Skip to content
CiteSwap

ASA to APA converter

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

Paste references written in ASA and get them back in APA, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: titles switch to sentence case, author names are written as in APA (surname and initials for every author) and the date moves (straight after the authors, in parentheses). 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.

ASA vs APA: the same sources side by side

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

Journal article

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)

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)

Book

ASA

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

In-text: (Achebe 1958:1290)

APA

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

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

Web page

ASA

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

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

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)

Key differences between ASA and APA

10 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleASAAPA
In-text citationsauthor and year, with a page number after a colon, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016:1290)author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotations
Author namesFirst author inverted with full names, the rest in normal orderSurname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W.
Many authorsAll authors are listed in the reference listList up to 20 authors; for 21 or more, give the first 19, an ellipsis, then the last author
DateAfter the authors, followed by a full stop: 2016.Straight after the authors, in parentheses: (2016).
Title capitalisationTitle caseSentence case
Article titlesIn quotation marks, title casePlain text, no quotation marks, sentence case
ItalicsJournal and book titlesJournal name and volume number; book and report titles
Journal namesFull journal name, volume and issue with no space: 354(6317)Full journal name in title case
Page rangesShortened range after a colon with no space, e.g. 354(6317):1288–92Full page range, e.g. 1288–1292
DOIs and linksDOI written as “doi:10.1126/…”DOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309
Reference list heading(same)ReferencesReferences
List order(same)Alphabetical by first author’s surnameAlphabetical by first author’s surname

When to use APA

APA is the default in psychology, education, nursing, business and most social sciences, and many universities use it as their house style for coursework and dissertations. It is published by the American Psychological Association; CiteSwap follows the 7th edition (2020).

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

ASA to APA: frequently asked questions

How do I convert ASA citations to APA?

Paste your ASA reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says ASA or Auto-detect and “To” says APA, 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 ASA to APA?

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

Do titles need different capitalisation in APA?

Yes. APA uses sentence case, capitalising only the first word, the first word after a colon and proper nouns. CiteSwap keeps titles as the publisher’s record has them, so check that capitals on ordinary words are lowered, because catalogues often store titles in title case.

How are author names written in APA?

APA: Surname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W. ASA: First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order. 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 APA?

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

Is the ASA to APA 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.