What if an author has no first name listed?

Use the organization name or screen name in the author field. For anonymous works, start the citation with the title.

How do I format a citation with multiple authors?

Enter each author as "Last, F. M." separated by semicolons (e.g., "Smith, J. A.; Lee, K. B."). The tool formats up to 20 authors correctly.

What if there is no publication date?

Leave the year field blank and the tool inserts "(n.d.)" as required by APA 7th edition.

Are DOIs required for journal articles?

A DOI is preferred when available. If there is no DOI, a stable URL is acceptable. Leave both blank if neither is available.

Can I cite an article in press?

Enter "in press" in the year field. The tool will pass it through as-is in the parenthetical date position.

How do I write an APA in-text citation?

Use the author's surname and the year: (Smith, 2020), or Smith (2020) in a sentence. Two authors are (Smith & Lee, 2020), and three or more are (Smith et al., 2020). For a direct quote add the page: (Smith, 2020, p. 15). This tool builds the reference list entry, so write the in-text part from the same author and year.

Can it fill in the details from a URL, DOI or ISBN?

No. You type each field yourself, which keeps the result exactly as you entered it. Copy the author names, year and title from the source, and paste the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link.

Citation Generator APA

Enter source details to instantly generate a properly formatted APA 7th edition citation.

An APA 7 reference follows the pattern Author, A. A. (Year). Title. Source.

Source Type

Author(s) (Last, F. M.; separate with semicolons)

Publication Year (leave blank for n.d.)

Title

Edition

Publisher

DOI or URL (optional)

APA 7th Edition Citation

Fill in the fields on the left to generate your citation.

APA 7 Format Reference

Book Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Publisher.

Journal Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Vol(Iss), pp. https://doi.org/...

Website Author, A. A. (Year, Month D). Title. Site Name. URL

Video Channel. (Year, Month D). Title [Video]. Platform. URL

Quick answer

An APA 7 reference follows the pattern Author, A. A. (Year). Title. Source. Enter the details and the generator puts them in that order with the right punctuation and italics for the source type.

Examples

Source	APA 7 pattern
Book	Author, A. A. (2020). Title of book (2nd ed.). Publisher.
Journal article	Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2021). Title of article. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/…
Web page	Author, A. A. (2024, May 2). Title of page. Site Name. URL
YouTube video	Channel Name. (2023). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL

Pick the source type, fill in the fields and copy the formatted reference.

Summary

This APA citation generator follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Enter the source details and receive a formatted reference entry you can copy directly into your bibliography. Supports books, journal articles, websites, and YouTube or other online videos.

How it works

Select the source type: Book, Journal Article, Website, or Video.
Fill in the available metadata fields (author, title, year, etc.).
The citation updates in real time as you type.
Click "Copy Citation" to copy the formatted reference to your clipboard.
Paste the citation into your reference list or bibliography.

Use cases

Cite a textbook or academic book in a research paper.
Reference a peer-reviewed journal article in an essay.
Create a citation for a webpage or online article.
Cite a YouTube video or online lecture for academic work.
Build a bibliography for a thesis or dissertation.
Quickly format references for class assignments.
Verify the correct APA 7 format for a source type.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-05-29 · Reviewed by Nham Vu