Last revised: October 2009
Citing Sources Using the APA Publication Manual
Scope: This guide is designed to help you learn to cite sources using the system developed by the American Psychological Association (APA), commonly used in psychology and the social sciences. For more information, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
| Update: The Libraries are aware that significant errors were included in the first printing of the 6th edition Publication Manual in July 2009. This guide has not been affected by those changes, but users of the style may wish to consult the APA's published corrections and revised sample papers. These revisions will be reflected in the second printing of the manual. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Quick Links to Reference List Entries:
How to Write a Reference List Entry
Readers of your research paper must be able to determine what information or ideas in your paper came from outside sources as well as where they can find those sources for themselves. In APA format, this is done through a system of brief in-text citations which point to entries in a list of references.
This list is titled References (centered at the top of the page). It is double spaced and each entry begins with a hanging tab. Although references appear at the end of the paper, begin drafting the list as you write, both so that you know what information must be included in the in-text citations and to minimize confusion at the end of the research process.
Entries should be alphabetized. If you are listing several works by the same author, order them by year of publication from earliest to most recent. References generally contain the author's name, date of publication, title, and publication data. Some general rules govern names and titles:
- Authors. Write the last name followed by initials. If there are seven or fewer authors, list them all; if there are eight or more, include the first six followed by three periods and the last author's name. If there is no author, begin the entry with the title.
- Article or chapter titles. Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns. These titles appear without italics, underlines, or quotations marks.
- Journal, newspaper, or magazine titles. Give the full title, italicized, capitalizing all important words as they appear on the source (e.g., The New York Times).
- Book and report titles. Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns. Italicize book titles. Any additional information (e.g., edition, volume number) should appear in parentheses immediately after the title.
Common Reference List Entries
This guide shows the most common references in APA format. For more specific needs, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Periodicals
Journal article
Cite the author's name, the year and title of the article, the title of the periodical and volume number (in italics), issue number (in parentheses, no italics) and the page numbers. The name of the article should not be italicized, underlined, or placed in quotation marks.
Segal, L., Cole, C., & Fuld, J. (2002). Developing an HIV/AIDS
education curriculum for Takalani Sesame, South Africa's Sesame
Street. Early Education and Development, 13(4),
363-378.
Journal article retrieved online
If a digital object identifier (DOI) has been assigned to the article, include it at the end, using this format: doi:xxxxx. If a DOI is available, no other retrieval information is needed. If there is no assigned DOI, give the URL of the journal's home page (which you may need to search online to locate). You do not need to include a retrieval date for journal articles and other static reports. Unless your instructor asks for it, APA does not require database information, since journal coverage in a database may change over time.
If you are using an advance release of the article, write the phrase "Advance online publication" before the retrieval statement. If your document can only be found in an electronic database such as ERIC or JSTOR (e.g., discontinued journals not easily located through their original publishing channels), give the home URL for the online archive. Do not add a period after the URL or DOI.
Cole, C., Labin, D., & del Rocio Galarza, M. (2008). Begin with the
children: What research on Sesame Street's international
coproductions reveals about using media to promote a new more peaceful
world. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(4),
359-365. doi:10.1177/0165025408090977
Journal article with more than seven authors
For a source with more than seven authors, write the first six followed by three periods and the last author's name.
Cole, C., Arafat, C., Tidhar, C., Tafesh, W., Fox, N., Killen, M., . . .
Yung, F. (2003). The educational impact of Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a
Simsim: A Sesame Street television series to promote respect and
understanding among children living in Israel, the West Bank and
Gaza. International Journal of Behavioral Development,
27(5), 409-422. doi:10.1080/01650250344000019
Magazine article
Include the month of publication as well as the year (for weekly magazines, include the day). If a volume number is given, it should appear italicized after the title and before the page numbers.
Guernsey, L. (2009, June 1). Sesame Street: The show that counts.
Newsweek, 153(22), 54.
Newspaper article
Include the exact date and introduce page numbers with p. or pp. If the story appears on discontinuous pages, give all page numbers, separated with a comma (e.g., pp. A1, A5-7).
Shapiro, S. M. (2009, October 4). Can the Muppets make friends in
Ramallah? The New York Times, pp. MM38-41.
Online newspaper or magazine article
Online newspaper and magazine articles are treated just like the print versions, but replace the page numbers with an online retrieval statement. If the article can be found by searching the publication's home page, use that URL instead of the direct link, to avoid nonworking URLs.
Guernsey, L. (2009, June 1). Sesame Street: The show that counts.
Newsweek, 153(22), 54. Retreieved from http://www.newsweek.com
Shapiro, S. M. (2009, October 4). Can the Muppets make friends in
Ramallah? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Books
Entire book
For an entire print book, include the author, date of publication, title of work, location and publisher.
Morrow, R. W. (2006). Sesame Street and the reform of children's
television. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Guernsey, L. (2007). Into the minds of babes: how screen time affects
children from birth to age five. New York: Basic Books.
Entire book with an editor
Use the abbreviation Ed. or Eds. to indicate the presence of an editor.
Fisch, S. M. & Truglio, R. T. (Eds.). (2001). "G" is for
"growing": thirty years of research on children and Sesame Street.
Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Chapter or reference entry in a book with an editor
First cite the author and title of the specific chapter or entry in a reference book, then the remainder of the book's information. Include the page numbers for the chapter or entry if available.
Aufderheide, P. (1996). Why kids hate educational TV. In Dennis, E. E.
& Pease, E. C. (Eds.), Children and the media (pp. 21-28).
New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Reference book
Treat a reference book like any other book.
VandenBos, G. R. (Ed.). (2007). APA dictionary of psychology.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Entry in an online reference book
Do not add a period after the URL. If the online version you consult refers to a specific print edition, include the edition number after the title.
Sulkes, S. B. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD). In
Merck manual online. Retrieved from http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec19/
ch299/ch299b.html
Other Sources
Reviews and peer commentary
Reviews of books, movies, and other works should include the name and medium (e.g., book, motion picture, television program) of the work under review in brackets, following the name of the review. If the review is untitled, just include the information in brackets (keeping the brackets so readers understand that this is not the title of the review itself). If the review is of audiovisual media (e.g., film, video game), also include the year of release after the title of the work, separated by a comma.
Panero, J. (2008). Brought to you by the letter S [Review of the book
Street gang: The complete history of "Sesame Street," by M. Davis].
New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/
books/review/Panero-t.html
Motion picture
In addition to the name and date of the motion picture, your reference will include information about the producer, director, year, medium, country of origin, and the name of the studio.
Scott, A. (Producer), & Harris, P. (Director). (2006). The
Muppets: a celebration of 30 years [Motion picture]. United States:
Henson Associates.
Email and personal communications
Personal communications that are not recoverable by the reader (e.g., email, personal interviews, telephone conversations) are not included in the reference list. Cite them in the text of the paper only.
Dissertations and theses
If you access a published dissertation or thesis through a database service, provide the name of that service, as well as the accession or order number. For an unpublished dissertation or thesis, include the name and location of the institution.
Waterhouse, A. C. (1983). A comparison of uses of selected
attention-eliciting strategies in two seasons of "Sesame Street"
(Unpublished master's thesis). University of Maryland, College Park.
Document retrieved online
Include as much of the following information as you can find: author's name, date of publication (if none is available, write "n.d."), title of document (italicized), and the URL that will take readers directly to your source. If there is no author, give the title first, then the date. Include the date of access only if the source is undated. If the document comes from an institutional website (e.g., a government agency or academic institution), identify the publisher as part of the retrieval statement: Retrieved from Agency name website: http://www.xxxx
Sesame Workshop. (n.d.). Galli Galli Sim Sim: A lion and
a little girl speak to India's children. Retrieved from
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/aroundtheworld/india
Smith, T., Kleiner, A., Parsad, B. & Farris, E. (2003). National
Center for Education Statistics. (2003). Prekindergarten in U.S. Public
Schools: 2000-2001 (NCES Publication No. 2003-019). Retrieved from
National Center for Education Statistics website: http://nces.ed.gov/
pubs2003/2003019.pdf
For More Information
This guide is not a comprehensive list of all sources you may encounter. For more information and examples, refer to the APA's Publication Manual:Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).
(2010). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
The Publication Manual is available at the McKeldin Reference Desk (BF76.7 .P83 2010) as well as several other campus libraries (check the catalog for availability), and may be purchased through the University Book Store or commercial vendors. The APA's guide to Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style may also be of use.
How to Use In-Text Parenthetical References
In APA format, references appear both in the text of the paper and in an alphabetized reference list appearing at the end of the paper. This allows readers to easily follow up on any citations from your paper. Every source that appears in your text must appear in the list of references; every source in the list of references must appear in your text. Be sure to proofread carefully so that author names and dates in both citations match perfectly.
Insert the last name of the author and the year of publication in your text at the appropriate point. If the author is named in the sentence, it may be omitted from the parenthetical citation. If both the name and date appear (rare), you may not need a parenthetical citation. For example, each of the following is valid:
More children prefer Big Bird to Cookie Monster (Smith, 2005).
Smith (2005) found that children prefer Big Bird over Cookie Monster.
In 2005, Smith's study demonstrated conclusively that children prefer Big Bird to Cookie Monster.
If you directly quote material, provide a page number (or paragraph number for sources without page numbers). If a page or paragraph number would be helpful to the reader in locating specific ideas or paraphrases, APA format also encourages providing them.
Aufderheide (1996) argues that without "help from regulators to shape and constrain market conditions" (p. 28), we cannot expect the state of educational television to improve.
From the moment it hit the air, Sesame Street was "a lightning rod for all sorts of ideas about children and television" (Morrow, 2006, p. 109).
Common forms of in-text citations include:
- One work by one author. Include the author's name and the year of publication.
Smith (2005) conclusively demonstrated ... ... an argument supported by decades of research (Smith, 2005).
- One work by two authors. Cite both names every time the reference occurs. In the text of your paper, write out the word "and" but use an ampersand in the parentheses and the reference list:
as Fisch and Truglio (2001) argue ... ... as has been demonstrated (Fisch & Truglio, 2001).
- One work by more than two authors. If the work has three, four, or five authors, list all names in the first reference but use only the first author's name and et al. in subsequent references.
Segal, Cole, and Fuld (2002) show ... [first reference] Segal et al. show ... [second reference and thereafter]
If the work has six or more authors, cite only the last name of the first author followed by et al. in all references in the text.Smith et al. rebut the notion ...
- No identified author. If the work's author is not named, use the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotations for titles of articles, chapters, or web pages, and italics for periodicals, books, or reports. If, however, the author is specifically designated as "Anonymous," use "Anonymous" as the author for parenthetical citations and the reference list.
... was the best show ever ("Study Finds," 2009). - Two or more works in the same sentence. Order the citations alphabetically, as they appear in the reference list. If you have two or more works by same authors, order them by year of publication (from first to last). If there is more than one work published in the same year by the same author, assign each one a letter: a, b, c, etc.
(Aufderheide, 1996; Morrow, 2005) (Smith 2006, 2008a, 2008b)
- Secondary or indirect sources. Whenever possible, go directly to the original source. If necessary, however, include the secondary source in the reference list and include both the secondary and original sources in the text.
Henson's letters (as cited in Smith, 1999)
- Personal communications. Although unrecoverable personal communications (e.g., interviews, email) do not appear in the list of references, they should be cited in the text, giving the last name and initials of the communicator.
B. S. Schneider (personal communication, July 4, 2008)
Why Cite?
In researched writing, proper citation increases your credibility and allows readers to locate your sources; conversely, a failure to document your sources is plagiarism, a violation of the University of Maryland's Code of Academic Integrity with serious consequences.
Avoid plagiarism by gathering the information you need to create a citation when you first find each of your sources; don't wait until you begin writing the paper.
