Research tools · APA seventh edition
Reference checker
Find formatting errors. Keep uncertainty visible.
Paste one reference, a whole list, or load a text file. Get an item-by-item report with suggested actions and links to official APA guidance.
Checked in your browser. Your references are never uploaded or saved.
Language changes the interface and report, not the reference text or checking rules. Checks use English APA 7 conventions; Dutch adaptations such as “z.d.” require manual review.
1. Add references
For wrapped references, leave a blank line between items. Text and Markdown emphasis are accepted; italics are not verified. Maximum 500 entries / 500,000 characters.
For Word or PDF files, copy the reference text here or export it as UTF-8 plain text. Bibliographic data files such as .bib and .ris are not formatted reference lists.
You can confirm a different type for each result.
2. Review findings
Errors identify a recognized rule violation. Warnings identify uncertainty or a possible problem. No findings does not mean every APA rule has been checked.
Always check these in the original document
No entries match this filter. See the list findings and review checklist above.
Transparent by design
What gets checked
Recognizable text rules
Personal-author separators, initial spacing, long author lists, date punctuation, impossible calendar dates, DOI prefixes, and selected journal volume/page conventions.
Warnings for review
Entry boundaries, inferred types, capitalization, publisher details, missing issue/page information, links, duplicates, and simple author/date ordering. A warning can describe a valid exception.
Outside the automated check
Complete validation of any reference type, source metadata, missing DOIs, live links, italics and layout, in-text citations, and specialized reference formats. Source selection improves checks but does not make them exhaustive.
Official APA sources · rules reviewed 20 October 2026
The current APA Style guidelines are based on the seventh edition. Every finding links to the applicable guidance.