APA Reference Style

APA LIST OF REFERENCES

In APA style, the alphabetical list of works cited, which appears at the end of the paper, is titled "References." Following are models illustrating APA style for entries in the list of references. Observe all details: capitalization, punctuation, use of italics, and so on. For advice on preparing the reference list, click here. For a sample reference list, click here.

APA reference list models General guidelines for listing authors 1. Single author 2. Multiple authors 3. Organization as author 4. Unknown author 5. Two or more works by the same author 6. Two or more works by the same author in the same year Articles in periodicals 7. Article in a journal paginated by volume 8. Article in a journal paginated by issue 9. Article in a magazine 10. Article in a newspaper 11. Letter to the editor 12. Review Books 13. Basic format for a book 14. Book with an editor 15. Translation 16. Edition other than the first 17. Article or chapter in an edited book 18. Multivolume work Electronic sources 19. Article from an online periodical 20. Article from a database 21. Nonperiodical Web document 22. Chapter or section in a Web document 23. E-mail 24. Online posting 25. Computer program Other sources 26. Dissertation abstract 27. Government document 28. Report from a private organization 29. Conference proceedings 30. Motion picture 31. Television program

General guidelines for listing authors

Alphabetize entries in the list of references by authors’ last names; if a work has no author, alphabetize it by its title. The first element of each entry is important because citations in the text of the paper refer to it and readers will be looking for it in the alphabetized list. The date of publication appears immediately after the first element of the citation.

NAME AND DATE CITED IN TEXT

Duncan (2001) has reported that . . .

BEGINNING OF ENTRY IN THE LIST OF REFERENCES

Duncan, B. (2001).

Items 1–4 show how to begin an entry for a work with a single author, multiple authors, an organization as author, and an unknown author. Items 5 and 6 show how to begin an entry when your list includes two or more works by the same author or two or more works by the same author in the same year. What comes after the first element of your citation will depend on the kind of source you are citing (see items 7–31).

1. SINGLE AUTHORBegin the entry with the author’s last name, followed by a comma and the author’s initial(s). Then give the date in parentheses.

Perez, E. (2001).

2. MULTIPLE AUTHORSList up to six authors by last names followed by initials. Use an ampersand (&) between the names of two authors or, if there are more than two authors, before the name of the last author.

DuNann, D. W., & Koger, S. M. (2004).

Sloan, F. A., Stout, E. M., Whetten-Goldstein, K., & Liang, L. (2000).

If there are more than six authors, list the first six and “et al.” (meaning “and others”) to indicate that there are others.

3. ORGANIZATION AS AUTHORWhen the author is an organization, begin with the name of the organization.

American Psychiatric Association. (2003).

NOTE:If the organization is also the publisher, see item 28.

4. UNKNOWN AUTHORBegin the entry with the work’s title. Titles of books are italicized; titles of articles are neither italicized nor put in quotation marks. (For rules on capitalization of titles, click here.)

Oxford essential world atlas. (2001).

Omega-3 fatty acids. (2004, November 23).

5. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHORUse the author’s name for all entries. List the entries by year, the earliest first.

Schlechty, P. C. (1997).

Schlechty, P. C. (2001).

6. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR IN THE SAME YEARList the works alphabetically by title. In the parentheses, following the year, add “a,” “b,” and so on. Use these same letters when giving the year in the in-text citation. (For advice on alphabetizing the list, click here.)

Durgin, P. A. (2003a). At-risk behaviors in children.

Durgin, P. A. (2003b). Treating obesity with psychotherapy.

Articles in periodicals

This section shows how to prepare an entry for an article in a periodical such as a scholarly journal, a magazine, or a newspaper. In addition to consulting the models in this section, you may need to refer to items 1–6 (general guidelines for listing authors).

NOTE:For articles on consecutive pages, provide the range of pages at the end of the citation (see item 7 for an example). When an article does not appear on consecutive pages, give all page numbers: A1, A17.

Citation at a glance: Article in a periodical

7. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL PAGINATED BY VOLUMEMany professional journals continue page numbers throughout the year instead of beginning each issue with page 1; at the end of the year, the issues are collected in a volume. After the italicized title of the journal, give the volume number (also italicized), followed by the page numbers.

Morawski, J. (2000). Social psychology a century ago. American
Psychologist, 55, 427–431.

8. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL PAGINATED BY ISSUEWhen each issue of a journal begins with page 1, include the issue number in parentheses after the volume number. Italicize the volume number but not the issue number.

Smith, S. (2003). Government and nonprofits in the modern age.
Society, 40(4), 36–45.

9. ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINEIn addition to the year of publication, list the month and, for weekly magazines, the day. If there is a volume number, include it (italicized) after the title.

Raloff, J. (2001, May 12). Lead therapy won’t help most kids. Science
News, 15, 292.

10. ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPERBegin with the name of the author followed by the exact date of publication. (If the author is unknown, see also item 4.) Page numbers are introduced with “p.” (or “pp.”).

Lohr, S. (2004, December 3). Health care technology is a promise
unfinanced. The New York Times, p. C5.

11. LETTER TO THE EDITORLetters to the editor appear in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Follow the appropriate model and insert the words “Letter to the editor” in brackets before the name of the periodical.

Carter, R. (2000, July). Shot in the dark? [Letter to the editor].
Scientific American, 283(1), 8.

12. REVIEWReviews of books and other media appear in a variety of periodicals. Follow the appropriate model for the periodical. For a review of a book, give the title of the review (if there is one), followed by the words “Review of the book” and the title of the book in brackets.

Gleick, E. (2000, December 14). The burdens of genius [Review of the
book The Last Samurai]. Time, 156, 171.

For a film review, write “Review of the motion picture,” and for a TV review, write “Review of the television program.” Treat other media in a similar way.

Books

In addition to consulting the items in this section, you may need to refer to items 1–6 (general guidelines for listing authors).

Citation at a glance: Book

13. BASIC FORMAT FOR A BOOKBegin with the author’s name, followed by the date and the book’s title. End with the place of publication and the name of the publisher. Take the information about the book from its title page and copyright page. If more than one place of publication is given, use only the first; if more than one date is given, use the most recent one.

Highmore, B. (2001). Everyday life and cultural theory. New York:
Routledge.

14. BOOK WITH AN EDITORFor a book with an editor but no author, begin with the name of the editor (or editors) followed by the abbreviation “Ed.” (or “Eds.”) in parentheses.

Bronfen, E., & Kavka, M. (Eds.). (2001). Feminist consequences: Theory
for a new century. New York: Columbia University Press.

For a book with an author and an editor, begin with the author’s name. Give the editor’s name in parentheses after the title of the book, followed by the abbreviation “Ed.” (or “Eds.”).

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

15. TRANSLATIONAfter the title, name the translator, followed by the abbreviation “Trans.,” in parentheses. Add the original date of the work’s publication in parentheses at the end of the entry.

Steinberg, M. D. (2003). Voices of revolution, 1917. (M. Schwartz,
Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. (Original work
published 2001)

16. EDITION OTHER THAN THE FIRSTInclude the number of the edition in parentheses after the title.

Helfer, M. E., Keme, R. S., & Drugman, R. D. (1997). The battered child
(5th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

17. ARTICLE OR CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOKBegin with the author, year of publication, and title of the article or chapter. Then write “In” and give the editor’s name, followed by “Ed.” in parentheses; the title of the book; and the page numbers of the article or chapter in parentheses. End with the book’s publication information.

Luban, D. (2000). The ethics of wrongful obedience. In D. L. Rhode
(Ed.), Ethics in practice: Lawyers’ roles, responsibilities, and regu-
lation (pp. 94-120). New York: Oxford University Press.

18. MULTIVOLUME WORKGive the number of volumes after the title.

Luo, J. Encyclopedia of contemporary Chinese civilization (Vols. 1-2).
Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Electronic sources

This section shows how to prepare reference list entries for a variety of electronic sources, including articles in online periodicals and databases, Web documents, and e-mail.

19. ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE PERIODICALWhen citing online articles, follow the guidelines for printed articles (see items 7–12), giving whatever information is available in the online source. If the article also appears in a printed journal, a URL is not required; instead, include “Electronic version” in brackets after the title of the article.

Whitmeyer, J. M. (2000). Power through appointment [Electronic
version]. Social Science Research, 29(4), 535-555.

If there is no print version, include the date you accessed the source and the article’s URL.

Ashe, D. D., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2001). Shyness, loneliness, and
attitude toward celebrities. Current Research in Social Psychology,
6(9). Retrieved July 3, 2001, from http://www.uiowa.edu/
~grpproc/crisp/crisp.6.9.htm

NOTE:When you have retrieved an article from a newspaper’s searchable Web site, give the URL for the site, not for the exact source.

Cary, B. (2001, June 18). Mentors of the mind. Los Angeles Times.
Retrieved July 5, 2001, from http://www.latimes.com

20. ARTICLE FROM A DATABASETo cite an article from a library’s subscription database, include the publication information from the source (see items 7–12). End the citation with your date of access, the name of the database, and the document number (if applicable).

Holliday, R. E., & Hayes, B. K. (2001). Dissociating automatic and
intentional processes in children’s eyewitness memory. Journal of
Experimental Child Psychology, 75(1), 1-5. Retrieved February 21,
2001, from Expanded Academic ASAP database (A59317972).

Citation at a glance: Article from a database

21. NONPERIODICAL WEB DOCUMENTTo cite a nonperiodical Web document, such as a report, list as many of the following elements as are available.

Author’s name

Date of publication (if there is no date, use “n.d.”)

Title of document (in italics)

Date you accessed the source

A URL that will take readers directly to the source

In the first model, the source has both an author and a date; in the second, the source lacks a date.

Cain, A., & Burris, M. (1999, April). Investigation of the use of mobile
phones while driving. Retrieved January 15, 2000, from
http://www.cutr.eng.usf.edu/its/mobile_phone_text.htm

Archer, Z. (n.d.). Exploring nonverbal communication. Retrieved July
18, 2001, from http://zzyx.ucsc.edu/~archer

If a source has no author, begin with the title and follow it with the date in parentheses.

NOTE:If you retrieved the source from a university program’s Web site, name the program in your retrieval statement.

Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1997). Evolutionary psychology: A primer.
Retrieved July 5, 2001, from the University of California, Santa
Barbara, Center for Evolutionary Psychology Web site:
http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/primer.html

Citation at a glance: Document from a Web site

22. CHAPTER OR SECTION IN A WEB DOCUMENTBegin with the author, the year of publication, and the title of the chapter or section. Then write “In” and give the title of the document, followed by any identifying information in parentheses. End with your date of access and the URL for the chapter or section.

Heuer, R. J., Jr. (1999). Keeping an open mind. In Psychology of
intelligence analysis (chap. 6). Retrieved July 7, 2001, from
http://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/art9.html

23. E-MAILE-mail messages and other personal communications are not included in the list of references.

24. ONLINE POSTINGIf an online posting is not maintained in an archive, cite it as a personal communication in the text of your paper and do not include it in the list of references. If the posting can be retrieved from an archive, give as much information as is available.

Eaton, S. (2001, June 12). Online transactions [Msg 2]. Message posted
to news://sci.psychology.psychotherapy.moderated

25. COMPUTER PROGRAMAdd the words “Computer software” in brackets after the title of the program.

Kaufmann, W. J., III, & Comins, N. F. (2003). Discovering the universe
(Version 6.0) [Computer software]. New York: Freeman.

Other sources

26. DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

Yoshida, Y. (2001). Essays in urban transportation (Doctoral disserta-
tion, Boston College, 2001). Dissertation Abstracts International,
62, 7741A.

27. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT

U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). Statistical abstract of the United States.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

28. REPORT FROM A PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONIf the publisher is the author, give the word “Author” as the publisher. If the report has an author, begin with the author’s name, and name the publisher at the end.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Practice guidelines for the
treatment of patients with eating disorders (2nd ed.). Washington,
DC: Author.

29. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Stahl, G. (Ed.). (2002). Proceedings of CSCL ’02: Computer support for
collaborative learning. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

30. MOTION PICTURETo cite a motion picture (film, video, or DVD), list the director and the year of the picture’s release. Give the title, followed by “Motion picture” in brackets, the country where it was made, and the name of the studio. If the motion picture is difficult to find, include instead the name and address of its distributor.

Soderbergh, S. (Director). (2000). Traffic [Motion picture]. United
States: Gramercy Pictures.

Spurlock, M. (Director). (2004). Super size me [Motion picture].
(Available from IDP Films, 1133 Broadway, Suite 926, New York,
NY 10010)

31. TELEVISION PROGRAMTo cite a television program, list the producer and the date it was aired. Give the title, followed by “Television broadcast” in brackets, the city, and the television network or service.

Pratt, C. (Executive Producer). (2001, December 2). Face the nation
[Television broadcast]. Washington, DC: CBS News.

For a television series, use the year in which the series was produced, and follow the title with “Television series” in brackets. For an episode in a series, list the writer and director and the year. After the episode title put “Television series episode” in brackets. Follow with information about the series.

Janows, J. (Executive Producer). (2000). Culture shock [Television
series]. Boston: WGBH.

Loeterman, B. (Writer), & Gale, B. (Director). (2000). Real justice
[Television series episode]. In M. Sullivan (Executive Producer),
Frontline. Boston: WGBH.


Source: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/manual.html. Visited on 21.09.2007