Free APA Citation Generator

APA 7th edition is the latest version of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, published in October 2019. It includes significant updates from the 6th edition, including new guidelines for inclusive language, updated reference formatting, simplified in-text citations for works with 3+ authors (using 'et al.' from the first citation), and expanded guidance for citing online sources.

APA uses an author-date system. For one author: (Smith, 2024). For two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2024). For three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2024). Include a page number for direct quotes: (Smith, 2024, p. 15). For no author, use the first few words of the title in place of the author name.

Key changes include: (1) No more 'Retrieved from' before URLs unless the content may change over time; (2) DOIs formatted as URLs (https://doi.org/...); (3) 'et al.' used from the first citation for 3+ authors (previously required listing all authors up to 5 the first time); (4) No location required for publishers; (5) Up to 20 authors listed in references (previously capped at 7); (6) Specific format for annotated bibliographies.

When there is no individual author, use the organization name as the author. If the organization name is the same as the website name, omit the website name from the reference to avoid repetition. If there is no organization either, start the reference with the title of the page. Example: Title of page. (Year, Month Day). Website Name. URL

In most cases, no. APA 7th edition only requires a retrieval date when the content is likely to change over time and there is no archived version. This applies to sources like social media profiles, wikis, or unarchived web pages without a publication date. For journal articles, books, and most web pages with a publication date, no access date is needed.

DOIs should be formatted as URLs: https://doi.org/xxxxx. Do not put a period after the DOI at the end of a reference. Both the old format (doi:10.1234/xxxxx) and new URL format are acceptable, but APA recommends the URL format for the 7th edition. If a DOI is available, always include it.