Most students will be asked to use APA 7 for referencing at some point in their studies. One common query we get is about rules for DOIs. A DOI is a unique string of letters and numbers used to identify an article or ebook. It is more reliable and permanent than a URL and assigned to online journal articles by the journal’s publisher.  

For example, if you saw the below DOI on an article you were wanting to reference how would you format the DOI correctly to use in your APA 7 reference list? 

DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000002667 

APA 7 requires DOIs to be expressed as a URL, so you will need to add http://doi.org/ to the DOI for your reference to be in the correct format for APA 7. 

Steps: 

  1. Find the ‘10’—that’s where the DOI starts. 
  2. Add http://doi.org/ directly in front of the 10. 
  3. Check your new DOI in a browser and see if you arrive at your article. 

Here’s what a journal article with a DOI would look like when formatted correctly for APA 7: 

In-text citation: (Kempen, 2018) 

Reference list:  Kempen, P. M. (2018). Developing Reflective Practice. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 126(2), 721–722. https://doi.org/10.1213/ane.0000000000002667 

Writing and referencing workshops   

You can attend an online workshop to learn ways to improve your assignment writing and referencing. Upcoming workshops include Introduction to Researching on 28 April and Understanding Referencing on 5 May. 

Register for an available workshop. 

Referencing guides   

You can find referencing guides for a range of styles including APA 7, Chicago 17 (both Notes and Bibliography and Author-Date) and AGPS Harvard, on the Library website, with examples on how to quote and paraphrase in the text of your assignment and how to format reference lists.    

You can determine the referencing style for your course by checking your assignment task sheet or rubrics or alternatively asking your Course Convenor. Once you know which referencing style you need to use, refer to the referencing guides.  

The Library. Here to help.   

We are here to help; you can contact us by completing the Get help from the Library form, or get in contact via chat, phone or email.  

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