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APA to ASA converter

Paste APA references, get ASA. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in APA and get them back in ASA, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: titles switch to title case, author names are written as in ASA (first author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order) and the date moves (after the authors, followed by a full stop). CiteSwap looks each reference up in the open Crossref catalogue, so authors, years and page numbers come from the publisher’s record rather than being rewritten by hand.

APA vs ASA: the same sources side by side

Each example below was formatted by CiteSwap’s engine, exactly as the converter outputs it.

Journal article

APA

Suri, T., & Jack, W. (2016). The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science, 354(6317), 1288–1292. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309

In-text: (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290)

ASA

Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack. 2016. “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money.” Science 354(6317):1288–92. doi:10.1126/science.aah5309.

In-text: (Suri and Jack 2016:1290)

Book

APA

Achebe, C. (1958). Things fall apart. Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe, 1958, p. 1290)

ASA

Achebe, Chinua. 1958. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe 1958:1290)

Web page

APA

World Health Organization. (2023, December 4). Malaria. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: (World Health Organization, 2023, p. 1290)

ASA

World Health Organization. 2023. “Malaria.” https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria.

In-text: (World Health Organization 2023:1290)

Key differences between APA and ASA

10 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleAPAASA
In-text citationsauthor and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotationsauthor and year, with a page number after a colon, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016:1290)
Author namesSurname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W.First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order
Many authorsList up to 20 authors; for 21 or more, give the first 19, an ellipsis, then the last authorAll authors are listed in the reference list
DateStraight after the authors, in parentheses: (2016).After the authors, followed by a full stop: 2016.
Title capitalisationSentence caseTitle case
Article titlesPlain text, no quotation marks, sentence caseIn quotation marks, title case
ItalicsJournal name and volume number; book and report titlesJournal and book titles
Journal namesFull journal name in title caseFull journal name, volume and issue with no space: 354(6317)
Page rangesFull page range, e.g. 1288–1292Shortened range after a colon with no space, e.g. 354(6317):1288–92
DOIs and linksDOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309DOI written as “doi:10.1126/…”
Reference list heading(same)ReferencesReferences
List order(same)Alphabetical by first author’s surnameAlphabetical by first author’s surname

When to use ASA

ASA is the house style of American sociology journals and many sociology departments. It is published by the American Sociological Association; CiteSwap follows the ASA Style Guide, 6th/7th edition.

APA is more common in psychology, education, nursing, while ASA is usual in sociology, social work, criminology. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

APA to ASA: frequently asked questions

How do I convert APA citations to ASA?

Paste your APA reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says APA or Auto-detect and “To” says ASA, then press Convert. You can also paste DOIs, BibTeX or RIS. Copy the result or download it for Word.

How do in-text citations change from APA to ASA?

APA uses author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotations. ASA uses author and year, with a page number after a colon, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016:1290). For the same article and page: APA gives (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290), ASA gives (Suri and Jack 2016:1290).

Do titles need different capitalisation in ASA?

Yes. ASA uses title case for article and book titles, so words like “Poverty” and “Gender” are capitalised. CiteSwap applies this automatically.

How are author names written in ASA?

ASA: First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order. APA: Surname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W. When a reference is matched in Crossref, CiteSwap uses full first names from the publisher’s record, so it can produce either form.

How are DOIs and URLs written in ASA?

ASA: DOI written as “doi:10.1126/…”. APA: DOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309. The converter rewrites DOIs in ASA format for you.

Is the APA to ASA converter accurate?

Each reference is matched against the Crossref catalogue (over 150 million records) and only accepted automatically when the title, year and first author agree. Anything uncertain is marked “Needs review” so you can pick the right match, and references that aren’t in the catalogue, like websites or local journals, are parsed from your text and marked so you can check them.