American Psychological Association (APA) Format

From Purdue University Online Writing Lab

Revised by Germanna Community College Tutoring Services

General Format

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5 X 11 inches) with
margins of 1 inch on all sides. You final essay should include, in the order indicated below,
as many of the following sections as are applicable, each of which should begin on a separate
page:

• Title Page, which includes a running head for publication, title, and
byline and affiliation
• Abstract
• Text
• References
• Appendixes
• Author Note
• Footnotes/Endnotes
• Tables
• Figure Captions
• Figures

The pages of your manuscript should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title
page, as part of the manuscript header in the upper right corner of each page. Your
references should begin on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label
References (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), centered at the top of the page.
Appendices and notes should be formatted similarly. Above is a sample title page in APA
format. Note how it includes the running head and page number in the upper right hand
corner, defines the running head that will title all manuscript pages, and centers the title in
the middle of the page. Always remember to consult your instructor if you are writing a
paper for a class; s/he may have different guidelines for how a title page should appear.

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Handling Quotations in Your Text

If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or
making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference
to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines
encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required.) If you are
directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and
the page number for the reference. Here are some examples for referring to another idea or
study:

Jones (1998) compared student performance…

In a recent study of student performance (Jones, 1998), …

In 1998, Jones compared student performances …

If there is no author to cite, such as when you are citing a webpage that lists no author, use
an abbreviated version of the title of the page in quotation marks to substitute for the name
of the author.

Webber did a similar study of students learning to format research papers (“Using

APA,” 2001).

If you are citing a work that has no author and no date, use the first few words from the
title, then the abbreviation n.d. (for “no date”).

In another study of students and research decisions, it was discovered that students

succeeded with tutoring (“Tutoring and APA,” n.d.).

Personal communications, such as e-mail messages to you, or private interviews that you
conducted with another person, should be referred to in your in-text citations but NOT in
your reference list. To cite a personal communication, provide initials and last name of the
communicator, the words personal communication, plus an exact date in the body of your
paper. For example:

A. P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had difficulties with APA style

(personal communication, November 3, 2002).

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Short Quotations

To indicate quotations of fewer than 40 words in your text, enclose the quotation within
double quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text,
and include a complete reference in the reference list. Punctuation marks, such as periods,
commas, and semicolons, should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks
and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the
quotation but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text. For example:

She stated, “Students often had difficulty using APA style,” (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but

she did not offer an explanation as to why.

According to Jones (1998), “Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially

when it was their first time” (p. 199).

Jones (1998) found “students often had difficulty using APA style” (p. 199); what

implications does this have for teachers?

Long Quotations (Block Quotes)

Place quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and
omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented five spaces from the left
margin. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any
subsequent paragraph within the quotation five spaces from the new margin. Maintain
double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation should come after closing
punctuation mark. For example:

Jones’s 1993 study found the following: Students often had difficulty using

APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This

difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase

a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

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Choosing Double or Single Quotation Marks

If you are using a quotation that uses quotation marks as a short quotation, use single
quotation marks to set off the material that was originally enclosed in quotation marks. If
you are using a quotation that uses quotation marks in a block quote, use double quotation
marks to set off the material that was originally in quotation marks.

Your Reference List

Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information
necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper.
Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in
the reference list must be cited in your text. Your references should begin on a separate
page from the text of the essay under the label References (with no quotation marks,
underlining, etc.), centered at the top of the page. It should be double-spaced just like the
rest of your essay.

Basic Rules

• Authors’ names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all
authors of a particular work. Your reference list should be alphabetized by authors’
last names.
• Personal communications, such as e-mail messages to you, or private interviews that
you conducted with another person, should not be cited in your reference list
because they are not retrievable sources for anyone else. You should make
references to these sources in your in-text citations.
• If you have more than one work by a particular author, order them by publication
date, oldest to newest (thus a 1991 article would appear before a 1996 article).
• When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first
author of a group, list the one-author entries first. If no author is given for a
particular source, alphabetize using the title of the work, which will be listed in
place of the author, and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical
citations.
• Use “&” instead of “and” when listing multiple authors of a single work (in text
citations in parentheses, too).
• All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented
one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
• Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle of a work.
• Italicize titles of books and journals.
• Note that the italics in these entries often continue beneath commas and periods.

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Basic Forms for Sources in Print
An Article in a Periodical (e.g., a journal, newspaper, or magazine)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, add month and day of publication for

daily, weekly, or monthly publications). Title of article. Title of periodical, volume

number, pages.

NOTE: You need list only the volume number if the periodical uses continuous pagination
throughout a particular volume. If each issue begins with page 1, then you should list the
issue number as well: Title of Periodical, Volume number (Issue number), pages. Note that the
issue number is not italicized.

A Nonperiodical (e.g., book, report, brochure, or audiovisual media)

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location:

Publisher.

NOTE: For “Location,” you should always list the city, but you should also include the
state if the city is unfamiliar or if the city could be confused with one in another state.

Part of a Nonperiodical (e.g., a book chapter or an article in a collection)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B.

Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.

NOTE: When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title,
use “pp.” before the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear
before the page numbers in periodical references.

Basic Forms for Electronic Sources

Article in an Internet Periodical

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of journal, volume

number(issue number if available). Retrieved month day, year, from http://Web

address.

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Nonperiodical Internet Document (e.g., a webpage or report)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Retrieved month date,

year, from http://Web address.

NOTE: When an Internet document is more than one webpage, provide a URL that links
to the homepage or entry page for the document. Also, if there isn’t a date available for the
document, use (n.d.) for no date.

Part of Nonperiodical Internet Document

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. In Title of book or larger

document (chapter or section number). Retrieved from http://Web address.

Basic Forms for Audiovisual Sources

A Motion Picture or Video Tape

Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion

picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.

NOTE: If a movie or video tape is not available in wide distribution, add the following to
your citation after the country of origin: (Available from Distributor name, full address and
zip code).

A Television Broadcast or Television Series

Producer, P. P. (Producer). (Date of broadcast or copyright). Title of broadcast [Television

broadcast or Television series]. City of origin: Studio or distributor.

A Single Episode of a Television Series

Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of episode

[Television series episode]. In P. Producer (Producer), Series Title. City of origin:

Studio or distributor.

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A Music Recording

Songwriter, W. W. (Date of copyright). Title of song [Recorded by artist if different from

song writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. (Recording

date if different from copyright date)

Examples of Common Sources

Journal Article, One Author

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of

Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.

Journal Article, Three to Six Authors

Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., & Harlow, T. (1993). There’s more to

self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.

Journal Article, More Than Six Authors

Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro, R., Cruz, P., et al. (2001). Writing

labs and the Hollywood connection. Journal of Film and Writing, 44(3), 213-245.

NOTE: The phrase et al. stands for “and others.”

Work Discussed in a Secondary Source

Coltheart, M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller, M. (1993). Models of reading aloud: Dual-

route and parallel-distributed-processing approaches. Psychological Review, 100, 589-

608.

Magazine Article, One Author

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today’s schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

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Book

Calfree, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication.

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

An Article or Chapter of a Book

O’Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men’s and women’s gender role journeys: Metaphor for

healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the

life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York: Springer.

A Government Publication

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS

Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing

Office.

A Brochure

Research and Training Center on Independent Living. (1993). Guidelines for reporting and writing

about people with disabilities (4th ed.) [Brochure]. Lawrence, KS: Author.

A Book or Article with no Author or Editor Named

Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The

Washington Post, p. A12.

NOTE: For parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened
version of the title instead of an author’s name. Use quotation marks and italics as
appropriate. For example, parenthetical citations of the two sources above would appear as
follows: (Merriam-Webster’s, 1993) and (“New Drug,” 1993).

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A Translated Work and/or a Republished Work

Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory,

Trans.). New York: Dover. (Original work published 1814)

NOTE: When you cite this work in text, it should appear with both dates: Laplace
(1814/1951).

A Review of a Book, Film, Television Program, etc.

Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge myth [Review of the book The self-

knower: A hero under control]. Contemporary Psychology, 38, 466-467.

An Entry in an Encyclopedia

Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508).

Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

A Print Journal or Newspaper Article Retrieved from an Online Database

When referencing material obtained from an online database (such as a database in the
library), provide appropriate print citation information (formatted just like a “normal” print
citation would be for that type of work). Then add information that gives the date of
retrieval and the proper name of the database. This will allow people to retrieve the print
version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the article. You
can also include the item number or accession number in parentheses at the end, but the
APA manual says that this is not required.

Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of

Abnormal Eating, 8(3). Retrieved February 20, 2003, from PsycARTICLES database.

An Online Journal Article

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist

Ethics, 8(4). Retrieved February 20, 2001, from: http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/

twocont.html

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Message Posted to an Online Newsgroup, Forum, or Discussion Group

Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of toylandia [Msg 25].

Message posted to http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html

NOTE: If only the screen name is available for the author, then use the screen name;
however, if the author provides a real name, use their real name instead. Be sure to provide
the exact date of the posting. Follow the date with the subject line, the thread of the
message (not in italics). Provide any identifiers in brackets after the title, as in other types of
references.
A Motion Picture or Video Tape with International or National Availability

Smith, J. D. (Producer), & Smithee, A. F. (Director). (2001). Really Big Disaster Movie [Motion

picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

A Motion Picture or Video Tape with Limited Availability

Harris, M. (Producer), & Turley, M. J. (Director). (2002). Writing Labs: A History [Motion

picture]. (Available from Purdue University Pictures, 500 Oval Drive, West

Lafayette, IN 47907)

A Television Broadcast

Important, I. M. (Producer). (1990, November 1). The Nightly News Hour. [Television

broadcast]. New York: Central Broadcasting Service.

A Single Episode of a Television Series

Wendy, S. W. (Writer), & Martian, I. R. (Director). (1986). The rising angel and the falling

ape. [Television series episode]. In D. Dude (Producer), Creatures and monsters. Los

Angeles: Belarus Studios.

A Music Recording

Tuapin, B. (1975). Someone saved my life tonight [Recorded by Elton John]. On Captain

Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy [CD]. London: Big Pig Music Limited.

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Additional Sources
From the American Psychological Association:

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition) (ISBN:

1557987912)
• Mastering APA Style: Student’s Workbook and Training Guide (ISBN: 1557988919)
• Mastering APA Style: Instructor’s Resource Guide (ISBN: 1557988900)
• Displaying Your Findings: A Practical Guide for Creating Figures, Posters, and
Presentations (ISBN: 1557989788)
From other publishers:

• The World’s Easiest Guide to Using the APA (ISBN: 0964385317)

• Writing With Style: APA Style Made Easy (ISBN: 0534363652)
• Writing With Style: APA Style for Social Work (ISBN: 0534263119)

Online Resources:

• http://www.apastyle.org (purchase an APA style manual and learn more about

citing electronic sources)
• http://www.gcc.vccs.edu/tutor/helpful_handouts.asp (see handout on APA
Sample Paper)
• http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/intext.html (learn
more about in-text citations, referencing sources, and manuscript format)
• http://www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/apa.html (referencing sources)
• http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html (everything about
APA)

A Final Reminder…
The Germanna Community College Tutoring Services is here to help answer any questions
you may have about APA style. To make an appointment, call (540) 891-3017 for an
appointment at the Fredericksburg Area Campus or call (540) 423-9148 to make an
appointment at the Locust Grove Campus.

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