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Using APA Style

APA style is governed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association. This style has gained wide acceptance in the social sciences, and
versions similar to it are used in the biological sciences, business, and the earth
sciences. The information on this site is based on the fifth edition of the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association, published in July 2001. The APA
style highlights research and the accurate reporting of research results.

If your instructor requires use of APA style, he or she will probably specify one of the
following types of articles:

• Theoretical articles
• Reports of empirical studies
• Review articles

Theoretical articles draw upon existing research to examine a topic, by tracing the
development of a theory, comparing theories, or examining the literature on a topic.
Reports of empirical studies are used to report the results of field research or
laboratory tests; these reports introduce the problem, describe the method used to
conduct the research, report the results, and then discuss or interpret the results.
Review articles provide a critical evaluation of a published article or book, or a set of
articles on a common topic; these reports summarize articles or books, analyze the
literature for strengths and possible weaknesses, and recommend additional research
that might be conducted.

Writing in the Proper Tense

Whereas papers written in MLA style generally use the present tense, APA style
requires you to use the past tense or present perfect tense ("Marshall stipulated" or
"the work of Elmford and Mills has demonstrated"). APA style does require the
present tense when you discuss the results (e.g., the results confirm or the study
indicates) and when you mention established knowledge (e.g., the therapy offers some
hope or salt contributes to hypertension). For example:

The danger of steroid use exists for every age group, even youngsters. Lloyd and
Mercer (2000) reported on six incidents of liver damage to 14-year-old swimmers
who used steroids.

Incorporating Reference Citations into Your Paper

APA style uses these conventions for in-text citations:

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 • Cites last names only.
• Cites the year, within parentheses, immediately after the name of the author. A
specific day precedes the year in textual citations, but follows in bibliography
entries.
• Cites page numbers with a direct quotation, seldom with a paraphrase.
• Uses "p." or "pp." before page numbers.

Author and Year

An in-text citation in APA style includes the last name of the author and the year of
publication, as shown:

Devlin (1999) has advanced the idea of combining the social sciences and
mathematics to chart human behavior.

If you quote the exact words of a source, provide a page number and use "p." or "pp."
The page number can be placed either after the year (e.g., 1999, p. B4) or at the end of
the quotation, as shown:

Devlin (1999) has advanced the idea of "soft mathematics," which is the practice of
"applying mathematics to study people's behavior" (p. B4).

Two or More Authors

When a work has two authors, use and in the text but use & in the citation, as shown:

Werner and Throckmorton (1999) offered statistics on the toxic levels of water
samples from six rivers.

but

It has been reported (Werner & Throckmorton, 1999) that toxic levels exceeded the
maximum allowed each year since 1983.

For three to five authors, name them all in the first entry (e.g., Torgerson, Andrews,
Smith, Lawrence, & Dunlap, 2001), but thereafter use "et al." (e.g., Torgerson et al.,
2001). For six or more authors, employ "et al." in the first and in all subsequent
instances (e.g., Fredericks et al., 2001).

Two or More Works by the Same Author

For citing more than one work by an author, use lowercase letters (a, b, c) to identify
works published in the same year by the same author, for example, "(Thompson,
2000a)" and "(Thompson, 2000b)." Then use "2000a" and "2000b" in your Reference
list.

Corporate Author

Corporate authors may be abbreviated after a first, full reference:

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One source has questioned the results of the use of aspirin for arthritis treatment in
children (American Medical Association, 1991).

Thereafter, refer to the corporate author by initials: (AMA, 1991).

Indirect Sources

Use a double reference to cite somebody who has been quoted in a book or article.
That is, use the original author in the text and cite your source for the information in
the parenthetical citation, as follows:

In other research, Massie and Rosenthal (1997) studied home movies of children
diagnosed with autism, but determining criteria was difficult due to the differences in
quality and dating of the available videotapes (cited in Osterling & Dawson, 1998, p.
248).

Internet Sources

An online source is cited in the same way as a print source. Provide the name of the
author(s) followed by the year of publication: (Schino, 2001). If no author is given,
begin with the name of the document: (Animal Intelligence, 1999).

If an article on the Internet shows numbered pages or numbered paragraphs, include

that information in the citation:

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (1997) emphasizes restraint first, saying,
"Riding unrestrained or improperly restrained in a motor vehicle always has been the
greatest hazard for children" (par. 13).

If there is no author, use a short form of the title of the article or the title of the Web
site:

Important new guidelines have been established and must be followed for any project
receiving federal funding (Web Accessibility Initiative, 2001).

Personal communications, which cannot be retrieved, should be cited in the text only
and not included in the References list. The citation in the text should take this form,
which is used for citing any personal communication (including letters and personal
interviews):

One technical writing instructor (March 8, 2000) has bemoaned the inability of
hardware developers to maintain pace with the ingenuity of software developers. In
his e-mail message he said, "Students nationwide suffer with antiquated equipment,
even though it's only a few years old" ([email protected]).

Preparing the References List

Use the title "References." Alphabetize the entries and double space throughout.
Every reference used in your text should appear in the alphabetized list of references
at the end of the paper. Type the first line of each entry flush left, and indent

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succeeding lines one half inch or five spaces. The newest version of the manual (July
2001) uses italics rather than underlining throughout. In addition to using the
information here, you can consult the APA Web site
(http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html) for more information, updates, or corrections.

Books

Author's Name

List the author (surname first with initials for given names), year of publication within
parentheses, title of the book in italics and with only the first word of the title and any
subtitle capitalized, place of publication, and publisher. In the publisher's name, omit
the words Publishing, Company, or Inc., but otherwise give a full name: Florida State
University Press; HarperCollins.

McGraw, P. C. (2000). Life strategies: Doing what works, doing what matters. New
York: Hyperion.

Two or More Authors

List books with two or more authors as follows:

Parker, S. T., & McKinney, M. L. (1999). Origins of intelligence: The evolution of

cognitive development in monkeys, apes, and humans. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press.

When a book has six or more authors, list the first six, followed by et al. to indicate
the remaining authors:

Smith, R. V., Florez, J. D., Chin, H. J., Johansen, E. I., Mathis, T. E., Jameson, M. P.,
et al. (2001). Studying animal intelligence: Seventy-five years of field research.
Johnson, TN: Johnson State University Press.

Two or More Books by the Same Author

List two or more books by the same author chronologically, not alphabetically; for
example, Fitzgerald's 1999 publication would precede his 2000 publication.
References with the same author in the same year are alphabetized and marked with
lowercase letters (a, b, c) immediately after the date.

Cobb, R. A. (1999a). Circulating systems.

Cobb, R. A. (1999b). Delay valves. . .

Corporate Author

Alphabetize corporate authors by the first significant word of the name. Note: If the
author is also the publisher, use the word "Author" as the name of the publisher.

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American Medical Association. (1998). Essential guide to menopause. New York:
Pocket.

Edited Book

An edited book should be listed as follows:

Mitchell, R. W., Thompson, N. S., & Miles, H. L. (Eds.). (1997). Anthropomorphism,

anecdotes, and animals. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Chapter or Part of Book

List author, date, chapter or section title, editor (with name in normal order) preceded
by "In" and followed by "(Ed.)" or "(Eds.)," the name of the book in italics, page
numbers to the specific section of the book cited (in parentheses), place of
publication, and publisher.

Hill, R. (1999). Repatriation must heal old wounds. In R. L. Brooks (Ed.), When sorry
isn't enough (pp. 283-287). New York: New York University Press.

Periodicals

Journals with Continuous Pagination

List author, year, title of the article without quotation marks and with the first word
(and any proper nouns) capitalized, name of the journal italicized, volume number
italicized, inclusive page numbers not preceded by "p." or "pp."

Meinz, E. J. (2000). Experience-based attenuation of age-related differences in music

cognition tasks. Psychology and Aging, 15, 297-312.

Journals Paginated by Issue

The number in parentheses following the volume number is the issue number, which
is not italicized.

Hart, B. (1997). Hofmannsthal's ideal women: A psychoanalytic perspective. The

Opera Quarterly, 13(4), 93-121.

Magazines

List author, date of publication (year, month without abbreviation, and the specific
day for magazines published weekly and fortnightly), title of the article without
quotation marks and with the first word capitalized, name of the magazine italicized,
the volume number if it is readily available, and inclusive page numbers preceded by
"p." or "pp." only if you do not provide the volume number. If a magazine prints the
article on discontinuous pages, include all page numbers.

Cameron, W. B. (2001, September 17). Downsizing at the dinner table. Time, 158,
105.

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Abstracts

Cite as for a magazine or journal, but with the word "abstract" enclosed in brackets.

Rosen, G. (2000). Public school alternatives: The voucher controversy [Abstract].

Current, 423, 3-8.

Newspapers

The examples below illustrate a signed newspaper article, an unsigned article, and a
letter to the editor.

Bollag, B. (2001, June 15). Developing countries turn to distance education. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, p. B29.

Controlled study suggests dangers of new drug. (2001, October 1). The Fordham
Morning Monitor, pp. 1, 17, 19.

Gordon, M. (2001, September 25). Reflection and revenge need hard look [Letter to
the editor]. The Oakwood Register, p. 4.

Reviews

Jenkyns, R. (2000, August 28). Leprous spawn [Review of the book Bosie: A
biography of Lord Alfred Douglas]. The New Republic, 223, 38-40.

Internet Sources

Include the following information:

1. Author/editor last name, comma, initials, and a period.

2. Within parentheses, date of publication (year, month date), followed by a
period.
3. Title of the article, not within quotation marks, with only the first word of the
title and subtitle and proper nouns capitalized.
4. Name of the journal or complete Web site, italicized.
5. Volume number, italicized; issue number in parentheses if given (not
italicized).
6. Page numbers, if given.
7. The word "Retrieved," followed by the date of access, followed by the source
(e.g., World Wide Web or Telnet) and a colon.
8. The URL. There is no period after a URL at the end of a citation so that
readers will not think the period is part of the URL. If you need to divide the
URL, do so only after a slash or before a period.

Dow, J. (2000). External and internal approaches to emotion: Commentary on Nesse

on mood. Psycoloquy. Retrieved September 23, 2004, from
http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/ Newpsy?3.01

Online Publications with Print Equivalent

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If the online publication duplicates the print version, simply add the description
[Electronic version] after the title of the article:

Schino, G. (2001). Grooming, competition, and social rank among female primates: A
meta-analysis [Electronic version]. Animal Behavior, 62, 265-271.

Online Journals or Magazines without Print Equivalent

Knox, S. L. (2001, May). The productive power of confessions of cruelty.

Postmodern Culture, 11(3). Retrieved September 21, 2005, from
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/pmc/current.issue/11.3knox.html

Complete Internet Documents

Animal Intelligence. (1999). Retrieved September 28, 2001, from

http://www.pethelp.net/cogit.html

E-mail and Messages

Since personal E-mail cannot be retrieved by the reader of the paper, it is not included
in the reference list at the end of the paper. It is cited in the body of the paper as
follows:

B. J. Lawson, personal communication, September 26, 2001.

The same wording is used for personal letters, memos, personal interviews, and
telephone conversations.

Messages that can be retrieved by the reader—such as those posted to a newsgroup,

discussion list, online forum, and so on—should be included in the reference list as
follows:

Williams, W. E. (2001, September 20). Killing the messenger [Msg 2384]. Message
posted to http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@.efe8124

Other Sources

CD-ROM

Firestone, D. (2000, August 10). The south comes of age on religion ad politics [CD-
ROM]. New York Times, p. A-17. Article from UMI-ProQuest file: New York Times
Online Item 3602-108.

Computer Program

Gold Rush 1.0. (1999). [Computer program]. Columbia, MD: WisdomBuilder.

Audiovisual Media

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Ford, B., & Ford, S. (Producers). (2007). Couples dance instructional videos: Robert
Royston & Lawreen Baldovi [Motion picture]. Antioch, CA: Images in Motion.