APA Citation Guide

APA style was developed by the American Psychological Association and is now in its 7th edition, published in 2019. It provides a standardized framework for scholarly writing and citation that emphasizes clarity, precision, and the ethical attribution of sources.

APA is the dominant citation style in psychology, education, and the social sciences. It is also widely required in nursing, business, and communication programs at universities worldwide.

APA uses an author-date in-text citation system (e.g., Smith, 2023) and places emphasis on the recency of sources. The reference list is organized alphabetically, and the format includes specific rules for DOIs, URLs, and retrieval dates.