How to Create an APA Citation
- Choose the source type: website, book or journal article.
- Enter each author as First Middle Last, or tick group author for an organization.
- Add the title. Sentence case is applied for you, so fix proper nouns if needed.
- Enter the publication date, website name and the URL or DOI.
- Copy the APA 7 reference and use the parenthetical or narrative in-text citation.
Choose the source type: website, book or journal article. Then enter the authors, one per line, followed by the year, title and publication details. The reference and both in-text citations update instantly as you type.
Click Add to reference list for each source and the tool keeps them in alphabetical order. When you finish, copy the whole list with its References heading, or copy a single reference as plain text.
The preview keeps italics, so selecting the text in the panel and pasting it into Microsoft Word or Google Docs preserves the formatting. Nothing is stored online; this free APA citation generator needs no account.
APA 7 Reference Format
APA 7, the 7th edition of the Publication Manual, uses an author-date system. Every reference follows the same order: who wrote it, when it was published, what it is called, and where to find it.
- Website: Doe, J. (2025, April 14). How rain gardens reduce urban flooding. Green City Guide. https://www.greencityguide.org/rain-gardens
- Book: Nguyen, T. H. (2021). Designing for climate resilience (2nd ed.). Northfield Press.
- Journal article: Doe, J., & Patel, R. K. (2023). Urban heat and tree canopy. Journal of Urban Ecology, 9(2), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.1234/jue.2023.012
These three sample sources show the full pattern. A web page or book has its title in italics, followed by the site name or publisher. The publication year sits in parentheses straight after the authors.
For a journal article, the article title stays plain, and the journal name and volume are italic. The issue number follows in parentheses, then the page range with an en dash, then the DOI link.
In-Text Citations: Parenthetical and Narrative
Each source cited in your paper needs an in-text citation that points to its reference. A parenthetical citation puts the author and year in brackets, while a narrative citation names the author in your sentence.
| Authors | Reference list | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doe, J. | (Doe, 2025) | Doe (2025) |
| 2 | Doe, J., & Patel, R. K. | (Doe & Patel, 2023) | Doe and Patel (2023) |
| 3 to 20 | List every author, & before the last | (Doe et al., 2023) | Doe et al. (2023) |
| 21 or more | First 19, an ellipsis, then the last author | (Doe et al., 2023) | Doe et al. (2023) |
| Group | World Health Organization. | (World Health Organization, 2024) | World Health Organization (2024) |
Two authors are joined with an ampersand inside parentheses and with the word and in running text. For three or more authors, use the first surname plus et al. from the very first citation onward.
For a group author, such as a government agency, charity or company, tick the group author box. The generator then keeps the full, unabbreviated organization name in both the reference entry and the in-text citation.
Key APA 7 Rules the Generator Applies
The generator handles the small formatting details that often cost students marks. Knowing the rules still helps, because you should always review each finished reference before submitting, especially titles that contain proper nouns or acronyms.
- Authors appear as surname, then initials with periods; Jean-Paul becomes J.-P.
- DOIs are written as https://doi.org/ links, with no Retrieved from.
- When a group author and website name match, the site name is left out.
Sentence case capitalizes only the first word, the first word after a colon and proper nouns. The converter keeps words with several capitals, like COVID-19, but you must capitalize place names such as Toronto yourself.
Journal names keep title case, so every major word starts with a capital. If a title is already correct, untick the sentence case box and the generator leaves your capitalization exactly as you typed it.
Missing Authors, Dates and Page Numbers
With no author, simply leave the author box empty. The title moves into the author position, and the in-text citation uses a shortened title of up to four words, italic for books and web pages.
With no date, leave the year blank and the generator writes n.d. in both places, for example (Nguyen, n.d.). If only the year is known for a web page, simply skip the month and day.
A direct quote needs a page number after the year, such as (Doe, 2025, p. 12), while a paraphrase does not. Add the page number to the copied in-text citation by hand when you quote.
Formatting the Reference List
Start the reference list on a new page with the bold, centered References heading. All entries are double-spaced, in alphabetical order by the first author's surname, and each one uses a 0.5 inch hanging indent.
List only sources you actually cited, and cite every source you list. For the same author in the same year, add a letter after the year, such as 2025a and 2025b, then ordered by title.
Type that letter into the Year box and the generator keeps it in both the reference and the in-text citation. The APA Style reference examples show dozens of other source types in the same format.
APA 6 vs APA 7: What Changed
APA 7 replaced APA 6, and its Publication Manual carries a 2020 date. It lists up to 20 authors per reference, and 21 or more use the first 19, an ellipsis, then the final author.
Books no longer need the publisher location, DOIs are formatted as links, and most URLs drop the words Retrieved from. A student paper also no longer needs a running head unless your instructor requests one.
Accurate citations protect you from accidental plagiarism, and the Purdue Online Writing Lab covers wider paper formatting such as margins, fonts and title pages. Always check your instructor's requirements, since some courses change these defaults.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between APA 6 and APA 7 references?
APA 7 lists up to 20 authors instead of 7, drops the publisher location for books, formats DOIs as https://doi.org/ links and removes the words Retrieved from before most URLs.
How do I cite a website with no author in APA?
Leave the author box empty. The title moves to the author position and the in-text citation uses a shortened title in italics, for example (How rain gardens reduce, 2025), followed by the year.
How do I cite a source with no date?
Leave the year empty. The reference and the in-text citation both use n.d., which means no date, for example (Doe, n.d.). Add a retrieval date only for pages designed to change over time.
When do I use et al. in APA 7?
Use et al. in every in-text citation of a source with three or more authors, starting with the first citation. The reference list still names every author, up to 20 of them.
Is the in-text citation different for two authors?
Yes. Use an ampersand inside parentheses, (Doe & Patel, 2023), and the word and in running text, Doe and Patel (2023). Both authors are named every time you cite the work.
Is using a citation generator plagiarism?
No. A citation generator only formats the details of sources you actually used. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or ideas without credit, so citing correctly is how you avoid it.