APA 7th edition is the most used referencing style in social sciences, education, management and health sciences. These examples cover what most theses need.
In-text citations
| Authors | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One | (Khan, 2022) | Khan (2022) |
| Two | (Ali & Raza, 2021) | Ali and Raza (2021) |
| Three or more | (Ahmed et al., 2023) | Ahmed et al. (2023) |
| Group author | (Higher Education Commission [HEC], 2020), then (HEC, 2020) | Higher Education Commission (2020) |
For direct quotes add the page: (Khan, 2022, p. 14). Several sources in one bracket are listed alphabetically: (Ali, 2020; Khan, 2022).
Reference list examples
Journal article
Khan, S., & Ali, R. (2022). Emotional intelligence and job performance among nurses. Journal of Nursing Studies, 14(2), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
Book
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE.
Chapter in an edited book
Author, A. (Year). Title of chapter. In B. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 10–25). Publisher.
Webpage
Organisation. (2024, March 5). Title of page. Site Name. URL
Unpublished thesis
Author, A. (2021). Title of thesis [Master’s thesis, University Name]. Repository name.
Formatting the reference list
- Title “References”, centred and bold.
- Alphabetical by first author’s surname.
- Hanging indent of 0.5 inch, double spaced.
- Include DOI as a full link when available.
- Sentence case for article and book titles; italics for journal names and volume numbers.
Common mistakes
- Citation in the text but missing from the reference list (or the opposite).
- Using “et al.” in the reference list — APA 7 lists up to 20 authors.
- Mixing APA 6 and APA 7 rules (APA 7 no longer needs the publisher location).
- Different year in the text and in the reference list.
Tip: a reference manager such as Zotero or Mendeley (both free) keeps citations consistent and builds the list automatically.
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