Summary:

APA (American Psychological Association) style is most used to cite sources

within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second
printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA
research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For
more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing).

Contributors: Joshua M. Paiz, Elizabeth Angeli, Jodi Wagner, Elena Lawrick,

Kristen Moore, Michael Anderson, Lars Soderlund, Allen Brizee, Russell Keck
Last Edited: 2015-03-27 01:19:35

Please note: There are no spaces used with brackets in APA. When possible,
include the year, month, and date in references. If the month and date are not
available, use the year of publication. Please note, too, that the OWL still includes
information about print sources and databases for those still working with these
sources.
Basic Rules

 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.
 Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular
work for up to and including seven authors. If the work has more than seven authors, list the first six
authors and then use ellipses after the sixth author's name. After the ellipses, list the last author's name
of the work.
 Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
 For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in
chronological order, from earliest to most recent.
 Present the journal title in full.
 Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.
o For example: ReCALL not RECALL or Knowledge Management Research & Practice not
Knowledge Management Research and Practice.
 Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
 When referring to books, chapters, articles, or Web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word
of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not
capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word.
 Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
 Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or
essays in edited collections.
 Please note: While the APA manual provides many examples of how to cite common types of sources,
it does not provide rules on how to cite all types of sources. Therefore, if you have a source that APA
does not include, APA suggests that you find the example that is most similar to your source and use
that format. For more information, see page 193 of the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing).
Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)
Article From an Online Periodical

Online articles follow the same guidelines for printed articles. Include all information the online host makes
available, including an issue number in parentheses.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume
number(issue number if available). Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149.
Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

Online Scholarly Journal Article: Citing DOIs

Please note: In August of 2011 the formatting recommendations for DOIs changed. DOIs are now rendered as
an alpha-numeric string which acts as an active link. According to The APA Style Guide to Electronic
References, 6th edition, you should use the DOI format which the article appears with. So, if it is using the older
numeric string, use that as the DOI. If, however, it is presented as the newer alpha-numeric string, use that as
the DOI. The Purdue OWL maintains examples of citations using both DOI styles.

Because online materials can potentially change URLs, APA recommends providing a Digital Object Identifier
(DOI), when it is available, as opposed to the URL. DOIs are an attempt to provide stable, long-lasting links for
online articles. They are unique to their documents and consist of a long alphanumeric code. Many-but not all-
publishers will provide an article's DOI on the first page of the document.

Note that some online bibliographies provide an article's DOI but may "hide" the code under a button which
may read "Article" or may be an abbreviation of a vendor's name like "CrossRef" or "PubMed." This button will
usually lead the user to the full article which will include the DOI. Find DOI's from print publications or ones
that go to dead links with CrossRef.org's "DOI Resolver," which is displayed in a central location on their home
page.

Article From an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page
range. doi:0000000/000000000000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000

Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European Journal of
Marketing, 41, 1245-1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161

Wooldridge, M.B., & Shapka, J. (2012). Playing with technology: Mother-toddler interaction scores lower
during play with electronic toys. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 33(5), 211-218.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2012.05.005

Article From an Online Periodical with no DOI Assigned

Online scholarly journal articles without a DOI require the URL of the journal home page. Remember that one
goal of citations is to provide your readers with enough information to find the article; providing the journal
home page aids readers in this process.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number.
Retrieved from http://www.journalhomepage.com/full/url/

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8.
Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

Article from a Database

Please note: APA states that including database information in citations is not necessary because databases
change over time (p. 192). However, the OWL still includes information about databases for those users who
need database information.

When referencing a print article 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). By providing this information, you 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 or
database URL at the end, but the APA manual says that this is not required.

If you are citing a database article that is available in other places, such as a journal or magazine, include the
homepage's URL. You may have to do a web search of the article's title, author, etc. to find the URL.

For articles that are easily located, do not provide database information. If the article is difficult to locate, then
you can provide database information. Only use retrieval dates if the source could change, such as Wikis. For
more about citing articles retrieved from electronic databases, see pages 187-192 of the Publication Manual.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page
range. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating,
8(3), 120-125. Retrieved from
http://www.articlehomepage.com/full/url/

Newspaper Article

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry. The New York Times. Retrieved
from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/psychiatry-handbook-linked-to-drug-industry/?_r=0

Electronic Books

Electronic books may include books found on personal websites, databases, or even in audio form. Use the
following format if the book you are using is only provided in a digital format or is difficult to find in print. If
the work is not directly available online or must be purchased, use "Available from," rather than "Retrieved
from," and point readers to where they can find it. For books available in print form and electronic form,
include the publish date in parentheses after the author's name. For references to e-book editions, be sure to
include the type and version of e-book you are referencing (e.g., "[Kindle DX version]"). If DOIs are available,
provide them at the end of the reference.
De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html

Davis, J. (n.d.). Familiar birdsongs of the Northwest. Available from http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?

inkey=1-9780931686108-0

Kindle Books
To cite Kindle (or other e-book formats) you must include the following information: The author, date of publication,
title, e-book version, and either the Digital Object Identifer (DOI) number, or the place where you downloaded the
book. Please note that the DOI/place of download is used in-place of publisher information.

Here’s an example:

Stoker, B. (1897). Dracula [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

Chapter/Section of a Web Document or Online Book Chapter

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://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Engelshcall, R. S. (1997). Module mod_rewrite: URL Rewriting Engine. In Apache HTTP Server version 1.3
documentation (Apache modules). Retrieved from http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html

Peckinpaugh, J. (2003). Change in the Nineties. In J. S. Bough and G. B. DuBois (Eds.), A century of growth in
America. Retrieved from GoldStar database.

NOTE: Use a chapter or section identifier and provide a URL that links directly to the chapter section, not the
home page of the Web site.

Online Book Reviews

Cite the information as you normally would for the work you are quoting. (The first example below is from a
newspaper article; the second is from a scholarly journal.) In brackets, write "Review of the book" and give the
title of the reviewed work. Provide the web address after the words "Retrieved from," if the review is freely
available to anyone. If the review comes from a subscription service or database, write "Available from" and
provide the information where the review can be purchased.

Zacharek, S. (2008, April 27). Natural women [Review of the book Girls like us]. The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Zachareck
-t.html?pagewanted=2

Castle, G. (2007). New millennial Joyce [Review of the books Twenty-first Joyce, Joyce's critics: Transitions in
reading and culture, and Joyce's messianism: Dante, negative existence, and the messianic self]. Modern
Fiction Studies, 50(1), 163-173. Available from Project MUSE Web site:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modern_fiction_studies/toc/mfs52.1.html

Online Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Often encyclopedias and dictionaries do not provide bylines (authors' names). When no byline is present, move
the entry name to the front of the citation. Provide publication dates if present or specify (n.d.) if no date is
present in the entry.
Feminism. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism

Online Lecture Notes and Presentation Slides

When citing online lecture notes, be sure to provide the file format in brackets after the lecture title (e.g.
PowerPoint slides, Word document).

Hallam, A. Duality in consumer theory [PDF document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site:
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ501/Hallam/
index.html

Roberts, K. F. (1998). Federal regulations of chemicals in the environment [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
http://siri.uvm.edu/ppt/40hrenv/index.html

Nonperiodical Web Document or Report

List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt around to find the
information; don't be lazy. If there is a page like http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and somepage.htm
doesn't have the information you're looking for, move up the URL to http://www.somesite.com/):

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5).
General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

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

To cite a YouTube video, the APA recommends following the above format.

Online Forum or Discussion Board Posting

Include the title of the message, and the URL of the newsgroup or discussion board. Please note that titles for
items in online communities (e.g. blogs, newsgroups, forums) are not italicized. If the author's name is not
available, provide the screen name. Place identifiers like post or message numbers, if available, in brackets. If
available, provide the URL where the message is archived (e.g. "Message posted to..., archived at...").

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

Blog (Weblog) and Video Blog Post

Include the title of the message and the URL. Please note that titles for items in online communities (e.g. blogs,
newsgroups, forums) are not italicized. If the author’s name is not available, provide the screen name.

J Dean. (2008, May 7). When the self emerges: Is that me in the mirror? [Web log comment]. Retrieved from
http://www.spring.org.uk/the1sttransport

Psychology Video Blog #3 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqM90eQi5-M

Wikis

Please note that the APA Style Guide to Electronic References warns writers that wikis (like Wikipedia, for
example) are collaborative projects that cannot guarantee the verifiability or expertise of their entries.

OLPC Peru/Arahuay. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2011 from the OLPC Wiki: http://wiki.laptop.
org/go/OLPC_Peru/Arahuay

Basic Format for Books

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 and the state using the two letter postal abbreviation
without periods (New York, NY).

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Edited Book, No Author

Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing up poor. New York, NY: Russell
Sage Foundation.

Edited Book with an Author or Authors

Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals. K. V. Kukil (Ed.). New York, NY: Anchor.

Edition Other Than the First

Helfer, M. E., Kempe, R. S., & Krugman, R. D. (1997). The battered child (5th ed.). Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago Press.
In-Text Citations: The Basics
Summary:

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 169-179 of the Publication Manual.
What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in
your essay.

Note: APA style requires authors to use the past tense or present perfect tense when
using signal phrases to describe earlier research, for example, Jones (1998) found
or Jones (1998) has found...

APA citation basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last
name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998), and a
complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

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 and
not the page number in your in-text reference. All sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference
list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

 Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
 If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or
greater within the title of a source: Permanence and Change. Exceptions apply to short words that are
verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Writing New Media, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

(Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized: Writing new media.)

 When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word: Natural-Born Cyborgs.
 Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's
Vertigo."
 Italicize or underline the titles of longer works such as books, edited collections, movies, television
series, documentaries, or albums: The Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz; Friends.
 Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles, articles from edited
collections, television series episodes, and song titles: "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible
Worlds"; "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."
Short quotations

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 (preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal
phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

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?

If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of
publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did
not offer an explanation as to why.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words, or longer, in a free-standing block of typewritten
lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the
left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation
on the new margin and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2
inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation
should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Jones's (1998) 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)

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another 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.)

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.
APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).