Guide to Citing Research Sources: APA Style

Dyan Barbeau, Reference and Instruction Librarian

You can use this guide to citing sources in APA (American Psychological Association) style, which is

the style used primarily in the behavioral and social sciences, such as Psychology and Sociology. For further

information, see the book Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition. (Located

at the Library’s Research Help/Information Desk). NoodleTools, a web based citation software at:

http://www.noodletools.com/ will generate a citation or “Works Cited” list from fill-in information the user

provides. NoodleTools use is free, but you must register for the site using a campus PC, before using it off

campus.

REFERENCES

The Reference list is placed at the end of your paper, on a separate page, with the word References

centered at the top. The reference list sets forth basic information about your sources, including the author’s

name, title of the work and publication information. Sources are alphabetized by the author’s last name or, if

there is no author, the title of the work (exclude insignificant first words, like a, and, the, etc..) The list is

double-spaced with a hanging indent of five spaces. The following citations are examples of commonly used

sources in a References list:

BOOKS:

General Format: Punctuation is enlarged and bold-faced to highlight requirements.

Author’s last name, first initial. middle initial. (Yr. of publication). Title of work: Subtitle if any. City, State of

Publication: Publisher.

Note: In books or titles of articles, only the first letter of the first word in titles and subtitles is capitalized. Proper

nouns are also capitalized. The names of journal titles are capitalized as published, e.g., Social Sciences Quarterly.

One Author: Langman, P. F. (2009). Why kids kill: Inside the minds of school shooters. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Note: State abbreviations are listed without periods.

Two or More Authors (up to 7):

Kane, J. N., & Podell, J. (2009). Facts about the presidents: A compilation of biographical and historical

information. New York, NY: H.W. Wilson.

Note: In listing 2 or more authors, there is a comma after each author’s name.

Eight or More Authors: (list first 6 names, an ellipsis and the last author name)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author E. E., Author F. F.,…Author L. L. (2010).

Too many cooks spoil the broth. Sheboygan, WI: Vanity Publishing.

Edited Book (Ed. or Eds.):

Ball, M., & Wietschel, M., (Eds.). (2009). The hydrogen economy: Opportunities and challenges.

New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Note: Press and Books are included in publisher names; words like “Inc.,” “Co.,” and “Corp.” are not included. If

the University Press name includes the state name, the state name is not included in the place of publication. E.g., Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.

Electronic version of print book:

Langman, P. F. (2009). Why kids kill: Inside the minds of school shooters [EPUB full text]. Retrieved from

http://www.ebscohost.com

Corporation, Association, Committee or other group in which individuals are not named on title page:

George Philip & Son, & Oxford University Press. (2007). Atlas of the world. New York, NY: Author.

Note: the word “author” is used in place of the publisher when the author and publisher are the same.

Chapter in a Book or One Work from an Anthology:

Bryant-Bertrail, S. (2009). Old spirits in a new world: Pacific Northwest performance, identity, authenticity,

theatricality. In S.E. Wilmer (Ed.), Native American performance and representation (pp. 40-60).

Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.

Entry in a Dictionary, Encyclopedia or other Reference Book:

Citation. (1989). In Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed. ). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Note: Titles of entries or articles have no punctuation other than a period at the end. Signed entries in an

encyclopedia or other reference work should include the author’s name, date and the title of the article at the beginning of the citation.

Doe, J. P. (1993). Missing persons. In J.A. Doe (Ed.), Encyclopedia of crime (p.97). Sheboygan, WI: Vanity

Publishing.

Note: Information about editions or volume numbers are also placed in parentheses after the title, with a period

after the parentheses. (Vol. xx, pp. xx-xy).

Nonroutine Information (use only when necessary for identification and retrieval):

Cajete, G. (2009). Thank you, Simon. In S.B. B. de Ramirez & E.Z. Lucero (Eds.), Simon J. Ortiz: A poetic

legacy of indigenous continuance [Foreword] (pp. ix – xii). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Note: Examples of nonroutine information can include [Letter to the editor], [Special issue], [Brochure], [Video

webcast], [Audio podcast] etc. This rule applies to all forms of citations, including articles, media and other publications.

ARTICLES:

General Format for articles found in print: Punctuation is enlarged and bold-faced to highlight requirements.

Author’s last name, first initial. middle initial. (Yr. of publication). Title of the article. Title of Journal,

xx, pp – pp.

Note: Include issue numbers of journals only if each issue of the journal starts at page 1. The vol. # is italicized

along with the title of the journal. The issue #, if any, and pg. #s are not italicized.

Note: The format for multiple author names and corporate authors follows the book examples set forth above.

Article in a Scholarly Journal with Continuous Pagination (no issue number):

Hollander, G. M. (2005). Securing sugar: National security discourse and the establishment of Florida’s sugar-

producing region. Economic Geography, 81, 339-58.

Article in a Scholarly Journal with Separate Pagination: (Includes issue number.)

Deem, M. W. (2007). Mathematical adventures in biology. Physics Today, 60(1), 42-47.

Article in a Monthly Magazine: (not a scholarly publication)

Neuman, J. (2010, November). A venerable tradition. U.S. News & World Report, 147(10), 14-21.

Unsigned Article in Monthly Magazine:

In whose backyard? The battle for “environmental justice.” (2010, December). The Economist, 397(8), 44.

Newspaper Article:

Petrie, B. (2010, December 19). Leaning power pole snarls traffic at Deer Trace, I-43. Sheboygan Press, pp. A1,

A6. Note: page numbers in newspaper articles only are preceded by “p.” or “pp.”

Newspaper Article in different editions:

Broad, William. (2010, December 16). New advice on the unthinkable: How to survive a nuclear bomb

[National ed.]. New York Times, p. A1.

WEB PUBLICATIONS

General Format: The format for web publications remains the same as set forth above, but includes enough

electronic retrieval information for others to locate the source, either the DOI (Digital Object Identifier), if

available, or the URL (Uniform Resource Locator). When citing a URL, use this format: Retrieved from

http://www.xxxxx.xxx

Note: You should cite the database in which you found the source only if it cannot be located from the other

citation information provided.

Electronic Book (with print publication data):

Perl, L. (2010). Immigration: This land is whose land? [NetLibrary version]. Retrieved from

http://www.netlibrary.com

Note: copy the URL exactly as it appears in your browser; do not add a period or other punctuation at the end.

Electronic-only Book:

Gettman, D. (n.d.). The Twinkle Theory. Retrieved from

http://www.onlineoriginals.com/showitem.asp?itemID=244&action=setvar&vartype=history&varname=bo

okmark&v1=1&v2=50&v3=1

Newspaper (Daily article, electronic version available by search)

Bhanoo, S. N. (2010, December 20). Humans, like animals, are fearless without amygdala. The New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Scholarly Internet Journal Articles with DOI:

Giralt, G. F. (2010). Realism and realistic representation in the digital age. Journal of Film and Video, 62(3),

3-16. doi: 10.1353/jfv.2010.0000

Scholarly Internet Journal Articles without DOI:

Baulch, J., Chester, A., & Brennan, L. (2010). Adolescent and parent content preferences and predictors of

intention to use an online healthy weight website for adolescents. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 6(1),

19-37. Retrieved from https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:8876

Magazine Article

Thornburgh, N. (2010, June). The Battle for Arizona. Time, 175(23), 38-43. Retrieved from

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1993872,00.html

Article from Internet-only Magazine:

Shafer, J. (2010, December). Whose internet is it, anyway? The FCC's new "net neutrality" rules only muddle

the picture. Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/id/2278626

OTHER SOURCES

Media- General Format: Punctuation is enlarged and bold-faced to highlight requirements.

Roe, R. (Writer), & Doe, J. (Director). (Date). Title of the episode or segment [Television or radio series

episode]. In E. Poe (Executive producer), Title of the program or series. City, State of Publication: Publisher of broadcast.

Television or radio episode:

Chowder, K. (Writer), & Freifeld, R. (Director). (2006). Annie Oakley [Television series episode]. In M.

Samels (Executive producer), American Experience. Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service.

Podcast:

National Public Radio & This American Life (Producers). (2015, May 4). Where poor kids grow up makes a

huge difference [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/money/

Film or Video Recording – General Format: Punctuation is enlarged, bold-faced and underlined to highlight requirements.

Producer, A. A. (Producer), & Director, B.B. (Director). (Year). Title of motion picture. [Motion picture].

Country of origin: Studio.

Film:

Jacobson, N. & Kilik, J. (Producers), & Lawrence, F. (Director). (2013). Catching Fire [Motion picture].

U.S.A.: Lionsgate.

Interviews- There is no standard citation for published, broadcast or personal interviews in APA style.

Personal interviews are not included in the References list because they cannot be retrieved through a print or

electronic source. Instead, personal interviews are treated as “personal communication” that can be referenced

in the text of your paper, but not in the References. Format your in-text citation like this: (J. Smith, personal

communication, August 15, 2009).

Interviews that are retrievable in print or electronic formats should be cited according to the source that contains

the interview, such as a book or a popular magazine.

Published or Broadcast Interviews:

Doe, J. (2013, January). An interview with Miley Cyrus. People, 45(6), 25-26.

York, R. (2013). Miley Cyrus and the twerking controversy. In E. A. Poe (Ed.), Teens Living Dangerously (pp.

15-35). New York, NY: Wilson.

National Public Radio & This American Life (Producers). (2012, May 14). Miley Cyrus: Thoughts on growing

up. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/example/example.

PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS IN-TEXT

APA style requires use of parenthetical citations in text, rather than footnotes or endnotes. The citation includes

the name and year of publication. The purpose is to lead the reader from sources cited within the paper to the

alphabetically arranged References list at the end of your paper. Two references within the same parentheses

should be cited in the same order as they appear in the References list.

When citing specific parts of a source, include the page, chapter, figure, table, etc. with the reference. Note that

with in-text citations, page is abbreviated (p.), but Chapter is not. Always give page numbers for quotations.

E.g., (Langman, 2009, p. 10) (Langman, 2009, Chapter 3).

One name: In text: Langman (2009) contends that mass violence in schools is not new. In reference: The

difference in school violence today is that teenagers are the perpetrators (Langman, 2009). Both in text: In

2009, Langman’s study of school violence demonstrated that ….

Note: Subsequent in-text references to the author in the same paragraph do not have to include the date; however,

all parenthetical references should include both the author and date.

Two names: In text: Ramirez and Lucero (2009) argue that Ortiz’s writing has had a tremendous impact on

contemporary Native American literature. In reference: Ortiz is one of the most influential writers of

contemporary Native American literature (Ramirez & Lucero, 2009).

Notes: In-text reference uses “and.” In-reference citations uses “&.” When citing two authors, cite both names for every reference in the text. When citing more than two authors, cite the names of all authors in the first reference;

afterwards cite the first author with et al. (no italics, period after al. only.) When citing six or more authors, cite only the

first author’s name followed by et al. E.g., Jones et al. (2007) found that ….

Citing a work listed by title: The nation’s poorest neighborhoods are replete with environmental hazards. (“In

whose backyard?” 2010). Maps included in Atlas of the World (2007) are…

Name of a corporate or group author in text: The American Psychological Association (2009) has modified

its citation style for works published on the Web.

Note: Usually corporate or group author names are spelled out each time they are used in text. However, if the name is

long and the abbreviation is easily recognized, initials may be used in subsequent references. E.g., the Food and Drug

Administration (2009) in the first reference; FDA (2009) in subsequent references.