APA 6 and 7 Comparison Tables of Changes
These comparison tables offer highlights of some changes between APA 6 and APA 7. Note that
these are not comprehensive tables of all changes between the two editions.
Citations
Topic APA 6 (location and old guideline) APA 7 (location and new guideline)
In-text citation
format for
three or more
authors
Table 6.1: In in-text citations of
sources with three to five authors,
list all authors the first time, then
use et al. after that; for sources with
six or more authors, use et al. for all
citations.
8.17 (Table 8.1): In in-text citations,
use et al. for all citations for sources
with three or more authors.
Direct
quotations
from
audiovisual
works
No guidance in the manual itself
(only on the APA Style Blog).
8.28: To quote directly from an
audiovisual work, include a time
stamp marking the beginning of the
quoted material in place of a page
number.
Dates listed in
secondary
source
citations
6.17: Secondary source does not
include the date of the original
source.
8.6: Secondary source citation
includes the date of the original
source.
References
Topic APA 6 (location and old
guideline)
APA 7 (location and new
guideline)
Number of author names listed
in a reference
6.27: Provide surnames and
initials for up to seven
authors in a reference entry.
If there are eight or more
authors, use three spaced
ellipsis points after the sixth
author, followed by the final
9.8: Provide surnames and
initials for up to 20 authors in
a reference entry. If there are
21 or more authors, use the
ellipsis after the 19th,
followed by the final author
name (no ampersand).
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author name (no
ampersand).
Reference format when
publisher and author are the
same
7.02: When a work’s
publisher and author are the
same, use the word “Author”
as the name of the publisher
in its reference entry.
9.24: When a work’s
publisher and author are the
same, omit the publisher in
its reference entry.
Issue numbers for journal
articles in references
6.30; see also 7.01: Include
issue number when journal
is paginated separately by
issue.
9.25: Include issue number
for all periodicals that have
issue numbers.
Publisher location 6.30: Provide publisher
location (city, state, etc.)
before publisher name.
9.29: Do not include
publisher location (city, state,
etc.) after publisher name in a
reference.
Reference for online work
with no DOI
6.32: If an online work has
no DOI, provide the home
page URL of the journal or
of the book/report publisher.
9.34: If an online work (e.g.,
a journal article) has no DOI
and was found through an
academic research database,
generally, no URL is needed.
The reference will look just
like the print version.
Hyperlinks in DOI and URL
formatting
6.32: DOI begins with either
“doi:” or with
“https://doi.org/” in
references. The
recommendation that URLs
should be in plain black text,
not underlined, follows
examples from APA 6 and
the APA Style Blog.
9.35: Both DOIs and URLs
should be presented as
hyperlinks (beginning with
“http://” or “https://”).
Standardize DOIs as starting
with “https://doi.org/”. In
documents to be read online,
use live links.
Blue/underlined or plain
black text, not underlined, are
both acceptable.
URL retrieval information in
references
7.01: URLs include a
retrieval phrase (e.g.,
“Retrieved from”).
9.35: The words “Retrieved
from” or “Accessed from” are
no longer necessary before a
URL. The only time the word
“Retrieved” (and not
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“Retrieved from”) is needed
is in those rare cases where a
retrieval date is necessary
(see p. 290, 9.16).
Website name in references for
online media
Chapter 7: List the URL but
not the website name in the
publication information.
10.15-10.16: Include the
name of the website in plain
text, followed by a period,
before the URL.
Avoiding Bias
Topic APA 6 (location and old guideline) APA 7 (location and new guideline)
Singular
usage of
“they”
APA_6___7_Comparison_Tables_of_Changes
3.12: No mention of singular human
pronouns other than traditional,
binary “he” and “she” and their
related forms.
4.18: Use singular “they” and related
forms (them, their, etc.) when (a)
referring to a person who uses “they”
as their preferred pronoun (b) when
gender is unknown or irrelevant.
Disability 3.15: Use person-first language. 5.4: Both person-first and identityfirst language “are fine choices
overall” (p. 137). Okay to use either
one until you know group preference.
Gender and
noun/pronoun
usage
n/a: No guidance. 5.5: Use individuals’ preferred names
and pronouns even if they differ from
official documents, keeping in mind
concerns about confidentiality.
Race and
ethnicity–
Latin@
n/a: No guidance. 5.7: “Latin@” for Latino and Latina
can be used to avoid “Latino,” which
is gendered.
Race and
ethnicity–
Latinx
n/a: No guidance. 5.7: “Latinx” can be used to include
all gender identities.
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General Formatting/Mechanics
Topic APA 6 (location and old
guideline)
APA 7 (location and new guideline)
Italics vs.
quotation marks
4.07: Use italics to highlight a
letter, word, phrase, or sentence as
a linguistic example (e.g., they
clarified the distinction between
farther and further).
6.07: Use quotation marks to refer to
a letter, word, phrase, or sentence as
a linguistic example of itself (e.g.,
they clarified the difference between
“farther” and “further”).
Numbers 4.31: Numbers in the abstract of a
paper should be expressed as
numerals.
6.32: Use numerals for numbers 10+
for all sections of the paper including
the abstract (numbers in abstracts
now follow general APA number
rules).
Numbers
expressing time
4.31: Although numerals should be
used for numbers that represent
time (among other things) even if
below 10, the number should be
spelled out if it refers to an
approximate amount of time (e.g.,
about three months ago).
6.32: Numbers representing time are
written as numerals, not spelled out,
regardless of whether the time is
exact or approximate (e.g. “about 7
weeks,” “3 decades,” or
“approximately 5 years ago”).
Punctuation for
bulleted lists
within a
sentence
3.04: For bulleted lists within a
sentence (i.e., when each list item is
a word or phrase, not a complete
sentence), use punctuation after
each list element in the same way
you would if the sentence had no
bullets (i.e., commas or semicolons
as appropriate and a period after the
last item).
6.52*: For bulleted lists within a
sentence, there is the option to either
(a) use no punctuation after any of
the list items, including the last, or
(b) use punctuation after each
bulleted item in the same way you
would if the sentence had no bullets
(as was the case in APA 6). The
manual suggests that using no
punctuation may be more appropriate
for lists of shorter, simpler items.
*Note: The term “seriation” does not
appear in APA 7 and has been
replaced by “lists” (see 6.50 for
lettered lists, 6.51 for numbered lists,
and 6.52 for bulleted lists).
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Spacing after
punctuation
marks
4.01: Recommendation to space
twice after punctuation marks at the
end of sentences to aid readers of
draft manuscripts.
6.1: Insert only one space after
periods or other punctuation marks
that end a sentence.
Preferred
spellings of
technology
terms
Based on how words were written
in 6th edition manual, not explicit
examples of spelling, preferred
spellings were as follows: “e-mail,”
“Internet,” and “web page.” 4.12
indicates spelling should conform
to standard American English as in
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary.
6.11: Commonly used technology
terms are listed and should be spelled
as follows: “email,” “internet,” and
“webpage.”
Use of
abbreviations in
headings
n/a: No guidance in manual; On the
archived sixth edition APA Style
Blog, APA experts recommended
not using abbreviations in headings.
(see post titled “Can I use
abbreviations in headings?”)
6.25: Abbreviations can be used in
headings if they were previously
defined in the text (but cannot be
defined in the heading itself), or if
the abbreviation is exempt from
needing definition because it appears
as a term in the dictionary.
Acceptable
fonts
8.03: The preferred typeface is
Times New Roman, 12-point.
2.19: A variety of fonts are
acceptable, with focus on
accessibility for readers. APA
accepts sans serif fonts such as
Calibri 11, Arial 11, and Lucida Sans
Unicode 10, as well as serif fonts
such as Times New Roman 12,
Georgia 11, and Computer Modern
10. Note: Per our institutional
requirement, Walden doctoral
capstones should use Times New
Roman 12. Walden coursework
templates also use Times New
Roman 12, but the other APAendorsed fonts are also acceptable in
Walden coursework.
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Paper-Specific Formatting
Topic APA 6 (location and old guideline) APA 7 (location and new guideline)
Paper title
length
2.01: Recommended title length is no
more than 12 words.
2.4: No prescribed limit for title
length (though recommendation for
conciseness).
Title
formatting
2.1: Title in regular type (not bold). 2.4: Title in bold type.
There is an institutional variation for
titles in doctoral capstone documents
(i.e., dissertations, doctoral studies,
or projects): The title is in plain type.
Doctoral capstone students should
refer to the APA 7 template for their
program posted on the Doctoral
Capstone Form and Style Programs
page after June 1 to see this Walden
institutional variation in place.
Heading
levels 3,4,
and 5
formatting
3.03: Levels 3, 4, and 5 are all
indented and sentence case.
2.27-2.28: Levels 3, 4, and 5 are all
title case. Level 3 is now flush left,
while 4 and 5 remain indented.
Tables and Figures
Topic APA 6 (location and old guideline) APA 7 (location and new guideline)
Tables 5.1 and 5.16: Table number is plain
type, table title is title case and set in
italics; see Sample Tables 5.1 to
5.16.
7.2 and 7.24: Table number is bold; table title
is title case and set in italics. See Sample
Tables 7.2 to 7.24.
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Figures 5.1 and 5.12: Figure number and
caption are on same line and are
placed below the figure; see Sample
Figures 5.1 to 5.12.
7.2-7.21: Figure number and caption are on
separate lines and are placed above the figure,
and the style matches that for tables: Figure
number is bold, figure caption is title case and