September 21, 2017
The 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association appeared in 2001, and the 6th edition in 2010. While most APA-style publications now rely on the 6th edition, the 5th edition still has its adherents, particularly with respect to documentation style—our focus in this post.
For this reason, Edifix offers both APA 5th and APA 6th editorial styles, and we’ll discuss below how it can be helpful in each case.
APA 5th ed., like previous editions, lists all authors when there are up to 6 and uses “et al.” after author #6 when there are 7 or more.
APA 6th ed., recognizing that in some disciplines the last author may be the main and/or corresponding author, lists all authors when there are up to 6 and uses a modified ellipsis between author #6 and the last author, rather than using “et al.,” when there are 7 or more.
No. of authors | APA 5 | APA 6 |
---|---|---|
<6 | Dunford, R., Izzo Hunter, S., & Rosenblum, B. | Dunford, R., Izzo Hunter, S., & Rosenblum, B. |
6 | Gebhard, C., Blake, E., Dunford, R., Golfman, I., Rosenblum, B., & Dames, J. | Gebhard, C., Blake, E., Dunford, R., Golfman, I., Rosenblum, B., & Dames, J. |
≥7 | Blake, E., Rosenblum, B., Dunford, R., Izzo Hunter, S.,Gebhard, C., Dames, J., et al. | Blake, E., Rosenblum, B., Dunford, R., Izzo Hunter, S.,Gebhard, C., Dames, J., . . . Seifert, J. |
APA 5th ed., like previous editions, requires a retrieval date and a URL in any reference to a source accessed online. For references to online journals, the name of the database where you accessed the journal (e.g., PsycInfo, JSTOR, Project MUSE) is required.
APA 6th ed. makes several changes to how online sources are cited in the References:
APA Style’s guidance on DOI link display was updated in March 2017, in line with the current Crossref DOI Display Guidelines.
While APA 6th ed. recommends displaying DOI links in the following format:
DOI:10.2307/3549761
current best practice is to display DOI links in URL format:
https://doi.org/10.2307/3549761
APA 5th ed., like previous editions, recommends using the city name only when the city is well known for publishing (e.g., New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco).
APA 6th ed., recognizing that the above standard is somewhat arbitrary and may not be useful to authors and editors outside the United States, gives the following recommendations (§6.30):