| Old Way (6th Edition) | New Way (7th Edition) |
|---|---|
| Running head for the title page is different than the running head for subsequent pages | Running heads are not required for student papers (p. 37) |
| A pronoun should reflect the same number as the noun it replaces | Use of singular “they” is endorsed (pp. 120-121) |
| Two spaces after a period that ends a sentence is acceptable | Use one space after a period, unless otherwise directed (p. 154) |
| Unregulated areas in capitalization for some proper nouns, science, and medical terms | There is increased guidance in this area (pp. 165-169) |
| The first in-text citation mentions up to five authors | The first in-text citation of a work by more than two authors may list only the first author, followed by “et al.” (p. 266) |
| The reference section lists seven authors of a single work | The reference section lists up to 20 authors for a single work (p. 286) |
| Book references disclosed publisher location | Book references omit publisher location (p. 295) |
| Font specifications: Times New Roman, 12-point is preferred | More flexible font specifications (p. 44) |
| DOI indicated at the end of the reference as "doi:xxxxxxx" | DOIs and URLs are presented as hyperlinks (pp. 299-300) |
| URLs preceded by "Retrieved from" | It is no longer necessary to include "Retrieved from" before a URL (p. 299) |
| Lengthy URLs not addressed | When a DOI or URL is long or complex, a shortDOI or shortened URL is permitted (e.g., tinyurl, bitly, etc.) (p. 300) |
| Brief section describing types of articles (empirical studies, literature reviews, methodological articles, etc.) | Detailed descriptions of types of articles and papers (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, meta-analyses, etc.) (pp. 4-10) |
| Limited examples of online source types | Many examples of online sources, including podcasts, various report types, mobile apps, TED talks, webinars, etc. (chapter 10) |
| One sample paper provided | Sample professional paper (pp. 50-60) and sample student paper (pp. 61-67) are provided; student paper template is available on the APA Style website |
| Brief section of guidelines on reducing bias | Entire chapter dedicated to bias-free language guidelines (chapter 5) |
This table is adapted from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/apa-style-updates/ and includes additional information gleaned from side-by-side comparison of the 6th and 7th editions.