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 References list at the end. APA style is most often used by those in the fields of psychology, business, sociology, social work, and other behavioral sciences.

Brief instructions for formatting an APA document:

-Use 1-inch margins.

-Page numbers should be in the upper right corner, preceded by a few words identifying the paper, such as the first few words of the title.

-APA manuscripts may include a title page and an abstract.

-Use initials for first and middle names in the list of references.

-For articles, chapters and books, capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, and proper nouns. Fully capitalize journal titles.

-Publication dates are put in order by year, month day. The access date goes in the order of month day, year. If no publication date is available, use "n.d."

-The list of sources is titled "References."

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 an 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

• Follow this example if you refer to the author's last name in text.

Walker (2000) compared reaction times in his work on...

• Use this format if you do not refer to the author's last name in text.

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

1. The format of each citation is based on the source.  Are you citing a book, an article, an internet site or something else?
2. 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).
3. Formatting is really important!  Watch how you indent and where you put commas, periods, parentheses, italics, etc.
4. Cite sources that you read to prepare your paper AND sources that you quote or paraphrase directly.
5. Alphabetize your list by the last names of the authors, and use hanging indent to format each entry.