APA 7th Referencing: A Complete UK Guide with Examples

APA 7th Referencing: A Complete UK Guide with Examples (2026)

APA 7th edition (the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) is widely used at UK universities in psychology, health sciences, education, social work, and some social science programmes. It is an author-date referencing system: a brief in-text citation (Author, Year) appears within your text wherever you use a source, and full details of every source are provided in a reference list at the end of your work. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of APA 7th in-text citations and reference list formats for all major source types.

APA 7th In-Text Citations

• One author: (Smith, 2023) or Smith (2023) argues…
• Two authors: In running text: Smith and Jones (2023). In parentheses: (Smith & Jones, 2023) — note ampersand in parentheses, “and” in running text.
• Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2023) from first citation — all authors listed in the reference list.
• Organisation: (NHS England, 2024) — abbreviation may be introduced on first use: (National Health Service England [NHS England], 2024), then (NHS England, 2025) subsequently.
• No author: Use a shortened form of the title in italics: (Report Title, 2023).
• No date: (Smith, n.d.)
• Direct quotation: (Smith, 2023, p. 45) — page number required for direct quotes.

APA 7th Reference List: Format Rules

The APA 7th reference list follows these formatting rules: double-spaced; hanging indent (0.5 inches) for each entry; entries in alphabetical order by first author’s surname; DOIs formatted as hyperlinks (https://doi.org/xxxxx) where available; publisher location omitted from book references (new in APA 7th); journal titles and volume numbers in italics; article titles in sentence case (only first word capitalised, except proper nouns).

APA 7th Reference List Examples by Source Type

Book (One Author)

Surname, A. B. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle in sentence case. Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example: Smith, J. A. (2022). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (4th ed.). Sage.

Book (Two or More Authors)

Smith, J. A., & Jones, B. C. (2021). Research methods in nursing. Wiley.

Edited Book Chapter

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of chapter in sentence case. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Journal Article

Brown, K. L., & Lee, M. C. (2024). Nurse-led diabetes education in UK primary care settings. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 80(3), 1234–1246. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15678

Note: Article title in sentence case; journal name and volume number in italics; issue number in plain text in parentheses; page range follows.

Government Report or Institutional Document

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2022). Depression in adults: Treatment and management (NICE guideline NG222). https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng222

Webpage or Website

NHS England. (2024, March 15). NHS long term plan. https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk

Dissertation or Thesis (from Institutional Repository)

Smith, J. A. (2023). The experience of nurse-led transition planning in UK paediatric oncology [Doctoral dissertation, University of Manchester]. Manchester eScholar. https://www.repository.manchester.ac.uk/link

Key Differences Between APA 7th and APA 6th

• Publisher location no longer required for books (removed in 7th edition).
• DOIs formatted as hyperlinks (https://doi.org/xxxxx) not as “doi:xxxxx” or “http://dx.doi.org/”.
• Running head no longer required for student papers (only for manuscripts submitted to journals).
• For three or more authors, “et al.” used from the first citation (APA 6th used full author list for up to five authors on first citation).
• Singular “they” is explicitly endorsed as a gender-neutral pronoun.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do I use a comma between author name and year in APA 7th?

Always — in parenthetical citations, the author surname and year are separated by a comma: (Smith, 2023). When the author’s name is part of the sentence (integral citation), only the year appears in parentheses and no comma is used in the running text: Smith (2023) argues…

Do I need access dates for websites in APA 7th?

Generally no — APA 7th only requires retrieval dates (accessed dates) for sources that are likely to change significantly over time, such as live web pages that are regularly updated without version tracking (e.g., Wikipedia). For stable institutional web pages and reports that are unlikely to change, no retrieval date is needed. This is different from many UK Harvard referencing guides, which typically require access dates for all online sources.

Can I mix APA 7th with other referencing styles in the same document?

No — you should use one referencing style consistently throughout a single piece of work. If your module guide specifies APA 7th, apply it to every in-text citation and the entire reference list. Mixing styles (for example, using footnotes from OSCOLA alongside APA parenthetical citations) confuses readers and is usually penalised by markers as an inconsistency in academic presentation.

How do I cite a source with no page numbers in APA 7th, such as an ebook or webpage?

When quoting from a source without page numbers, use an alternative locator such as a paragraph number (para. 4), a section heading, or a chapter and section combination, for example (Smith, 2023, Introduction section) or (Smith, 2023, para. 4). If the source has numbered paragraphs or headings, use whichever locator most precisely identifies where the quotation appears.

Related Study Guides

• APA 7th referencing: complete UK guide (full article)
• How to reference: Harvard, APA & MLA guide
• Harvard referencing made easy
• How to avoid plagiarism

APA 7th Edition In-Text Citations: A Practical Guide

APA 7th edition uses an author-date in-text citation system. Every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarise material from a source, you must include a citation in the body of your text that directs the reader to the full reference in your reference list. The basic format is the author’s surname followed by the year of publication in parentheses: (Smith, 2022). If you include a direct quotation, you must also provide the page number: (Smith, 2022, p. 45).

When a source has two authors, cite both names every time the source appears in the text: (Jones & Williams, 2021). When a source has three or more authors, cite only the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” from the first citation onwards: (Brown et al., 2020). This is a key change from APA 6th edition, which required all authors to be named on the first citation for sources with three to five authors — APA 7th simplifies this to “et al.” throughout, regardless of the number of authors.

For sources with no named author, use a shortened form of the title in place of the author’s name, in italics for books and reports, or in inverted commas for articles and web pages: (Mental Health Act, 2017) or (“New Guidelines”, 2023). For sources where the author is an organisation or institution, use the full name on first citation with the abbreviation in brackets, then the abbreviation only on subsequent citations: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022) becomes (WHO, 2022) thereafter.

APA 7th Edition Reference List Formatting

Your APA 7th reference list should appear at the end of your work on a new page, headed “References” in bold and centred. References are listed in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname. Each entry uses a hanging indent format — the first line of each reference is flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inches. The reference list must include every source cited in your text and only those sources.

The basic format for a journal article in APA 7th is: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Title in Title Case and Italics, volume number(issue number), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx. Note that APA 7th requires a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) where available and does not require “Retrieved from” before URLs. For books, the format is: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book in sentence case and italics. Publisher Name.

Several APA 7th rules catch students out repeatedly. The journal title and volume number should both be italicised, but the issue number in brackets is not italicised. Article titles use sentence case — only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or dash, and proper nouns are capitalised. Journal titles, by contrast, use title case, capitalising all major words. Getting these distinctions right requires careful attention, particularly when you are formatting a long reference list under time pressure. Most word processors and reference management tools such as Zotero, Mendeley, or the Microsoft Word bibliography tool can generate APA 7th references automatically, but always check their outputs against the official APA Publication Manual as automated tools occasionally contain errors.

For web pages and online documents without a named author, the format is: Organisation or Website Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Website Name. URL. If no date is available, use (n.d.) in place of the year. Always retrieve the most current version of a web page and include the retrieval date only when the content of the page is likely to change over time, such as for wiki pages or regularly updated online resources.