Notable Changes and Differences between APA 6th and 7th Edition

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Notable Changes and Differences between APA 6th and 7th Edition

Introduction

The term APA is an abbreviation for the American Psychological Association. The APA referencing style is one of the styles used for acknowledging other resources used, especially in research work. It is used in Social sciences, which includes fields like psychology, education, etc.

APA referencing style has had several reforms since its inception and the decision to venture into publications. As an association, they were brought to the public notice in 1952 when they began publishing. Every new edition has had its new addition and upgrade over the years to provide solutions to academic researchers, writers, communicators, scholars, etc.

Having released their latest edition in October 2019, the 7th edition, the aim was to correct notable and obvious errors in the 6th edition. The APA 7th edition was released, containing special features that the 6th edition lacked.

Every time an upgrade is done on something, there is always a new addition, features that a previous one lacked. The APA 7th edition has features that amplify the need for simplicity, clarity as it is the association’s uniqueness.

List of Differences between the APA 6th and 7th Edition

The 6th edition was discovered to have several errors that required change and correction. The association found it a platform to provide even more solutions for its users. A blog and even a website were developed to help users answer commonly asked questions.
The 7th edition has the following provisions
A student title page
Student paper format
A journal article containing quality and quantitative report standard for mixed research.
A bias-free language guide for all possible users including communicators.
Classroom website sources
Classroom course pack materials
Shortened in-text citation format for easy reading and to enable easy accessibility, considering users with cognitive disabilities.
Student-friendly examples

In the 6th edition, some of the changes made are mostly the method of citing numerous authors of one work in a text and a few other changes. These changes are:
Website names: The APA 6th edition did not contain the names of websites, title pages or reports. The 7th edition came with the difference and included webpages titles, the organization hosting the webpage, and reports.

Citation of up to 20 authors in a reference list, with surnames appearing first.
Publication location was considered irrelevant from the 7th edition. Users of the APA referencing style may no longer include a city or location of publication when making a reference list. In the 6th edition, this information was not excluded.

Use of “et al”: This is used for in-text citation of up to two, three or more authors of a work. The first author’s surname appears first, followed by “et al”, which means “and others” in Latin and the date of publication in brackets.
DOI format: The term DOI means “digital object identifier”. The DOI in the 6th edition referencing is usually indicated before the number, the DOI in the 7th edition is completely omitted.

Also Read: Example of 7th Edition APA Reference Style

E-book: In the 6th edition, there is an inclusion of the e-book format and the omission of a publisher but the 7th edition omits the e-book format, platform and includes a publisher.

Referencing of many authors: In the 6th edition, the referencing of many authors is indicated by stating the surnames of up to the 6th author, then uses an ellipsis then mentions the name of the last author.
Retrieval: In the 6th edition of the APA style, the term “retrieved from” is used before a URL on a list. While in the 7th edition, the term “retrieved from” is completely omitted when referencing a site.

Example of Many authors referencing list -APA 6th and 7th Edition

Caleb, A. E, Felix, D., Maxwell J. A., Andrew, J., William, E. A., Adams S. A., … Willy, A.
This pattern was used in the 6th edition, but then revised in the APA 7th edition. In the 7th edition, the surnames of all the authors must be mentioned. These names are all mentioned even if up to 20 authors author a book.

In conclusion, the APA 6th and 7th editions carry obvious relevant changes. These changes are made to make work and users of the APA style easier. It is also seen that the forms and different formats used in the 6th edition were all reduced or omitted to highlight the simplicity that the APA style is commonly known for.

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