What is APA Style?

APA Style is a standardized format for writing that has been established by the American Psychological Association. APA Style consists of rules or guidelines that a publisher observes to ensure clear and consistent presentation of written material. It concerns uniform use of such elements as

• selection of headings, tone, and length
• punctuation and abbreviations
• presentation of numbers and statistics
• construction of tables and figures
• citation of references
• many other elements that are a part of a manuscript.

Recommended Resources

APA Style Blog 

The APA Style Blog is the official companion to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition. It's run by a group of experts who work with APA Style every day.

APA Student Title Page Guide

Student guide for title pages published by the American Psychological Association

APA Student Paper Headings Guide

Example of correct use of heading levels for student papers published by the American Psychological Association

APA Quick Citation Guide for Journal Article, Book, Chapter in an Edited Book

Quick visual how-to on citing journals, books, and book chapters from the American Psychological Association

APA Sample Student Paper

Excerpt from Chapter 2 of the APA Manual, a full example paper formatted for 7th Edition APA style

Purdue OWL APA Guide (6th Edition)

From the Online Writing Lab at Purdue with many examples of creating in-text citations, footnotes, and works cited entries

7th Edition Changes Effective Spring 2020

Beginning Spring 2020, students will be expected to use the new 7th Edition of APA Style. Changes to citations, preferred fonts, headings, format, and use of pronouns are among the many changes that will take effect. This list is only a highlight and not an exhaustive list. Please see our resources section for a more detailed explanation of changes as well as the publication manual, available in the library for checkout.

• References and Citations
  • Publisher location is no longer included.
  • DOI is now formatted as a URL and does not need to be preceded by "DOI:"
  • Website URLs no longer need "Retrieved from" unless including a retrieval date.
  • In-text citations with three or more authors uses "et al." from the first citation.
  • Surnames and initials for up to 20 authors are to be included in the reference list before an ellipses (...)
• Language
  • The singular "they" or "their" is endorsed as the preferred gender neutral pronoun, rather than "he or she."
  • Descriptive phrases should be used to reference groups of people, rather than a noun.
• Format
  • Font options now include Arial 11, Calibri 11, Georgia 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, and Times New Roman 12
  • Student papers do not need a running head (unless told otherwise by your instructor.)
  • Heading levels 3-5 have changed format. (See resource list for explanation and example.)
  • Use only one space after a period at the end of a sentence.

Helpful Transition Resources with Examples 

APA Manual 7th Edition: The Most Notable Changes (Scribbr)

APA Style 7th Edition: The Changes You Need to Know (MyBib)