Use APA Citation Style

Citations | Citing Electronic Materials | References | Referencing Electronic Materials

The following are samples of American Psychological Association (APA) style citations and references taken or created using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) and the Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the APA. Sources used include:

CITATIONS
APA uses two methods to cite the use of a source in an essay's text: parenthetical citation and attribution in the text of the essay. Page numbers are not required in APA in-text citation but are recommended.

In-Text Citations:
The general format for attribution within your text is:
Author Last Name (Year of Publication) has argued this point.
     Example: Smith (1988) has argued this point.
     Examples: Smith (1988, p. 244) has written that... or Smith (1988) has written that...

Parenthetical Citations:
The general format for parenthetical citations in APA style is:
(Author Last Name, Year of Publication)
     Example: (Smith, 1988)

Two Authors: When a work has two authors, both names should be cited in every parenthetical reference. Use an ampersand (&) to separate the names of authors. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses.

     (Johnson & Smith, 1999) agree that...
     Subsequent mention: (Johnson & Smith, 1999) also argue...

Three to Five Authors: If a work has three or four authors, all authors should be included in the first parenthetical reference. After the first parenthetical reference, only the last name of the first author and the phrase “et al.” may be used.

     (James, Cagney, & Green, 1999) agree that...
     Subsequent mention: (James et al., 1999) also argue...

Unknown Author: If no author is given, cite the source by its title or use the first few words in the parentheses. Book and report titles are italicized or underlined; titles of articles and chapters are in quotation marks.

     Every student should use the proper format when citing resources ("Using APA," 2001).

Organization as Author: Use the full name of the group or corporation for the author's name. Well known abbreviations may be used in subsequent references.

     First mention of the reference: (American Medical Association, 2002)
     Subsequent mention: (AMA, 2002)

Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses: For two or more works, arrange them in the same order as the reference list, separated by a semi-colon.

     (Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

 

CITATIONS OF ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Try to cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using the author-date style. When no date is given for the publication of a text (e.g. many websites), include “n.d.” in place of the year of publication.

 Citing an entire website: Give the address of the site in the text.

     Kidspsych is a wonderful interactive website for children (http://www.kidspsych.org).

Unknown Author and Unknown Date: If no author or date is given, use the title and the first few words of the title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

     Another study of students and research decisions discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Writing and APA," n.d.).

Sources Without Page Numbers: When an electronic source lacks page numbers, you should try to include information that will help readers find the passage being cited.

     According to Smith (1997), ... (Mind over Matter section, para. 6).

 

REFERENCES
One reason to take care in creating a Reference List is so that others will be able to find the sources you've used. When in doubt, provide more information rather than less. Books, journals, magazines, and newspapers are identified by underlining the title.

Note: These examples are single spaced. Your list of references should be double-spaced and listed alphabetically by first author's last name. For each reference, the first line is typed flush with the left margin, and any additional lines are indented as a group a few spaces to the right of the left margin (this is called a hanging indent).

Book by one author
Takaki, R. T. (1979). Iron cages : Race and culture in nineteenth-century America.
     New York, NY: Knopf.

An edited book
Jelin, E. (Ed.). (1991). Family, household, and gender relations in Latin America.
     New York, NY: Routledge, Chapman & Hall.

Article or chapter in edited book
Ruiz, V. L. (1992). Star struck: Acculturation, adolescence, and Mexican American
     women, 1920-1950. In E. West & P. Petrik (Eds.), Small worlds: Children and
     adolescents in Lawrence, America, 1850-1950 (pp.118-224). Plains, KS: University
     Press of Kansas.

Article from a scholarly journal
Martinez, E. & Palmer, S. (1993). Beyond black/white: The racisms of our time.
      Social Justice, 20, 22-35.

Article from a newspaper
For job seekers, a toll-free gift of expert advice. (1993, December 12) New
      York Times, p. D1.

Article from a magazine
Corliss, R. (1993, September 13). Pacific overtures. Time, 142, 68-70.

Government document
Commision on Special Education. (1993) Our future, our children: planning
     for the next generation (93-094-P). Washington, DC: Government
     Printing Office.

Published Conference Proceedings
Murray, L. (Ed). (2001) Endless searching: New horizons in search engine
     technology. Proceedings of the Search Engine Technology Conference,
     University of Main. Journal of the Internet, 40(suppl.), 1-402.

 

REFERENCE FORMATS OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

Electronic sources include aggregated databases, online journals, Web sites or Web pages, newsgroups, Web- or e-mail-based discussion groups, and Web- or e-mail-based newsletters, etc. Where available, the doi (digital object identifier) number should be used to provide access information for electronic materials. URLs may be included for resources that do not have a doi number. The names of full-text databases and rarely necessary in an APA citation. Retrieval date information should only be included when the page/site/information is likely to change.

Note: These examples are single spaced. Your list of references should be double-spaced and listed alphabetically by first author's last name. For each reference, the first line is typed flush with the left margin, and any additional lines are indented as a group a few spaces to the right of the left margin (this is called a hanging indent).


Online Journal Articles

Article with DOI
Welch, K.E. (2005). Technical communication and physical location: Topoi and
     architecture in computer classrooms. Technical Communication
     Quarterly 14(3), 335-344. doi: 10.1207/s15427625tcq1403_12

Article without DOI
Fisher, D., Russell, D., Williams, J., & Fisher, D. (2008). Space, time & transfer in
     virtual case environments. Kairos 12(2), 127-165. Retrieved from http://
     kairos.technorhetoric.net/12.2/binder.html?topoi/fisher-etal/articleIntro.html

Electronic Books

Entire Book
Dickens, C. (1910). A tale of two cities. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/
     books?id=Pm0AAAAAYAAJ

Book Chapter
Shun, I. (1998). The invention of the martial arts: Kanao Jigorao and Kaodaokan
     judo. In S. Vlastos (Ed.), Mirror of modernity: Invented traditions of modern
     Japan (pp. 163-173).