American Psychological Association (APA) style is commonly used for citing references in science and social science courses, such as Nursing, Psychology, Education, and Social Work. This guide is based on the 6th edition published in 2010.
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APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, the page number must also be included as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have no page numbers, a paragraph number must be used. An in-text citation must be used whenever one refers to, summarizes, paraphrases, or quotes from another source. For every in-text citation in the paper, there must be a corresponding entry in the reference list. References cited in the text must appear in the Reference list and vice versa. The only exceptions to this rule are personal communications and classical works (e.g. The Bible); they are cited in the text only and are not included in the Reference list (p.174). Use only the initial(s) of the author’s given name(s), not the full name (p.184), even when the full name is given.
If the Reference list includes 2 or more entries by the same author(s), list them in chronological order with the earliest first (p. 182).
If the author’s name is unavailable, use the first few words of the title of the source, including the appropriate capitalization and italics formatting (pp.176-177).
These are a few important elements for the reference list:
- Author (last name, initials only for first & middle names)
- Date of publication of the article (year and month for monthly publications; year, month, and day for daily or weekly publications)
- Title of article (capitalize only the first word of title and subtitle, and proper nouns)
- Title of publication in italics (i.e., Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Newsweek, New York Times)
- The volume number in italics and issue number, if given
- Page numbers of article
- For articles retrieved online, include URL or DOI, if available
For a journal article, the in-text citation should be as follows: (Author Surname, Year, page number) and the corresponding reference should be as follows:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range.
doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx OR Retrieved from URL of journal home page [if available].
Example-
In-Text Citation (Quotation): (Pettigrew, 2009, p. 61)
References: Pettigrew, T. F. (2009). Secondary transfer effect of contact: Do intergroup contact effects spread to noncontacted outgroups? Social Psychology, 40(2), 55-65. doi:10.1027/1864-9335.40.2.55
APA guidelines for citing a book are as follows:
Important Elements:
- Author (last name, initials only for first & middle names)
- Publication date
- Title (in italics; capitalize only the first word of title and subtitle, and proper nouns)
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- For books retrieved online, include the URL
Print book:
Goodpaster, K. E., Nash, L. L., & de Bettignies, H. (2006). Business ethics: Policies and persons (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Book by a group author:
American Medical Association. (2004). American Medical Association family medical guide (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Article or chapter within an edited book:
Winne, P. H. (2001). Self-regulated learning is viewed from models of information processing. In B.J. Zimmerman & D.H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement (2nd ed., pp. 160-192). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Translation:
Tolstoy, L. (2006). War and peace. (A. Briggs, Trans.). New York, NY: Viking. (Original work published 1865).
Electronic book:
Post, E. (1923). Etiquette in society, in business, in politics, and at home. New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/95/
Entry in an online reference work:
Rey, G. (2006). Behaviorism. In D. M. Borchert (Ed.), Encyclopedia of philosophy. (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/
E-Reader book (such as Kindle):
Tetlock, P.E., & Gardner, D. (2015). Superforecasting: The art and science of prediction [Kindle Paperwhite version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
APA guidelines for citing web pages and blog posts are as follows:
For web pages
If you are citing an entire website, it is not necessary to include a citation for the website in your reference list. Simply include the title and address within the text of your paper.
Example:
The Safe Child website includes practical information for parents on how to help their children cope with bullying (http://safechild.org).
When citing specific information from individual web pages, use the following elements to create your citation.
Important Elements:
- Citations with more than one line of text should have a hanging indent of 1/2 inch or 5 spaces.
- Author (if known). If no author, use the title
- Date of publication. If no date, use n.d.
- Title of the Web page
- URL (Web address) of the Web page
Note on titles: only italicize the title of a document that stands alone (books, reports, etc.), but not the title of a document that is part of a greater whole. If you are not sure whether something stands alone (such as a document on a website), choose not to italicize it.
General Format
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): (Author Surname, Year)
In-Text Citation (Quotation): (Author Surname, Year, page or paragraph number [if available])
References: Personal or Corporate Author. (Last update or copyright date; if not known, put n.d.)
Title of the website or specific document. Retrieved from URL of specific page or document
Examples of References:
Web page with author
Kraizer, S. (2011). Safety on the Internet. Retrieved from http://safechild.org/categoryparents/safety-on-the-internet/
Web page with a group author
American Cancer Society (2015). Genetics and cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/geneticsandcancer/index
Web page with no author
Claustrophobia (2014). Retrieved from http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/claustrophobia/Pages/Introduction.aspx
For Blog posts:
General Format-
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): (Author Surname OR Screen name, Year)
In-Text Citation (Quotation): (Author Surname OR Screen name, Year)
References: Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Author screen name {as it appears on the blog}. (Year, Month Day {of post}). Title of specific post [Web log post]. Retrieved from URL of the specific post
Example
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): (Tennant, 2008)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):(Tennant, 2008)
References: Tennant, R. (2008, February 9). Kindle 2 Announced: This writer yawns. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blog.libraryjournal.com/tennantdigitallibraries/2009/02/09/kindle-2-announced-this-writer-yawns/
