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APA 7th Edition (2020) The 17 Most Notable Changes

The document summarizes the major changes between the 6th and 7th editions of the APA Publication Manual. It outlines 17 notable changes, including updated guidelines for citing online sources, inclusive language, paper formatting, and mechanics of style. Key changes are citing DOIs as URLs, using the singular "they", recommending Calibri 11 font, and only including the shortened title in running heads for student papers. The generator can help cite sources according to the new 7th edition guidelines.

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243 views

APA 7th Edition (2020) The 17 Most Notable Changes

The document summarizes the major changes between the 6th and 7th editions of the APA Publication Manual. It outlines 17 notable changes, including updated guidelines for citing online sources, inclusive language, paper formatting, and mechanics of style. Key changes are citing DOIs as URLs, using the singular "they", recommending Calibri 11 font, and only including the shortened title in running heads for student papers. The generator can help cite sources according to the new 7th edition guidelines.

Uploaded by

Paul Aurellana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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APA 7th Edition (2020) | The 17 Most

Notable Changes
Published on October 11, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk. Revised on June 16, 2022

In October 2019, the American Psychological Association (APA) introduced the 7th


edition of the APA Publication Manual, which replaces the 6th edition published in 2009.

In that time a lot of things have changed. Citing online material has become more
common, the use of inclusive and bias-free language is increasingly important, and the
technology used by researchers and students has changed.

The 7th edition addresses these changes by providing better and more extensive
guidelines. This article outlines the biggest changes that you should know about.

Table of contents

1. References and in-text citations in APA Style


2. Inclusive and bias-free language
3. APA Paper format
4. Mechanics of style
5. APA 7th edition citation generator
6. Free lecture slides
7. Buying the new 7th edition APA Manual
8. Frequently Asked Questions

References and in-text citations in APA Style


When it comes to citing sources, more guidelines have been added that make citing
online sources easier and clearer.

In total, 114 examples are provided, ranging from books and periodicals to audiovisuals
and social media. For each reference category, an easy template is provided to help
you understand and apply the citation guidelines. The biggest changes in the 7th edition
are:

1. The publisher location is no longer included in the reference.

o Covey, S. R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal


change. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

o Covey, S. R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal


change. Simon & Schuster.
2. The APA in-text citation for works with three or more authors is now shortened
right from the first citation. You only include the first author’s name and “et al.”.
o (Taylor, Kotler, Johnson, & Parker, 2018)

o (Taylor et al., 2018)


3. Surnames and initials for up to 20 authors (instead of 7) should be provided in
the reference entry.

o Miller, T. C., Brown, M. J., Wilson, G. L., Evans, B. B., Kelly, R. S., Turner, S. T., . . . Lee,
L. H. (2018).

o Miller, T. C., Brown, M. J., Wilson, G. L., Evans, B. B., Kelly, R. S., Turner, S. T., Lewis,
F., Nelson, T. P., Cox, G., Harris, H. L., Martin, P., Gonzalez, W. L., Hughes, W., Carter,
D., Campbell, C., Baker, A. B., Flores, T., Gray, W. E., Green, G., . . . Lee, L. H. (2018).
4. DOIs are formatted the same as URLs. The label “DOI:” is no longer necessary.

o doi: 10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449

o https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449
5. URLs are no longer preceded by “Retrieved from,” unless a retrieval date is
needed. The website name is included (unless it’s the same as the author).

o Streefkerk, R. (2019, October 11). APA 7th edition: The most notable changes [Blog
post]. Retrieved from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-seventh-edition-changes/

o Streefkerk, R. (2019, October 11). APA 7th edition: The most notable
changes. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-seventh-edition-changes/
6. For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g. Kindle) is no longer included in
the reference, and the publisher is included.

o Brück, M. (2009). Women in early British and Irish astronomy: Stars and satellites [Kindle
version]. https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2473-2

o Brück, M. (2009). Women in early British and Irish astronomy: Stars and


satellites. Springer Nature. https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2473-2
7. Clear guidelines are provided for including contributors other than authors and
editors. For example, when citing a podcast episode, the host of the episode
should be included; for a TV series episode, the writer and director of that episode
are cited.

8. Dozens of examples are included for online source types such as podcast
episodes, social media posts, and YouTube videos. The use of emojis and
hashtags is also explained.

Inclusive and bias-free language


Writing inclusively and without bias is the new standard, and APA’s new publication
manual contains a separate chapter on this topic.
The guidelines provided by APA help authors reduce bias around topics such as
gender, age, disability, racial and ethnic identity, and sexual orientation, as well as
being sensitive to labels and describing individuals at the appropriate level of specificity.
Some examples include:

9. The singular “they” or “their” is endorsed as a gender-neutral pronoun.

o A researcher’s career depends on how often he or she is cited.

o A researcher’s career depends on how often they are cited.


10. Instead of using adjectives as nouns to label groups of people, descriptive
phrases are preferred.

o The poor

o People living in poverty


11. Instead of broad categories, you should use exact age ranges that are more
relevant and specific.

o People over 65 years old

o People in the age range of 65 to 75 years old

APA Paper format


In the 7th edition, APA decided to provide different paper format guidelines for
professional and student papers. For both types, a sample paper is included. Some
notable changes include:

12. Increased flexibility regarding fonts: options include Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida
Sans Unicode 10, Times New Roman 12, and Georgia 11.
13. The running head on the title page no longer includes the words “Running head:”.
It now contains only a page number and the (shortened) paper title.

o Running head: THE EFFECT OF GOOGLE ON THE INTERNET

o THE EFFECT OF GOOGLE ON THE INTERNET


14. The running head is omitted in student papers (unless your instructor tells you
otherwise).
15. Heading levels 3-5 are updated to improve readability.

Mechanics of style
In terms of style, not much has changed in the 7th edition. In addition to some updated
and better explained guidelines, there are two notable changes:

16. Use only one space after a period at the end of a sentence.
17. Use double quotation marks instead of italics to refer to linguistic examples.
o APA endorses the use of the singular pronoun they

o APA endorses the use of the singular pronoun “they”

APA 7th edition citation generator


With Scribbr’s free citation generator you can easily cite your sources according to the
new 7th edition guidelines. It’s accurate, fast, and easy to use. Give it a try!

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