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Creating APA Style Citations
APA style citation follows the rules outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. These rules tell you how to refer to information sources within the text of your paper, and also how to cite your sources in the bibliography at the end. APA style is most often used by those in the fields of psychology, business, sociology, social work, and other behavioral sciences.
Examples of How to Cite Books
General Format for a Book
Petty, R. E, & Cacioppo, J. T. (1996). Attitudes and
Persuasion: classic and contemporary approaches. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Edited Book
Freud, E., (Ed.). (1975). The Letters of Sigmund Freud. New York:
Basic Books, Inc.
Article or chapter in an edited book
Sternberg, R. J. (2005). Intelligence. In K.J. Holyoak and R.G.
Morrison (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning (pp. 751-773). New York: Cambridge University.
No Author
Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993).
Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
Entry in an Encyclopedia
Strickland, B. (2001). Gangs. In The Gale encyclopedia of
psychology (2nd edition, pp. 269-272). Detroit: Gale Group.
Other Book Options
(see APA Publication Manual)
Group author
Revised edition
Article or chapter in an edited book
Technical and research reports
Proceedings of meetings and symposia
Examples of How to Cite Articles
Journal article, one author, paginated by issue
Powell, J. L. (2005). Aging and family policy: a sociological excursion.
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 32(2), 63-74.
Journal article, more than six authors, continuous pagination (next issue begins page numbers where last issue left off)
Hyland, A., Levy, D. T., Rezaishiraz, H., Hughes, J. R., Bauer, J.
E., & Giovino, G. A. et al. (2005). Reduction in amount smoked predicts future cessation. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 221-225.
Review of a Motion Picture
Edelstein, D. (2006). M. Narcissus Shyamalan [Review of the motion
picture Lady in the Water]. New York, 39 (26), 62-63.
Review of a Book
De Muizon, C. (2005). Of whale knuckles and placental trees
[Review of the book The Rise of Placental Mammals]. Science, 309, 559.
Magazine Article
Goldstein, M. (2007, July 30). Profiting from Mortality. BusinessWeek,
4044, 44-51.
Other Article Options
(see APA Publication Manual)
Newsletter Article
Daily Newspaper Article
Abstract as Original Source
Journal Supplement
Magazine Article
Examples of How to Cite Electronic Sources
Internet Site — General Format
Attachment in children. (2007, July 26). In Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Attachment_in_ children&oldid=147267829
Electronic copy of a journal article, retrieved from and online database (up to 5 authors)
Greer, T. M., & Chwalisz, K. (2007). Minority-Related Stressors and
Coping Processes Among African American College Students. Journal of College Student Development, 48(4), 388-404. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from ProQuest Psychology Journals database. (Document ID: 1310621441).
ERIC Document
Fry, R., & ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, N. (2003, October 1).
Hispanics in College: Participation and Degree Attainment. ERIC Digest. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED480917) Retrieved July 30, 2007, from ERIC database.
Article in an Internet-only journal
Jones, D. N. & Figueredo, A. J. (2007, July 2). Mating Effort as a
Predictor of Smoking in a College Sample. Current Research in Social Psychology, 12(13). Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp12_13.pdf
Daily newspaper article, electronic version available by search
Arensen, K. W., & Schemo, D. J. (2007, June 15). Report Details Deals in
Student Loan Industry. New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com
Other Electronic Options
(see APA Publication Manual)
Internet articles based on a print source
Article in an Internet-only newsletter
Multipage document created by private organization, no date
Chapter or section in an Internet document
U.S.government report available on government agency Web site, no publication date indicated
Message posted to a newsgroup
Message posted to online forum or discussion group
Message posted to electronic mailing list
Computer software
Data file
How to Cite Multimedia Sources
Motion Picture
Kramer, S. (Producer), & Benedek, L. (Director). (1953). The Wild
One [Motion picture]. United States; Columbia Pictures.
Other Audiovisual Options
(see APA Publication Manual)
Television broadcast
Television series
Music recording
Audio recording
Reference Citations in Text
These are examples of how to refer to any outside source within your paper.
One work by One Author
In a recent study of reaction times (Walker, 2000), discovered that...
One Work by Three or More Authors
- Follow this example for the first citation in text.
Wasserstein, Smith, Rosen, Noble, and Rock (1994) found that...
- Use this example for subsequent first citation for each paragraph thereafter.
Wasserstein et al. (1994) showed that...
- If you refer to the same citation again in the same paragraph, use this example.
Wasserstein et al. found that...
Tips for Creating a Reference List
- The format of each citation is based on the source. Are you citing a book, an article, an internet site or something else?
- Remember the point of citation—to enable someone else to see what you are referring to. So be sure to include all the important information (title, author, page numbers, website address, etc).
- Formatting is really important! Watch how you indent and where you put commas, periods, parentheses, italics, etc.
- Cite sources that you read to prepare your paper AND sources that you quote or paraphrase directly.
- Alphabetize your list by the last names of the authors, and use hanging indent to format each entry.
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