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APA (6/e) Style Guide

A guide to help users create citations using APA (American Psychological Association) style.

Book

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Franks, 2005, p. 148)

References:
Franks, A. (2005). Margaret Sanger's eugenic legacy: The control of female fertility. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.

eBook

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle [Version]. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxx OR Retrieved from URL of the home page of the e-book provider.

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Ochs, 2004, p. 55)

References:
Ochs, S. (2004). A history of nerve functions: From animal spirits to molecular mechanisms [ebrary Reader version]. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com/corp

Journal Articles

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), page range.
doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx OR Retrieved from URL of journal home page [if available]. 

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Pettigrew, 2009, p. 61)

References:
Pettigrew, T. F. (2009). Secondary transfer effect of contact: Do intergroup contact effects spread to noncontacted outgroups? Social Psychology, 40(2), 55-65. doi:10.1027/1864-9335.40.2.55

Tips:

  • If a journal article has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) listed, you will always include this identifier in your reference; do not include the URL of the journal's home page or of the database from which you retrieved the article if a DOI is available.
  • If you viewed a journal article in an online database and it does not have a DOI, you will need to do a quick search outside of the database to locate the URL for the journal's home page (pp. 191-192). The URL must be included in the reference. If the journal is no longer being published and it does not have a home page, then include the URL for the home page of the database from which you retrieved the article (p. 192).
  • If you viewed a journal article in its print format, check if it has a DOI listed. If it does not, your reference to the article would end after you provide the page range of the article.

DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers)

If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is listed on either a print or an electronic source it is included in the reference (pp.188-192).  A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that is used to identify a certain source (typically journal articles).  It is often found on the first page of an article.

Example:
doi:10.1080/14622200410001676305

For more information on DOIs and locating a DOI on a source, check out pages 188-192 of the APA Manual and/or this helpful DOI flow chart from the official APA site.

Please note that these examples refer to articles retrieved from a database as opposed to the free Internet.  For examples of citing articles on the Internet, click on the Internet resources tab above.  Also, please note that the information presented under this tab concerns the electronic retrieval aspects of formulating a citation.  For guidance on correctly citing bibliographic information (such as author names, publication dates, journal titles, etc), please see the print articles tab above.Scholarly Journal Article:

With DOI:

Morio, H., & Buchholz, C. (2008). How anonymous are you online? Examining online social behaviors from
     a cross-cultural perspective.  AI & Society, 23(2), 297-307. doi:10.1007/s00146-007-0143-0

Without DOI:

Jacobsen, W.C. & Forste, R. (2011). The Wired Generation: Academic and Social Outcomes of Electronic
     Media Use Among University Students. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(5).
     Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.

 

Based upon the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, sections 6.31 and 7.01, and the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, page 3.

Newspaper Article

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title: Subtitle. Newspaper Title, page range. Retrieved from URL [if viewed online] 

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Severson & Martin, 2009)

References:
Severson, K., & Martin, A. (2009, March 3). It's organic, but does that mean it's safer? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.co

Youtube Video

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname OR Screen name, Year)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Author screen name. (Year, Month Day {of video post}). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL of specific video

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Norton, 2006)

References:
Norton, R. (2006, November 4). How to train a cat to operate a light switch [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vja83KLQX

Chapter in an Edited Book

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. (Year). Title of chapter. In Editor First Initial, Surname, Editor First Initial, Surname, & Editor First Initial, Surname (Eds.),Book title: Subtitle (Page range). Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Stewart, 2007, p. 102)

References:
Stewart, B. (2007). Wag of the tail: Reflecting on pet ownership. In J.Jaimeson, T. Bannerman, & S. Wong (Eds.), Enriching our lives with animals(pp. 97-105). Toronto, ON: Petlove Press.

Government Publication

APA Citation Style does not have a separate category for government publications.  According to APA, government documents can be considered Books, Technical/Research Reports or Brochures.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname OR Name of Government Organization, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Government Name. Name of Government Agency. (Year). Title: Subtitle (Report No. xxx [if available]). Place of Publication: Publisher.

Examples

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Edwards, Sims-Jones, Hotz, & Cushman, 1997, p. 2)

References:
Edwards, N., Sims-Jones, N., Hotz, S., & Cushman, R. (1997). Development and testing components of a multifaceted intervention program to reduce the incidence of smoking relapse during pregnancy and post-partum of both women and their partners. Report prepared for Health Canada at the Community Health Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Canada.

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Ontario Ministry of Health, 1994, p. 7)

References:
Ontario Ministry of Health. (1994). Selected findings from the mental health supplement of the Ontario Health Survey. Toronto, ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario.

Tips:

  • If a person is named on the title page, use her or him as author.
  • If no person is named as an author, use the government agency, department, or branch as a group author (Ex. 31, p.205). Give the name of the group author exactly as it appears on the title page. If the branch or agency is not well known, include its higher department first.
  • If the group author is also the publisher, simply use the word Author after the location (p. 203), rather than repeating the name of the government agency.
  • If there is a series or report number, include it after the title (p. 205).
  • The APA manual refers to the GPO (U.S. Government Printing Office). Canadian equivalents may be: Queen’s Printer, Ministry of Supply and Services, Canadian Government Publishing, etc.

Magazine Article

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title: Subtitle. Magazine Title, Volume(issue), page range. Retrieved from URL of magazine home page [if viewed online].

Example

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Henry & Mehta, 1990, p. 30)

References:
Henry, W. A., & Mehta, N. S. (1990, April 9). Beyond the melting pot. Time, 135, 28-31.

Tips:

  • If you view a magazine article online, include the URL of the magazine's home page in your reference.
  • If you view a magazine article from within an article database, you will have to do a quick search outside of the database to locate the home page for that particular magazine (p. 198).  Include the URL of the magazine's home page in your reference.

Website

General Format

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname, Year, page or paragraph number [if available])
 
References:
Personal or Corporate Author. (Last update or copyright date; if not known, use n.d.). Title of specific document. Retrieved from URL of specific document

Examples

In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Browning, 1993, para. 12)
 
References:
Browning, T. (1993). A brief historical survey of women writers of science fiction. Retrieved from http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/Tonya/sf/history.html

Tips:

  • When citing sources that you find on the Internet you only need to include a retrieval date if the information you viewed is likely to change over time(p. 192).  If you reference an article from Wikipedia, for example, you would want to include a retrieval date because such information can be subject to a lot of change.
  • Sometimes websites are missing pieces of information that you would typically include in a citation (like an author or a date). Use this table created by APA to help you deal with these sources.