APA Style

APA style uses title case capitalization for titles of any titles of source works such as articles, essays, journals, books, webpages, and websites used in-text as well as subject headings. The title of the student essay is also capitalized.

Title case capitalizes the first word of a title, the first word of a subtitle (often after a colon), major words in a hyphenated word (“Post-Modern, not Post-modern”), and all major words. Unless they fall under one of the rules above, minor words like short conjunctions, articles, and prepositions are not capitalized.

In addition, proper nouns (specific names of people, places, and things) are also capitalized.

Titles of short works like articles and essays, as well as titles of books are in sentence case when used in the references page in APA style. Only the first word and a word after a colon are capitalized.

Generally, author names use first and middle initials and last name. If there may be confusion due to similar names, use full names. Also use a full name for historical figures or for emphasis. Never refer to an author by their first name only unless they have clearly chosen to do so.

APA style usually does not include professional titles, unless used for clarity or emphasis. In addition, post-nominal titles (abbreviated titles after one’s name for degrees or other recognitions) are not used.

• Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
• Doctor King gave the speech as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
• Beyoncé was already a famous musician with her group Destiny’s Child but became a super star when she went solo in 2003.

For more information on author names, see the guidelines for in-text citation and references.

Be careful not to overuse certain types of punctuation, like dashes.

Only use one space after end punctuation like a period.

Italics should be used as necessary to set off important information. For example, the first usage of a key term, usually followed by its definition.

Italics should also be used for titles of complete works such as books, journals, and websites.

Quotation marks should be used around titles of articles when used in-text. However, they are not used on the references page.

Short word-for-word source material should have quotation marks, but quotations that are longer than 40 words should use a block quote, in which the entire quotation is set off by a half-inch indent. When using a block quote, do not use quotation marks.

The Oxford comma

APA style uses an Oxford comma for items in a list.

The Oxford comma is often used as a matter of style.

“I had to get tea, milk, and bread.”

Often, though, it prevents confusion.

“My heroes are my parents, my high school math teacher, and Taylor Swift.”

Without the Oxford comma, one may misread this as everything after “parents” being an appositive which clarifies that this writer’s parents are their high school math teacher and Taylor Swift.

If the usage of an Oxford comma creates confusion, it can be omitted, or the sentence should be rewritten.

The guest list was quite unique, including the ambassador of Sweden, a seven-foot-tall drag queen, and a famous designer.

In this case, “a seven-foot-tall drag queen” reads like an appositive describing the “ambassador of Sweden.” No number of commas would make this statement any less confusing.

The guest list was quite unique, including the ambassador of Sweden as well as a seven-foot-tall drag queen and a famous designer.

In APA style, words are usually used to express numbers one through nine. Numerals are used for numbers 10 or greater.

This rule also applies to ordinal numbers (first, ninth, 10th, 21st).

Always use words for a number at the beginning of a sentence. Also use words for common fractions (“one-third”). Use numerals for other fractions (9/32) as well as decimals. Also use numerals for percentages (7%), ratios (3:1), times (6:35), ages (4 years old), and sums of money ($8).

Use abbreviations for commonly known abbreviated titles (APA, FBI, PhD). Do not put periods in abbreviations. For long titles, terms that are not commonly abbreviated, or that the abbreviation may not be commonly known, give the full name and then the abbreviation the first time used. Use just the abbreviation after that.

Generally, past tense is used in APA style. This is just as true for historical events (“Gertrude Stein hosted a salon that became a major avenue for expatriate artists and writers to make connections in Paris”) as well as the content of current publications (“The researchers argued that. . .”).

When referencing your own work or experience, use first person point of view (“I found that. . .”). Do not use third person point of view when referencing yourself (“The researcher interviewed. . .”).

One must be careful with the usage of first person point of view. In some situations, the author’s experience is key. Some coursework may ask you to reflect on your experience. In other cases, one should not insert themselves into the work and only use first person point of view to describe the process. If you are in doubt about this, talk to your instructor.

Most undergraduate student work in APA style is limited to a literature review, sometimes called a report or research paper. The organization will often include:

• An introduction to the topic with a description of the topic
• The body which is an overview of the current literature. This should be organized thematically and use subject headings
• A conclusion, including a thesis argument based on a summary of what was found in the research and suggestions for further research and/or policy changes.

Instructors may have other guidelines in addition to these suggestions, so be sure that you understand the parameters of the assigned work.

APA has different guidelines for professional and student formatting. Students should use the student guidelines.

Pages should have one-inch margins, all around.

Lines should be double spaced with no extra line space after paragraphs (except on the title page). Paragraphs should be left justified. The first line of paragraphs should have a .5-inch indent.

The font should be a standard font and size, preferably Calibri 11 point, Arial 10 point, or Times New Roman 12 point.

Pages should be numbered with a numeral inserted in the header. The page number should be aligned right. Do not type the number, or every page will be number one. You must insert the page number. Do not put any other information with the page number in student documents (this is a departure from earlier versions of APA style).

Title page

The title page should include some specific information about the student and the project including the title, student’s name, college name, course name and number, instructor’s name, and due date. All of this information should be centered on the title page.

The title of the document should be four lines down from the top of the page. The title should be bold and capitalized. Capitalize initial letters of all words except small conjunctions and prepositions in the middle of a title.

There should be an extra line between the title and the rest of the information on the title page. The date should be formatted as Month, day, year, with the month spelled out. For example, September 22, 2025.

First page of paper

The student version of APA format does not require an abstract.

The title should be given again as the first line of the paper on the second page. It should be capitalized and in bold.

You may use subject headings to separate the sections within the paper. Generally, subject headings should be bold and capitalized like the title but left justified. There are further guidelines for headings in APA style, but most undergraduate student work is not complex enough to worry about these. See the Publication Manual 7th ed. or the APA website for further guidelines.

Sample APA style document

Often, in-text citation in APA style consists of a signal phrase including the author’s name and a parenthetical citation with the year the work was published.

Nemeroff (2025) argued that even when we know that AI created content is not real and being used for persuasive purposes, it still affects how we think about the world.

If a signal phrase is not used, the parenthetical citation should appear after the cited information. A comma separates the name and year.

Even when we know that AI created content is not real and being used for persuasive purposes, it still affects how we think about the world (Nemeroff, 2025).

If you cite the same work multiple times in the same paragraph, you can omit the year in subsequent citations. However, later citations in other paragraphs will need the full in-text citation.

1. Quotation

When the cited information is a quotation, give the page number for the cited material in the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p” for page. If the quotation is for multiple pages, use the abbreviation “pp” and a dash between the starting and ending numbers.

Johnson King (2025) defines slow clap as behaviors that are “blameworthy when omitted, but cannot be praised when performed” (p. 427).

“With the academy serving as a backdrop, the concept of the StrongBlackWoman places Black women faculty and staff in heightened states of emotional danger and fatigue” (Thompson, 2025, p. 135).

If you are quoting a work that does not have page numbers, such as a webpage, use the appropriate heading or section name. If the source also does not have a section name, use paragraph number. Manually count the paragraphs if they are not numbered in the document.

“Cervantes was a novelist—the first great one—and great novelists don’t deal in allegory so much as they do in the messy particularities of life as strung between fantasy and reality” (Simon, 2025, para. 1).

2. Source with no date

Rarely, a source may not have a date, or a date may be difficult to determine. If this is the case, use “n.d.” for “no date.” Note that there are periods after the “n” and the “d” and no spaces.

Factors such as different sources by authors with similar names, or the number of authors that a source has may influence how the source is cited in-text.

If different authors with the same last name are cited in a text, one should use their initials or even their full names if the initials are the same. Be clear with authors with similar names even if sources have different publication dates.

“With the academy serving as a backdrop, the concept of the StrongBlackWoman places Black women faculty and staff in heightened states of emotional danger and fatigue” (V. Thompson, 2025, p. 135).

Researchers used to be sure that water first came to earth on comets, but increasing research is pointing at meteorites as one of the primary sources (J. Thompson, 2023).

2. More than one work by the same author

If you are using more than one work by the same author, there is little issue if the publication years are different. However, if they are from the same year, then you must add a lower-case letter to the year of each source in both the in-text citation and references entry.

Simon (2025a) claimed in his examination of the impact that the bombing of Hiroshima had on literature that at the moment of the nuclear bomb’s explosion, humans had claimed a power that had previously only been proscribed to deities.

“Cervantes was a novelist—the first great one—and great novelists don’t deal in allegory so much as they do in the messy particularities of life as strung between fantasy and reality” (Simon, 2025b, para. 1).

3. Multiple authors

The rules for citing multiple authors in APA style depend upon the number of authors. In-text citations and references entries also have different rules.

For two authors, join the authors’ names using an ampersand in parenthetical citation or the word “and” in-text.

SNAP rules may force some students to work more and enroll in less credit hours, which have a negative impact on degree attainment (Voorhees & Ortagus, 2025).

Voorhees and Ortagus (2025) found that SNAP benefits have a negative impact on student success, likely due to work requirements.

If a source has three or more authors, list the lead author and use the Latin abbreviation “et al.” to designate that there are more.

“Holding specialized training courses focused on professional ethics and increasing awareness in this field are essential strategies for improving adherence to professional ethical codes and fostering a culture of ethical excellence in nursing care” (Bordbar et al., 2025).

4. Group or organization as author

If there is no person given as an author, but the publication is authored by a group or organization, use the name of the group or organization as the author. You may abbreviate common longer organization names after the first mention but do not abbreviate organization names in the references entry.

Many of the fastest declining jobs in the next ten years include specialist manufacturing jobs (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).

In reference list entries, all authors are listed with their last name first. Usually, authors’ first and middle names are initialed. In this example, the author has two last names, which is increasingly common.

1. One author

Johnson King, Z. (2025). The slow clap phenomenon. Nous. 59(2), 425–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12513

2. Two authors

For two authors, use an ampersand between the two authors’ names.

Hansen, T. M. & Hasselstrom, L. M. (2011). Dirt songs: A plains duet. Backwaters Press.

3. Three or more authors

For any number of authors less than 21, list every single author with commas between them and an ampersand before the last one. Note that this is different than how the authors are cited in-text.

Johnson, S. D., Eichhoff, A., & Midgley, J. J. (2025). Antbears and underground melons: A highly specialized seed dispersal mutualism mediated by scent. Plants, People, Planet, 7(5), 1225–1234. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10638

For 21 or more authors, give the first 19 authors, then an ellipsis followed by the last author. Note that this is different than how the authors are cited in-text.

4. Two or more works by the same author

When citing two or more works by the same author, list them in chronological order. If an author has two or more works from the same year, then denote the different works with a lower-case letter. These letters should correspond with the order the sources are used in-text (first a, second b, etc.) The in-text citation should include the same letters.

Simon, E. (2025a). Hiroshima at eighty: Contemporary literature as a product of the post-nuclear world. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/hiroshima-at-eighty-contemporary-literature-as- a-product-of-the-post-nuclear-world/

Simon, E. (2025b). The tragedy and comedy of Don Quixote. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/the-tragedy-and-comedy-of-don- quixote/

5. Author and an editor or translator

For a book with an author and an editor or translator, give the editor’s name or translator’s name after the book title in parenthesis with the abbreviation “Ed.” for editor or “Trans.” for translator. The editor’s name should be listed first initial first.

Poitevin, Pedro. (26 June 2025). Self-portrait as a dog. (P. Nikolayev Trans.), The Common. https://www.thecommononline.org/june-2025-poetry-
feature-new-poems-from-pedro-poitevin-aiden-heung-and- ellie-black/

6. Editor as the author and collected works with an editor

When citing a book that has an editor but no known or identified author, or if citing a collected work like an anthology that has an editor, list the editor as the author with the abbreviation “(Ed.)” after their name. Note that this editor also has “Jr.” in their name.

Chickering, H. D. Jr. Ed. (2006). Beowulf: A dual-language edition. Vintage.

7. No author

If no author is available for a source and it does not have an editor, then move the title to the author position, followed by a period, and then the date.

8. Organization or group as author

If a group or organization is the author, including government agencies, give the full name of the group as the author.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2009). NOAA knows lightning. National Weather Service. https://www. weather.gov/media/owlie/lightning3050714.pdf

Different types of publications require different approaches in resources page entries. Note that also the rules for titles in APA style often vary between in-text citation and resources entries.

9. Book

Generally, books follow the same basic format of author, date, title, publisher, and copyright year. Title of books are capitalized in sentence case: Only the first word and a word after a colon or other end punctuation is capitalized. The title of the book is also italicized.

Tagore, R. (1916). Stray birds. Macmillan.

10. Book with edition or volume number

If a book has an edition number or volume number, include these with the title, in parenthesis. Give all information available. The order in the parenthesis is edition, volume, page numbers).

Richter, D. H. (2016). The critical tradition: Classic texts and contemporary trends (Shorter 3rd ed.). Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Cain, W. E., McDermott, A., Newman, L., & Wyss, H. E. (2014). American literature (2nd ed. Vol. 2). Penguin.

11. Work in an edited collection or anthology

When citing a shorter work that has been located in an edited book, like an anthology, cite the author of the shorter work, along with the year and title of the work. Then, give the word “In” and the rest of the information for the book. See “Editor as the author and collected works with an editor.” The page numbers for the shorter work are included in parenthesis after the book title. Note that in this example, Emma is the title of a novel, so it is italicized in order to set it off from the rest of the article title.

Booth, W. C. (2016). Control of distance in Jane Austen’s Emma. In D. H. Richter (Ed.). The critical tradition: Classic texts and contemporary trends (Shorter 3rd ed. pp. 570-82). Bedford.

Some anthologies include the DOI for an article. If so, give it at the end of the citation.

Loovers, J. P. L. ( 2026). Living theory: Anthropology, education, and manifold relations. In C. Gatt, and J. P. L. Loovers (Eds.). Beyond perception : Correspondences with Tim Ingold’s work. (pp. 149-164). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003343134- 11.

If the anthology gives the original publication information for an article from a journal, you must supply both. In parenthesis after the citation for the work in the anthology, start with “Reprinted from” and give the citation for the journal article. Quote the title of the article in the reprinted information. Also put the issue number in square brackets to avoid double parenthesis. See “Article from a journal” below, for more information.

Foucault, M. (2012). The subject and power. In C. G. Briankle and G. C. Butchart (Eds.). Philosophy of communication. (pp. 285- 301). MIT Press. (Reprinted from “The subject and power” 1982, Critical inquiry, 8[4], 777– 795).

12. Article from a journal

When citing an article from a journal, you must include the author, date, title of the article, title of the journal, the volume and issue numbers, and page numbers.

The article title should be in sentence case and not italicized. The title of a journal should have title case, which capitalizes the first letter of all words except small conjunctions and pronouns. The journal title should also be italicized. The volume number should be just the numeral followed by the issue number in parenthesis. For periodicals, do not use an abbreviation for page numbers, just give the page range.

Also, often journals will include the DOI (digital object identifier) for the source. If this is the case, then include it at the end of the citation. If a journal is found online and the article does not have a DOI given, then include the URL from the address bar when viewing the article. If you end the citation with a link like a URL, do not put a period at the end as it may break the link.

Johnson, S. D., Eichhoff, A., & Midgley, J. J. (2025). Antbears and underground melons: A highly specialized seed dispersal mutualism mediated by scent. Plants, People, Planet, 7(5), 1225–1234. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10638

13. Article in a magazine

For an article from a magazine, provide the author of the article, the full date of publication, title of the article, title of the publication, volume and issue numbers, and page numbers. If the article was located on the publication’s website, include the address at the end.

Fleur Afshar, M. (2025, September 19). Chat like a bot. Newsweek (global ed). 185(7), 44-46.

14. Article in a newspaper

Unlike magazines, newspapers don’t usually have volume and edition numbers. Often, they also have section numbers instead of page numbers. Newspaper articles without a listed author have become rare, but if this is the case, move the title of article to the author position. The title would then also need to be used for in-text citation.

Huang, R. & Jin, B. (2025, October 6). Altman goes on world tour for funds. The Wall Street Journal. B1.

15. Journal article from a database

To cite an article from a research database, it is not necessary to include the title of the database. You should, however, add the DOI number or the URL for the file in the database. If you include a link at the end of a citation, do not include a period at the end, or the link may break.

Thompson, V. J. (2025). The toxicity of the StrongBlackWoman narrative within student affairs. Journal of Education Human Resources, 43(1), 134–163. https://doi.org/10.3138/07Thompson4

16. Editorial

Often the editorial board or an editor of a publication may include an editorial which takes a stance on some matter. These are usually clearly labeled with something like “editorial” or “from the editor.” Be sure to note that it is editorial content in square brackets after the title of the article.

Friar, K. K. (2025). A review of reviewers: Crafting a professional record [editorial]. Journal of general music education. 39(1), 3. DOI 10.1177/27527646251370479.

17. Webpage

When citing a specific page on a website, be that an article or some other content, give the author, date, (use full date if possible), title of the page or content, the title of the website or publication, and the DOI or URL address. If the last item is a link, don’t include a period at the end, as it will break the link.

Nemeroff, A. (2025, September 2). What is AI slop? A technologist explains this new and largely unwelcome form of online content. The conversation. doi.org/10.64628.

18. Blog post

Increasingly, the type of information that has been located in blogs has been moved to social media platforms like Reddit or vlogs (video logs) on platforms like YouTube, however, there are still plenty of people who post longer-form text on platforms like personal websites or blogs related to larger publications.

Note that in this example, the last part of the title of the blog post is the title of a book, hence it is italicized.

King-Clements, E. (2022, October 12). Cover reveal: Check out Jai Chakrabarti’s A small sacrifice for an enormous happiness. The hub. https://lithub.com/cover-reveal-see-the-cover-for- jai-chakrabartis-a-small-sacrifice-for-an-enormous-
happiness/ 

19. Social media post

If you are citing original content on social media, give the title of the social media app as the source. If the content is a link or contains a link to the original source, then cite that original source, not the social media post.

List the author as used in the social media platform, either their real name or username. Include the exact date in the citation. If you access the social media platform from a browser, instead of from an app, include the URL at the end.

Visiting Writer’s Series. (2025, September 12). Visiting writers series presents: Northeast Community College showcase!” Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/necc.series/

20. Comment on an online periodical article or blog post

Use the username or real name in the format used by the source. Give either the title of the comment, or if there is no title, the first 20 words of the comment. After, designate that it is a comment and give the original article title all in square brackets. Then give the title of the publication and address.

Kawade, R. (2025). I think that mentorship and hope would be the best tools for poor and deprived teenagers specially for providing then [Comment on the article “Society needs hope”]. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/mentorship-and-hope- can-solve-the-youth-mental-health-crisis

Because so much of the media we consume today is accessed online or in apps, in APA style most audio and video sources are largely cited like other online media. Often, they must include a description of the media in square brackets after the title. If the URL of the media is unknown, for example, if it is from an app, then just don’t include a URL at the end.

Don’t forget that if your resources entry ends in a link, don’t include a period at the end.

21. Online streaming video

For videos from apps or services like YouTube or Vimeo, if the actual name of the creator of the video is available, then use it. If the author often goes by a username, then give this in square brackets after their real name. If the video creator does not use their real name online, use their username as the author’s name. After the title of the video, designate that it is a video in square brackets, so the citation is not confused with other electronic media.

Edinger, E. (2025, June 8). I can spot AI writing instantly—here’s how you can too [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=9Ch4a6ffPZY

22. Podcast

If you must cite the entire podcast, not a single episode, give the date as a range. After the title, note if it is an audio podcast or a video podcast. Generally, titles of series are italicized, but titles of episodes are not.

Baldwin, C., Fink, J., & Cranor, J. (Hosts). (2012-present). Welcome to Night Vale [audio podcast].

23. Podcast episode

If a podcast episode has a number, give this after the title in parentheses, but before the square brackets for the description. In the square brackets, note that it is an episode.

Thompson, B. & Howe, N. P. (Hosts). (2025, September 24). How a dangerous tick-borne virus sneaks into the brain [video podcast episode]. Nature podcast. https://www.nature.com/ articles/d41586-025-03124-2

Mahnke, A. (Host). (2025, September 30). The heist (No. 759) [Audio podcast episode}. Cabinet of curiosities.

24. Film (movie)

The film’s director should be in the author’s position with a note of such in parenthesis. Usually, it is not necessary to state the medium for the film (movie theater, DVD, streaming). If it is necessary because of format or editing differences, then note these in square brackets after the title of the film.

Hitchcock, A. (Director). (1960). Psycho. Paramount.

25. PowerPoint or other slide deck presentation

When citing a slide presentation, such as Power Point, give the creator of the slides as the author. If the slides are in a presentation app online, like Canva and are publicly available then give the title of the hosting site and the URL. If the slides are presented in a course website that the audience likely has access to, then provide the name of the site and the URL. If the slides are not publicly available, then only provide the author, date, and title with description.

Elznic, J. A. (2025). Fallacies [Power Point slides].

Wasim, A. (2025). Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology [Power Point slides}. Slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/introduction-to-anatomy-physiology- 258378531/258378531

26. Recording of a speech or webinar

For a recording of a speech or webinar, note what type of presentation the event was in square brackets. If a recording of the presentation is not publicly available, then do not cite the information on the references page. Only cite it in-text.

Luquet, C. & Chandler, H. (2025) Stats and sunshine: Bright ideas in data [Webinar]. Learning and growing: A Hawkes learning webinar series. https://www.webinars.hawkeslearning.com/ recordings/

27. Data set or table

Under certain circumstances, researchers may publish data from a study or experiment, or the data may be unpublished, but has been made available. For example, if one has completed a study in the past, but did not publish the data, but now wishes to use it as support in current research. Also, some research organizations may complete research and provide data, but do not complete analysis of that data.

If the data has been published, then the publication date is used. If the data has not been published, then the date the data was collected is used in place of the publication date. Place a description of what type of information is included (data set, table, data set and code book) in square brackets. If the data is published online, give the address at the end.

Office of planning, evaluation, and policy development. (2020). Comparability of state and local expenditures among schools within districts: A report from the study of school-level expenditures [Data Set]. https://data.ed.gov/dataset/comparability-of-state-and-local-expenditures-among-schools-within-districts-2011