This guide summarizes the APA guidelines for citing library database articles. It is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.  For more information and examples of citations, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association that is available in Ely Library's reference collection (REF BF76.7 .P83 2001). For examples of how to cite other types of sources in APA Style, consult the separate webpage APA Style - How to Document Information.

Basic format:

Author(s). (date). Article title. Periodical title, volume number(issue number), page number(s).

      Retrieved Month day, year from Database Name.

• Date for journals may include month and year or just the year
• Date for magazine and newspaper articles may include day, month and year
• If pagination is continuous throughout the volume of a journal, issue number may be omitted from citation

Journal Article - journal with non-continuous pagination within each volume

Buell, C. (2001, August). Enhancing content literacy in physical education. Journal of Physical

      Education, Recreation & Dance, 72(6), 32-37. Retrieved August 28, 2001, from Education

      Journals database.

Journal Article - journal with continuous pagination within each volume (no issue cited)

Bodnar, J. (2001). Saving Private Ryan and Postwar Memory in America. American Historical

      Review, 106, 805-817. Retrieved July 05, 2001 from Academic Search Premier database.

Magazine Article - publication date includes month, day and year

Novak, M. (2001, September 3). The Stem-Cell Slide. National Review, 53(17), 17-18. Retrieved

      September 4, 2001, from Academic Search Premier database.
 

Newspaper Article- publication date includes month, day, and year, no volume or issue number

Pincus, W. (2001, August 25). Panel asked to defer anti-leak bill hearing. The Washington Post, p. A4.

      Retrieved September 4, 2001 from Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe database.
 

Your citation enables your reader to identify the source of information in the Reference List at the end of your paper.  Use this method of citation, and insert the author and date into the text at appropriate points. Reference citations in the text of your paper direct your reader to the full entry in the list of References.

• Citation includes author's name or first one or two words of web page title, year of publication, then page numbers if available.
• If your source lacks an author, cite the first one or two words of the title.
• If source has 3-5 authors, include all authors' names in the cite. In subsequent citations, cite the first author followed by "et al."
• Page numbers: Articles retrieved from library databases may be html files, html files with embedded page numbers or PDF files. Only include page numbers in your citation for articles available as PDF files or html files with embedded page numbers. Do not use page numbers generated by a print-out of the article.

(Author, year, page number if applicable) or (First title words, year, page number if applicable)

Examples:

Article from a library database - no author

("Study Finds," 1982).
 

Article from a library database - author listed

(Schwartz, 1993).

Article from a library database - with author, pdf file accessed with page numbers

(Bekerian, 1993, p. 575).

Article from library database - multiple authors (less than six)

(Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, Gerstman, and Rock, 1994)

Examples of citations in text

Direct Quotes:

The Shakespeare Interactive Classroom "is intended primarily as a tool that empowers and inspires the student of Shakespeare" (Cummings, 1998, p. 106)

Paraphrasing Articles

Novak is disappointed in Christopher Reeve for supporting stem-cell research. Novak believes that Reeve "wants to have other human beings killed, so that he might be cured" (2001, p. 18)"
 

Developed from: American Psychological Association. (2001).  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association.

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