How to write the date in an APA 7 reference

Which date belongs in a reference

The date in a reference tells readers when the work was published. It is not necessarily the date when you found or read the work.

Most references include only the year. Works published more frequently, such as news stories, blog posts, and social media posts, may require the year, month, and day.

The dates used in this guide are illustrative.

Where to find the date

For a book, use the copyright year shown on the copyright page. For a journal article, use the year assigned to the journal volume.

On a webpage, look for a date that applies to the specific content. Do not automatically use a copyright year from the website footer because it may describe the whole site rather than the page you are citing.

If a webpage shows an updated date, use it only when it clearly applies to the cited content. A reviewed date does not necessarily mean that the work changed and is not used as the publication date.

How to write the date

Place the date in parentheses and add a period after the closing parenthesis:

(2024).

When the reference type needs a more specific date, place the year first, followed by a comma, the month, and the day:

(2024, March 18).

Do not add a month and day to a reference that needs only the year. The type of work determines how much detail to include.

An in-text citation normally uses only the year even when the reference has a complete date:

Reference: Herrera, P. (2024, March 18). ...

Citation: (Herrera, 2024)

What to do when there is no date

If you cannot identify a publication date after checking the work, write n.d., meaning “no date,” in parentheses:

Navarro, C. (n.d.). An introduction to critical reading. Open Classroom.

Use n.d. in the corresponding citation as well:

(Navarro, n.d.)

Do not invent a year from the date you accessed the work, the apparent age of the design, or the website footer.

Accepted but unpublished works

If a work has been accepted for publication but has not yet been published, write in press instead of a year:

Salazar, M. (in press). Article title. Journal Title.

Once the work is published, replace this wording with the final publication date and add any other details that have become available.

Do not use in progress or submitted for publication as the date. For manuscripts that have not been accepted, use the year the work was produced and follow the pattern for that type of work.

Publication dates and retrieval dates

A retrieval date tells readers when you accessed changing content. It does not replace the publication date and appears before the URL, following the rules for the source element.

Most references do not need a retrieval date. Include one when the content is unarchived and designed to change over time, such as certain online dictionaries, social media profiles, or continuously updated maps.

A stable webpage, published article, or archived version normally does not need a retrieval date.

Example of changing content:

Example Organization. (n.d.). Current population indicator. Retrieved May 12, 2026, from https://example.com/indicator

The organization name and address are illustrative.

Several works by the same author and year

If you cite several works by the same author from the same year, add lowercase letters to distinguish them:

(2024a).

(2024b).

Assign the letters when ordering the works and use them in the corresponding citations. Review how to order works by the same author and year to assign them.

How to check the date element

• The date describes publication of the work.
• You did not use a general copyright year from a website footer.
• You included only the year or a complete date according to the work type.
• You used n.d. when no date could be identified.
• The date in the citation matches the reference.
• You added a retrieval date only for changing, unarchived content.
• You distinguished works by the same author and year with letters.

The next element is the title in an APA reference.