APA 7th Edition Changes--Quick Guide
References and in-text citations in APA Style
When it comes to citing sources, more guidelines have been added that make citing online sources easier and clearer.
- The publisher location is no longer included in the reference. Instead of “New York, NY: McGraw-Hill” it’s just “McGraw-Hill.”
- The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is now shortened right from the first citation. You only include the first author’s name and “et al.”.
- Surnames and initials for up to 20 authors (instead of 7) should be provided in the reference list.
- DOIs are formatted as urls (https://doi.org/xxx). The label “DOI:” is no longer necessary.
- URLs are embedded directly in the reference, without being preceded by “Retrieved from,” unless a retrieval date is needed.
- For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g. Kindle) is no longer included in the reference.
- Clear guidelines are provided for including contributors that are not an author or editor. For example, when citing a podcast episode, the host of the episode should be included; for a TV series episode, the writer and director of that episode are cited.
- Online source types such as podcast episodes, social media posts, and YouTube videos have specific citations. Also, the use of emojis and hashtags are now cited.
Inclusive and bias-free language
- Writing inclusively and without bias is the new standard, and APA’s new publication manual contains a separate chapter on this topic. The guidelines provided by APA help authors to reduce bias around topics such as gender, age, disability, racial and ethnic identity, and sexual orientation, as well as being sensitive to labels.
- The singular “they” or “their” is endorsed as a gender-neutral pronoun.
- Descriptive phrases such as “people living in poverty” are preferred over adjectives as nouns to label people (e.g., “the poor”).
- Instead of broad categories (e.g., over 65 years old), you should use exact age ranges (e.g., 65-75) that are more relevant and specific.
APA Paper format
- In the 7th edition, APA decided to provide different paper format guidelines for professional and student papers. For both types a sample paper is included.
- Increased flexibility regarding fonts: options include Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, Times New Roman 12, and Georgia 11.
- The running head on the title page no longer includes the words “Running head:”. It now contains only a page number and the (shortened) paper title.
- The running head is omitted in student papers (unless your instructor tells you otherwise).
- Heading levels 3-5 are updated to improve readability.
Mechanics of style
- In terms of style, not much has changed in the 7th edition. In addition to some updated and better explained guidelines, there are two notable changes:
- Use only one space after a period at the end of a sentence.
- Use double quotation marks to refer to linguistic examples (e.g. APA endorses the use of the singular pronoun “they”) instead of italics.
The Basic changes in APA 7th to remember:
- New guidance on research methods, ethical compliance and data sharing.
- The title page, running head and heading formats are changed, as well as font specifications for accessibility.
- Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) are updated.
- Inclusive and bias-free language is the new standard, and APA’s new publication manual contains a separate chapter on this topic.
- Changes to the mechanics of style, including the placement of periods, quotation marks, abbreviations, more flexibility for lettered, numbered and bulleted lists.
- More than 40 new samples of tables and figures are included.
- The accessible use of color in figures is discussed.
- There is more guidance on plagiarism, self-plagiarism, levels of citation and unethical writing practices.
- There are over 100 examples of APA style references, with detailed explanations.
- Chapter 11 presents expanded legal reference guidelines from The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
- Chapter 12 provides guidance on the publication process for new researchers and authors.
When will students need to use the 7th edition of APA? Spring of 2020 or thereafter
What if I already started a paper in 6th edition? Generally speaking, you should finish it with the same style. However, always ask your professor or publisher if you need to change.
