Integrated Reading and Writing

APA: General Formatting Rules

APA 7th Edition

These APA (7th ed.) guidelines explain how to format your paper, use capitalization correctly, and decide when to use italics or double quotation marks. Use each section as a quick checklist while you write.

Basic paper layout

Rules 2.19–2.22

How your paper should be set up on the page.

  • Type your paper and make all text double spaced, with 1" margins on every side.
  • Use the same font throughout the entire paper.
  • APA allows fonts such as 11-point Calibri (sans serif) or 12-point Times New Roman (serif).

Student title page format

Follow APA’s layout for student papers.

  • Use a student title page that includes the paper title, your name, course, instructor, and date.
  • For a step-by-step model, see APA's Student Title Page Guide .

Titles of works

Rules 6.16–6.17

How to capitalize titles in your paper and in the reference list.

  • Title case in the text: When a title appears in the body of your paper, capitalize the first word and all major words.
    Examples: The Wind in the Willows; Lord of the Rings; "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3"; "Dewey Defeats Truman".
  • Title case for periodicals: Always capitalize the first word and all major words in the names of newspapers, magazines, and journals.
    Examples: Psychology Today, The New York Times, Journal of the American Medical Association.
  • Sentence case in the reference list: In reference entries, capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or dash, and any proper nouns. Do not capitalize the remaining words in the title or subtitle.

Diseases, disorders, therapies, and theories

When to capitalize terms related to health and psychology.

  • In most cases, do not capitalize the names of diseases or disorders; therapies and treatments; or theories, concepts, hypotheses, principles, models, and statistical procedures.
  • Do capitalize personal names that appear in these terms, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
  • For more examples, review APA’s guidance on capitalization of diseases, disorders, and therapies on the APA Style website.

When to use italics

Rules 6.22–6.23

Which titles should appear in italics in APA style.

  • Italicize titles of books, films, ebooks, newspapers, magazines, journals, websites, technical reports, and works of art.
  • In-text example: In the book, Hope for the Heated Planet, the author states that…

Double quotation marks

Rule 6.7

Which titles go in quotation marks instead of italics.

  • Put titles in double quotation marks ("") for journal articles, book chapters, newspaper or magazine articles, blog posts, webpages, encyclopedia entries (including Wikipedia), dictionary entries, and songs.
  • In-text example: In the song, "Imagine," John Lennon asks the listener to…

Books & eBooks

Use these examples to format APA references for books and eBooks. Each numbered section expands to show the general format and sample citations.

Try this! APA’s Quick Reference Guide shows in detail how to cite a book.
Also see the APA Style Guide for additional Book/Ebook Reference examples.

Three common formats for APA book and eBook references are listed below, each inside an expandable section with examples.

  1. Book/eBook with Author

    FORMAT [Rule 10.2]

    Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of Publication). Title of work: Subtitle, if applicable (edition if applicable, Volume if applicable). Publisher. DOI for ebook*

    EXAMPLES

    Example 1

    Bocking, S. (2017). Ecologists and environmental politics: A history of contemporary ecology (2nd ed.). West Virginia University Press.

    Parenthetical: (Bocking, 2017)

    Example 2

    Zaretsky, N. (2018). Radiation nation: Three Mile Island and the political transformation of the 1970s. Columbia University Press.

    Parenthetical: (Zaretsky, 2018)
  2. Book/eBook with Editor, No Author

    FORMAT

    Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Ed.) (Year of Publication). Title of work: Subtitle, if applicable (edition if applicable, Volume if applicable). Publisher. DOI for ebook*

    EXAMPLE

    Example

    Fiese, B. H., Celano, M., Deater-Deckard, K, Jouriles, E. N., & Whisman, M. A. (Eds.). (2019). APA handbook of contemporary family psychology: Foundations, methods, and contemporary issues across the lifespan (Vol. 1). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000099

    Parenthetical: (Fiese et al., 2019)
  3. Book/eBook with Editor and Author

    FORMAT

    Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of Publication). Title of work: Subtitle, if applicable (edition if applicable, Volume if applicable). (First initial. Middle initial. Last name, Ed.). Publisher. DOI for ebook*

    EXAMPLE

    Example

    Carroll, M. P. (1996). Myth. In D. Levinson & M. Ember (Eds.), Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology (Vol. 3, pp. 827-831). Henry Holt and Company.

* The DOI is preferred over the URL for eBooks. However, eBooks in PC Library databases typically do not display a DOI. For eBooks from databases, do not include a database name. Instead, just omit the DOI. This rule is for books, book chapters, and journal articles.

Chapters / Entries in Books / Encyclopedias

Try this!  APA's Quick Reference Guide shows in detail how to cite a chapter in a book with an editor.
FORMAT [Rule 10.3]

Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter or entry. In First initial. Middle initial. Last name (Ed. or Eds.), Title of work: Subtitle, if applicable, with only its first letter capitalized (edition if applicable, Volume if applicable*, pp. number range). Publisher. DOI for ebook**

* Volumes are often numbered, but untitled, as in the last example below (Skinner, 2011). If, however, the Volume has a title, include both the Vol. # and its title in italics at the end of the title and subtitle of the book, as in the first example below (Cochran, 2019).
** The DOI is preferred over the URL for eBooks. However, eBooks in PC Library databases do not usually show a DOI. For eBooks from databases, do not include a database name. Instead, just omit the DOI. This rule is for books, book chapters, and journal articles.
EXAMPLES
1

Cochran Example

Cochran, K. A. (2019). Tragedy of the commons. In R. Renneboog (Ed.), Encyclopedia of environmental issues: Vol. 4. R to Z; Appendixes (3rd ed., pp. 1234-1235). Salem Press.

Parenthetical citation: (Cochran, 2019)

2

Foster & Johnson Example

Foster, S., & Johnson, R. L. (2006). Aloe vera. In Desk reference to nature's medicine (pp. 23-25). National Geographic Society.

Parenthetical citation: (Foster & Johnson, 2006)

3

Leerkes & Qu Example

Leerkes, E. M., & Qu, J. (2019). Families with infants and young children. In B. H. Fiese, M. Celano, K. Deater-Deckard, E. N. Jouriles, & M. A. Whisman (Eds.), APA handbook of contemporary family psychology: Foundations, methods, and contemporary issues across the lifespan (pp. 575–591). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000099-032

Parenthetical citation: (Leerkes & Qu, 2019)

4

Skinner Example

Skinner, P. (2011). Flower remedies. In L. J. Fundukian (Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of medicine (4th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1750-1753). Thompson Gale.

Parenthetical citation: (Skinner, 2011)

Articles (Including Library Databases)

Use these examples to format APA references for scholarly, magazine, and newspaper articles, including those found in library databases. Each numbered section expands to show the general format and sample citations.

Try this! A helpful resource for citing journal articles is APA’s Quick Reference Guide .

Three common formats for APA article references are listed below, each inside an expandable section using a split layout with the format on the left and examples on the right.

  1. Scholarly Article
    FORMAT [Rule 10.1]

    Author(s). (Date). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(issue), Page Numbers. DOI*

    EXAMPLES

    Example 1

    Anonymous. (2018). Iran disillusioned. Survival, 60(2), 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2018.1448598

    Parenthetical: (Anonymous, 2018)

    Example 2

    De Jong, M. G. G., Seijmonsbergens, A. C., & De Graaff, L. W. S. (2019). In search of stratigraphic subdivision of the period 8–0 ka in Greenland ice cores. Polish Polar Research, 40(2), 55–77. https://doi.org/10.24425/ppr.2019.128367

    Parenthetical: (De Jong et al., 2019)

    Example 3

    Schindler, M., Engel, S., & Rupprecht, R. (2012). The impact of perceived knowledge of dementia on caregiver burden. Geropsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(3), 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000062

    Parenthetical: (Schindler & Rupprecht, 2012)

    * The examples above are for scholarly journal articles with DOIs. Not all articles have a DOI assigned to them.
  2. Magazine Article
    FORMAT

    Author(s). (Date). Article title. Magazine Title, Volume(issue), Page Numbers. DOI or URL*

    EXAMPLES

    Example 1

    Drew, L. (2014, January 11). Down with dementia. New Scientist, 221(2951), 32–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0262-4079(14)60088-9

    Parenthetical: (Drew, 2014)

    Example 2

    Parker, L., Daly, N., & Royte, E. (2018, June). Plastic. National Geographic, 233(6), 40.

    Parenthetical: (Parker et al., 2018)

    * The first example above (Drew, 2014) is for a magazine article that had a volume and issue assigned. Not all magazine articles have a volume and issue.
  3. Newspaper Article
    FORMAT

    Author(s). (Date). Article title. Newspaper Title. URL*

    EXAMPLES

    Example 1

    Maidenberg, M., & Ziobro, P. (2019, Nov 27). UPS workers arrested in drug shipping bust; police say Tucson, Ariz., ring moved bulk amounts of drugs through shipping giant; 50,000 THC vape pens seized. Wall Street Journal (Online). https://www.wsj.com/articles/ups-workers-arrested-in-drug-shipping-bust-11574896107

    Parenthetical: (Maidenberg & Ziobro, 2019)

    Example 2

    Wasted lessons from Afghanistan [Editorial]. (2019, Dec 11). New York Times.

    Parenthetical: ("Wasted lessons from Afghanistan," 2019)

    * If the newspaper article is from a PC Library database, omit the URL. For newspapers from websites, such as the first example above, include the URL.

Webpages

Try this! See APA’s official webpage examples: APA webpage examples.
FORMAT [Rule 10.16]

Author, Institution, or Organization Responsible for the Website (if available). (Year, Month Day website was last updated). Title or description of page. Title of website [if different from page title]. URL
 

Retrieval date: Use only for webpages likely to change over time. See the NCCAM example below for how to format it.
EXAMPLES
1

Webpage

Amaranth Farm. (2019, September 26). Notes on holistic orcharding. Amaranth Farm. https://amaranthfarmnh.blogspot.com/2019/09/holistic-orcaharding-was-not.html

Parenthetical: (Amaranth Farm, 2019)

2

Aloe vera

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (2016, November 29). Aloe vera. Health Information. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/aloevera

Parenthetical:  (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine [NCCAM], 2006)

Thereafter, abbreviate to: (NCCAM, 2006).

Motion Pictures & Videos

FORMAT [Rule 10.14]

Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [description such as Film, Video, TV series, Webinar]. Studio or distributor.

If the director is not identified, use instead Producer, Host, Artist, or Uploader in that role.
EXAMPLES
1

Feature Film

Parenthetical: (Chazelle, 2019)

Chazelle, D. (Director). (2019). First man [Film]. Universal Pictures.

2

Documentary Film

Parenthetical: (Galan, 2007)

Galan, H. (Producer). (2007). Chicano!: The history of the Mexican American civil rights [Film]. National Latino Communications Center.

3

YouTube Video

Parenthetical: (McCune, 2009)

McCune, B. (Uploader). (2009, November 8). A history of Phoenix College [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeZ-gP4Xpd0

Images

FORMAT [Rule 10.14]

Artist, A. A. (Year or years image was created). Title of work [Type of work]. URL

EXAMPLES
1

Photograph

Parenthetical: (Hemming, 1940)

Hemming, R. (1940). Group of children sitting on wooden bench [Photograph]. http://memory.loc.gov

2

Painting

Parenthetical: (“Japanese geisha with umbrella,” 1925)

Japanese geisha with umbrella [Painting]. (1925). http://fineartamerica.com/art/paintings/japanese

3

Sculpture

Parenthetical: (Scholder, 1994)

Scholder, F. (1994). Another martyr No. 4 [Sculpture].

Drug Database

FORMAT [APA Blog: “Clinical Practice References”]

Company name. (Year, Month Day last updated). Title of section. In Name of database. URL (website address)

EXAMPLE

Diazepam monograph

Lexicomp. (2022, Jan 6). Diazepam. In Lexicomp for Dentistry. https://online.lexi.com

Parenthetical: (Lexicomp, 2022)

Generative AI

FORMAT

Author/Company. (Year). Title of model or page (version) [Model type]. URL

EXAMPLE

Example from APA blog post, “How to cite ChatGPT”