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APA 7th Ed. Help: Home

Library guide to support APA 7th edition.

About APA 7th Ed.

In October of 2019, the American Psychological Association (APA) released the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Beginning in the Summer term 2020, all Gateway classes that use APA formatting will be expected to move to the new edition. This style is also referred to as APA, APA Style, or APA Writing Style and is most often used by students in nursing, physical therapy assistant, dental assistant, psychology, sociology classes and in some English Composition classes. Gateway is following formatting guidelines for Student Papers, new in the 7th edition. 

Gateway Libraries

APA Manual

E-Book Resource for APA

APA Student Paper Templates & Guide

The Gateway Libraries recommend that students consult their course syllabus and assignment details for any course specifics and additional faculty requirements. 

Summary Of Notable APA 7th ed. Changes

In October of 2019, the American Psychological Association released a new 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Gateway is following the formatting guidelines for the new Student Paper format. For more information on each section look for the corresponding page in this Guide. The number in parentheses indicates the corresponding chapter or section(s) in the APA Publication Manual. 

The Gateway Libraries recommend that students consult their course syllabus and assignment details for any course specifics and additional faculty requirements. 

Formatting

  • The running head is no longer required in Student Papers. The page header consists of the page number only. ( 2.2, 2.8 & 2.18)
  • Recommended fonts now include Calibri 11 pt, Arial 11 pt, Lucinda Sans Unicode 10 pt, Georgia 11 pt, and Times New Roman 12 pt. ( 2.19)
  • For Student Papers, on the title page include the title in bold, author names, author affiliation (school name), course number and name, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number. ( 2.2 & 2.3)
  • On the first page of text (body of the paper), the title of the paper appears at the top of the paper in bold and centered. (2.11)
  • Use only one space after a period in the body of the paper. (6.1)
  • All Headings and Subheadings are in bold. (2.27)

In-Text Citations

  • For a work with one or two authors, include the author's last name(s) in every citation. For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus "et al." in every citation  (including the first citation). (8.17)

References 

  • Label the reference list "References" in bold font. (2.12)
  • For government agencies, list the most specific agency as the author in the reference. (9.11)
  • Publisher location (city, state) is no longer included in book citations. (9.29)
  • Always include a DOI when available for journal articles and books (electronic and print). (9.3)
  • If a DOI is not available for a journal article from a library database (research database), treat the article as if it were a print version. A URL for the journal website is no longer needed, and you do not need to provide a database name (EBSCOhost, CINAHL, Films on Demand). (9.3 & 9.34)
  • Present both DOIs and URLs as hyperlinks (active website links). Include "http://" or "https://" and for DOIs use the preferred format of: https://doi.org/xxxx (9.35)
  • For the majority of online sources, such as websites: Include URL (web address) at the end of reference; do NOT include "Retrieved from". However, if the content is likely to change over time, include a retrieval date to indicate to readers that the version they link to may be different (e.g. Retrieved March 11, from https://xxx.xxx). (9.16, 10.1 & 10.16)
  • For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g. Kindle) is not included in the reference citation. (10.2)

Grammar

  • APA now uses more inclusive language, notably the use of the singular "they." (4.18)

Adapted from content created by Julie Chapman, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College; and Rae Jeffers & Laura Haygood, University of Texas, Arlington

For a complete list of APA 7th edition changes see the link below to the official APA website. 

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