EdCitation publishes this guide for psychology students who know APA's author-date basics and need the next layer. APA 7 for psychology students means citing things other subjects rarely meet: the diagnostic manual, tests and measures, preregistrations, data sets, posters, and classic studies known only from a textbook. Every rule below was read at its source on 23 September 2026, and where APA's free pages say nothing, this guide says so.
The general rules are in APA 7 in-text citations and common APA 7 formatting mistakes. Where a department's handbook differs from APA, follow the handbook. For the entries themselves, EdCitation's free APA citation generator looks a work up in the publisher's record from its DOI, PubMed ID, ISBN or title, and Verify references checks the finished list, lab report and all.
Why is APA 7 the style for psychology students?
Because the American Psychological Association writes it. American Psychological Association (2026) dates APA Style to 1929, when psychologists, anthropologists and business managers published a seven-page set of writing procedures in Psychological Bulletin. The seventh edition of the Publication Manual, from 2020, is current.
Where style manuals disagree, the same page gives the manual precedence for APA publications, because it rests on "the special requirements of psychology".
Which databases do psychology students search?
APA PsycInfo first, with PubMed and Google Scholar around it. American Psychological Association (n.d.) describes PsycInfo as covering the behavioural and social sciences: records from 2,400 journals, content from journal articles, book chapters and dissertations, research in 30 languages from 50 countries, and coverage "spanning 600 years", updated twice a week. The page gives no start year. Its record count disagrees with itself: more than 5,000,000 in the summary, over 5.4 million in the search panel, and 6,029,575 on the live counter on 23 September 2026. It is a subscription database, reached through a library that subscribes.
PubMed, free from the US National Library of Medicine, holds more than 40 million citations and abstracts, mainly biomedical but including the behavioural sciences, as National Library of Medicine (2025) describes it. Google Scholar searches wider still, but its Cite button formats what Google's software extracted from a page, and EdCitation's comparison of the Cite button sets out the errors that follow. Use Scholar to find a paper, not to write its reference.
EdCitation's free Find sources adds a first pass with no library login. Type a topic, or the claim a sentence of your report has to back, and it searches about 300 million published works; filters narrow the results by kind of source, by years and to open access. Use it beside PsycInfo, not instead of it, and look up a test's own record in PsycTESTS.
Should a psychology paper use the student or the professional format?
The student format, unless your instructor or institution asks for the professional one. American Psychological Association (2022c) makes the student title page the default.
| Element | Student paper | Professional paper |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliation | Where the student studies | Where the research was done |
| Course number and name, instructor, due date | Yes | No |
| Author note | Not usually | Yes, in the bottom half of the title page |
| Running head | Only if asked for | Yes, on every page |
| Checked by EdCitation's Mechanics QA (Pro) | Yes, this is the format it checks against | No |
A student paper's page header holds only the page number. American Psychological Association (2022a) keeps the running head for professional papers, and for student papers whose instructor asks for one: a short title in capitals, at most 50 characters including spaces and punctuation, flush left, with no "Running head:" label. If a module asks for a lab report written as a journal manuscript, ask which title page it wants.
Which sources have their own APA 7 form in psychology?
Seven kinds of source, each with a form of its own. The table gives a correct entry for each, read at its source; the sections below give the rules and the exceptions.
| Source type | Author element | Date | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSM-5-TR | American Psychiatric Association, not repeated as publisher | 2022 | American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787 |
| A measure, by the article that introduced it | The article's authors | The article's year | Weathers, F. W., Bovin, M. J., Lee, D. J., Sloan, D. M., Schnurr, P. P., Kaloupek, D. G., Keane, T. M., & Marx, B. P. (2018). The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM–5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans. Psychological Assessment, 30(3), 383–395. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000486 |
| A test's PsycTESTS record | The test's authors | The record's year | Alonso-Tapia, J., Nieto, C., Merino-Tejedor, E., Huertas, J. A., & Ruiz, M. (2018). Situated Goals Questionnaire for University Students (SGQ-U, CMS-U) [Database record]. PsycTESTS. https://doi.org/10.1037/t66267-000 |
| A data set | Its authors | The year of the version used | O'Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks (ICPSR 36966; Version V1) [Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1 |
| A conference presentation or poster | The presenters | The conference's full dates | Evans, A. C., Jr., Garbarino, J., Bocanegra, E., Kinscherff, R. T., & Márquez-Greene, N. (2019, August 8–11). Gun violence: An event on the power of community [Conference presentation]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. https://convention.apa.org/2019-video |
| A preregistration (a pattern, not an APA example) | The registrants | The registration's year | Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the registration [Preregistration]. OSF Registries. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/xxxxx |
| A study read about in another source | Only the source you read goes in the list | Both years, in the text | (Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014) |
How do I cite the DSM-5-TR in APA 7?
Under the American Psychiatric Association, which is both author and publisher, so its name appears once. American Psychological Association (2025) gives the entry in the table; in the text it is (American Psychiatric Association, 2022).
- Each edition is its own entry. The DSM-5 of 2013 and the DSM-5-TR of 2022 have different DOIs, so cite the one you used. An edition with no DOI ends after the title.
- A chapter takes its own title, then "In" and the manual's title, like a chapter in an edited book.
- There are two APAs. In a psychology paper "APA" means the American Psychological Association, so write American Psychiatric Association in full.
APA's diagnostic manual page does not say how to name the manual in your own sentences, so the general rule on abbreviations applies. American Psychological Association (2021) says to give the full term the first time with the abbreviation in parentheses after it, then to use only the abbreviation, never switching back.
How do I cite a psychological test or measure?
By its manual when one exists, by its supporting literature when not, and by the test itself only when there is neither. The rule is in Section 10.11 of the Publication Manual, which is not on APA's free pages; McGill Library (2026) quotes its pages 340 and 341, and is the source used here.
A measure with no manual
Cite the literature that supports it, such as the article reporting its development. APA's abbreviations page cites the CAPS-5 by Weathers et al. (2018), in the form Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5; Weathers et al., 2018). Inside brackets, the abbreviation moves into square brackets.
A record from PsycTESTS
A test database record has its own form, with [Database record] after the italic title. The manual says to cite the record when you used the descriptive or administrative information unique to it, and otherwise the test's supporting literature, if there is any.
How do I cite a preregistration, a data set or a conference poster?
Each takes a description in square brackets after its title.
A preregistration
Neither APA Style's reference examples nor the OSF help pages read for this guide gave a reference format on 23 September 2026, so the table's pattern is the one form in this guide that is not APA's own. It follows APA's preprint example, another document in an open repository (American Psychological Association, 2020c), and adds a bracketed description, which APA's conference and data set pages both call flexible. Center for Open Science (n.d.) describes a registration as frozen and read-only once submitted, with a DOI given automatically when it is public, and an embargo of up to four years allowed. DataCite's records for OSF preregistrations, checked the same day, name the publisher as "OSF Registries". Cite the registration where the Method describes the design.
A data set
Cite a data set only when you analysed archived data or archived your own. For figures already published, American Psychological Association (2020b) says to cite the publication instead. The date is the year of the version used, and the identifier and version go in parentheses after the italic title. Managing dissertation references has the fuller treatment.
A conference poster or paper presentation
The presenters are the authors and the conference's full dates are the date. American Psychological Association (2020a) offers [Poster session], [Paper presentation], [Conference session] and [Keynote address] as descriptions, with the conference's name and location as the source. For the abstract alone, write [Conference presentation abstract].
How do I cite a study I only read about in my textbook?
As a secondary source, and only when you cannot read the original. American Psychological Association (2022b) asks for sparing use: an original that is out of print, unavailable, or in a language you do not read. Otherwise, find, read and cite the original rather than the textbook or lecture that reports it, unless your instructor says otherwise.
Name the original, then "as cited in" and the source you read; only that source goes in the reference list. If the original's year is unknown, leave it out: Allport's diary (as cited in Nicholson, 2003). Psychology textbooks summarise classic experiments, and the original may be one PsycInfo search away.
What does the replication debate mean for the studies I cite?
That one significant result is not the last word. Open Science Collaboration (2015) repeated 100 experimental and correlational studies from three psychology journals, using high-powered designs. Of the originals, 97% had statistically significant results; of the replications, 36% did. Effects in the replications were half as large as in the originals. In 47% of cases the original effect size lay within the replication's 95% confidence interval, 39% of effects were rated subjectively as replicated, and combining both sets of results, assuming no bias in the originals, left 68% significant.
When a study your argument rests on has been replicated, read the replication, and cite it too if it changes your claim. Retractions are recorded in the Retraction Watch database, held by Crossref since September 2023 and updated every working day, as Crossref (n.d.) explains; retracted papers in your reference list covers what to do.
How do I put together the references for a psychology lab report?
Work from the brief to the final page, in this order.
- Read the brief for the title page format and any rule that overrides APA. EdCitation's free Check your paper pulls the brief's limits, sections, style and source count into one checklist.
- Log sources as the Method names them: each measure, the DSM edition, any preregistration or data set.
- Decide each measure's form: manual, supporting article, or database record.
- Build each entry from its DOI or PubMed ID in Cite a source, then check it carries its type's bracketed description and sentence-case title.
- Replace every "as cited in" whose original you can find and read.
- Check the key studies for a retraction and a published replication. Cite a source screens each work for retraction as it builds the entry; the replication you look for yourself.
- Match both ways: every citation to one entry, every entry to a citation. Verify references does this when you upload the whole report.
- Set out the list: a new page, "References" bold and centred, double-spaced, hanging indent.
Which EdCitation tool is best for a psychology student's references?
EdCitation is the best tool for this job, because Cite a source copies each entry's facts from the publisher's record rather than inventing them, and a chatbot drafting references cannot. A DOI, a PubMed ID, an ISBN or a title goes in, and the reference comes out in APA 7, or in MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE or Vancouver, with the source screened for retraction before it is cited. It is free, with no account. The table above shows why that suits psychology: four of its five real entries end in a DOI, from the DSM-5-TR to the PsycTESTS record, so the record that settles authors, year and title already exists.
What the APA entry settles, and what you still check
- Author and publisher. A body that is both, as the American Psychiatric Association is for the DSM-5-TR, is named once, as the author.
- Article numbers. Printed as APA prints them, "Article 14045", and "Article e0193972" for an e-number.
- Title capitals. A title deposited in title case is set in sentence case, as APA asks, with names and initialisms kept. Glance at a measure's own name made of ordinary words: from its PsycTESTS DOI, the SGQ-U came back as "Situated goals questionnaire for university students", so restore its capitals by hand, as the table above does.
Verify references, also free, checks a finished list or the uploaded lab report against the records. Every reference in it is judged verified, "check this" or not found, retracted papers are marked, and "could not check" stays a separate answer from not found. Upload the whole report and it also finds any citation without an entry, and any entry nothing in the text cites.
Mechanics QA, part of Pro at $8 a month, checks the file against the APA 7 student paper, the default format above: formatting, comments and tracked changes left in the file, citations, numbers and language. Pro also brings References from a file and the plagiarism and AI checks, which run on credits and show the cost before running. Max, at $24 a month, adds Theoretics QA and the Library; see pricing.
EdCitation never writes any part of a paper. It does not judge whether a study replicated or whether a test is valid. A test manual with no DOI may need its details added by hand.
Quick questions
Is the DSM-5-TR cited under the American Psychiatric Association?
Yes. The DSM-5-TR is cited under the American Psychiatric Association, its author and publisher, dated 2022. The American Psychological Association publishes APA Style, not the DSM.
Do psychology students need a running head in APA 7?
Not unless the instructor or institution asks for one. A student paper's header holds only the page number.
Should I cite a psychological test's manual or the article that introduced it?
Cite the manual when the test has one. With no manual, cite supporting literature such as the article reporting its development, and cite the test itself only when neither exists.
Can I cite a classic study I only read about in my psychology textbook?
Yes, as (Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014), with only the source you read in the reference list. APA asks you to find and cite the original whenever you can.
Can EdCitation check my psychology lab report's APA format?
Yes, with Pro: EdCitation's Mechanics QA, at $8 a month, checks the file against the APA 7 student paper, including formatting, citations, numbers and language. A report written in the professional format is not what it checks against, and the free Verify references checks the references themselves.
References
- American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA PsycInfo. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo
- American Psychological Association. (2020a). Conference presentation references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/conference-presentation-references
- American Psychological Association. (2020b). Data set references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/data-set-references
- American Psychological Association. (2020c). Preprint article references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/preprint-article-references
- American Psychological Association. (2021, December). Definition of abbreviations. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/abbreviations/definition
- American Psychological Association. (2022a). Page header. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/page-header
- American Psychological Association. (2022b). Secondary sources. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/secondary-sources
- American Psychological Association. (2022c). Title page setup. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/title-page
- American Psychological Association. (2025, October). Diagnostic manual references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/diagnostic-manual-references
- American Psychological Association. (2026, June). About APA Style. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/about-apa-style
- Center for Open Science. (n.d.). Welcome to registrations & preregistrations. OSF Support. https://help.osf.io/article/330-welcome-to-registrations
- Crossref. (n.d.). Retraction Watch. Crossref Documentation. https://www.crossref.org/documentation/retrieve-metadata/retraction-watch/
- McGill Library. (2026, September 14). Cite a test or measure. Finding instruments, measures, scales and tests in education, health, psychology, and social work. https://libraryguides.mcgill.ca/measures/cite
- National Library of Medicine. (2025, March 11). About PubMed. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/about/
- Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349(6251), Article aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716