Q. If an article initially appears online and is subsequently incorporated into a journal issue, how to cite this article as per APA 7 guidelines?

This kind of question has become increasingly common as journals often issue preprints of articles before "officially" publishing them. These often are the versions of articles that are made available through a variety of platforms.

In these situations it is best to cite the article you read. If you are including a link to the article in your citation this is even more important so that it doesn't accidentally confuse your reader. If possible, however, you should read and refer to the officially published article. This is because the preprint version of an article may lack important updates and possibly be missing changes that came from the peer review process.

Examples and extra guidance on this issue are available through the APA website.