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Citing Sources: APA EXAMPLES

APA Basics

This guide is based on the 7th edition (2020) of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

APA uses the author/date method of in-text citation. Include in parentheses the author's last name and the year of publication after all direct quotes and paraphrased segments of your paper. Page numbers are included for direct quotes and some paraphrased content: Example: (Pollan, 2005, p. 146). For more information, including other methods of incorporating quotes and paraphrases into your paper, see the "Avoiding Plagiarism" tab and the Recommended Guides section of the "Basics" tab..

APA requires the use of hanging indents and double spacing; however, check with your instructor, as some instructors request single spacing!

Watch these in the references list:

Author: Use initial of author's first name (not entire first name)

Author: If multiple, separate with commas, but precede the last one with an & instead.

Author: In the seventh edition, up to 20 authors should now be included in a reference list entry. For sources with more than 20 authors, after the 19th listed author, any additional authors' names are replaced with an ellipsis (…) followed by the final listed author's name. Do not place an ampersand before the final author's name.

Author: Use (Ed.) or (Eds.) if  "author(s)" are editor(s).

Publication year: Enter after author with ( ), not at end

Capitalize only the first word (and any proper nouns) of the title or subtitle of a book, article, or chapter

Capitalize all significant words of the title of a periodical.

Journal title and volume: Use italics (not underlines)

Digital object identifiers (DOIs) and URLs are now both presented as hyperlinks for electronic sources.

The label “DOI:” is no longer used for entries that include a DOI.

The words “Retrieved from” (preceding the URL or DOI) are now only used when a retrieval date is also provided in the citation.

Do not include a retrieval date unless the source may change over time (eg., a wiki).

Article from a periodical: It is not necessary to include the name of the database unless the information is difficult to locate.

Samples of American Psychological Association 7th ed. Basic Format for References List

GENERAL FORMAT

Author, A. A. (Date). Title. Source.

  • No author?  Substitute title for author
  • No date? Use n.d. (indicates no date)
  • No date, but year can be reasonably approximated? Use ca. and your estimated year, and use square brackets: [ca. 2008]
  • No title?  Describe the document inside square brackets [Unpublished raw data]
  • APA official guidance:
    How to Write an APA Style Reference When Information Is Missing

 

Book

   - Capitalize just the first word of the title and any subtitle.
   - Mention edition (if not first ed.) and/or volume number (if a multi-volume work) in parentheses after the title.

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Subtitle of

      work (xx ed., Vol. xx). Publisher. 

 

Book Chapter

   - Capitalize just the first word of the title and any subtitle.
   - Mention edition (if not first ed.) and/or volume number (if a multi-volume work) along with page range in parentheses after the title.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of publication). Title

     of chapter. In D. D. Editor & E. E. Editor (Eds.), Title of work:

     Subtitle of work (xx ed., Vol. xx, pp. xxx-xxx). Publisher. 

 

Article in a Periodical, Print or Microform

   - Include the Digitial Object Identifier (DOI) if provided.
   - For journals, include just the year of publication within the parentheses: (1984).
   - For magazines and newspapers, include the year, month and date within the parentheses: (1984, July 5)

Magazine example:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, Month Date). Title of

    article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number if available),

    page#-page#.  https://doi:xx.xxxx/xxxxxxxxxx

 

Journal article example:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of

    article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number if available),

    page#-page#.  https://doi:xx.xxxx/xxxxxxxxxx


Article in a Periodical, Retrieved from a Library Database

   - Include the Digitial Object Identifier (DOI) if provided. 
   - Do not include the name of the database, the retrieval date, or a database item or accession number.
   - For journals, include just the year of publication within the parentheses: (1984)
   - For magazines and newspapers, include the year, month and date within the parentheses: (1984, July 5)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title

     of Periodical, volume number(issue number if available), page#-page#.

     https://doi:xx.xxxx/xxxxxxxxxx
 

Article in an Online Periodical (not from a library database)

   - Provide a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) when it is available, otherwise provide the URL.
   - For journals, include just the year of publication within the parentheses: (1984)
   - For magazines and newspapers, include the year, month and date within the parentheses: (1984, July 5)                                                              

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Date).

     Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number if

     available), page#-page#. https://doi:xx.xxxx/xxxxxxxxxx

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Date).

     Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number if

     available), page#-page#. https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

 

Web Document, Page, or Report

   - Identify the publisher or organization name as part of the retrieval statement, unless the publisher
     or organization is the group author.
   - If available, include the report number in parentheses following the title of the work.

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

     document (Report No. xxx). https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Group Author Name. (Year, Month Date). Title of document (Report

     No. xxx). https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

 

Personal Communication

   - These are non-recoverable forms of communication, including:
         private letters, memos, non-archived electronic communications such as private emails, 
         personal interviews, telephone conversations
   - These sources are not included in the reference list!  Personal communications are cited in text only.  

Joe Gow told me (personal communication, April 2, 2010) that he would make it happen.
 

The Chancellor proceeded to recount the origins of the name, Fur Low Riders (J. Gow, personal  communication, April 3, 2009).

 

 

YouTube Video

   - Provide the screen name if the actual name of the author is not given.
   - Describe the audiovisual work in brackets: [Film].

Fogarty, M. [Grammar Girl]. (2016, September 30). How to diagram a sentence

     (absolute basics) [Video]. YouTube.

     https://youtube.com/watch?v=qm1xGfOZJc8 

 

Images

   - Use [Photograph], [Painting], etc. after the title to indicate the type of image.
   - More examples (Landmark College) 
   - More examples (Univ. of Maryland)

Hicker, R. (n.d.). Soaring Eagle [Photograph]. 

     https://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/161/soaring-eagle_6822.jpg 

 

 

Sample APA Citations for Business Resources 7th ed.

APA is the recommended citation style for the social sciences, including business disciplines.

 

IBISWorld: (cite the report used)

Lerman, S. (2016, September). IBISWorld industry

     report 61111a: Public schools in the US.
 

MRI-Simmons Catalyst: (cite the study/dataset used)

MRI-Simmons. (2021). 2021 Spring MRI-Simmons USA study.

      [Data file]. Retrieved February 5, 2024, from

      Catalyst database.

MRI-Simmons. (2021). 2021 Spring (La Crosse-Eau Claire)

      local flex MRI-Simmons. [Data file]. Retrieved 

      February 5, 2024, from Catalyst database.
 

Data Axle Reference Solutions: (cite the database record used)

Data Axle. (n.d.). Charmant Hotel LLC, La Crosse, WI.

      [Database record]. Retrieved May 8, 2023, from

      U.S. Businesses database.

 

Business Insights: Global: (cite a company profile)

Gale Cengage Learning. (n.d.). Amazon.com, Inc. 

      [Company profile]. Retrieved March 6, 2023 from

      Business Insights: Global.

 

Passport (Euromonitor): (cite a report)

Euromonitor International. (2022, June). Beer in the

      United Kingdom. [Country report]. 

Euromonitor International. (2022, May). Molson Coors

      Brewing Co (UK) Ltd in Alcoholic Drinks (United

      Kingdom). [Local company profile].

 

Many more APA citation examples are available. 

Recommended Guides

These are comprehensive citation guides recommended by librarians.

For Student Affairs Administration Students

The SAA Research/Writing Checklist is based on APA.