APA 7 mistakes that cost points, with a checklist
9 min read · updated 2026-10-14
Small APA 7 errors cost points for reasons that have nothing to do with your argument: "and" where "&" belongs, "et al." used wrong, missing page numbers on quotations, DOIs in an old format, "Retrieved from" left in front of URLs, reference lists out of alphabetical order, and a running head on a student title page. Each takes a minute to fix once you know to look. This guide shows each mistake wrong and then corrected, then gives a checklist for the final draft.
How APA shows up in your grade
On most rubrics, APA formatting is its own row, sometimes split into "citations" and "formatting." Instructors tend to notice the same things: the first in-text citation, the first quotation, the first few reference entries, and the title page. Get those right and the row is mostly safe.
Section numbers below are from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. If your instructor's instructions conflict with the manual, follow your instructor.
In-text citation mistakes
"and" versus "&"
Inside parentheses, join authors with an ampersand. In the running text of a sentence, use "and."
Wrong: (Lee and Park, 2021)
Right: (Lee & Park, 2021)
Wrong: Lee & Park (2021) found that
Right: Lee and Park (2021) found that
"et al." too late, too early, or misspelled
For three or more authors, use the first author's surname and "et al." from the first citation on (APA Publication Manual, 7th ed., Section 8.17). Two-author works list both names every time. "Et al." has a period after "al" and none after "et," and it is not italicized.
Wrong: (Nguyen, Castillo, & Berg, 2020) on first mention, then (Nguyen et al., 2020)
Right: (Nguyen et al., 2020) from the first mention
Wrong: (Lee et al., 2021) for a two-author work
Right: (Lee & Park, 2021)
No locator on a direct quotation
Every direct quotation needs a page number, or a paragraph number for sources without pages. Use "p." for one page, "pp." for a range, and "para." for paragraphs.
Wrong: Attendance "fell sharply in the final two weeks" (Okafor, 2021).
Right: Attendance "fell sharply in the final two weeks" (Okafor, 2021, p. 44).
Right, narrative form: Okafor (2021) reported that attendance "fell sharply in the final two weeks" (p. 44).
Paraphrases do not require a locator, though the manual encourages one when it helps the reader find the passage.
Secondary sources cited as if you read them
If you read about a study in another source and did not read the original, cite the one you read and name the original in the sentence.
Wrong: (Hale, 2009) when you only read Okafor's summary of Hale
Right: Hale (2009, as cited in Okafor, 2021) found that
Only Okafor goes in the reference list.
Group authors and abbreviations
Introduce an abbreviation the first time you cite a group author, then use the abbreviation alone.
First citation: (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2022)
Later citations: (NCES, 2022)
Several sources in one parenthesis
List them alphabetically by first author, separated by semicolons, in the same order they appear in the reference list.
Wrong: (Reyes, 2022; Delgado, 2018; Marsh, 2020)
Right: (Delgado, 2018; Marsh, 2020; Reyes, 2022)
Reference list mistakes
"Retrieved from" before a URL
APA 7 drops "Retrieved from." Give the URL on its own. Add a retrieval date only when the content is designed to change and is not archived, such as a dictionary entry or a live data dashboard.
Wrong: Retrieved from https://www.example-agency.gov/report
Right: https://www.example-agency.gov/report
With a date, when needed: Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://www.example-agency.gov/dashboard
Old DOI formats
Format every DOI as a link that begins with https://doi.org/ followed by the DOI itself. Do not write "doi:" or "DOI:" in front, and do not use the older dx.doi.org form.
Wrong: doi:10.1234/abcd.5678
Wrong: http://dx.doi.org/10.1234/abcd.5678
Right: https://doi.org/10.1234/abcd.5678
Do not put a period after a DOI or URL.
Publisher location
APA 7 no longer requires the city and state of a publisher. Give the publisher name only.
Wrong: New York, NY: Example Press.
Right: Example Press.
Capitalization and italics
Article and book titles are in sentence case: capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Book titles and journal names are italicized, and journal names are also in title case. The volume number is italicized; the issue number is in parentheses and is not.
Order, spacing, indent
The reference list is alphabetical by first author's surname, double-spaced like the rest of the paper, with a hanging indent of half an inch on every entry. When one author appears alone and also with coauthors, the single-author entries come first.
Mismatch with the text
Every source cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and every reference must be cited at least once. The one exception is personal communications, which are cited in the text only. Check both directions: body to list, then list to body.
Worked example: one entry, wrong and corrected
Here is a journal article entry with six common mistakes, followed by the corrected version. The article and authors are invented.
Wrong:
Okafor, J., Brennan, T., and Liu, M. (2021). Sleep Loss And Exam Performance In Undergraduates: A Term-Long Study. Journal Of College Health Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 40-58. Retrieved from doi:10.1234/jchr.2021.014
Right:
Okafor, J., Brennan, T., & Liu, M. (2021). Sleep loss and exam performance in undergraduates: A term-long study. Journal of College Health Research, 14(2), 40–58. https://doi.org/10.1234/jchr.2021.014
What changed: "and" became "&"; the article title moved to sentence case; the journal name kept title case but lost the capital "Of"; "Vol." and "No." were removed and the volume was italicized with the issue in parentheses; "pp." was removed and the hyphen in the page range became an en dash; "Retrieved from doi:" became the https://doi.org/ link. In your paper, the entry would also have a hanging indent.
Title page and layout mistakes
A running head on a student paper
Student papers in APA 7 do not have a running head. The title page carries a page number in the top right corner and nothing else in the header. Only professional papers use a running head, unless your instructor asks for one.
Missing title page elements
A student title page includes the paper title in bold, your name, your department and institution, the course number and name, the instructor's name, and the assignment due date, each on its own line, centered and double-spaced. The title sits three or four double-spaced lines down from the top margin, with one blank double-spaced line between it and your name. Student papers do not include an abstract unless the assignment requires one.
The first page of text
Repeat the full title at the top of the first text page, bold and centered. Do not add a heading that says "Introduction." The introduction is understood to be the opening section.
Heading levels
Level 1 headings are centered, bold, and in title case. Level 2 headings are flush left, bold, and in title case. Level 3 headings are flush left, bold, italic, and in title case. Do not skip levels.
Fonts, spacing, margins
Use one font throughout. APA 7 accepts several, including 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, and 11-point Arial. Double-space everything, including block quotations and the reference list, with no extra space between paragraphs. Margins are one inch on all sides. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch.
Block quotations
Quotations of 40 words or more are set as a block: indented half an inch from the left margin, double-spaced, with no quotation marks. The citation goes after the final punctuation of the quotation, not before it.
The References page
The reference list begins on a new page with the word "References" centered and in bold at the top.
APA 7 checklist
In-text citations
Reference list
Title page and layout
Where a tool helps and where it does not
A citation checker can catch the mechanical patterns above: an "and" inside parentheses, a missing locator after a quotation, an entry out of order, an old DOI format. OnRubric includes an APA 7 check of this kind alongside its predicted score per rubric criterion. The result is a prediction of what a grader is likely to flag, not a guarantee. A DOI lookup can flag a reference that does not resolve, but no tool can confirm that a source says what you cite it for, that a page number is right, or that your instructor wants the manual's rule rather than a course-specific one.
Start with the DOIs, the "Retrieved from" lines and the alphabetical order. Then search for every closing quotation mark and check that a page or paragraph number follows it.