APA 7 Citation Generator

APA 7th edition is the referencing style used across psychology, nursing, business and education. This citation generator produces a formatted reference list entry and the matching in-text citation from the details you enter — no guessing about italics or punctuation.

It formats websites, books, journal articles, newspaper articles, reports, theses and book chapters. Nothing is uploaded; the formatting happens in your browser.

How to use it

  1. Choose the source type from the dropdown.
  2. Fill in the details you have — author, year, title, publisher or DOI.
  3. Click generate and copy either the full reference or the in-text citation.
  4. If you are missing a field, the generator tells you exactly what to add.

What is APA 7th edition?

APA 7 (the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) is the current APA style. It uses author–date in-text citations — (Smith, 2021) — and a reference list at the end of the paper.

Key APA 7 changes from APA 6 include: one space after sentences, the city of publication is no longer needed for books, and up to 20 authors are listed in a reference. A DOI is formatted as a clickable link.

APA website citation example

Web page with a known author: Smith, J. (2021, March 4). Title of the page. Site Name. https://www.example.com

Web page with an organisation as author: World Health Organization. (2023). Title of the page. https://www.who.int/...

If no date is available, use (n.d.). If no author, move the title to the author position.

APA book citation example

Book with one author: Smith, J. (2021). Title of the book (2nd ed.). Publisher.

Book with an editor and a chapter: use the chapter title, the editors, and the page range, e.g. Smith, J. (2021). Chapter title. In A. Brown (Ed.), Book title (pp. 45–67). Publisher.

APA journal article citation example

Smith, J., & Jones, A. (2021). Title of the article. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

Journal articles are referenced with the volume in italics and, if present, the issue number in parentheses. If the article has a DOI, include it as a link; if not, include the journal's homepage URL where permitted.

APA in-text citations

APA uses author–date in-text citations. A direct quote needs a page number: (Smith, 2021, p. 45). Paraphrasing needs author and year only: (Smith, 2021).

Two authors are always cited as (Smith & Jones, 2021). Three or more authors are shortened to the first author and "et al.": (Smith et al., 2021).

Common APA mistakes to avoid

The most common APA errors are: missing DOIs, forgetting italics on book and journal titles, inconsistent in-text formats, and reference list entries not sorted alphabetically. This generator handles the punctuation and formatting for you; just remember to sort your reference list A–Z and keep the style consistent across the whole paper.

Frequently asked questions

What is APA 7th edition?

It is the current edition of APA referencing style, used in psychology, nursing, business and education. It uses author–date in-text citations and a reference list of full entries.

How do I cite a website in APA 7?

Use the format: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL. If no author, move the title to the front; if no date, use (n.d.).

How do I cite a book in APA 7?

Use: Author. (Year). Title of the book (edition if any). Publisher. The city is no longer required in APA 7.

How do I cite a journal article in APA 7?

Use: Author. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxx. The journal name and volume are italicised.

How do I format an in-text citation in APA?

For paraphrasing: (Author, Year). For a direct quote add a page: (Author, Year, p. X). Use "et al." for three or more authors.

Is this APA generator free and accurate?

Yes — it follows APA 7 rules and runs entirely in your browser. It will never fabricate information; if you are missing a field it tells you what to provide.

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