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APA 7th Style Guide: About APA

The New APA: APA 7th Edition

Good news, APA was updated in 2019. All classes using APA Style should now be using the 7th Edition. 

Some of the big changes from the last version of APA Style include punctuation, pronoun usage, inclusive language, and author citations. As always, the writing tutors can assist with citation styles. The schedule and contact information for writing tutors can be found on the page for Tutoring.

 

About this Guide ...

Always refer to the APA Manual for authorized examples of citations.

Some of the citations in this guide are taken from the APA Manual; others are recommendations from librarians.

APA Manual

A copy of this manual is available on reserve in the Dora Badollet Library. The writing tutors in the Learning Commons also have a copy for reference.

APA 7th and 6th: What Has Changed?

What changed in 2019 with the new APA 7th from the previous version? Quite a lot, actually. This page explains it all: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/whats-new-7e-guide.pdf

 

APA References

The standard citation style guide for the fields of business, education, health science, public service, and social science is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, 2020. The American Psychological Association (APA) publishes the manual, commonly referred to as "the APA Manual."

Two types of citations are included in most research papers: citations within the text of the document and a list of reference citations at the end of the paper.

In-Text Citations:

The APA Manual uses the author-date citation system for in-text citations. 

Reference Citations:

The sources you use in your work are included as a separate list at the end of the paper.  The APA Manual suggests using the title References for the list.

Publications

Publications take on many forms, but the basic components of an original research article include

  • Title and title page
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Method
  • Results
  • Discussion

APA guidelines do not require headings for most sections. This guide is provided by the Library & Learning Commons. Your instructor may have specific directions pertaining to your assignment.

Clatsop Community College and Recommended APA Resources

American Psychological Association 
Purdue Online Writing Lab APA Guide 
 

Licensing

 

Creative Commons License
APA Style Guide adapted from an Indian River State College guide by Alexis Carlson. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Based on a work at http://www.apastyle.org.

Changes from APA 6th Edition to APA 7th Edition

Old Way (APA 6th Edition)

New Way (APA 7th Edition)

 

The running head for the title page is different than the running head for subsequent pages.

The running head rules are “simplified,” and running heads are not required for student papers

The title page has only three elements. The title page has expanded to include the professor's name, the course number, course name, department, and date

A pronoun should reflect the same number as the noun it replaces.

The use of the singular “they” is endorsed.

Type "Retrieved from" before copying and pasting a URL in your end references. The use of "Retrieved from" before a URL is no longer needed.

The first in-text citation mentions up to five authors.

 

The first in-text citation of a work by more than two authors may list only the first author, followed by “et al.”

The reference section lists seven authors of a single work.

The reference section lists up to 20 authors for a single work.

Book references disclosed publisher location.

Book references omit publisher location.

Two spaces after a period to end a sentence is acceptable.

Use one space after a period, unless otherwise directed.

 

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