March 2015

American Psychological Association [APA] Citation Guidelines, 6th Edition

APA, like all citation styles, has distinct rules. The main points of distinction are as follows: In-Text Citations

• Academic writing following APA guidelines should primarily be paraphrased. Though not required, APA recommends the use of page numbers in parenthetical citations following paraphrase. APA requires page numbers following any use of direct quotation. Use p. # (ex: p. 4) for a single page and pp. #-# (ex: pp. 2-4) for a range of pages.

• APA also prefers that parenthetical citations appear as close to the source material as possible: If a source author’s name is used in text, follow it immediately with the publication year in parentheses. If no author name is used in text, end the sentence with the parenthetical citation.

 References Page

• Type and center the word “References” at the top of the page. Alphabetize references by the first author’s last name. Left justify the first line of each reference; indent subsequent lines.

• Capitalization: APA has idiosyncratic capitalization rules: For journal article titles and book titles, capitalize only the first word in the title, proper nouns, and the first word following any colon. For the names of journals, capitalize all words with four or more letters.

• Italics: Journal names (including volume number) and book titles are italicized; journal

article titles are not. The rest of this handout provides examples of in-text citations and references and is organized by Number of Authors, Additional Considerations, and Electronic Sources.

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Books and Journals by Number of Authors Many of APA’s idiosyncratic rules for in-text citations and references correspond with the number of authors. Note, for example, that the use of “et al.” first arrives in the Three to Five Authors category but is most commonly used with Six (or more) authors. Also of note: Ampersands (&) are only used in parenthetical citations and on the References page.

One Author

In text, following author’s name:

Underwood (2007) found that horror movies reflect a culture’s biggest fears.

End of sentence: Horror movies reflect a culture’s biggest fears (Underwood, 2007). Direct quotations: Underwood (2007) found that “the most pressing fears that preoccupy a

culture often inform the genre of horror movies” (p. 276). This study determined that “the most pressing fears that preoccupy a culture often inform the genre of horror movies” (Underwood, 2007, p. 276).

Print journal: Underwood, J. (2007). Corrupt governments, brain hacking, and medical mishaps: The film adaptations of our fears. Film Studies Quarterly, 67(1), 270-278.

Journal with DOI: Underwood, J. (2007). Behind the lens: The use of cameras in modern horror movies. Journal of Film Studies, 67(9), 190-201. doi:99.4738583958395/478572

Journal with no DOI: Underwood, J. (2007). Doctors, politicians, and rogue cops: Villains of modern horror movies. Horror Movie Studies, 132(2), 99-108. Retrieved from http://ort.lib.derb.edu.au/html

Book: Zakaria, F. (2009). The post-American world. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Book with DOI: Mukherjee, S. (2011). The emperor of all maladies: A biography of cancer. doi:10.03478/99947385

Electronic-only book: Alabaster, K. (2007). Global development since 1789. Retrieved from http://www.globalization.org

Article in edited book: [When citing an article in an edited book (i.e., different chapters are written by contributors), cite the author of the article or chapter in text, NOT the editors of the overall book.] Liu (2001) found that the United States, compared to European countries, places much more emphasis on the symbolism of the flag. [For the References page:] Liu, M. (2004). I pledge allegiance: The symbolism of the flag throughout

American history. In I. Ward, P. West, & M. Lowell (Eds.), Displays of nationalism across the globe. (pp. 99-123). Denver, CO: Globalization, Inc.

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Two Authors

In text, following authors’ names:

Eitzen and Zinn (2011) found that, since 1970, countries with American fast food corporations have increased by 250 percent.

End of sentence: A recent study determined that sweatshops have gained an increasingly negative perception in industrialized countries (Eitzen & Zinn, 2011).

Direct quotations: Eitzen and Zinn (2011) found that “the negative impact of sweatshops on employment rates and GDP seems to ruffle more feathers than the exploitation of workers employed at these sweatshops” (p. 276). This survey found that “the negative impact of sweatshops on employment rates and GDP seems to ruffle more feathers than the exploitation of workers employed at these sweatshops” (Eitzen & Zinn, 2011, p. 276).

Journal: Eitzen, J., & Zinn, R.G. (2011). Changing perceptions of ethical labor. Industrialization and Globalization, 10(8), 270-279.

[Please see “One author” for those with DOI numbers.]

Book: Eitzen, J., & Zinn, R.G. (2011). Blood, sweat, and tears: The history of the sweatshop. Denver, CO: Mason, Inc.

[Please see “One author” for instructions on electronic books from web sites and books with DOI numbers.]

Three to Five Authors

In text, following authors’ names:

Armstrong, Zinn, and Bauer (1994) found that at the height of cooperation between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, Europe had constructed more libraries than churches, synagogues, or mosques.

End of sentence: A historical analysis of the role of churches in the United States determined that religious leaders offered up their churches as places of refuge amidst violent cultural uprisings (Armstrong, Zinn, & Bauer, 1994).

Direct quotations:

Armstrong, Zinn, and Bauer (1994) found that “major religions are often unfairly represented by their extremist elements” (p. 90). In fact, “major religions are often unfairly represented by their extremist elements” (Armstrong, Zinn, & Bauer, 1994, p. 90).

After first citation within paragraph:

Armstrong et al. found that Americans are becoming increasingly less religious.

Journal: Armstrong, E., Zinn, H., & Bauer, J. (2007). A history of major religions in Spain. Journal of Religious Studies, 8(4), 90-97.

Book: Armstrong, E., Zinn, H., & Bauer, J. (2007). In God we trust: How perceptions of God have evolved alongside technological innovation. Denver, CO: Religious Studies, Inc.

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Six Authors

In text, following author’s name:

Nguyen et al. (2000) found that many soldiers often composed poetry to cope with the horrors of trench warfare.

End of sentence: Trench warfare poetry has become its own sub-genre of literature (Nguyen et al., 2000).

Direct quotations: Nguyen et al. (2000) found that “WWI poets often repurposed classical genres of poetry to draw parallels between different eras of war” (p. 90). In fact, “WWI poets often repurposed classical genres of poetry to draw parallels between different eras of war” (Nguyen et al., 2000, p. 90).

Journal: Cite all authors completely as you would in any other reference: Nguyen, K., Rowan, B., Bui, W., Michaels, F., O’Reilly, T., & Olivas, L. (2007).

Trench warfare and the rise of post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Warfare, 8(7), 90-97.

Book: [As with other books, reference all authors.]

Seven or More Authors

References page and in-text citation:

[If the work has seven authors, list all authors. If a work has more than seven authors, cut off the list of authors at six persons, write “…” and then end with the last author identified.] Aldrin, P., Han, O., Schultz, W., Chambers, S., Fishel, L., Paulson, B., …Rodriguez, J. (2007). A short overview of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Journal of Historical Methodologies, 9(1), 100-118.

[Cite in text the same as you would for six authors:] Aldrin et al. (2007) OR (Aldrin et al., 2007)

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Additional Considerations

Organizations as authors:

[If there is no individual author listed, it is typically appropriate to list the organization or corporation as the author both in in-text citations and on the References page. If you are citing the source frequently throughout your work, introduce the acronym for the organization/corporation the first time you cite it and use the acronym for all subsequent citations.] The prevalence of schizophrenia in the general population is roughly 1 percent (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2007). Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 2007).

Non-English book: [If the non-English title of the translated work is used, cite the original version and place the English translation of the title in brackets.] Chateaubriand, R.A. (2005). Ma vie [My life]. Paris: European Publishing.

Several studies: [When making comments such as “Several studies found” or “Many researchers have noted,” provide examples (listed alphabetically) of the studies and/or researchers.] Many studies demonstrated that diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder increased tenfold after WWI (Aster, 2006; Martinez, 2009).

Secondary sources:

[When citing a source within a source, use the following structure. Please note that APA highly recommends consulting the original work whenever possible.] According to Freud, the Oedipus Complex is related to superego development (as cited in Han, 1998).

Same author /same year:

[Authors sometimes publish multiple works in a single year. To distinguish between these sources, compose the references for the References page, alphabetize the references by title, and assign a lowercase letter (e.g., a, b, c, d) to the year of publication.] Veracruz, C. (2008a). Alzheimer’s disease, increasing lifespans, and the

politics of mental acuity. Veracruz, C. (2008b). Disability and the presidency. Veracruz, C. (2008c). FDR: An icon. [In text, distinguish between the sources by citing the year and the lowercase letter: Veracruz (2008a); Veracruz (2008b); Veracruz (2008c).]

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Electronic Sources The basic reference template is made up of four pieces: author, date, title (with format in brackets if necessary), and source (the URL). When one or more pieces is missing, use the method shown below to adapt the template. In-text citations use the pieces from Position A and Position B.

Learn more about citing electronic sources – tweets, Facebook updates, Wikipedia articles, and more – on the official blog of the APA: blog.apastyle.org.

What’s

missing?

Solution

Reference Template Position A Position B Position C Position D

Nothing; I’ve got all the pieces

n/a Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format]. Retrieved from http://URL

Author is missing

Substitute title for the author

Title of document [Format].

(date). Retrieved from http://URL

Date is missing Use “n.d.” for no date

Author, A. (n.d.). Title of document [Format]. Retrieved from http://URL

Title is missing Describe the document inside square brackets

Author, A. (date). [Description of document]. Retrieved from http://URL

Author and date are both missing

Combine author and date methods

Title of document [Format].

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://URL

Author and title are both missing

Combine author and title methods

[Description of document].

(date). Retrieved from http://URL

Date and title are both missing

Combine date and title methods

Author, A. (n.d.). [Description of document]. Retrieved from http://URL

Author, date, and title are all missing

Combine all three methods

[Description of document].

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://URL