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Public Health and Education - Former

A guide to search strategies and best practices for information sources relevant to the field of health promotion and education.

APA Citations

Common APA Mistakes

Here are a few common mistakes that either students or citation generators make.

  • Spelling out author's name

  • Capitalize all words in the article title

  • Incomplete page numbers

  • Incorrect capitalization for journal titles

    • Journal Of Speech

    • journal of athletic training

  • Uncapitalization after a colon

Instead of this:

Doe, John. (2019). Doe a Deer, a Female Deer: a Deer Life, Journal Of Animals, (25)3, 55.

 

Do this:

Doe, J. (2019). Doe a deer, a female deer: A deer life, Journal of Animals, (25)3, 55-85.

Summary of Changes from 6th Edition to 7th Edition

Use this chart to learn about the changes from APA 6th to APA 7th edition. 

Old Way (6th Edition) New Way (7th Edition)
Running head for the title page differs from the running head for subsequent pages. Running heads are not required for student papers (p. 37).
A pronoun should reflect the same number as the noun it replaces.  Use of singular "they" is endorsed (p. 120-121). 

Two spaces after a period that ends a sentence is acceptable. 

 Use one space after a period, unless otherwise directed (p. 154). 
Unregulated areas in capitalization for some proper nouns, science, and medical terms.  There is increased guidance in this area (pp. 165-169). 
The first in-text citation mentions up to five authors. 

The first in-text citation of a work by more than two authors may list only the first author followed by "et al." (p. 266).
The reference section lists seven authors of a single work.  The reference section lists up to 20 authors for a single work (p. 286). 
Book references included the publisher's location.  Book references omit the publisher's location (p. 295). 
Font specifications: Times New Roman, 12-point is preferred.  More flexible font specifications (p. 44). 
DOI indicated at the end of the reference as "doi:xxxxxx" DOIs and URLs are presented as hyperlinks (pp. 299-300). 
URLs preceded by "Retrieved from"  It is no longer necessary to include "Retrieved from" before a URL (p. 299). 
Lengthy URLS not addressed. When a DOI or URL is long or complex, a shortDOI or shortened URL is permitted (e.g. tinyurl, bitly, etc.) (p. 300). 
A brief section describing types of articles (empirical studies, literature reviews, methodological articles, etc.).  Detailed descriptions of types of articles and papers (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, meta-analyses, etc.) (pp. 4-10). 
Limited examples of online source types.  Many examples of online sources, including podcasts, various report types, mobile apps, TED talks, webinars, etc. (chapter 10). 
One sample paper provided.  Sample professional paper (pp. 50-60) and sample student paper (pp. 61-67) are provided; student paper template is available on the APA style website.
Brief section of guidelines on reducing bias.  Entire chapter dedicated to bias-free language guidelines (chapter 5). 

Adapted from Ursuline College APA 7th edition LibGuide. 

Additional Resources of Changes from 6th Edition to 7th Edition

Online Assistance with Citation Styles

Table of Contents for Purdue OWL APA 7th Edition Page

Tutorial: APA Citations

Practice your ability to put citations parts in the correct order.

Video: APA Citation

Video: What is Authority?

Demonstrating your depth of knowledge and understanding of authoritative sources when citing sources.

Test Your Learning: APA Citations Quiz

Take a brief quiz to test your understanding of APA citations.  Correct answers will be given as you complete the quiz.

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