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APA citation generator (7th edition)

APA style is used across psychology, education, nursing and the social sciences. WriteOrbit formats your in-text citations and reference list in APA 7 as you write, and updates them if you change style.

Your list

Sources you add appear here, formatted in your style.

Your list stays in this browser. Copy keeps italics when you paste into Word or Google Docs. Check every citation against the source.

APA example

The 1953 paper in which Watson and Crick described the structure of DNA (DOI 10.1038/171737a0), cited in APA.

In the text

Parenthetical
(Watson & Crick, 1953)
Narrative
Watson and Crick (1953)
With a page (for a quote)
(Watson & Crick, 1953, p. 737)

References

Watson, J. D., & Crick, F. H. C. (1953). Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature, 171(4356), 737–738. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0

APA format for common sources

Journal article
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxx
Book
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book (2nd ed.). Publisher.
Web page
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL

Main APA rules

  • Title the list “References”, centred and bold, with each entry double-spaced and a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
  • Use sentence case for article and book titles, and title case for journal names.
  • Italicise the journal name and volume number, but not the issue number.
  • Give the DOI as a link (https://doi.org/…). Do not add “Retrieved from” before it.
  • For three or more authors, cite the first author and “et al.” in the text from the first citation.

Your course, publisher or university may change these rules. When they differ, follow them.

How to use it

  1. Find the source

    Paste a DOI or search by title, or enter a website, book or other source by hand.

  2. Pick a style

    APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, IEEE or any of over 10,000 styles.

  3. Copy

    Copy the reference and the in-text citation. Add more sources to build a list.

Good to know

  • A citation is only as good as its record. Check names, dates and capitalisation for unusual sources.
  • Your list stays in this browser. Sign in to keep references with your documents.

Questions

More in the help center.

What is the difference between APA 6 and APA 7?

APA 7 drops the publisher location for books, lists up to 20 authors in a reference, uses “et al.” for three or more authors from the first citation, and formats DOIs as links. WriteOrbit supports both.

How do I cite a website in APA?

Give the author (or organisation), the date, the page title in italics, the site name and the URL. If there is no date, write (n.d.).

Is this APA citation generator free?

Yes. The free plan includes unlimited citations in APA and every other style.

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