APA 7 citation for 25 authors in UCAS?

You’ll want to follow the APA 7 rule that caps the author list at twenty names. For a work with twenty‑five contributors you write out the first nineteen authors exactly as they appear, then insert an ellipsis (three spaced periods), and finish with the very last author’s name. The year, title, journal, and other details follow the usual format, and you don’t add “et al.” in the reference list – the ellipsis does the job of showing you’ve omitted the middle names. So the reference starts with something like: Smith, J. A., Patel, R., … Zhang, L. (2023). Title of the article. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages. That way you meet the requirement without having to type out all twenty‑five names. I get why that feels like a nightmare when the clock’s ticking down on your UCAS deadline. Think of it like packing for a trip: you only need the essentials on the top of the list, then a quick “and the rest” note, and finally the final item you can’t forget. A handy shortcut is to copy the author line from the article’s PDF, paste it into a plain‑text editor, and then delete everything after the nineteenth name, add the spaced ellipsis, and tack on the last author. Most reference‑manager tools (Zotero, EndNote, the free citation generator on the APA website) will do this automatically, so you can spend those precious hours polishing your personal statement instead of counting commas. If you’re unsure whether the ellipsis rule has changed, a quick look at the APA Publication Manual’s website or a check with your school’s writing center will confirm you’re using the most current guidance. You’ve already nailed the content of your personal statement – the citation is just a small finishing touch. Get the author line set up with the ellipsis, double‑check the rest of the reference details, and you’ll be ready to hit submit with confidence. Good luck, and remember that a well‑cited statement shows the same attention to detail you’ll bring to your biology studies.