Is the passive voice allowed in APA Style?

Yes, it’s perfectly valid to write sentences in the passive voice. The APA language guidelines do caution against overusing the passive voice, because it can obscure your meaning or be needlessly long-winded. For this reason, default to the active voice in most cases.

The passive voice is most useful when the point of the sentence is just to state what was done, not to emphasize who did it. For example, “The projector was mounted on the wall” is better than “James and I mounted the projector on the wall” if it’s not particularly important who mounted the projector.

Frequently asked questions: APA Style

How do I format a footnote in APA Style?: APA footnotes use superscript numbers and should appear in numerical order. You can place footnotes at the bottom of the relevant pages, or on a separate footnotes page at the end:

For footnotes at the bottom of the page, you can use your word processor to automatically insert footnotes.

For footnotes at the end of the text in APA, place them on a separate page entitled “Footnotes,” after the reference page. Indent the first line of each footnote, and double-space them.

For both approaches, place a space between the superscript number and the footnote text.
Should I use footnotes in APA Style?: APA Style requires you to use APA in-text citations, not footnotes, to cite sources.

However, you can use APA footnotes sparingly for two purposes:

Giving additional information

Providing copyright attribution
Do I need to use the serial (Oxford) comma in APA Style?: Yes, APA language guidelines state that you should always use the serial comma (aka Oxford comma) in your writing.

This means including a comma before the word “and” at the end of a list of three or more items: “spelling, grammar, and punctuation.” Doing this consistently tends to make your lists less ambiguous.
Can I write in the first person in APA Style?: Yes, APA language guidelines encourage you to use the first-person pronouns “I” or “we” when referring to yourself or a group including yourself in your writing.

In APA Style, you should not refer to yourself in the third person. For example, do not refer to yourself as “the researcher” or “the author” but simply as “I” or “me.” Referring to yourself in the third person is still common practice in some academic fields, but APA Style rejects this convention.
How do I cite multiple sources by the same author in APA Style?: If you cite several sources by the same author or group of authors, you’ll distinguish between them in your APA in-text citations using the year of publication.

If you cite multiple sources by the same author(s) at the same point, you can just write the author name(s) once and separate the different years with commas, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021).

To distinguish between sources with the same author(s) and the same publication year, add a different lowercase letter after the year for each source, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021a, 2021b). Add the same letters to the corresponding reference entries.
What statistical results do you need to report according to APA style?: According to the APA guidelines, you should report enough detail on inferential statistics so that your readers understand your analyses.

Report the following for each hypothesis test:

the test statistic value

the degrees of freedom

the exact p value (unless it is less than 0.001)

the magnitude and direction of the effect

You should also present confidence intervals and estimates of effect sizes where relevant.
How many decimal places do you use in APA style?: The number of decimal places to report depends on what you’re reporting. Generally, you should aim to round numbers while retaining precision. It’s best to present fewer decimal digits to aid easy understanding.

Use one decimal place for:

Means

Standard deviations

Descriptive statistics based on discrete data

Use two decimal places for:

Correlation coefficients

Proportions

Inferential test statistics such as t values, F values, and chi-squares.
Do I need to include a URL in an APA legal reference?: No, including a URL is optional in APA Style reference entries for legal sources (e.g. court cases, laws). It can be useful to do so to aid the reader in retrieving the source, but it’s not required, since the other information included should be enough to locate it.
Should I cite laws using public law numbers in APA Style?: Generally, you should identify a law in an APA reference entry by its location in the United States Code (U.S.C.).

But if the law is either spread across various sections of the code or not featured in the code at all, include the public law number in addition to information on the source you accessed the law in, e.g.:

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5 (2009).
What tense should I write the methods section in?: You should report methods using the past tense, even if you haven’t completed your study at the time of writing. That’s because the methods section is intended to describe completed actions or research.
What should I include in an APA methods section?: In your APA methods section, you should report detailed information on the participants, materials, and procedures used.

Describe all relevant participant or subject characteristics, the sampling procedures used and the sample size and power.

Define all primary and secondary measures and discuss the quality of measurements.

Specify the data collection methods, the research design and data analysis strategy, including any steps taken to transform the data and statistical analyses.
How do I cite a court case reported in multiple publications in APA Style?: With APA legal citations, it’s recommended to cite all the reporters (publications reporting cases) in which a court case appears. To cite multiple reporters, just separate them with commas in your reference entry. This is called parallel citation.

Don’t repeat the name of the case, court, or year; just list the volume, reporter, and page number for each citation. For example:

Brown v. Collins, 541 U.S. 948, 2004 U.S. LEXIS 2215, 124 S. Ct. 1684, 158 L. Ed. 2d 377, 72 U.S.L.W. 3598 (U.S. 2004).
How do I cite a court case with no page number in APA Style?: In APA Style, when you’re citing a recent court case that has not yet been reported in print and thus doesn’t have a specific page number, include a series of three underscores (___) where the page number would usually appear:

Chicago v. Fulton, 592 U.S. ___ (2021). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-357_6k47.pdf
When should I use tables or figures to present numbers?: In APA style, statistics can be presented in the main text or as tables or figures. To decide how to present numbers, you can follow APA guidelines:

To present three or fewer numbers, try a sentence,

To present between 4 and 20 numbers, try a table,

To present more than 20 numbers, try a figure.

Since these are general guidelines, use your own judgment and feedback from others for effective presentation of numbers.
What should I include in an APA results section?: In an APA results section, you should generally report the following:

Participant flow and recruitment period.

Missing data and any adverse events.

Descriptive statistics about your samples.

Inferential statistics, including confidence intervals and effect sizes.

Results of any subgroup or exploratory analyses, if applicable.
Who is listed as the author of a podcast in APA Style?: When citing a podcast episode in APA Style, the podcast’s host is listed as author, accompanied by a label identifying their role, e.g. Glass, I. (Host).

When citing a whole podcast series, if different episodes have different hosts, list the executive producer(s) instead. Again, include a label identifying their role, e.g. Lechtenberg, S. (Producer).
How do I cite a specific passage from the Bible in APA Style?: Like most style guides, APA recommends listing the book of the Bible you’re citing in your APA in-text citation, in combination with chapter and verse numbers. For example:

(English Standard Version Bible, 2001, 1 Cor. 14:1)

Books of the Bible may be abbreviated to save space; a list of standard abbreviations can be found here. Page numbers are not used in Bible citations.
Do I need to include the Bible in my reference list in APA Style?: Yes, in the 7th edition of APA Style, versions of the Bible are treated much like other books; you should include the edition you used in your reference list.

Previously, in the 6th edition of the APA manual, it was recommended to just use APA 6 in-text citations to refer to the Bible, and omit it from the reference list.
Whom should I list as the author of a YouTube video in APA Style?: To make it easy for the reader to find the YouTube video, list the person or organization who uploaded the video as the author in your reference entry and APA in-text citation.

If this isn’t the same person responsible for the content of the video, you might want to make this clear in the text. For example:

Nisha Anand (TED, 2020) states that …
How do I cite a quote from a video or audio source in APA Style?: When you need to highlight a specific moment in a video or audio source, use a timestamp in your APA in-text citation. Just include the timestamp from the start of the part you’re citing. For example:

(TED, 2020, 1:59).
How do I quote in APA format?: To include a direct quote in APA, follow these rules:

Quotes under 40 words are placed in double quotation marks.

Quotes of 40 words or more are formatted as block quote.

The author, year, and page number are included in an APA in-text citation.
Should I include lists of my tables and figures in an APA paper?: APA doesn’t require you to include a list of tables or a list of figures. However, it is advisable to do so if your text is long enough to feature a table of contents and it includes a lot of tables and/or figures.

A list of tables and list of figures appear (in that order) after your table of contents, and are presented in a similar way.
How can I find copyright information on tables and figures from other sources?: Copyright information can usually be found wherever the table or figure was published. For example, for a diagram in a journal article, look on the journal’s website or the database where you found the article. Images found on sites like Flickr are listed with clear copyright information.

If you find that permission is required to reproduce the material, be sure to contact the author or publisher and ask for it.
Should I include tables and figures in my APA reference list?: If you adapt or reproduce a table or figure from another source, you should include that source in your APA reference list. You should also include copyright information in the note for the table or figure, and include an APA in-text citation when you refer to it.

Tables and figures you created yourself, based on your own data, are not included in the reference list.
Should I place the in-text citation before or after the period?: An APA in-text citation is placed before the final punctuation mark in a sentence.

The company invested over 40,000 hours in optimizing its algorithm (Davis, 2011).

A recent poll suggests that EU membership “would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” in a referendum (Levring, 2018).
How do I cite an indirect source in APA Style? (“as cited in”): In an APA in-text citation, you use the phrase “as cited in” if you want to cite a source indirectly (i.e., if you cannot find the original source).

Parenthetical citation: (Brown, 1829, as cited in Mahone, 2018)
Narrative citation: Brown (1829, as cited in Mahone, 2018) states that…

On the reference page, you only include the secondary source (Mahone, 2018).
Is there a tool that can order my references automatically?: Popular word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs can order lists in alphabetical order, but they don’t follow the APA Style alphabetization guidelines.

If you use Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator to create citations, references are ordered automatically based on the APA guidelines, taking into account all the exceptions.
How do I order works whose title starts with a numeral?: Order numerals as though they were spelled out:

“20 tips to relax” is ordered on the “T” of “Twenty”.

“100 cities you should visit” is ordered on the “O” of “One hundred”.

Read more about alphabetizing the APA reference page.
How do I order works that have no author?: If the author of a work is unknown, order the reference by its title. Disregard the words “A”, “An”, and “The” at the beginning of the title.

The privacy concerns around social media

Teens, social media, and privacy

Read more about alphabetizing the APA reference page.
Can I cite sources in an appendix?: Yes, if relevant you can and should include APA in-text citations in your appendices. Use author-date citations as you do in the main text.

Any sources cited in your appendices should appear in your reference list. Do not create a separate reference list for your appendices.
Do I need to number my appendices in APA Style?: When you include more than one appendix in an APA Style paper, they should be labeled “Appendix A,” “Appendix B,” and so on.

When you only include a single appendix, it is simply called “Appendix” and referred to as such in the main text.

Referring to a single appendix
(see Appendix)
Where do appendices go in an APA Style paper?: Appendices in an APA Style paper appear right at the end, after the reference list and after your tables and figures if you’ve also included these at the end.
What is an appendix?: An appendix contains information that supplements the reader’s understanding of your research but is not essential to it. For example:

Interview transcripts

Questionnaires

Raw data

Detailed descriptions of equipment

Something is only worth including as an appendix if you refer to information from it at some point in the text (e.g. quoting from an interview transcript). If you don’t, it should probably be removed.
Should I include tables and figures in the reference list?: If you adapt or reproduce a table or figure from another source, you should include that source in your APA reference list. You should also acknowledge the original source in the note or caption for the table or figure.

Tables and figures you created yourself, based on your own data, are not included in the reference list.
Should I include lists of my tables and figures?: APA doesn’t require you to include a list of tables or a list of figures. However, it is advisable to do so if your text is long enough to feature a table of contents and it includes a lot of tables and/or figures.

A list of tables and list of figures appear (in that order) after your table of contents, and are presented in a similar way.
When should I use a table or figure to present data?: In an APA Style paper, use a table or figure when it’s a clearer way to present important data than describing it in your main text. This is often the case when you need to communicate a large amount of information.

Before including a table or figure in your text, always reflect on whether it’s useful to your readers’ understanding:

Could this information be quickly summarized in the text instead?

Is it important to your arguments?

Does the table or figure require too much explanation to be efficient?

If the data you need to present only contains a few relevant numbers, try summarizing it in the text (potentially including full data in an appendix). If describing the data makes your text overly long and difficult to read, a table or figure may be the best option.
Where does the abstract go in an APA paper?: In an APA Style paper, the abstract is placed on a separate page after the title page (page 2).
How long should an APA abstract be?: An APA abstract is around 150–250 words long. However, always check your target journal’s guidelines and don’t exceed the specified word count.
What types of source are cited as a personal communication in APA Style?: In APA Style, all sources that are not retrievable for the reader are cited as personal communications. In other words, if your source is private or inaccessible to the audience of your paper, it’s a personal communication.

Common examples include conversations, emails, messages, letters, and unrecorded interviews or performances.
Should interviews be included in an APA reference list?: Interviews you conducted yourself are not included in your reference list, but instead cited in the text as personal communications.

Published or recorded interviews are included in the reference list. Cite them in the usual format of the source type (for example, a newspaper article, website or YouTube video).
How do I cite social media content in APA Style?: To cite a public post from social media, use the first 20 words of the post as a title, include the date it was posted and a URL, and mention the author’s username if they have one:

Dorsey, J. [@jack]. (2018, March 1). We’re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation, and to hold ourselves publicly [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/jack/status/969234275420655616

To cite content from social media that is not publicly accessible (e.g. direct messages, posts from private groups or user profiles), cite it as a personal communication in the text, but do not include it in the reference list:

When contacted online, the minister stated that the project was proceeding “according to plan” (R. James, Twitter direct message, March 25, 2017).
How do I cite a source with no page numbers in APA Style?: When you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a source, you need to indicate the location of the passage in your APA in-text citation. If there are no page numbers (e.g. when citing a website) but the text is long, you can instead use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two:

(Caulfield, 2019, Linking section, para. 1).

Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations, as they are unreliable.

If you are referring to the source as a whole, it’s not necessary to include a page number or other marker.
How do I cite a source with no author in APA Style?: When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g., a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and APA in-text citations.

When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.
When should I include an access date in an APA citation?: APA Style usually does not require an access date. You never need to include one when citing journal articles, e-books, or other stable online sources.

However, if you are citing a website or online article that’s designed to change over time, it’s a good idea to include an access date. In this case, write it in the following format at the end of the reference: Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/about-the-university/about-the-university.html
What is the most current edition of the APA manual?: The 7th edition APA Manual, published in October 2019, is the most current edition. However, the 6th edition, published in 2009, is still used by many universities and journals.
Where can I buy or download the APA Manual 7th edition?: The APA Manual 7th edition can be purchased at Amazon as a hardcover, paperback or spiral-bound version. You can also buy an ebook version at RedShelf.
When will people start using the 7th edition APA Manual?: The American Psychological Association anticipates that most people will start using the 7th edition in the spring of 2020 or thereafter.

It’s best to ask your supervisor or check the website of the journal you want to publish in to see which APA guidelines you should follow.
When should I include the edition in an APA book citation?: If you’re citing from an edition other than the first (e.g. a 2nd edition or revised edition), the edition appears in the reference, abbreviated in parentheses after the book’s title (e.g. 2nd ed. or Rev. ed.).
Do I need to include the publisher’s location in an APA book citation?: In the 7th edition of the APA manual, no location information is required for publishers. The 6th edition previously required you to include the city and state where the publisher was located, but this is no longer the case.
Should I include the exact publication date or just the year in an APA journal citation?: In an APA reference list, journal article citations include only the year of publication, not the exact date, month, or season.

The inclusion of volume and issue numbers makes a more specific date unnecessary.
When should I include a DOI or URL in an APA journal citation?: In an APA journal citation, if a DOI (digital object identifier) is available for an article, always include it.

If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a database or in print, just omit the DOI.

If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a website other than a database (for example, the journal’s own website), include a URL linking to the article.
How many authors do I include in an APA reference list entry?: You may include up to 20 authors in a reference list entry.

When an article has more than 20 authors, replace the names prior to the final listed author with an ellipsis, but do not omit the final author:

Davis, Y., Smith, J., Caulfield, F., Pullman, H., Carlisle, J., Donahue, S. D., James, F., O’Donnell, K., Singh, J., Johnson, L., Streefkerk, R., McCombes, S., Corrieri, L., Valck, X., Baldwin, F. M., Lorde, J., Wardell, K., Lao, W., Yang, P., . . . O’Brien, T. (2012).
How do I format a DOI in APA Style?: Include the DOI at the very end of the APA reference entry. If you’re using the 6th edition APA guidelines, the DOI is preceded by the label “doi:”. In the 7th edition, the DOI is preceded by ‘https://doi.org/’.

6th edition: doi:10.1177/0894439316660340

7th edition: https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316660340

APA citation example (7th edition)

Hawi, N. S., & Samaha, M. (2016). The relations among social media addiction, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in university students. Social Science Computer Review, 35(5), 576–586. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316660340
What does an APA in-text citation for a website look like?: When citing a webpage or online article, the APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication. For example: (Worland & Williams, 2015). Note that the author can also be an organization. For example: (American Psychological Association, 2019).

If you’re quoting you should also include a locator. Since web pages don’t have page numbers, you can use one of the following options:

Paragraph number: (Smith, 2018, para. 15).

Heading or section name: (CDC, 2020, Flu Season section)

Abbreviated heading: (CDC, 2020, “Key Facts” section)
When should I include a page number in an APA in-text citation?: Always include page numbers in the APA in-text citation when quoting a source. Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole – for example, an entire book or journal article.

If your source does not have page numbers, you can use an alternative locator such as a timestamp, chapter heading or paragraph number.
How do I cite a source with an unknown author or publication date in APA?: No author

Instead of the author’s name, include the first few words of the work’s title in the in-text citation. Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, and reports.

No publication date

If the publication date is unknown, use “n.d.” (no date) instead. For example: (Johnson, n.d.).
When should I use “et al.” in APA in-text citations?: The abbreviation “et al.” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors. Here’s how it works:

Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).
What font and font size is used in APA format?: APA Style papers should be written in a font that is legible and widely accessible. For example:

Times New Roman (12pt.)

Arial (11pt.)

Calibri (11pt.)

Georgia (11pt.)

The same font and font size is used throughout the document, including the running head, page numbers, headings, and the reference page. Text in footnotes and figure images may be smaller and use single line spacing.
How do I set up APA format in Word?: The easiest way to set up APA format in Word is to download Scribbr’s free APA format template for student papers or professional papers.

Alternatively, you can watch Scribbr’s 5-minute step-by-step tutorial or check out our APA format guide with examples.
How do I cite in APA format?: You need an APA in-text citation and reference entry. Each source type has its own format; for example, a webpage citation is different from a book citation.

Use Scribbr’s free APA Citation Generator to generate flawless citations in seconds or take a look at our APA citation examples.
Who uses APA Style?: APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.
Should I include page numbers on every page?: Yes, page numbers are included on all pages, including the title page, table of contents, and reference page. Page numbers should be right-aligned in the page header.

To insert page numbers in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, click ‘Insert’ and then ‘Page number’.