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Citations: APA Citation

Notice

The 7th edition of the APA Style Manual was released October 1, 2020. Please check with your instructor as some may continue to require the 6th edition this semester. Information within this guide reflects only the 7th edition. 

If your instructor requires the 6th edition, there are copies of the manual on reserve in the library, and it can also still be accessed HERE until 2021.

APA Website Tutorial & APA Manual

APA PowerPoint Slide Presentation

Citation Generators

Although citation makers can format your in-text citations and references, with some even alphabetizing the entries for you, they are not perfect and will still require double-checking. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if you are permitted to use them.

EasyBib

Citation Machine

Cite This for Me                           

Bibme

Sample APA paper

Click the image for an informative example of an APA student research paper with explanations of APA formatting:

 

Please note that APA 7th edition also provides a sample professional paper. Be sure to ask your instructor for their preference. For additional information, please see OWL Purdue APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th edition)

References Sample

The last page of your essay is called the "References" list. This is where you list the full citation of your sources in APA format. Click the page below for additional information in preparing your references. 

 

 

For additional information, please see OWL Purdue APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th edition)

APA References - Books

The 7th edition of APA does not differentiate between the format of the books, print or electronic. Cite both the same way. If you have an open-access eBook, you may provide the URL at the end, provided it directly takes you to the full text without logging in.

Template

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher. https://doi.org/XXXXXX

Examples

George, M. W. (2008). The elements of library research: What every student needs to know. Princeton University Press.

(George, 2008)

Kleiser, G. (2008). Fifteen thousand useful phrases. Funk & Wagnalls; Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18362 (Original work published 1917)

(Kleiser, 1917/2008)

Samanez-Larkin, G. R. (Ed.). (2019). The aging brain: Functional adaptation across adulthood. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000143-000

(Samanez-Larkin, 2019)

Note: When citing in-text, it can be difficult if your eBook does not have a page number (most PDF books do). In this case, try to get as specific as possible by mentioning chapter, section, and paragraph numbers.

One of the author's main points is that "people don't rise from nothing" (Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 1, Section 2, para. 5).

Source: Publication Manual, 10.2 (examples 20-26); Book References [APA Style]

Book with an Editor

Template

Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Example

Johnson, C. L., & Tuite, C. (Eds.). (2009). A companion to Jane Austen. Wiley-Blackwell.

(Johnson & Tuite, 2009)

Source: Publication Manual, 10.2 (example 25)

Chapter in an Edited Book

Template

Author of Chapter, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of chapter or entry. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx–xxx). Publisher.

Example

Shephered, S. (1988). Shakespeare's private drawer: Shakespeare and homosexuality. In G. Holderness (Ed.), The Shakespeare myth (pp. 96–110). Manchester University Press.

(Shephered, 1988).

Source: Publication Manual, 10.3 (examples 38-46); Edited Book Chapter References [APA Style]

Anthologies

Whole Anthology

Template

Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Example

Grene, D. & Lattimore, R. (Eds.). (1959). The complete Greek tragedies. University of Chicago Press.

(Grene & Lattimore, 1959)

Work in an Anthology

Template

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. In A. A. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. XX–XX)Publisher. (Original work published Year)

Example

Ibsen, Henrik. (2002). A doll's house. In R. S. Gwynn (Ed.), Drama: A pocket anthology (2nd ed., pp. 209–277). Longman. (Original work published 1879)

(Ibsen, 1879/2002)

Source: Publication Manual, 10.2 (example 34) and 10.3 (example 46)

For additional information, please see OWL Purdue APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th edition)

APA References - Articles

What You Need to Write a Reference Entry

To write a reference entry for an article you need the following pieces of information:

  • Author(s)
  • Publication date (for journals this is usually only the year, for magazines it may be the year, month, day)
  • Article title
  • Journal / Magazine title (this is italicized)
  • Volume number (this is italicized)
  • Issue number
  • Page numbers
  • If the article is electronic you also need to include either the DOI or URL information. These should be live hyperlinks in your document. If the article was found in an academic database and there is not a DOI given, do not use the URL of an academic database. The reference should end with the page numbers. See the example below for Begley.
  • For examples and more information see pages 316-321 in the manual.

Examples:

Arnec, A., & Lavbic, D. (2017). Social network aided plagiarism detection. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(1), 113-126. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12345

Begley, S. (2018, January 15). What happens to big-league books when scandal knocks. Time, 191(1), 51-53.

Eret, E., & Ok, A. (2014). Internet plagiarism in higher education: Tendencies, triggering factors and reasons among teacher candidates. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(8), 1002-1016. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2014.880776


For additional information, please see OWL Purdue APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th edition)

APA References - Websites, YouTube, Etc.

What You Need to Write a Reference Entry for a YouTube Video

To write a reference entry for a YouTube video you need the following pieces of information:

  • Author(s) (If an actual person's name is not used, you can use their screen name)
  • Date (normally year, month day)
  • Title followed by [Video file]
  • URL - should be a live hyperlink
  • Examples and more information can be found on pages 342-344 of the manual

Example:

Young, A. (2016, May 1). Plagiarism 101: Lesson one [Video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly_AeH14t5M

What You Need to Write a Reference Entry for a Podcast

To write a reference entry for a podcast you need the following pieces of information:

  • Author(s)/Producer(s) name
  • Date (normally year, month day)
  • Podcast title and episode number if given followed by [Audio podcast]
  • URL - should be a live hyperlink. If the URL was accessed via an app, you omit the URL
  • Example and more information can be found on page 345 of the manual

Example:

Farley, K., & Lipton, R. (Hosts). (2016, October 1). Plagiarism (No. 10) [Audio podcast episode]. In Lemonade: When life gives you lemons make a podcast.

What You Need to Write a Reference Entry for a Movie

To write a reference entry for a movie you need the following pieces of information:

  • Director(s) - this takes the place of the author
  • Year of publication
  • Title of the movie followed by [Fim]
  • Name of the movie studio

Example:

Reitman, I. (Director). (1984). Ghostbusters [Film]. Columbia Pictures.

What You Need to Write a Reference Entry for a Webpage

To cite a webpage you need the following pieces of information:

  • Author information, keep in mind that a corporation or organization may be the author
  • The date the site was last updated if no date is given  then use the abbreviation (n.d.)
  • Title of the site or page
  • URL (should be a live hyperlink)

Example:

Kent State University. (2015, March 1). Administrative policy regarding student cheating and plagiarism. https://www.kent.edu/policyreg/administrative-policy-regarding-student-cheating-and-plagiarism 

What You Need to Write a Reference Entry for a Story on a News Website

To write a reference entry for a story on a news website (like CNN) you need the following pieces of information:

  • Author(s) information
  • The date the story was published or updated. Use the specific date given.
  • Story title (italicized, use sentence case)
  • Name of the news website
  • URL (should be a live hyperlink)

Example:

Ganim, S. (2015, August 12). NCAA punishment is anyone's guess. CNN. https://www.https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/us/ncaa-academic-fraud/index.html

 

APA Style 7th Edition: In-Text Citations, Quotations, and Plagiarism

APA Style 7th Edition: Student Paper Formatting

APA Style 7th Edition: Reference Lists (Journal Articles, Books, Reports, Theses, Websites, more!)