Capella University cites in APA Style, seventh edition. The Capella Library calls APA "the standard citation format at Capella", and its APA Help guide, updated on 27 July 2026, names the seventh-edition Publication Manual as the book that holds the rules. Capella's library adds one rule of its own: how to cite what you found in the courseroom.
EdCitation is not affiliated with Capella University; this follows its public library guide, checked on 2 October 2026. Every Capella page below was read that day and is linked under References with its own date. The Writing Center's APA pages open only after the campus sign-in, so we did not read them and say nothing about them.
EdCitation's free Cite a source builds APA 7 entries from a DOI, an ISBN or a web address, and Verify references checks each is real; the last section quotes both on Capella's own examples.
Which APA format does Capella University use?
The seventh edition of APA Style. Asked how to format an APA citation, the Capella University Library (2024b) answers that APA is the standard at Capella and sends students to its APA Help guide. That guide says the seventh-edition manual holds "all of the rules and guidelines" for papers and citations (Capella University Library, 2026b). It links the Writing Center's APA pages, APA's own Style and Grammar Guidelines and, behind the student login, the Publication Manual online and APA's Academic Writer.
Where Capella's own pages disagree
The Writing Center's public FAQs are older. Its page on which edition Capella uses, last updated on 24 May 2017, says the sixth, "as of April 2017", and tells students to check with their instructors or the Faculty Expectations document when a new edition appears (Capella University Writing Center, 2017c). APA has since published the seventh, which the library's 2026 guide follows, so the library wins.
Read the other 2017 and 2018 FAQs the same way: their DOIs, book entries, reference page title and third heading level all follow the sixth edition, and the table below, with the note under it, gives APA 7's form for each.
Does Capella FlexPath use different APA rules?
Not on any public Capella page we read. The library's guides and both sets of FAQs describe one APA standard, and none mentions FlexPath. If a FlexPath assessment's instructions name a format or a template, they decide; Check your paper reads instructions like these into a checklist, free.
How do you cite courseroom materials at Capella?
In a course paper, cite them like any other source: in the text and in the reference list. The Capella University Library (2024a) says that is acceptable when everyone in the course has access to the same materials. Its examples make Capella University the author with "n.d." as the date: Capella University (n.d.) in a sentence, (Capella University, n.d.) in parentheses. For someone quoted inside a Capella video, the library writes "as cited by"; APA's wording is "as cited in".
Outside Capella the rule changes: anything only Capella learners, faculty and staff can open becomes a personal communication, cited in the text only, or left out. The library points to section 8.8 of the seventh-edition manual, and APA's page on classroom or intranet sources agrees: a source in a learning management system can be cited in a class assignment, because the instructor and classmates can retrieve it, and is a personal communication for a wider audience. The Writing Center's 2019 copy of this answer gives the sixth edition's section 6.20 instead (Capella University Writing Center, 2019).
APA adds one detail Capella's examples leave out: when a system needs a login, give its home or login page instead of the work's own address. Two of the three addresses in Capella's examples asked us to sign in on 2 October 2026; the Interprofessionalism video opened without one.
Capella's courseroom example, in APA 7
The library prints its video example with "Retrieved from" before the address, a sixth-edition habit; APA's page on DOIs and URLs says those words are not needed. In APA 7, Capella's example becomes:
Capella University. (n.d.). Interprofessionalism [Video]. http://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/NHS8700/Interprofessionalism/NHS8700_interprofessionalism.asp
Keep the rest as Capella has it. In the library's multimedia example, "Riverbend city" should keep its capital C, as a proper name does in sentence case.
What are Capella's APA rules, and where does each come from?
They are APA 7's rules, plus Capella's courseroom rule and a few warnings, each from the page and date shown.
| Rule | What Capella's page says | Capella page | APA 7 today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Style and edition | APA, the standard; the seventh-edition manual holds the rules | Library FAQ, 26 September 2024; APA Help, 2026 | Same |
| Edition, older page | Sixth "as of April 2017"; ask instructors when a new one appears | Writing Center FAQ, 24 May 2017 | Seventh |
| Courseroom source, course paper | In the text and the reference list, Capella University as author, n.d. | Library FAQ, 5 September 2024 | Same (section 8.8) |
| Courseroom source, published work | Personal communication, not in the list | Library FAQ, 5 September 2024 | Same |
| Before a URL | "Retrieved from" | Library FAQ, 5 September 2024 | Leave it out |
| DOI | "DOI: 10.1177/…" | Writing Center FAQ, 22 May 2017 | https://doi.org/… |
| Book | Place, colon, publisher | Writing Center FAQ, 22 May 2017 | Publisher only |
| List title and layout | "References", centred, plain; hanging indent, double spacing, A to Z | Writing Center FAQ, 22 May 2017 | Title bold; rest the same |
| In-text | Surname and year; "&" in parentheses | Writing Center FAQ, 16 February 2018 | Same; three or more authors take "et al." from the first citation |
| Secondary source | List the work you read; "as cited in" | Library guide, 2026 | Add the original's year if known |
| Database citations | Check them; EBSCO's DOI links are "generally incorrectly formatted" | Library guide, 2026 | DOI as https://doi.org/… |
| Building each entry | Academic Writer, or a database's cite button, then check it | Library guides, 2026 | Cite a source builds APA 7 from the record, free |
The APA column is from APA's pages on book references, reference list setup, the author-date system and secondary sources. On headings, the 2018 FAQ (Capella University Writing Center, 2018c) indents the third level; APA 7 sets it flush left in bold italic. Our APA 7 in-text citations guide has the rest.
What does a Capella reference list look like in APA 7?
Like this: three real sources in APA 7 and Capella's courseroom pattern, double-spaced in your paper, with a 0.5-inch hanging indent, under "References" in bold and centred.
In the text:
- One author, in a sentence: Mezirow (2003) describes transformative learning as a kind of reasoning particular to adults.
- Five authors, in parentheses: prior knowledge can help or hinder new learning (Ambrose et al., 2010).
- The courseroom video: (Capella University, n.d.).
The reference list:
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.
Capella University. (n.d.). Interprofessionalism [Video]. http://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/NHS8700/Interprofessionalism/NHS8700_interprofessionalism.asp
Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344603252172
Two are Capella's own examples, corrected. The Capella University Writing Center (2017a) book example orders the authors differently from the publisher's page, which gives Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett and Norman; it also leaves the title out of italics and Lovett without a middle initial.
To build a list like this:
- Read your course's Faculty Expectations and the assignment for the edition and any template.
- Build each entry from its DOI, ISBN, title or web address in EdCitation's Cite a source, set to APA 7.
- Write courseroom entries by hand on Capella's pattern.
- Check any entry a library database made for you, above all its DOI.
- Set the list alphabetically, double-spaced, with a hanging indent.
- Paste it into Verify references and settle each entry marked "check this".
Database citations, persistent links and secondary sources
The Capella University Library (2026c) tells students to double-check every citation a database generates against the APA manual, and its EBSCO page warns that EBSCO's DOI links are generally formatted wrongly (Capella University Library, 2026a).
The library's persistent links guide explains that many database addresses are session links that stop working (Capella University Library, 2026e). Keep the persistent link for finding the article again, not for the reference: APA ends the entry for a database article with no DOI after the page range.
On secondary sources, the Capella University Library (2026d) says to find the original first; failing that, list the work you read and cite the original "as cited in" it. APA adds the original's year when you know it.
Which EdCitation style is closest for Capella, and what do you change by hand?
APA 7, at Cite a source. It is the style Capella asks for, so nothing needs converting. What is left by hand is what no publisher's record holds:
- Courseroom material, on Capella's pattern above.
- Authors a catalogue record leaves out: our ISBN run below came back with one author of five.
- A web page's author and date, which you correct in the form before the entry is built.
- Group authors a record holds twice over, as the Institute of Medicine report below shows.
What did EdCitation return on Capella sources?
EdCitation is the right tool for a Capella reference list because it looks every entry up in the publisher's record and never writes one, which no chatbot can promise; the Mezirow entry below came straight from the journal's DOI record. Cite a source builds six styles, APA 7 among them, from a DOI, title, PubMed ID, ISBN or web address, and screens each source for retraction. Verify references marks each entry verified, "check this" or not found, and never shows "could not check" as "not found". Both are free, with no account. EdCitation finds, cites and checks sources; every word of the paper stays the student's own. The outputs are quoted as plain text; the tool sets the italics.
Cite a source on a DOI, an ISBN and a web page
For 10.1177/1541344603252172, the article in Capella's journal example, Cite a source returned correct APA 7, with the "DOI:" prefix and the hyphenated page range gone:
Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344603252172
For ISBN 9780470484104, the book in Capella's example, it returned from the Open Library record:
Ambrose, S. A. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.
The place of publication is gone, as APA 7 asks, but the record names Ambrose alone: add the other four authors by hand.
For the library's courseroom FAQ, by its address, it read the title and the site, Capella FAQs, but no author or date:
How do I cite Capella media or tutorials from the courseroom or materials authored by Capella that are not available outside of Capella? (n.d.). Capella FAQs. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://capella.libanswers.com/library/faq/125231
We corrected the form (Capella University Library as an organisation author, the page's own date), and it became correct APA 7:
Capella University Library. (2024, September 5). How do I cite Capella media or tutorials from the courseroom or materials authored by Capella that are not available outside of Capella? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/library/faq/125231
For 10.17226/12956, the Institute of Medicine's 2011 nursing report, the entry began with two group authors: "Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine & Institute of Medicine. (2011)." The National Academies Press page suggests Institute of Medicine alone; shorten it.
Verify references on Capella's own examples
We pasted Capella's journal, book and secondary-source examples exactly as printed, and our corrected FAQ and Institute of Medicine entries.
- Mezirow, in Capella's sixth-edition form: verified, "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches."
- Ambrose and colleagues, in Capella's form: verified, "Title, author and year match a library catalogue record." It said nothing about the order of the authors; check that against the publisher's page.
- "James, T. K. (2005). Transitions in pop music. Culture Today Journal, 25, 73-98.": not found, "No publisher's or registry's record matches this reference." The library sets it in an imagined scenario, so copy its shape, never the entry.
- The FAQ page: verified, "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
- The Institute of Medicine report: verified, "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches."
Verify references checks that a source is real, not its format. Format is the job of Mechanics QA, part of Pro at $8 a month, which checks formatting and the reference list against the APA 7 student paper; References from a file, also Pro, matches every in-text citation to the list. Max, at $24 a month, adds Theoretics QA, which judges a paper against its own assignment. See pricing.
Quick questions
Does Capella use APA 6 or APA 7?
APA 7, as the library's APA Help guide says; a Writing Center FAQ from 2017 still says the sixth.
Can I put courseroom materials in my Capella reference list?
Yes, in a course paper everyone in the course can check, with Capella University as author and "n.d." as the date. For work published outside Capella, cite them as personal communications, in the text only.
Does Capella have an APA template?
A 2018 Writing Center FAQ links one, but the link did not open for us on 2 October 2026 and its fallback needs the campus sign-in. The library's APA Help guide points to APA's templates in Academic Writer.
Does Capella FlexPath have its own citation rules?
None of the public Capella pages we read sets any. Follow the assessment's own instructions, which Check your paper reads into a checklist for free.
Can EdCitation build Capella references in APA 7?
Yes. EdCitation's Cite a source builds APA 7 from a DOI, ISBN, title, PubMed ID or web address, free; courseroom material is written by hand on Capella's pattern.
References
- Capella University Library. (2024a, September 5). How do I cite Capella media or tutorials from the courseroom or materials authored by Capella that are not available outside of Capella? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/library/faq/125231
- Capella University Library. (2024b, September 26). How do I format a citation in APA style? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/library/faq/103257
- Capella University Library. (2026a). APA citations from EBSCO databases. Automated Citations from the Library Databases. https://capellauniversity.libguides.com/apa/Ebsco
- Capella University Library. (2026b). APA help. Library Guides at Capella University. https://capellauniversity.libguides.com/APA_help
- Capella University Library. (2026c). Automated citations from the library databases. Library Guides at Capella University. https://capellauniversity.libguides.com/apa
- Capella University Library. (2026d). Citing secondary sources in APA style. Library Guides at Capella University. https://capellauniversity.libguides.com/APACiteSecondary
- Capella University Library. (2026e). Persistent links and DOIs. Library Guides at Capella University. https://capellauniversity.libguides.com/DOI
- Capella University Writing Center. (2017a, May 22). How do I write references in APA format? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/192143
- Capella University Writing Center. (2017b, May 22). How should an APA reference list be formatted? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/192149
- Capella University Writing Center. (2017c, May 24). What edition of the APA manual does Capella use? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/192186
- Capella University Writing Center. (2018a, February 16). Do you have an APA-formatted template? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/220122
- Capella University Writing Center. (2018b, February 16). How do I format an APA in-text citation? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/220130
- Capella University Writing Center. (2018c, February 16). How do I format headings in APA style? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/220133
- Capella University Writing Center. (2019, June 14). How should I cite course materials that are not available outside of Capella? Capella FAQs. https://capella.libanswers.com/writingcenter/faq/238566