APA publication manual open on a research desk

APA Style for Academic Papers: A Practical Guide

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) is one of the most widely used style guides in academic writing. Originally developed for psychology, APA style is now the standard format for most social and behavioral sciences, many life sciences, and an increasing number of interdisciplinary fields. Understanding APA style conventions is essential for researchers in these fields preparing manuscripts for journal submission.

This guide covers the key APA 7th Edition conventions that researchers encounter most frequently.

In-Text Citations

APA uses an author-date citation system. In-text citations appear in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the relevant clause:

For a paraphrase: (Author, Year) — e.g., (Miller, 2019)
For a direct quote: (Author, Year, p. page number) — e.g., (Miller, 2019, p. 47)
For a work with two authors: (Miller & Jones, 2019) — the ampersand is used inside parentheses; "and" is used in running text (Miller and Jones (2019) found that...)
For three or more authors: (Miller et al., 2019) — the et al. form is used from the first citation in APA 7th edition

APA 7th vs. 6th Edition In APA 6th edition, three-author papers were cited as (Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2019) on first mention. APA 7th edition simplified this: (Smith et al., 2019) from the very first citation. Also: reference lists in 7th edition list all authors (no et al. cutoff at 7+ as in 6th).

Reference List Formatting

The reference list appears at the end of the paper on a new page, titled "References" (not "Bibliography" or "Works Cited"). Key formatting rules:

Double-spaced throughout
Hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches)
Alphabetical by first author's last name
If citing multiple works by the same author, list them chronologically (oldest first)

For a journal article, the basic format is: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Note that in APA 7th edition, all authors are listed regardless of the number (previous editions used "et al." for references with six or more authors).

Heading Levels

APA specifies five levels of headings, and using them consistently is essential for a well-organized paper. Most papers use only two or three levels:

Level 1: Centered, Bold, Title Case
Level 2: Left-aligned, Bold, Title Case
Level 3: Left-aligned, Bold, Italic, Title Case
Level 4: Indented, Bold, Title Case, ending with a period. Text continues on the same line.
Level 5: Indented, Bold, Italic, Title Case, ending with a period. Text continues on same line.

Abstract

The abstract in APA format is a single, dense paragraph of 150–250 words for most journal articles. It should not include citations and should summarize the purpose, methods, results, and conclusions of the study. Many journals use the abstract as the screening text for peer review assignment, making it one of the most important pieces of writing in the paper.

APA 7th edition introduced the structured abstract format for some article types, with labeled sections (Objective, Method, Results, Conclusion). Check your target journal's requirements to determine which format applies.

Bias-Free Language

APA 7th edition significantly expanded its guidance on bias-free language — using language that is accurate, sensitive to the people being described, and free from stereotyped assumptions. Key principles include: using "participants" rather than "subjects"; describing demographic characteristics only when relevant to the research; using gender-neutral language and the singular "they" when referring to an individual of unspecified gender; and following the preferences of the communities described in research when naming racial and ethnic groups.

The full APA Style website provides comprehensive guidance on bias-free language that goes beyond what can be covered in a summary guide.

Common APA Formatting Mistakes

Using "and" instead of "&" inside parenthetical citations
Italicizing the article title (it's the journal title that's italicized, not the article)
Including "Retrieved from" before URLs (dropped in APA 7th edition)
Using "& et al." (it's just "et al.")
Forgetting that doi numbers should be formatted as hyperlinks: https://doi.org/...
Placing the year after every author name in the reference list (the year comes once, after all authors)