APA 7 vs APA 6: Key Differences You Need to Know

The transition from APA 6th to 7th edition brought significant changes that affect how you format citations and references.

Major Changes in APA 7

1. Author Listings

APA 6: List up to 7 authors, then use ellipsis

APA 7: List up to 20 authors before using ellipsis

2. Publisher Location

APA 6: Include publisher city and state

APA 7: No longer required—just the publisher name

3. DOI Formatting

APA 6: doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx

APA 7: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

4. Running Head

APA 6: Required for all papers

APA 7: Only required for professional papers, not student papers

In-Text Citation Changes

The et al. rule has been simplified:

3+ authors: Use et al. from the first citation

No more distinguishing between first and subsequent citations for works with 3-5 authors

Transitioning Your Work

If you're updating a manuscript from APA 6 to APA 7:

Update all DOI formats

Remove publisher locations

Check author listings exceed 20

Verify et al. usage

CiteOrbit supports both APA 6 and APA 7 style checking, making it easy to ensure compliance with your target journal's requirements.