If you’ve ever stared at a paper thinking, “I’m pretty sure APA is out to get me,” you’re not alone. 😅
The good news? Most APA style mistakes are incredibly predictable—and fixable.
This post walks you through the most common APA 7th edition errors and how to avoid them, with simple examples you can copy and use.
1. Messy In-Text Citations
a. Forgetting the year (or putting it in the wrong place)
Wrong:
(Smith, p. 25)
(Smith, 25)
Right:
(Smith, 2020, p. 25)
For paraphrasing, you usually just need author + year:
(Smith, 2020)
Smith (2020) argued that…
For direct quotes, add page or paragraph number:
(Smith, 2020, p. 25)
(Johnson, 2019, para. 4) – for online sources with no page numbers
b. Using “et al.” incorrectly
APA 7 is simple here:
- 3 or more authors → Always use et al. after the first author’s name in every citation.
Wrong:
(Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2021)
Right:
(Smith et al., 2021)
But in the reference list, you list up to 20 authors. In-text is short, and references are detailed.
c. Citation doesn’t match the reference list
If you cite (Smith, 2020) in the text, you must have a matching Smith, 2020 in your reference list.
Common mistakes:
- In-text: (Smith, 2020)
Reference: Smith, J. (2019)… (year mismatch) - In-text: (Smith & Lee, 2021)
No Smith & Lee in reference list
Fix: Before submitting, scan your paper and:
- Highlight all in-text citations.
- Check that each one appears in the reference list with the same year and spelling.
2. Reference List Problems
a. Not using hanging indents
In APA, references should:
- Be double-spaced
- Be in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name
- Use a hanging indent (first line at the left margin, next lines indented)
If your reference list looks like a block of left-aligned text, it’s wrong.
Quick fix in Word:
- Highlight the references.
- Right-click → Paragraph.
- Under Indentation, choose Hanging (0.5″).
b. Incorrect capitalization of titles
APA uses sentence case for titles of articles, books, and web pages in the reference list.
That means:
- Capitalize only:
- The first word of the title
- The first word after a colon or dash
- Proper nouns (names of people, places, organizations, etc.)
Wrong:
Smith, J. (2020). The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On College Students.
Right:
Smith, J. (2020). The effects of sleep deprivation on college students.
But journal names keep their regular capitalization:
Journal of Sleep Research
c. Forgetting DOIs or using old “doi:” format
If a source has a DOI, APA 7 wants it as a URL:
Right: https://doi.org/10.1234/abc123
Not: doi:10.1234/abc123 / DOI: 10.1234/abc123
If there’s no DOI and it’s a journal article from a regular academic database, you usually don’t need a URL. Just end the reference with the page range.
d. Mixing up online articles and web pages
Journal article (online), with DOI:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
Web page (no journal, just a site):
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Website Name. URL
Don’t format every web-based item as a “journal article.” Some are just web pages.
3. Title Page & Headings Confusion
a. Student vs professional paper
APA 7 allows for slight differences between student and professional papers.
For most student papers:
Include:
- Paper title
- Your name
- Institution
- Course
- Instructor
- Due date
No running head prefix “Running head:” (that was APA 6).
For professional papers (journal submissions):
Include:
- Title
- Author(s)
- Affiliations
- Author note (if needed)
Running head is still used (short title in caps at top).
If in doubt, follow your school, thesis manual, or instructor’s instructions.
b. Misusing heading levels
APA 7 has five heading levels, but most student papers use Levels 1–3.
Example:
Level 1 – Centered, Bold, Title Case
Methods
Level 2 – Left-Aligned, Bold, Title Case
Participants
Level 3 – Left-Aligned, Bold Italic, Title Case
Recruitment procedures
Common mistakes:
- Making everything bold and centered
- Using heading formatting for simple sentences
- Not using any headings at all in long papers
Tip:
Use headings to logically structure your paper: Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, etc.
4. Numbers, Abbreviations, and “Etc.”
a. Numbers: words or numerals?
APA’s basic rule:
- Use numerals for 10 and above: 10, 45, 300
- Use words for zero through nine: one, two, nine
But there are exceptions:
Always use numerals for:
- Ages: 3-year-old, 7 years old
- Time: 5 minutes, 2 weeks
- Dates: 3 days, 21st century
- Exact units: 3 kg, 5 mg, 4 cm
If your paper is full of mixed “Four 4-year-olds” and “six 10 year-olds,” it’s time to clean it up.
b. Overusing abbreviations (or not defining them)
If you want to use an abbreviation:
- Write the full term the first time, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses.
- Use the abbreviation alone after that.
Example:
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported…
Later, WHO also noted that…
Don’t assume the reader knows every acronym. And don’t create an abbreviation you only use once.
5. Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Plagiarism Risks
a. Missing citations for paraphrases
A very common mistake: students paraphrase a paragraph but cite only at the end of the section, or not at all.
If the ideas come from a source, they need a citation, even if you used your own words.
Example:
College students often face sleep disruption due to late-night studying, inconsistent schedules, and screen use before bed (Smith, 2020).
You don’t need a citation after every single sentence if it’s clearly the same idea from the same source, but don’t stretch this too far.
b. Quote formatting errors
Short quotes (under 40 words):
- Use quotation marks
- Keep in the paragraph
- Add page or paragraph number
“Sleep deprivation affects concentration and mood” (Smith, 2020, p. 15).
Block quotes (40+ words):
- No quotation marks
- Start on a new line
- Indent the whole block
- Still double-space
6. Formatting: Spacing, Font, and Margins
These seem small, but they’re easy points to lose.
Most common APA 7 formatting:
- Font: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode (depending on your instructor/institution)
- Spacing: Double-space everything (text, quotes, references, headings)
- Margins: 1-inch on all sides
- Alignment: Left-aligned (not justified)
- Indentation: 0.5-inch for each new paragraph
Check your reference list too—double-spacing and hanging indents are non-negotiable.
7. Titles, “APA Style,” and the Manual Itself
a. Italicizing the manual and using sentence case
When you reference the APA manual itself:
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
In-text:
(American Psychological Association, 2020)
Don’t call it “APA book” in your reference list. Use its full title.
8. A Simple Final Checklist Before You Submit
Before you send off that paper, run through this quick checklist:
- In-text citations
- Do all citations have author + year?
- Are page/para numbers included for direct quotes?
- Are 3+ authors cited as FirstAuthor et al.?
- Reference list
- Alphabetical by author’s last name?
- Double-spaced with hanging indents?
- Titles in sentence case (only first word & proper nouns capitalized)?
- DOIs formatted as URLs?
- Matches
- Every in-text citation has a reference list entry?
- No extra references that never appear in the text?
- Formatting
- Consistent font, spacing, and margins?
- Correct heading levels?
- Proper title page for student/professional requirements?
- Clarity
- Paraphrases properly cited?
- Quotes formatted correctly?
- Overuse of abbreviations avoided?
For more information, visit: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/title-page
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