article URL if available to all readers, e.g.

Flisfeder, M. (2019). The apostle of reason: Hegel & the desire for emancipation in the 21st century. CT&T: Continental Thought & Theory, 2(4), 193–228. https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/17119/13%20Flisfeder%20Hegel%20FINAL.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

If there is no URL available to all readers (e.g. from a library database), reference like a print journal, e.g.

Beaudoin, K. M., Knuth, R., & Benner, G. J. (2008). Social validation of services for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders: A comparative study. International Journal of Special Education, 23(1), 1–7.

APA 6th: If not retrieved from a library database, use the article URL or journal homepage URL (whichever is more reliable). If retrieved from a library database, use the journal homepage URL, e.g.

Article numbers

APA 7th: use article numbers preceded by Article (omit pagination), e.g.

Huber, M., Knottnerus, J. A., Green, L., van der Horst, H., Jadad, A. R., Kromhout, D., Leonard, B., Loureiro, M. L., van der Meer, J. M. W., Schnabel, P., Smith, R., & Smid, H. (2011). How should we define health? BMJ, 343(7817), Article d4163. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4163

APA 6th: ignore article numbers and use pages if the article is paginated, e.g.

Newspaper articles

APA 7th: pagination entered without p. or pp., e.g.

Killick, D. (2012, June 25). Housing is a problem beyond politics. The Press, 17.

APA 6th: pagination preceded by p. or pp., e.g.

Killick, D. (2012, June 25). Housing is a problem beyond politics. The Press, p. 17.

Conference presentations, not formally published

APA 7th template: Presenters. (Date range of conference). Title [Type of presentation]. Conference Name, Location. DOI or URL, e.g.

Proudfoot, F. (2015, February 18–20). Understanding cultural differences at the frontline [Paper presentation]. Australasian Housing Researchers Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. http://ahrc2015.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Fiona%20Proudfoot.pdf

APA 6th template: Presenters. (Year, Month). Title. Paper or poster session presented at the meeting of Organisation Name, Location. DOI or Retrieved from URL, e.g.

Proudfoot, F. (2015, February). Understanding cultural differences at the frontline. Paper presented at the Australasian Housing Researchers Conference, Hobart, Australia. Retrieved from http://ahrc2015.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Fiona%20Proudfoot.pdf

Theses

APA 7th templates

Online repository
Author. (Year). Title [Unpublished … dissertation/thesis, Name of Awarding Institution]. Repository Name. URL
Print
Author. (Year). Title [Unpublished … dissertation/thesis]. Name of awarding institution.
Examples

APA 6th templates

Online repository
Author. (Year). Title (… dissertation/thesis, Name of Awarding Institution, Location). Retrieved from URL
Print
Author. (Year). Title (Unpublished … dissertation/thesis). Name of awarding institution, Location.
Examples

Webpages on websites

APA 7th

Template is: Author. (Full date available). Title. Site Name. URL
- Site Name is omitted if the same as the author.
Webpages without by-lines: assume the website agency is the author (if unsure, look at “About” or acknowledgements pages, etc.), e.g.

Ministry of Health. (2017, May 18). Māori health models—Te whare tapa whā. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/maori-health-models/maori-health-models-te-whare-tapa-wha

Wilkins, A. (2018, June 28). NZ Govt yet to address single-use plastic bags, despite Australia’s progress. Newshub. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/06/nz-govt-yet-to-address-single-use-plastic-bags-despite-australia-s-progress.html

APA 6th

Templates are:
- Author. (Year). Title. Retrieved from URL (normal webpage, part of website)
- Author. (Year). Title. Retrieved from URL (standalone work), e.g.

Māori health models—Te whare tapa whā. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/maori-health-models/maori-health-models-te-whare-tapa-wha

Wilkins, A. (2018). NZ Govt yet to address single-use plastic bags, despite Australia’s progress. Retrieved from https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/06/nz-govt-yet-to-address-single-use-plastic-bags-despite-australia-s-progress.html

Blog posts

APA 7th template: Author, A. (Date). Title of Blog post. Blog Site Name. https://xxxxxx

Grohol, J. M. (2018, July 8). While you sleep, your brain keeps working. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/blog/while-you-sleep-your-brain-keeps-working/

APA 6th template: Author, A. (Date). Title of Blog post [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://xxxxxx

Grohol, J. M. (2018, July 8). While you sleep, your brain keeps working [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/while-you-sleep-your-brain-keeps-working/

Patents

APA 7th template: Inventor, A. A. (Year Patent Issued). Title of patent (U.S. Patent No. x,xxx,xxx). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. URL (optional)

In-text citation: Inventor (Year) OR (Inventor, Year)

APA 6th template: Inventor, A. A. (Year Patent Issued). U.S. Patent No. x,xxx,xxx. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

In-text citation: U.S. Patent No. x,xxx,xxx (Year) OR (U.S. Patent No. x,xxx,xxx, Year)

Reference list

Heading

APA 7th: References – centred and in bold

APA 6th: References – centred, not in bold

Hanging indent

APA 7th: 0.5 in. = 1.27 cm (the default setting in Word)

APA 6th: no specific guidance

“5 letters” sometimes suggested, but this was not actual APA Style guidance (comment dated October 29 towards the bottom of that webpage)

Multiple authors

APA 7th

List up to 20 authors before abbreviating to first 19, … last author
- The reason for the increase is to simplify referencing (APA Style blog)

APA 6th: List up to 7 authors before abbreviating to first 6, … last author

In-text citations

APA 7th simplified to: first author et al. for three or more authors, e.g.

Hall et al. (2020) OR (Hall et al., 2020)

APA 6th: three, four or five authors, list all authors the first time and then the first author et al. for subsequent citations, e.g.

First citation: Hall, Timothy, and Duval (2007) OR (Hall, Timothy, & Duval, 2007)

Later citations: Hall et al. (2020) OR (Hall et al., 2020)

Bias-free language

APA 7th: guidance is expanded in this edition on how to use language that is free of bias, meaning the implied or irrelevant evaluation of a group or groups (APA Manual, Chapter 5; APA Style website).

Traditional knowledge and oral traditions of Indigenous Peoples

APA 7th: guidance new to this edition on how to cite traditional knowledge and oral traditions (APA Manual, pp. 260–261; APA Style website).

DOIs

APA 7th

One valid format
https://doi.org/xxxxxx
ShortDOIs acceptable
- Details at the bottom of this page on the APA Style website

APA 6th

Three acceptable formats (choose only one in a paper)
- doi:xxxxxx
- http://dx.doi.org/xxxxxx (from July 2014)
- https://doi.org/xxxxxx (from March 2017)
No DOI shortening used

URLs

APA 7th

The link by itself to the specific work
https://xxxxxx
Link shortening is acceptable
- Details at the bottom of this page on the APA Style website

Note: Occasionally “Retrieved … from” is used, but only when a retrieval date is needed (changeable unarchived works) – this continues the practice used in APA 6th (APA 6th Manual, p. 192)

APA 6th

“Retrieved from” precedes the URL
Retrieved from https://xxxxxx
No link shortening

Tables and figures

APA 7th: the layout of tables and figures is similar, including consistent styles for numbers, titles and notes.

Details on the APA Style website

APA 6th: tables and figures have distinct layouts.