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Last revised: August 2006
Citing Sources Using the APA Style Manual
Scope: This guide is designed to help researchers learn how to cite sources using the American Psychological Association's (APA) style. This style is used in psychology and in the social sciences in general.
This guide is not a comprehensive list of all the types of materials that can be cited; for more information, refer to:
American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the APA. 5th ed.
Washington: American Psychological Association, 2001.
McKeldin Library Reference Desk BF76.7 .P83 2001
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Sample Paper Using APA
Overview
The APA style specifies the use of a parenthetical reference system (abbreviated source information in parentheses) in the text of the paper tied to an alphabetical References list (located at the end of your paper) which contains full source and publication information for your cited sources. Remember that all in-text parenthetical references must correspond to a source cited in the References list and that the function of the in-text parenthetical reference is to give the reader information that will allow him or her to quickly locate the source in the References list.
To illustrate what a parenthetical reference and its corresponding entry in the References list would look like, let's say that you are writing a paper on the "ideal" politician and are quoting a particular author's idea of what qualities are desirable in a politician. An exerpt from a sentence in a paper written using APA would look like this:
While some assert that the essential qualities a politician must possess are, "passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion" (Weber, 1946, p.33), others think that...
while the entry in the list of References (see sample paper) would look like this:
Weber, M. (1946). Politics as a vocation. In H. Garth & C. Mills (Eds.), Essays in sociology (pp. 26-45). New York: Macmillian.
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Constructing In-Text Parenthetical References
| Source Details |
Citation |
| Basic Form: Author's last name, a comma, and the publication date. If you're citing a direct quote, always put the page number |
(Jones, 2003)
(Jones, 2003, p.24) for direct quote |
| Specific section referred to |
(Jones, 2003, chap. 4) |
| Two authors with the same name: Add initials |
(G.J. Jordan, 1976; M.E. Jordan, 1984) |
| 2 authors: Include both names |
(Jones & Holloway, 2003) |
| 3-5 authors: Give all names the first time, then just the first, followed by "et al." in subsequent citations |
(Jones, Holloway, Smith, Jordan, & Hurley, 2003) (Jones et al., 2003) |
| 6 authors: First author's name followed by "et al." |
(Jones et al., 2003) |
| No author: Use the first few words of the References list entry; use quotations around an article title and italicize a book or periodical title |
("Uses of Color", 2003) (Work Study Programs, 2002) |
| More than one source in a reference: Arrange in alphabetical order and use semicolons to separate |
(Jordan, 1976; Smith, 1987; Yarrow, 2002) |
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Documenting Sources in the Reference List
| Book | Citation |
| 1 Author: Invert for alphabetizing and use initials for first and middle names. | Bagby, J.W. (2003). The cyberlaw handbook for e-commerce. Mason, OH: Thompson/South-western West. |
| 3 Editors: Multiple authors'(or editors') last names should be connected with "&" rather than "and"; Omit "Co." and "Inc." but keep "Press" and "Books" in publisher's names. | Smith, J. P., Brown, J.K., & Enkunde, C. W. (Eds.).(2002). The history of the World Wide Web. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. |
| 7 Authors/2nd Edition: List and invert the first six names, add "et al." for the seventh and subsequent | Baumer, D. L., Poindexter, J.C., Cox, M.L., Hatleberg, J.N., Cunningham, M.L., Harvey, D.J., et al. (2002). Cyberlaw and e-commerce. (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill. |
| Chapter in an edited multiauthor book | Heller, C.H. (2001). Gender roles in Ethiopian culture. In A.D. Gottlieb & H.J. Franco (Eds.), Gender in cross-cultural perspective (pp.46-73). Louisville, KY: Pilgrim Press. |
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| Dictionary Entry | Citation |
| In print-unsigned entry |
Pearsall, J. & Trumbull, T. (Eds.). (2002). Internet. The Oxford English reference dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
| In print-signed entry | Edward, S. N. (2001). Electronic Commerce. In Freedman, A. (Ed.), The computer glossary: The complete illustrated dictionary. New York: Macmillan. |
| Online-from a Web site | Electronic commerce. (2004). Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 14, 2004 from http://dictionary.reference.com |
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| Dissertation | Citation |
| In print-unpublished-that doesn't appear in Dissertation Abstracts International. | Fitzpatrick, K. J. (2003). Effects of mowing on the selection of raptor foraging habitat. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park. |
| Abstract of a dissertation from an online library database (not DAI) | Golden, N.H. (2003). Monitoring of organic and heavy metal contaminants in wildlife:
Nonlethal methods and species selection.[Abstract] Retrieved March 24, 2004, from Digital Dissertations database. |
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| Editorial and Letter to the Editor | Citation |
| In Print-no author | "Death to NAFTA." (2003, May 20) [Editorial]. Baltimore Sun, p.B3.
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| In Print-known author | Smith, C. G. (2004, February 2). School uniforms should be mandatory [Letter to the Editor]. The Washington Times, p.A21.
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| Online-from a Web site | "Drowning in Spam." (2004, February 12) [Editorial]. The Washington Times. Retrieved March 23, 2004, from http://www.washingtontimes.com. |
| Online-found using a library database | Hunter, H.Y., & Hunter, M. T. (2003, June 24) [Letter to the Editor]. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2004, from LexisNexis Academic. |
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| E-Mail Message | Citation |
| APA style does not include personal communications (e-mails, personal interviews, nonarchived discussion groups, etc.) in the References list since they are not recoverable by another person. These should be cited in the text of the paper itself only and enclosed in parentheses |
| E-Mail | (P.J. Antonisse, personal communication, December 12, 2003) |
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| Encyclopedia Article | Citation |
| In print | Silverman, G.H. (2002). Sagan, Carl Edward. In The Encyclopedia Americana (Vol. 21, pp. 45-46). Danbury, CT: Grolier. |
| Online-from a Web site | Carl Sagan. (2004). Retrieved March 23, 2004, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/s/sagan-c1a.asp |
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| Government Document | Citation |
| In print | United States Department of Agriculture. (2001). Irrigation: A National Research Plan (Publication number FSHED 23). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. |
| Online-from a Web site | Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2001). Trends in Violent Victimization: 1980-2000. Retrieved April 14, 2005, from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/huy00.pdf |
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| Interview | Citation |
| Unpublished (personal communication): See above rules for e-mail | (P.J. Lovelace, personal communication, December 12, 2003) |
| Published (or broadcast) | Haley, R. (Writer), & Shin, H. R. (Director). (2001). Interview with Denzel Washington [Television series episode]. In J. Lipton (Producer) Inside the Actor's Studio. New York: Milk and Honey Broadcasting Company. |
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| Journal (Peer Reviewed) Article | Citation |
| Journal with continuous pagination throughout the annual volume: Include volume number | Smith, J.L., & Farmer, C.N. (2004). Ways of coping with obesity: A ten year study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 291, 527-529. |
| Journal without continuous pagination: Include volume and issue number | James, E. W. (2000). Obesity in American school children: An epidemic.
Journal of Nursing, 389(3), 32-38. |
| Journal that uses issue numbers only-no volume numbers: Include month, season, (or however it is identified) with the year | Smith, J. (2001, Spring). Obesity among adolescents: A nationwide study. Journal of American Health, 18-30. |
| Online-using the citation below found through the library database Academic Search Premier:
Not necessary to include the URL of library subscription databases | Stem, C. J., Lassoie, J.P., Lee, D.R. & Deshler, D.J. (2003). How 'eco' is ecotourism? A comparative case study of ecotourism in Costa Rica. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 11, 322-348. Retrieved March 23, 2005, from the Academic Search Premier database. |
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| Legal Source | Citation |
| The APA uses the legal citation format described in the standard legal style manual called The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed., 2000) with the exception that APA does not put these references in footnotes but in the References list at the end of a paper. The examples below are based on the format described in that manual. |
| Federal Statute | Children's Internet Protection Act. 42 U.S.C. � 8323 (2000). |
| Supreme Court Case | United States v. Patane. 531 U.S. 435 (2004). |
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| Magazine Article | Citation |
| In print-weekly with volume number: | Business ethics for the rich and famous? (1992, June 15). Time, 150, 24-27. |
| In print-weekly without volume number: Use "p." or "pp." before the page numbers | Lavell, L.T., & Borrus, A.J. (2004, January 26). Ethics 101 for CEOs. Business Week, p.88. |
| In print-monthly | Elliott, M.L. (2001, August). Alcohol consumption during prohibition. Smithsonian Magazine, 130, 43-46. |
| Online-using the citation below found through the library database Academic Search Premier: Not necessary to include the URL of library subscription databases | Roman, M. (2003, December 29). Son of NAFTA? Business Week, pp. 50-58. Retrieved March 24, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database. |
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| Music Recording | Citation |
| In text citations: Mention writer, year, side (for cassettes and records), and track number (CD or cassette) or band (for records), if applicable. For example, for a CD: "One Tree Hill" (U2, 1987, track 9) |
| Writer and Performer Identical | Taylor, J. (1970). Fire and Rain. On Sweet Baby James [record]. New York: Warner Bros. |
Writer and Performer Different
First date is original copyright date by writer; second date is recording date | Diamond, N. (1978). Red, Red Wine [Recorded by UB40]. On Labour of Love [cassette]. Birmingham, England: Dep International. (1983) |
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| Newspaper Article | Citation |
| In Print: Use "p." or "pp." before page numbers | Epstein, E. (2005, April 9). It's that time again: Lawmakers revisit daylight saving. San Francisco Chronicle, pp. A1, A10. |
| Online-using the citation below found through the library database Lexis Nexis Academic | Howden, D. (2005, February 12). Polio at Mecca sparks fear for Muslim thousands. Independent. Retrieved April 14, 2005, from LexisNexis Academic database. |
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| Online Posting | Citation |
| E-mail Discussion Group | Hossberg, J. (2003, March 23). Rites of passage in contemporary American culture. Message posted to H-Amsty electronic mailing list, archived at http://www.h-net.org/~amstdy/. |
| Videocassette and DVD | Citation |
| Videocassette | Massiah, L., & Rockefeller, T.K. (Directors). (1999). Power! 1967-1968 [Videotape]. Boston, MA: Public Broadcasting Service. |
| DVD | Bakshi, R. (Director). (2000). Heavy Traffic [DVD]. Los Angeles, CA: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment. |
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| Web site | Citation |
| Web sites | Sullivan, D. (Ed.).(2005). Boolean searching. Retrieved April 14, 2005, from http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/article.php/2155991 |
| Web sites, no author known
Begin with the title | Fundamental Buddhism explained. (2005). Retrieved March 23, 2005, from http://www.fundamentalbuddhism.com/buddhism.html |
| Web sites, no publication date known | Bratton, A. (n.d.). Feminist Anthropology. Retrieved June 2, 2005, from http://www.indiana.edu/wanthro/fem.htm |
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| Sample Research Paper Using APA* |
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| *Not necessarily relevant subject content for APA style. Sample paper is only presented to illustrate the formatting conventions of APA. |
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