This presentation, “Cite It Right: A Compact Illustration of APA 7th Edition”, offers a concise and practical guide to for APA 7th edition. it explains the basic rules for in-text citations and demonstrates the correct formatting of reference lists for books, journal articles, reports, and digital sources. The slides provide clear examples, simplified guidelines to help students and researchers maintain accuracy, consistency, and academic integrity in their work.

1. Cite It Right: A Compact Illustration of
APA 7th
Edition
Zahid Kamal
Research Scholar, Department of Political Science
Maulana Azad National Urdu University,
Hyderabad-500032
zkamal95@gmail.com
On Instruction of
Dr. Dastagirbasha Chabnur
Assist Professor: MANUU,

2. Formatting Rules of APA 7th
Edition
Font: Times New Roman 12 pt., Arial 11 pt., or Calibri 11 pt., 10-point Lucida
Line spacing: Double-space all content, including references.
Margins: Use 1-inch margins on all sides.
Paragraphs: First line indented 0.5 inches.
Capitalize: The first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon
Reference
Alphabetical order by surname.
Hanging indent of 0.5 inches.
Italicize book and journal titles.
Do not number the entries.

3. When to Cite
Cite the ideas, theories, or research
• that directly influenced your work
• Provide Key background information,
• Support or dispute your argument,
• Offer critical definitions
• Data and fact that are not common knowledge
When not to Cite
• Common knowledge
• Universal truth
• Unrecorded traditional knowledge
• Basic scientific rule
• Secondary source, lecture, textbook, encyclopedia
• Epigraph (Usually)
• Ex. Man is mortal

4. In-text Citation : Author Type
Author Type Key Point Parenthetical Citation Narrative Citation
One author (Surname, date) (Luna, 2020) (Surname, 2025) Luna (2020) Surname (2025)
Two authors
Use & for paranthetical
only
(Salas & D’Agostino, 2020) Salas and D’Agostino (2020)
Three or more authors et. al. (among others) (Martin et al., 2020) Martin et al. (2020)
Group author with
abbreviation
First mention,
Abbreviation in squire
bracket as Description
First mention (National Institute of
Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)
National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH, 2020)
Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 2020) Subsequent citations: NIMH (2020)
Same Author with
Same Date
Use a b c, older to
latest,
(Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012a) Judge and Kammeyer-Mueller (2012b)
(Sifuentes, n.d.-a, n.d.-b) Sifuentes, (n.d.-a, n.d.-b)
Same Surname,
Different initials
use given name initials
without inversion
(J. M. Taylor & Neimeyer, 2015; T.
Taylor, 2014)
J. M. Taylor & Neimeyer, 2015; T. Taylor,
(2014)
Same Surname, Same
Initials
provide full name to avoid
confusion
….
“Sarah Williams (2019) stated X, whereas
Shonda Williams (2020) stated Y
Same surname, same
work
no initial required as no
confusion
(Chen & Chen, 2019) ... Chen and Chen (2019)

5. In-text Citation: Author Type 2.0
Citation Type Example (Parenthetical) Example (Narrative)
No Author
("Title of Work", Year) tittle case
(Tittle of Work, Year)
don’t use Quotation mark in case tittle is italicized
Use tittle case for in-text; not for reference
The Quran (2:102) warns the
mankind…
King James Bible (1769/2017),
Italicized Tittle (year)
Secondary Source
(Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014)
In Reference list, cite only Secondary work.. Loyan et
al. 2014
Allport’s diary (as cited in Nicholson,
2003)
Same Author, different
date
(Department of Veterans Affairs, n.d., 2017a, 2017b,
2019)
No date fist and then chronologically ordered.
Ahmed (2017, 2019, 2021) examined…
Different Authors,
Different Works
(Ahmed, 2018; Khan & Roy, 2016; Singh, 2020)
Use semi colon to differentiate
Ahmed (2018), Khan and Roy (2016),
and Singh (2020) discussed…

6. In-text Citation: Second Mention and Second Date
• Don’t repeat within the one paragraph unless the
context require repetition.
• Repeat the entire citation each time
• “ibid.” is not used in APA Style
• Omit only year when it is repeated within a single
paragraph in narrative citation
Repeated Citation
• Include both date
• Separate the years with a slash
• Older to latest
• Freud (1900/1953)
• (Piaget, 1966/2000)
Translated, Reprinted, Republished, and Reissued Dates

7. Citing Specific Parts of a Source Work
• (Armstrong, 2015, pp. 3–17)
• Small p. for single page
Page Range
• (Armstrong, 2015, pp. 3–17, 50)
Discontinuous Page
• (Shimamura, 2017, Chapter 3)
Chapter/ paragraph/ table/ figure
• (Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy,
2012, 1:30:40)
Time stamps of videos
• (The Quran, 2025, 1:23)
• For religious books, italicize the tittle as the tittle of
a book
• The Qur’an (M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Trans.).
(2004). Oxford University Press
Quran Ayat
• (King James Bible, 1769/2017, 1 Cor. 13:1)
• Reference:
• King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible
Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1769)
Bible verse

8. Citing Personal Communication
• (A. A. Surname, Date),
• Provide as exact a date as possible
• Don’t include personal communication in Reference
list
Format
• (T. Nguyen, personal communication, May 24, 2020)
Parentheses
• E.-M. Paradis (personal communication, August 8,
2019)
Narrative
Types Emails, Text messages, Online chats
Personal interviews,
Telephone conversations
Live speeches
Unrecorded classroom lectures
Memos
Letters
Messages from nonarchived discussion groups
All that can’t be accessed by reader
• Applicable format as per publication type
Published interview
• Don’t require citation
Participant interview

9. Paraphrase
• It is restating another’s idea in your words
• It’s better to paraphrase than directly quoting
• It’s better to provide page if work is long and
complex
• Webster-Stratton (2016) described a case example
of a 4-year-old girl who showed an insecure
attachment to her mother; in working with the
family dyad, the therapist focused on increasing
the mother’s empathy for her child (pp. 152–153).
• Cite the work on first mention for the whole
paragraph.
• If the paraphrase continues into a new paragraph,
reintroduce the citation
• In case of narrative approach and repeat the author
names, the year of the work can often be omitted.
Long
Paraphrases

10. Direct Quotation
• when reproducing an exact definition
• want to respond to exact wording
Use direct quotation
• always provide the author, year, and page number of the
quotation
Format
• abbreviated heading or section name (if long one)
• Paragraph number (count the paragraphs if not numbered)
• Section name in combination with a paragraph
• …..(DeAngelis, 2018, Musical Forays section, para. 4).
Page alternative
• Incorporate it into the text and enclose
it within double quotation marks.
• Place a parenthetical citation either
immediately after the quotation or at
the end of the sentence
Short Quotations (Fewer Than 40 Words)

11. Changes to a Quotation Requiring Explanation
• Use an ellipsis to indicate that you have omitted words
• three periods with spaces around each ( . . . )
• Do not use an ellipsis at the beginning or end of any quotation
• Use four periods—that is, a period plus an ellipsis—to show a sentence… (. … )
Omitting Material
• Use square brackets, not parentheses
• Explanation or definition
Inserting Material
• italicize words,
• Insert “emphasis added” within square brackets: [emphasis added].
Adding Emphasis
• incorrect spelling, punctuation, or grammar in the source might confuse readers,
• Insert the word “[sic],” italicized and in brackets, just after the error
Error

12. Changes to a Quotation: Illustration

13. Citation within Quotation
• Include the citations that fall in between
• Footnote or endnote number can be omitted with no explanation
• Omit the citation at the end of quotation.
• Students of acting “are encouraged to become immersed in a character’s life (Stanislavski, 1936/1948, 1950), an
activity that calls for absorption” (Panero et al., 2016, p. 234).
• Stanislavski, 1936/1948, 1950 wont appear in reference list. unless cited in your work separately

14. Quotation Mark within Quotation
• Don’t use quotation within the quotation, use primary source or secondary citation format
• quotation marks for some other purpose (e.g., to enclose a phrase such as a coined expression or linguistic example),
• Change double quotation marks to single or vice versa in your paper depending on the number of words you are
quoting (short and block quotation)
• Bliese et al. (2017) noted that “mobile devices enabled employees in many jobs to work ‘anywhere, anytime’ and stay
electronically tethered to work outside formal working hours” (p. 391).
• Don’t use “anywhere, anytime”
• If a conjecture is just mere guess, … metacognition of “I know I am/was just guessing,” which would counteract
retrospectively increased perceptions of foreseeability. (von der Beck & Cress, 2018, p. 97)
• Don’t use ‘I know I am/was just guessing,’

15. Direct Quotation: Some Common Mistakes
Correct Incorrect Rationale
“high performance .. another” (Ervin et
al., 2018, p. 470).
“high performance …another.” (Ervin et
al., 2018, p. 470)
The period after the Quatation, not before
it.
“Even smart, …rational” (Risen, 2016, p.
202), as exemplified by …
“Even smart, … rational,” (Risen, 2016, p.
202), as exemplified by ..
Citation should be outside the quotation
marks, not inside.
Biebel et al. (2018) noted that
“incorporate..…retention” (p. 299).
Biebel et al. (2018) noted that
“...retention.” (p. 299)
Period ends the sentence after the
parenthetical page number.
“Some people ...between,” wrote
Nusbaum et al. (2017, p. 231).
“Some...in between,” (p. 231) wrote
Nusbaum et al. (2017)...
In narrative citation: Page number should
be with year in the same parenthesis.
The item read, “What were the best
aspects for you?” (Shayden et al., 2018, p.
304).
The item read, “What were the best
aspects for you”? (Shayden et al., 2018, p.
304).
The question mark belongs inside the
quotation marks.
In 2018, Soto argued that
“more ..processing” (p. 598).
...produce more configural processing”
(Soto, 2018, p. 598).
Author and year already appear in
narrative; don’t repeat.

16. Block Quotations (40 Words or More)
Format Do not use quotation marks
Start on a new line
Indent 0.5 in.
Do not add extra space before or after
Parentheses
Citation
After the quotation’s final punctuation
Narrative
Citation
Cite the author and year before the quotation
place only the page number in parentheses
after the quotation’s final punctuation.
• Block quotation with parenthetical citation:
Researchers have studied how people talk to themselves:
Inner speech is a paradoxical phenomenon. … neural
underpinnings. (Alderson-Day & Fernyhough, 2015, p.
957)
• Block quotation with narrative citation:
Flores et al. (2018) described how they addressed potential
researcher bias when working …people of color:
Everyone on the research team belonged to a
stigmatized ….presentation of results. (p. 311)

17. Part 2: Reference List: Four Elements of a Reference
Who
Author Elements
Primary person responsible
for the work
When
Date Element
When the work got
published
What
Tittle element
What is the work called?
Where
Source Element
Where to Retrieve

18. Punctuation
• Expectation to DOI and URL
Put a period appears after each reference element
• Comma between each author last name and initials
• Comma between the journal name and the volume number
• Comma between the journal issue number and the page numbers
• Do not use a comma between the journal volume and issue numbers
• place the issue number in parentheses instead (not italicized)
Put a comma between parts of the same reference element

19. Punctuation: Book Reference
Author or Editor Date Title Source (Publisher) DOI or URL
• Surname, A. A., &
Surname, B. B.
• Name of Group.
• Editor, E. E. (Ed.).
• Surname, E. E., &
Surname, F. F. (Eds.).
(2020).
• Title of book.
• Title of book (2nd ed., Vol. 4).
• Title of book [Audiobook].
• Title of book (E. E. Editor, Ed.).
• Title of book (T. Translator, Trans.; N.
Narrator, Narr.).
• Publisher Name.
• First Publisher Name;
Second Publisher
Name.
https://doi.org/xxx
https://xxxx
Pridham, K. F., Limbo, R., & Schroeder, M. (Eds.). (2018). Guided participation in pediatric nursing practice:
Relationship-based teaching and learning with parents, children, and adolescents. Springer Publishing
Company. http://a.co/0IAiVgt
Chapter in Edited book:
Format: In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. (Without
inversion)
Goldin-Meadow, S. (2015). Gesture and cognitive development. In L. S. Liben & U. Mueller
(Eds.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science: Vol. 2. Cognitive processes
(7th ed., pp. 339–380). John Wiley & Sons.

20. Punctuation: Journal article
• Last four element are parts of same element, source element so they are separated by comma not by period.
• Page number is followed by period; DOI and URL by nil
Author(s) Date Title of Article
Source Element
Title of Journal Volume & Issue Page Range DOI or URL
Author, A. A., &
Author, B. B.
(2020).
Title of article.
Title of Journal, (in
italics and Title
Case followed by
comma)
Volume(Issue),
123–145.
https://doi.org/xxxx
Name of Group.
(sentence case, no italics, no
quotation marks).
Vol. is italic https://xxxx
Smith, J. A., &
Khan, R. B.
(2020).
Investigating caste dynamics
in education systems in India.
Journal of South
Asian Studies,
38(2), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.1234/j
sas.2021.03802
With Group Authors
De Vries, R., Nieuwenhuijze, M., Buitendijk, S. E., & the members of Midwifery Science Work Group. (2013). What does it take to have a
strong and independent profession of midwifery? Lessons from the Netherlands. Midwifery, 29(10), 1122–1128. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2013.07.007
21 authors
Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M.,
Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., … Joseph, D. (1996). The NCEP/NCAR 40-
year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 77(3), 437–471. http://doi.org/fg6rf9

21. 1: Author Element
• Surname first, followed by a comma and the initials of Given name
• In case surname is hyphenated or has two parts, enter as it is
One Author = Author, A. A.
• Use a comma to separate an author’s, (&) before the final author’s name (Up to 20 Authors)
• For two group authors, Don’t Use comma befor &:
• American Psychological Association & National Institutes of
Health.
Two Authors = Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.
• Xu, A.-J., for Ai-Jun Xu
• Retain the hyphen and period after initial
Hyphenated Name
• Use commas to separate initials and suffixes such as Jr.
and III
Name with Suffix = Author, A. A., Jr., & Author, B.

22. Author Element 2.0
• Plato. (2017).
• add a period after the author’s name
Only One Name
• Lady Gaga. (2025)
Inseparable Multipart Name
• Ministry of Education. (2025)
Group Name
• Author, A. A. [@username].
• real name, followed by the username in square brackets
• White, B. [@BettyMWhite]. (2018, June 21). I treasure every minute we spent together #koko [Image
attached] [Tweet]. Twitter.
Username with Real Name
• move the title of the work to the author position (followed by a period)
• Generalized anxiety disorder. (2019).
No Author

23. No Author: Religious Books
• Publication year mostly not included in the reference
• Republished dates are included
• Include the translator’s name
I
• italicized and tittle case in citation
• Italicized and sentence case in reference
• The Qur’an (M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Trans.). (2004). Oxford
University Press.
• The Torah: The five books of Moses (3rd ed.). (2015). The
Jewish Publication Society. (Original work published 1962)
• (The Torah, 1962/2015) ... (Italicized tittle, year)
• (The Qur’an, 2004)
Religious works
Bible, Qur’an Torah Bhagavad Gita
Example

24. Author Element: Role Type
• Don’t use role, position, tittle in the reference list
• People in roles other than author who contributed substantially to the creation of a work are recognized for a variety of
reference types.
• the role type is placed in parentheses after the name
Basic Rule
• Author, A.A. (Ed.).
One Author
• Wong, C. T., & Music, K. (Eds.).
Two Authors
• Park, O. (Writer), Gunnarsson, N. (Writer), & Botha, V. N. (Director). Lutz, T. (Writer & Director).
Multiple Role

25. Group Author
• Group authors may include government
agencies, associations, nonprofit
organizations, businesses, hospitals, task
forces, and study groups
• Spell out full name of the Group, followed by
a period:
• An abbreviation for the group author allowed
in in-text citation but not in a reference list
entry.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.).
Positive transference. In APA dictionary of
psychology. Retrieved September 30, 2019,
from https://dictionary.apa.org/positive
transference
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Self-report. In Merriam-
Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September
12, 2019, from https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/self-report
Entry in a dictionary with group author

26. 2: Date Element
• It refers to the date of publication
Generally,
• use the copyright date even if the date publication/ Issue is different
Books,
• use the year of the volume
Journal article,
• If a note indicates the “last updated” date of the page, use that date..
• If no date of publication is indicated, treat the work as having no date.. Author, A. (n.d.)
Webpage,
• For unpublished, informally published, or in-progress works, provide the year the work was produced
Unpublished
• Use more specific dates (year, month, and day for newspaper articles and blog posts)…. (2020, August 26).
Frequently Published,
• Enclose the date of publication in parentheses, followed by a period: (2020).
Date Format,

27. Date Element 2.0
• Dictionary entry, Twitter profile, Facebook page, Wikipedia that are designed to change
• Provide a retrieval date in the source element (not date element) when citing an unarchived (i.e., not
stable) work that is likely or meant to change.
• Retrieval date is not required otherwise
• The retrieval date, when needed, appears before the URL.
• Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://xxxxx
Up To Date article
• If publication date cant be determined, use (n.d.).
• Put a period after the “n” and after the “d” with no space between the letters.
• Gagnon, R. (n.d.).
No Date

28. 3: Title Element
Title
Stand alone work
Books
Reports
Gray literature
Dissertations/ Theses
Informally published works
Data sets
Videos /Films/ TV series,
Podcasts,
Social media post
Works on websites
Part of a greater whole
Greater whole
Part of a
greater whole
Periodical
articles
Edited book
chapters
TV and podcast
episodes
Greater whole
Journal
Edited book
Magazine
• Put the title of the greater whole (the journal or edited book) in the source
element
• Stand alone and greater work are italicized, excluding the part of a group work

29. Formatting Tittle Element
• Sentence case
• Don’t use quotation marks,
• End tittle element with period or question mark, or exclamation mark as applicable
General rule
• Do not italicize the title, italicize the greater whole
Part of a greater whole
• Sentence case, Italicized,
Stand alone Work
• Enclose in parentheses after the title
• Don’t italicize parentheses information
• Example: nursing: A concept-based approach to learning (2nd ed., Vol. 1).
Additional information

30. Gray Literature: Descriptions of the Work
Non-Academic
Work
Audiobook
Press release
Audiovisual
Films
YouTube
Photographs
Social Media
Data sets
Manuscripts in preparation
Dissertation
Thesis
• Provide a description of the work in square brackets after the italicized title followed
by the period.
• Italicized Title of gray literature [Bracketed Description].
• Comprehensive meta-analysis (Version 3.3.070) [Computer
software]
Harris, L. (2014). Instructional leadership perceptions and practices of elementary school
leaders [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Virginia.
Hutcheson, V. H. (2012). Dealing with dual differences: Social coping strategies of gifted and
lesbian, queer adolescents [Master’s thesis, The College of William & Mary]. William &
Mary Digital Archive. https://
digitalarchive.wm.edu/bitstream/handle/10288/16594/HutchesonVirginia2012.pdf
Santos, F. (2019, January 11). Reframing refugee children’s stories [Review of the book We are
displaced: My journey and stories from refugee girls around the world, by M. Yousafzai].
The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/2HIgjk3

31. No Tittle: Untitled Social Media Posts
APA Education [@APAEducation]. (2018, June 29). College students are forming mental health clubs—and they’re making a
difference @washingtonpost [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://
twitter.com/apaeducation/status/1012810490530140161
Gaiman, N. (2018, March 22). 100,000+ Rohingya refugees could be at serious risk during Bangladesh’s monsoon season. My
fellow UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett is [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. http://
bit.ly/2JQxPAD
• Include up to the first 20 words of the comment or post
• Italicize it
• Add a bracketed description

32. • The Publisher ( for Printed Work)
• Data base name In tittle case without
Italic followed by period.
• DOI
• URL
Source for Stand Alone Work
• Greater Whole is Source element…
journal name or edited book name (with
vol. issue number, page, )
• DOI
• URL
Source for Works Part of
Greater Whole
• Don’t mention Database name, URL or DOI
Most academic data base,
• Provide Database Name. URL
Limited circulation Database,
• Provide Retrieval Date
Uptodate data base
• Site name. URL. Retrieval Date
Social Media Site
• Site Name. URL
• Retrieval Date if likely to change
Website. Online news
Application (App)
Database Types
4: Source Element

33. Limited circulation Database
Hollander, M. M. (2017). Resistance to authority: Methodological innovations and new lessons from the Milgram experiment
(Publication No. 10289373) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin–Madison]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
Global.
British Cardiovascular Society Working Group. (2016). British Cardiovascular Society Working Group report: Out-of-hours
cardiovascular care: Management of cardiac emergencies and hospital in-patients. British Cardiovascular Society. http://
www.bcs.com/documents/BCSOOHWP_Final_Report_05092016.pdf
Fried, D., & Polyakova, A. (2018). Democratic defense against disinformation. Atlantic Council. https://
www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Democratic_Defense_Against_Disinforma
Primary Data, Manuscripts Thesis And Report
• In case of group author as publisher, Don’t repeat the the publisher name
• In case parent department is not included as author, include it as publisher

34. DOI and URL
• Include a DOI for all works that have a DOI, regardless of whether you used
the online version or the print version.
Only DOI
• If a print work does not have a DOI, do not include any DOI or URL in the
reference.
No DOI
• If an online work has both a DOI and a URL, include only the DOI.
Both DOI and URL
• If an online work has a URL but no DOI, include the URL in the reference
URL but no DOI
• do not include a URL or database information in the reference because these
works are widely available
URL but no DOI with academic research databases
• Provide the name of the database or archive
URL but no DOI with limited circulation database
Hollander, M. M. (2017). Resistance to
authority: Methodological
innovations and new lessons from
the Milgram experiment
(Publication No. 10289373)
[Doctoral dissertation, University
of Wisconsin–Madison]. ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses Global.
URL but no DOI with limited
circulation database

35. Periodical Sources
• Journal,
• Magazine,
• Newspaper,
• Newsletter,
• Blog
Types
• Periodical title, (Italic)
• Volume number, (Italic)
• Issue number,
• Page range (With Dash, followed by
period)
• Article number (if applicable)
Elements
• McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language
learning as language use: A cross linguistic model of child
language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1–51,
60. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126
Example
• Separate with commas
• 39–47, 50.
Discontinuous page range :

36. Legal Case
• Sardar Syedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb v. State of Bombay, 1962 AIR 853 (1962).
Reference: Name v. Name, Volume, Reporter, Page (Year). URL
• (Sardar Syedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb v. State of Bombay, 1962)
Citation: (Italicized name v. name, year)
• (Azeez Basha, 1968)
Shortened form (Repeated citation):
• In APA 7, court cases are not italicized in the reference list. Italicized in in-text citations.
• For Legal cases, Blurebook format is advised.
Note

37. Thank You