The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a writing style and citation format that is used primarily in the social sciences and college and university settings. It is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which provides guidelines for writing and formatting research papers, articles, and other academic works.
APA style is characterized by its use of parenthetical citations, which include the author's last name and the year of publication. For example, (Smith, 2023). In-text citations are placed at the end of the sentence or phrase that is being cited.
APA style also includes a reference list, which is a list of all of the sources that are cited in the paper. The reference list is placed at the end of the paper, and it is formatted according to the APA style guidelines.
APA style is widely used in the social sciences, including psychology, sociology, education, and communication. It is also used in some other disciplines, such as business and nursing.