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APA Citation Style, 7th Edition

APA style information, examples, and resources.

Common Questions

See below for answers to common questions about APA citation style from the APA Style Blog and 7th edition manual: 

  • How many spaces do I include after a period? One. Use one space after a period (including in between author initials) or other punctuation mark at the end of a sentence.
  • Do I abbreviate months in APA? NO. See APA Abbreviations. 
  • Are periods included after DOIs and URLs? NO. Do not add a period after the DOI or URL because it may interfere with link functionality (p. 300, 7th ed.).
  • Should DOIs be displayed as links? YES. DOIs and URLs should be displayed as links. Note: Older articles often contain DOIs that are simply a series of numbers (DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2013.010403). In such cases, standardize the DOI into the current preferred hyperlinked format by adding https://doi.org/ to the front of the DOI (p. 300, 7th ed.). While there is a chance that the older DOI has not yet been activated, this is still the correct format. 
  • Should links be live? Links should be live if the work is to be published or read online. It is acceptable to use either the default display settings for hyperlinks in your word processing program (e.g., usually blue font, underlined) or plain text that is not underlined (p. 299, 7th ed.).
  • If I use a library database and the article within it does not contain a DOI, should I use the database name or database article URL? NEITHER. When the article was found in a library database, do NOT include the database name or database URL. Treat the reference like a print article because database URLs are not stable. (p. 296, 7th ed.). The same content can usually be found in print or via the publisher's website using the basic citation information. 

APA guidelines are:

Font and Font Size:

Use the same font throughout the text of the paper. Options include:

  • 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode 
  • 11-point Calibri
  • 11-point Arial
  • 11-point Georgia
  • 12-point Times New Roman

See the APA site for exceptions. 

Margins:

  • Use 1-inch margins.

Spacing: 

  • In general, double-space all parts of an APA Style paper, including the abstract; text; block quotations; table and figure numbers, titles, and notes; and reference list (including between and within entries). Do not add extra space before or after paragraphs.

See the APA site for exceptions.