PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/UpToDate article

How to Cite an UpToDate Article in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for an UpToDate article lists the topic's authors (not its section or deputy editors), the year the topic was last updated in parentheses, the topic title in sentence case, UpToDate in italics, and the words Retrieved, the date you read it, and from, followed by the topic's www.uptodate.com URL. The in-text citation is the author and year: (Trautner & Gupta, 2024).

The format

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of last update). Title of the topic. UpToDate. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/topic-name

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the topic's UpToDate link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the topic and fills in the authors (and only the authors, never the editors), the title, UpToDate as the database, today's date as the retrieval date, and a clean www.uptodate.com link. It strips the search code UpToDate adds to the end of a link, and it turns a school link like uptodate.yourschool.edu into the public address. If PERRLA can't read a topic, try PERRLA's Chrome extension while you're signed in to UpToDate.

Then check two things against the topic before you save. First, the year: make it the year in "This topic last updated," not the year in "Literature review current through." PERRLA currently fills in the literature review year, and the two are often different. Second, name endings: if an author's name ends in Jr. or III, add it in the Suffix box.

Adding one by hand? Choose Journal, then An article in a database and A single article. Add each author, type the topic title, put UpToDate in Database Name, enter the year of last update, paste the URL, and click Today on the Retrieval Date. PERRLA puts UpToDate in italics and builds the Retrieved line.

Look up
Paste an UpToDate URL, get the reference

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/heart-failure-clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-in-adults

Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2024). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults. UpToDate. Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/catheter-associated-urinary-tract-infection-in-adults

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Authors

List the people under Author or Authors at the top of the topic: last name, a comma, and initials, with an ampersand before the last one. Leave out MD, PhD, and the other credentials UpToDate prints after each name.

Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K.

Skip the section editor and deputy editor. UpToDate names them right under the authors, but APA leaves them out of the reference. If a name ends in Jr., keep it, after the initials and a comma: Francis, J., Jr.

2. Year of last update

Use the year from "This topic last updated," in parentheses, followed by a period. Year only, no month or day.

(2024).

Every topic shows two dates, and they trip students up. "Literature review current through" is the month UpToDate last searched the research, and it moves forward month by month. "This topic last updated" is when the authors last changed this topic. APA wants the update year.

3. Topic title

Write the topic title in sentence case, with no italics. UpToDate titles already use sentence case, so copy the title as shown and keep the colon. Capitalize the first word after the colon.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults.

4. Database name

Write UpToDate in italics, followed by a period, the way you'd write a journal name. That's the only place it's italic. When you mention UpToDate in a sentence of your paper, write it in plain text.

UpToDate.

Don't add Wolters Kluwer, UpToDate, Inc., or the word database.

5. Retrieval date and URL

Write Retrieved, the date you read the topic, a comma, and from, then the URL. UpToDate rewrites topics in place and doesn't keep old versions, so the date tells your reader which version you saw.

Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/catheter-associated-urinary-tract-infection-in-adults

Use the public www.uptodate.com/contents/ address. Cut anything after a question mark (like ?search=), and if your link starts with your school's name, swap that part for www.uptodate.com. Don't put a period after the URL.

Examples

An UpToDate topic with two authors

UpToDate's topic on catheter-associated UTIs, a staple for med-surg and infection control papers. The literature review is current through September 2026, but the topic was last updated November 22, 2024, so the year is 2024.

  • Parenthetical citation(Trautner & Gupta, 2024)
  • Narrative citationTrautner and Gupta (2024)

An UpToDate topic whose author has a Jr.

The topic on preventing and treating delirium is by Joseph Francis, Jr., and was last updated May 28, 2024. The Jr. stays in the reference, after the initial. It doesn't appear in the in-text citation.

  • Parenthetical citation(Francis, 2024)
  • Narrative citationFrancis (2024)

An UpToDate topic with three authors, from a search link

Opened from an UpToDate search, this heart failure topic's link ended in ?search=heart%20failure&source=search_result. That tail is dropped, leaving the clean topic address. The topic was last updated September 3, 2026. With three authors, the in-text citation uses et al. from the start.

  • Parenthetical citation(Colucci et al., 2026)
  • Narrative citationColucci et al. (2026)

In-text citations

Cite an UpToDate topic like a journal article: the authors' last names and the year of last update. UpToDate topics have no page numbers, so a quote gets a section heading and paragraph number instead.

  • One author: (Francis, 2024) or Francis (2024). A suffix like Jr. never appears in the text.
  • Two authors: (Trautner & Gupta, 2024) or Trautner and Gupta (2024)
  • Three or more authors: (Colucci et al., 2026) or Colucci et al. (2026)
  • A quote: name the section and count its paragraphs: (Trautner & Gupta, 2024, Prevention section, para. 2)

When you name the database in your sentence, it isn't italic: According to an UpToDate review, Trautner and Gupta (2024) ...

Common mistakes

  • Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2026). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults.Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2024). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults.2026 is the "Literature review current through" year. APA uses the year the topic was last updated, which here is 2024.
  • Trautner, B. W., Gupta, K., Ghanem, K. G., & Bloom, A. (2024).Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2024).Khalil Ghanem and Allyson Bloom are the topic's section editor and deputy editor. APA lists only the authors.
  • Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/heart-failure-clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-in-adults?search=heart%20failure&source=search_resultRetrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/heart-failure-clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-in-adultsEverything after the question mark is your search session, not the topic. Cut it, and swap a school or library address for www.uptodate.com so the link works for your reader.
  • Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2024). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults. UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/catheter-associated-urinary-tract-infection-in-adultsTrautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2024). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults. UpToDate. Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/catheter-associated-urinary-tract-infection-in-adultsUpToDate changes topics without keeping old versions, so APA wants the date you read it. This is one of the few references that needs a retrieval date.
  • Trautner, B. W., MD, PhD, & Gupta, K., MD, MPH (2024).Trautner, B. W., & Gupta, K. (2024).Leave degrees and credentials out of every APA reference, even though UpToDate prints them after each name.
  • Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults. UpToDate, Wolters Kluwer.Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults. UpToDate.UpToDate goes in italics like a journal name, with no publisher after it.

Quick checklist

  • Authors only, no section or deputy editors, no credentials
  • The year from "This topic last updated"
  • Topic title in sentence case, not italic
  • UpToDate in italics in the reference, plain in your sentences
  • Retrieved, the date you read it, and from
  • A clean www.uptodate.com/contents/ URL with nothing after a question mark

Questions students ask

Which date do I use for an UpToDate article?

The year in "This topic last updated." Ignore "Literature review current through," which only tells you when UpToDate last searched the research and moves forward month by month. Put the date you read the topic in the Retrieved part at the end.

Why does an UpToDate reference need a retrieval date when journal articles don't?

A journal article never changes once it's published. An UpToDate topic is rewritten in place, and the old version disappears. The retrieval date tells your reader which version you read.

Do I include the section editor and deputy editor?

No. APA's own UpToDate example leaves them out, even though UpToDate lists them under the authors. Use only the names listed as Author or Authors.

What URL do I use if I got to UpToDate through my school?

Use the public address, https://www.uptodate.com/contents/ followed by the topic's name, so the link works for anyone. Replace your school's part of the address, and cut everything from the question mark on. If you can't tell what the public address would be, APA says to use the UpToDate home page or login page instead.

Is UpToDate a journal?

No, it's a clinical database. Its topics exist only inside UpToDate, and that's why the name goes in the reference. APA formats them like journal articles, with UpToDate in the spot where a journal name would go.

Can I cite UpToDate in a nursing paper?

Many nursing programs accept it for clinical background, and APA includes it in its own nursing reference examples. Some instructors want primary research or peer-reviewed articles for an evidence-based practice paper, so check your rubric. A good move is to cite UpToDate for the overview and the studies it summarizes for your evidence.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.28, 9.8, 9.16, 9.30, 9.34–9.36, and 10.1, and the APA Style website's UpToDate, database information, and nursing student reference pages. Example sources verified on each UpToDate topic page itself, including its author list and its "This topic last updated" date, on October 21, 2026.

PERRLA builds the UpToDate reference from the topic's link, with the authors, the italics, and the Retrieved line in place.

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