CiteFast › APA
APA citation generator
APA 7th edition references and in-text citations for web pages, journal articles, books, videos and ChatGPT. Paste a link or DOI, check the fields, copy.
Your citation types itself here as you fill in the form — or auto-fill it above.
Formatting runs in your browser. Auto-fill uses Crossref (DOI), Open Library and Google Books (ISBN) and the page’s own metadata (URL). Always check against the source.
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0 / 50Citations you save are filed here — the last 50, kept only in this browser. Nothing is uploaded.
The APA 7 reference pattern
Almost every APA reference follows Author. (Date). Title. Source. Author names are reduced to initials, the year sits in brackets right after them, and titles of articles and web pages use sentence case. What gets italicised depends on whether the work stands alone:
- Stand-alone works — books, reports, web pages, videos: the title is italic.
- Parts of a larger whole — journal and news articles: the title is plain, and the journal or newspaper name (plus the volume number) is italic.
APA examples by source type
| Source | Example |
|---|---|
| a website | World Health Organization. (2023, October 12). Climate change and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health |
| a book | Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. |
| a journal article | Watson, J. D., & Crick, F. H. C. (1953). Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature, 171(4356), 737–738. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0 |
| a YouTube video | Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. (2014, July 1). The immune system explained I – bacteria infection [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQGOcOUBi6s |
| ChatGPT | OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (GPT-6 version) [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com |
| a newspaper article | Woodward, B., & Bernstein, C. (1972, June 19). GOP security aide among five arrested in bugging affair. The Washington Post, A1. |
APA in-text citations
Every reference needs a matching in-text citation with the author’s last name and the year. Add a page number for direct quotes: (Kahneman, 2011, p. 45). Our in-text citation guide has an interactive slider that shows how the rules change as the number of authors grows.
For the rest of the paper — title page, headings, margins and the reference page — see the APA format guide.
APA citation questions
Is this APA 7th edition?
Yes. CiteFast follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020): no publisher location, DOIs as https://doi.org links, up to 20 authors listed, and “Retrieved from” only when content is designed to change.
How do I cite a source with no date in APA?
Write (n.d.) where the year would go: World Health Organization. (n.d.). In the text: (World Health Organization, n.d.).
When do I use et al. in APA?
In the text, for any source with three or more authors: (Nguyen et al., 2024). In the reference list, list every author up to 20.
What is the difference between parenthetical and narrative citations?
A parenthetical citation puts the author and year in brackets at the end of the sentence: (Kahneman, 2011). A narrative citation works the author into the sentence: Kahneman (2011) argues…
How should my APA reference list be formatted?
Title it “References” (bold, centred), alphabetise by first author’s last name, double-space everything and use a 0.5-inch hanging indent. The “Copy References” button in your card drawer does the sorting and the hanging indent for you.