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Reference guide (APA 7)

This guide shows how you cite different types of sources. It is based on the APA 7 style (American Psychology Association)

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About this reference guide

APA 7 referencing style will be introduced to new students at Hanken during the academic year 2023-2024. The library will continue to offer support in the Harvard style for those who wish to continue using it.

This reference guide is intended for writing theses and other written assignments at Hanken. The guide is based on the 7th edition of the American Psychological Association writing guide (hereafter called APA 7). If you prefer to use the Harvard system, see Hanken reference guide (Harvard).

We have collected examples of how to cite different types of sources. If you are citing a type of source not found in this guide, try to apply the citation rules of a closely related type of source. You can also find help in these guides on which this guide is based. Regarding questions related to language and style, check with the guides that cover linguistic aspects of academic writing. For technical presentation and layout of written assignments, see Hanken Formatting guide for academic texts.

Note that some of the examples in this guide are fictional.

If you use the Oxford system (with footnotes) for referencing, see the University of Oxford's OSCOLA-guides.

If you wish to use a reference management tool, learn more about it in the guide for Reference management software.

 

Creative Commons-licens  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Main differences between Harvard and APA 7 reference styles

If you are used to the Harvard system but wish to start using APA 7 instead, the main differences between the two are reflected in the following aspects:

  • How to handle sources with multiple authors
  • When to add a date for using an online source
  • No need to add place of publication in the reference list
  • Can be implemented in Mendeley
  • Consistent use of et al.
  • How you cite is connected to who your audience is and whether the audience can access the source
  • No need to add Available or Available from before the URL in the reference list.
  • DOI number should always be used in the reference list when a source has one. The format for the DOI is https://doi.org/...
  • When citing an e-book, the format or platform is not added, but add the publisher instead.
  • The entries in the reference list do not end with a full stop if a DOI/URL are added at the end.

If you wish to continue using the Harvard system, see the Hanken reference guide (Harvard).

Sources for this guide

American psychological association (2020). Concise guide to APA style: the official APA style guide for students. 7th edition. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000173-000

American psychological association (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 7th edition. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Jönköping University (n.d.). University LibGuides: APA - referenshantering. https://guides.library.ju.se/apa

Karolinska institutet, Universitetsbiblioteket (2022). Referensguide för APA 7. https://kib.ki.se/skriva-referera/skriva-referenser-apa-vancouver/referensguider/referensguide-apa-7

Korpela, E. (19.3.2015). Lain nimessä. [blog post]. Kielikuraattori. https://kielikuraattori.wordpress.com/tag/lakiin-viittaaminen/

Karolinska Institutet, University library (2022). Reference guide for APA 7. https://kib.ki.se/en/write-cite/writing-references-apa-vancouver/reference-guides/reference-guide-apa-7

Lee, C. (04.05.2017). What’s in a name? Two-part surnames in APA style [Blog post]. APA style blog. https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/05/whats-in-a-name-two-part-surnames-in-apa-style.html

Morningside University (2022). APA Citations (7th ed.). https://morningside.libguides.com/APA7

Svenska handelshögskolan (n.d.). Reference guide. http://blogg.hanken.fi/referensguide/en/about-the-reference-guide/