Walden University Writing Center 1

Walden University Writing Center 1

 

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”

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 identity-

first 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 APA-

endorsed 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

set in italics; see Sample Figures 7.2 to 7.21.