Difference Between APA 6 and 7

By: | Updated: Apr-20, 2022
The contents of the Difference.guru website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this site (“Content”) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions you may have regarding your medical condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website!

In our time, the process of research has become more and more popular. This process is a method of getting information from books, articles, documents and websites. At present, the format of writing research papers is based on this principle.

It is a process of comparing one article with another one. Then you will use your knowledge to get some information about your topic. This is the most important step in this process. If you do not know how to get the right information, then you will never be able to write an effective research paper.

APA 6 APA 7
Using the phrase “retrieved from”. Does not have to use the phrase “retrieved from” when using online sources.
Has to put the publisher’s location as reference. Doesn’t have to put the publisher’s location.
Sources cited in the text. Sources can be cited in the text or on the reference list.
Published in 2009. Published in 2019.
If there are three or more authors, each author must be listed, up to six authors. Does not mention all the authors as you can directly use ‘et al’ after the name of the first author.

Difference Between APA 6 and 7

As of October 2019, the American Psychological Association has released the seventh edition of their popular citation format. It replaces the 6th edition of the Publication Manual that the association published in 2009. This is the 7th edition of apa style citation format. Some of the changes are noticeable, if not significant, compared with the 6th edition, which has been around for almost a decade.

In APA 6 style, you need to cite your sources in the text (after they are used). In APA 7 style, you can choose two ways to cite your sources: In-text citation or reference list (for citing sources that are used outside the text). The difference between these two styles lies in their structure and format.

In the 6th edition of the APA manual, you must list the names of all the authors first. Then you must put commas after each author. If there are three or more authors, each author must be listed. After that, you can add et al. after the first author. You are permitted to cite works by more than six authors. When citing works with more than six authors, you must use the words ‘et al.’ after the first author in all citations.

However, when you are creating the 7th edition of the APA, you do not have to mention all the authors. Even if you were publishing it before, and if there were more authors, you should mention all the authors. When someone writes a short essay, you can just add the words et al. after the first author.

In the 6th edition you had to put in the reference the location of the publisher of the source. If you are using apa 7, you no longer need to put that location in the reference. They can also include the country and state where the publisher is located.

The DOI is a unique string of alphanumeric characters that identifies ebooks and journals. When you upgrade to the 7th edition, DOI and link are presented as hyperlinks. So you do not need to put the label DOI on your document anymore. When you return to that URL, no longer must include data retrieved from before the URL, unless there is some sort of retrieval data that is required.

(Visited 579 times, 1 visits today)
Did this article help you?
Thank you!
Thank you!
What was wrong?