Referencing in APA 7th Style

First in-text citation

Format (Neutral Citation)

Case name [Year] Abbreviation for Court | Case number

Format (Report Citation)

Case name [(Year)] Volume | Abbreviation for Law Report | Page number

Copy the style of brackets from the source. Include the neutral citation OR report citation - copy this directly from the source.

Components

• Case name in italics
• Year of the case or report
• Volume if relevant
• Abbreviation as applicable
• Case or page number as applicable

Examples

(Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562)

 In Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, . . . 

Subsequent in-text citation

Format

Case Name (Year)

(Case Name, Year)

Components

If you refer to the same case again, just include:

• Case name in italics
• Year of the case or report

Examples

(Donoghue v Stevenson, 1932)

 Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)

List of References entry

Format (Neutral Citation)

Case name [Year] Abbreviation for Court | Case number

Format (Report Citation)

Case name [(Year)] Volume | Abbreviation for Law Report | Page number

Copy the style of brackets from the source.

Components

• Case name in italics
• Year of the case or report
• Volume if relevant
• Abbreviation as applicable
• Case or page number as applicable

Examples

Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562

In-text citation

Format for Acts of Parliament (Westminster)

Name of Act Year of Act 

Format for Scottish Acts of Parliament

Name of Act Year of Act asp number

Components

• Name of the act
• Year of the act
• Asp number for Scottish Parliament acts

Examples

Section 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 allowed for the creation of the Scottish Parliament.

Section 1 of the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013 asp 14 laid out the question to be asked...

It is best practice to use a narrative citation for Acts of Parliament: you should include the title and year of the Act within the structure of your sentence, and usually the section number. Avoid putting Acts of Parliament in brackets whenever possible.

Reference List Entry

Format for Acts of Parliament (Westminster)

Name of Act Year of Act 

Format for Scottish Acts of Parliament

Name of Act Year of Act asp number

Components

• Name of the act
• Year of the act
• Asp number for Scottish Parliament acts

Examples

Scotland Act 1998

Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013 asp 14

In-text citation

Format

Title Year SI Number

Or

Title Year SSI number

Components

• Title of the SI or SSI
• Year of the SI or SSI 
• SI or SSI number

You should also include the regulation number where possible.

Examples

Regulation 8 of the Bingo Duty Regulations 2003/2503 states that . . .

Regulation 7 of the Horse Passports (Scotland) Regulations 2005/223 states . . .

Reference List Entry

Format

Title of SI/SSI SI/SSI Year SI/SSI Number

Components

• Title of the SI or SSI
• SI or SSI as applicable
• Year of the SI or SSI 
• SI or SSI number

Examples

Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulation SI 2013/2996

Horse Passports (Scotland) Regulation SSI 2005/223

In-text citation

Format

(HC Deb, Year)

(HL Deb, Year)

HC Deb for a House of Commons debate, OR HL Deb for a House of Lords debate.

Components

• HC or HL Deb as applicable
• Year the debate took place

Example

The Prime Minister stated his government’s position on the extraction of coal (HC Deb, 2020).

Reference List Entry

Format

HC/HL Deb vol xx col xx (Year, Month Day). Hansard. URL

Components

• HC or HL Deb as applicable
• vol followed by the volume number
• col followed by the column number
• Year of the debated in the format Year, Month Day
• Hansard
• URL of the specific debate

Example

There are a number of different types of House of Commons papers including command papers, green papers, white papers, briefing papers, library research papers, committee reports, bills, amendments, and standard notes.

A key element of the referencing of these sources is including a component that identifies the source type and any further relevant information such as reference numbers. You need to provide enough information to allow your reader to find the original source.

Most of the time the author is likely to be a specific government department, body, or committee, however the format for sources with individual authors is also given below. Command, White and Green papers are published by either His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) or by The Stationery Office (TSO).

Format 

Author, N. (Year). Title of the paper. Source type and any reference number. Publisher Name. www.website.com/report

Organisation. (Year). Title of the paper. Source type and any reference number. www.website.com/report

Components

• Author(s) surname and initial(s) or name of the organisation/department/body/committee
• Year the paper was published
• Title of the paper in italics
• The source type and any reference number where relevant
• Name of the overall organisation that has published the paper where there are individual authors or if a Command, White, or Green paper.
• URL of the paper

Examples

Command Paper - The abbreviation used to denote a command paper changes depending on the year of the document. You may see C, Cd, Cmd, Cm, Cp, and Cmnd.

Library Briefing Paper

House of Commons paper with individual authors

House of Commons paper with a group/committee author

House of Lords Bill Amendment

In-text citations

It is best practice to use a narrative citation. You must include the legislation type, legislation number, and Article number where then information you are using appears within the body of your sentence. There are two types of EU legislation; Directives and Regulations. 

Example

According to Article 8 of Directive (EU) 2021/1187 ...

Reference List Entry

Format

Legislation type Year/Number title

Components

• Directive or Regulation as application
• Year of the directive or regulation
• Number of the directive or legislation
• Title as it appears written out on the directive or regulation itself

Example

These types of sources should usually be identifiable as this source type in their name. They will differ slightly in format depending on the exact source type, some examples are given below so you can adapt these to your source type.

UN Charter Format 

U.N. Charter art. xx, paraa. xx

Components

• U.N. Charter
• Article number of the charter
• Paragraph number - if you use multiple paragraphs miss this out

Example

U.N. Charter art. 1, para 3

Citations

Parenthetical should match the reference list entry

Narrative: Article 1, paragraph 3, of the United Nations Charter

UN Convention Format 

Title of the convention, Month Day, Year, URL

Components

• Title of the convention
• Date the convention was signed or approved
• URL from the UN webpage

Example

United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, November 20, 1989, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

Citations

Parenthetical : (United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, 1989)

Narrative: United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (1989)

Treaties Format 

Title of the agreement, Parties, Month Day, Year, Source information

Components

• Title of the agreement
• Names of the countries involved in the treaty, listed in alphabetical order connected by hyphens
• Date of the signing
• Source information can different between sources and could include volume, issue, or page numbers

Example

Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of North Macedonia, Channel Islands-Gibralter-Isle of Man-North Macedonia-United Kingdom, December 3, 2020, Country Series 001/2020: CP 348

Citations

Parenthetical : (Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of North Macedonia, 2020)

Narrative: Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of North Macedonia (2020)