APA Style Guide: In-Text Citations and Reference Formatting

APA (American Psychological Association) Style is a citation and formatting standard widely used in psychology, education, social sciences, and increasingly in health sciences. APA uses author-date in-text citations (e.g., Smith, 2021) linked to a reference list at the end of the manuscript. The 7th edition (2020) is the current standard and requires DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for all works that have one. APA style covers not only citations but also manuscript formatting (margins, spacing, headings, figure captions), promoting consistency and clarity across scholarly communication.