APA Style - How to Document Information

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. For more details and examples, consult the APA publication manual (REF BF76.7 P83 2010).

Reference List | Parenthetical Citations

Create A Reference List

Format Rules | Authors | Books | Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles - Print Versions
Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles - From Library Databases
Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles - Online Versions | Web Pages

Format Rules

Place the reference list at the end of the paper.
Center the title, "References" one inch from the top of the page.
Double space between the title and the first entry.
Double space both within and between entries.
Begin each entry flush with the left margin.
Indent subsequent lines one-half inch (five spaces).
Alphabetize by the author's (or editor's) last name.
Entries without an author are alphabetized by title.

Authors

Use these formats when citing authors in a reference list. Surnames are listed first, followed by a comma and the author’s initials.

Single Author
Schwartz, J.

Two to Seven Authors
List all authors and separate with a comma. Include an ampersand (&) before the last author.

Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A.
Chamberlin, J., Novotney, A., Packard, E., & Price, M.

More Than Seven Authors
List the first six authors followed by three ellipsis points and add the last author.

Gilbert, D. G., McClernon, J. F., Rabinovich, N. E., Sugai, C., Plath, L. C., Asgaard, G., . . . Botros, N.

Books

Basic Format
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Place of publication: Publisher.

Note: The title of the book is italicized.

Basic Examples
Adams, F. L., Cantor, P., Hoctor, C., Johnson, P. A., Mulroy, S. A., & Peters, M. T. (2001). Raising large families in the 21st century. Burlington, VT: Pages Press.
Glister, P. (1993). The internet navigator. New York: Wiley.
Wallach, M. A., & Wallach, L. (1983). Psychology’s sanction for selfishness: The error of egoism in theory and therapy. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.

Books that are Edited
Hollin, C. (Ed.). (1995). Contemporary psychology: An introduction. London: Taylor & Francis.

Books by a Group (or Corporate) Author
American Medical Association. (1989). The American Medical Association encyclopedia of medicine. New York: Random House.

Books with No Author or Editor
Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
Chowning, J. (1999). Perceptual fusion and auditory perspective. In P. R. Cook (Ed.),. Music, cognition, and computerized sound: An introduction to psychoacoustics (pp. 261-275). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Entry in a Reference Book (signed entry)
Bergman, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopaedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Entry in a Reference Book (unsigned entry)
Relativity. (1995). In The Penguin dictionary of psychology (2nd. Ed., p. 658). New York: Penguin Books.

Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles - Print Versions

Basic Format
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume number(Issue number), page range.

Note: The title of the periodical and the volume number are italicized.

Article in a Journal
Kralj, M. M. (1994). Getting out of the box. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 46(2), 27-28.

Note: if page numbers are continuous throughout a volume, the issue number is not necessary.

Bekerian, D. A. (1993). In search of the typical eyewitness. American Psychologist, 48, 574-576.

Article in a Magazine
Posner, M. I. (1993, October 29). Seeing the mind. Science, 262, 673-674.

Article in a Newspaper (signed)
Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4.

Article in a Newspaper (unsigned)
New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, p. A12.

Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles - From Library Databases

Articles found in library databases are referenced in the same way as print articles. If the article is easily located, you do not need to include database information or a URL. Database information may be included if the article is difficult to find, but is not mandatory.

Basic Format
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume number(Issue number), page range.

Note: The title of the periodical and the volume number are italicized.

Article in a Library Database (same as a print article)
Gielen, Anne C., Kerkhofs, M., & Van Ours, J. (2010). How performance related pay affects productivity and employment. Journal of Population Economics, 23(1), 291-301.

Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Articles - Online Versions

Articles from online sources (such as a newspaper web site or online journal not accessed through a library database) are referenced in the same way as print articles, but references should include the Document Object Identifier (DOI) number if one has been assigned to the article. If a DOI isn’t available, include the URL of the journal, magazine, or newspaper home page.

Basic Format
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume number(Issue number), page range. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx

Note: The title of the periodical and the volume number are italicized.

Article in a Newspaper
Brody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental reserves keep brain agile. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Journal Article with a DOI Assigned
Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Journal Article without a DOI Assigned
Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. Retrieved from http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap

Web Pages

Basic Format
Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of Page/Document. Retrieved from URL.

Note: The title of the page/document is italicized.
Note: n.d. indicates that no publication date is available.

Web page without an author
GVU’s 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/users_surveys /survey-1997-10/

Web page authored by an organization
Greater New Milford (Ct) Area Healthy Community 2000, Task Force on Teen and Adolescent Issues. (n.d.). Who has time for a family meal? You do! Retrieved from http://www.familymealtime.org

Parenthetical Citations in Text

Basic Formats
If the author's name is not included in the narrative:
     (Author's Last Name, Year of publication)
If the author's name is not included in the narrative and a direct quote is used:
     (Author's Last Name, Year of publication, Page number)
If the author's name is included in the narrative:
     (Year, page range)
If the author's name is included in the narrative and a direct quote is used, the page number may appear after the quote:
     (Page number)

Work by One Author
In a recent study of reaction times, Rogers (1994) described the method...

Work by One Author, specific page cited
This is the definition of the eyewitness (Bekerian, 1993, p. 575)

Work by Two Authors
(Walker & Allen, 2004)

Work by Three to Five Authors (first reference in text - all authors included)
"The most effective way of teaching Spanish…is not by rote" (Valdés, Lozano, García-Moya, 1982).

Work by Three to Five Authors (subsequent references in text - one author et al.)
...others have made this point well (Valdés et al., 1981).

Work by Six of More Authors
...a recent study confirms this (Jones et al., 1988).

Work with No Author (Newspaper article)
("New Drug," 1993, p. C3).

References
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed). Washington, DC: Author.

For more information and examples, please consult the APA manual, available in Ely Library’s reference collection (REF BF76.7 P83 2010).

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Page maintained by Oliver Zeff
Last updated January 19, 2010