How to write references in APA 7 Style

Before creating a reference

When you use another person's ideas, data, or words, you need to show where they came from. APA Style does this with two elements that work together:

• An in-text citation identifies the work within your writing, usually by author and year.
• A reference provides the information readers need to identify and locate that work.

If you first need help recognizing or writing a citation, read the guide to in-text citations in APA 7 Style.

What an APA reference is

An APA reference is the full description of a work you have cited. It may describe a book, journal article, webpage, report, dissertation, or another type of source.

Its purpose is to tell readers exactly which work you used and where they can find it. Build the reference from the original source whenever possible, not only from the information shown in an online search result.

The difference between a citation and a reference

A citation and a reference point to the same work, but they serve different purposes.

Element	Where it appears	What it provides
In-text citation	Within the text	A brief identification, such as author and year
Reference	At the end of the paper	The work's full publication details

For example, an in-text citation might look like this:

(Perez, 2024)

Its reference might be:

Perez, L. (2024). Learning to conduct research. Horizon Press.

This is an illustrative example. The details and format change according to the work you actually used.

The four parts of a reference

A reference usually answers four questions:

1. Author: Who created the work?
2. Date: When was it published?
3. Title: What is it called?
4. Source: Where can it be found?

The source is not always a web address. Depending on the type of work, it may be a publisher, journal name, website name, DOI, or other information that helps readers locate it.

How to create a reference step by step

1. Identify the type of work

First determine whether you used a book, journal article, chapter, webpage, dissertation, or another type of work. This matters because each type presents its details differently. Use the APA reference types page to find the right guide.

Do not classify everything found online as a webpage. A journal article read online is still a journal article.

When using a statute, court case, constitution, or other legal material, follow the APA 7 legal references guide. These materials do not always use the ordinary reference order.

2. Find the details in the original work

Locate the author, publication date, title, and source information. In a journal article, for example, some of these details usually appear on the first page and in the journal information.

Check the original work whenever possible. Search results and automatically generated references can contain incomplete information.

3. Use the order for that type of work

Once you have the four elements, arrange them according to the source type. A book and a journal article share the same basic elements, but they do not present the source in the same way.

Book:

Author. (Date). Book title. Publisher.

Journal article:

Author. (Date). Article title. Journal Title, volume(issue), page range. DOI or URL when applicable.

These patterns show the general structure. Replace each part with the actual details and follow the rules for that source type.

4. Check that the citation and reference match

The author surname and year in the citation should match the corresponding reference. This match lets readers move from a cited idea to the work's full details.

As a general rule, each cited work needs a reference, and each reference should correspond to a cited work.

A reference explained

Consider this illustrative book reference:

Ramirez, C. (2023). Foundations of academic writing. Classroom Press.

• Author: Ramirez, C.
• Date: (2023).
• Title: Foundations of academic writing.
• Source: Classroom Press.

Before following the example, confirm the type of work you have. A journal article, webpage, or dissertation requires a different pattern.

When information is missing

Do not invent information. APA Style adapts a reference when the author, date, title, or source is unknown. The solution depends on both the missing element and the type of work. The guide for each element explains what to do in those cases.

Before deciding that information is unavailable, check the title page, first page, credits, and publication details. On a webpage, the author may be a person or an organization.

What to check before finishing

• You identified the type of work.
• You took the details from the original source.
• You included the author, date, title, and source, or adapted the reference when information was missing.
• You followed the pattern for that type of work.
• You checked that the author and year match the in-text citation.

Once your entries are ready, learn how to organize and format an APA 7 reference list.