APA 7th

About APA 7th referencing

The American Psychological Association (APA) style covers several aspects of scholarly writing, including referencing. We recommend the use of the 7th edition as this is the most up-to-date version, providing greatest coverage of a wide range of referencing examples.

APA Style uses:

• author-date in-text citations and 
• a reference list to acknowledge sources.

Manuals and resources

• The official published manual for APA 7th is Publication manual of the American Psychological Association : the official guide to APA style. (7th ed.). (2020). American Psychological Association (Print)
• For online help you can also refer to the APA Style website, Academic Writer tool and blog.
• The University of Sydney Library's Guide to APA 7th Referencing Style

Quick links

Start with these tutorials:

• Understand why we reference and how to avoid plagiarism
• Learn how to make APA 7th in text citations
• Learn how to make APA 7th references
• Learn how to format an APA 7th reference list

Next, learn more about:

• in-text citations including:
  • paraphrasing
  • how to cite a specific part of a source (e.g. page, chapter, table, figure)
• reference lists including:
  • elements of a reference (e.g. author, date, title, source)
  • what to do when information you need for a reference is missing.

Further APA 7th reference examples

• AI tools like ChatGPT
• Clinical practice references (including UpToDate articles, Cochrane reviews and drug information)
• Reports (including annual reports)
  • learn how to reference reports
  • example report references
  • how to reference reports created by a database (e.g. IBISWorld)
• Personal communications including;
  • interviews, live speeches, and letters
  • traditional knowledge or oral traditions of Indigenous Peoples – note that we also recommend reviewing the guidance produced by CAVAL, an organisation representing Australian Libraries ‘Indigenous Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges’
• Case studies
  • When a case study is its own independent document, APA advise using the grey literature format (Section 10.4 in the Manual), with the case study number (if available) in brackets after the title. For example: Joseph, D., Lim, W.-K., & Chun, C. T. (2018). Evie.ai: The rise of artificial intelligence, and the future of work (Case Study NTU226). Harvard Business Review. https://store.hbr.org/product/evie-ai-the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-work/NTU226
• Legal material 
  • While the APA provides some legal reference examples, these focus on the United States of America. We recommend using AGLC4 referencing for Australian legal sources.
• University study materials
  • If you are referencing these for an assessment, make sure you are allowed to use class materials as information sources for that unit’s assessments.
  • If the materials are openly accessible (e.g. on YouTube), simply follow the APA guidance and examples for that type of work.
  • If the materials are on Canvas or a company’s intranet, but your intended audience can still access them, see this PowerPoint slides example on how to use a source like Canvas in your reference entry.
  • If your intended audience can’t access the materials, cite them as personal communication and do not include a reference list entry.
• Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) standards
  • APA guidance on referencing ISO standards can be adapted for accounting standards.
  • For the publication date the issue date will be the most relevant and this can be found on the AASB Standards website. 
  • Use APA guidance on Group Author Abbreviations.
  • For example, in the reference list: Australian Accounting Standards Board. (2021). Consolidated financial statements (AASB Standard No.10). https://aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB10_07-15_ACOMPdec21_01-22.pdf.
  • For example, in-text: (Australian Accounting Standards Board, 2021).

What to do if something is not covered in the manual 

While APA 7th is used across many disciplines, there aren’t specific referencing rules for every type of information source. When this happens, you can use the basic principles outlined in the manual to create a reference entry for any type of work.

Additional faculty support

Architecture, Design and Planning (ADP) students

Learn how to properly acknowledge visual materials, code, and 3D models by watching ADP-specific videos in your Academic Skills Portal.