What is APA Style?

Manuscript and documentation format of The American Psychological Association (APA).

Specific and in-depth information about APA Style can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).

References

The word “References” is centered Starts on new page following the Conclusion

section of paper Double-spaced Hanging indent Alphabetized

References

References

Please note: Only capitalize first letter of first word in title of an article and after the punctuation (colon). The rest of the words in the title are not capitalized.

The whole name of the journal/magazine/newspaper is title case.

Proper nouns are capitalized.

The same rule applies for book titles. However, if referring to a book or an article within the text of your paper, be sure to capitalize all major words in a title.

References: Books

Entire book (print)

Chapter in a book (print)

Online Book

References: Books

Entire book (print version):

Lastname, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of book.

Location: Publisher.

References: Books

Book chapter or entry in a reference book (print version):

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of chapter or entry.

In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of

book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher.

Use p. if the source is a page or less long.

References: Books Online

Book chapter or entry in a reference book (online version):

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of chapter or entry.

In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of

book (pp. xxx-xxx). Retrieved from http: www.xxxxxxxx

References: Periodicals

Journals Newspapers Magazines

References: Periodicals Journal article (print version):

Lastname, A. A., & Lastname, B.B., (Year of publication). Title of

article from the journal. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page-

page.

If a periodical includes a volume number, italicize it and then change to regular

type and give the page range without pp.

If the periodical does not use volume numbers, include pp. before the page

numbers so the reader will understand that the numbers refer to pagination.

References: Periodicals

Journal article online with DOI (digital object identifier):

Lastname, A. A. & Lastname, B. B. (Year of publication).

Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page-

page. doi:0000000/000000000000

References: Periodicals

If there is no DOI assigned and the reference was retrieved online, give the URL of the journal home page.

Lastname, A. A. & Lastname, B. B. (Year of publication).

Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page-

page. Retrieved from http://address of journal homepage

(even if retrieved from a private database [pp.191-192]).

References: Periodicals

Newspapers (print)

Lastname, A. A. & Lastname, B. B. (Year, Month day).

Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pp. A1, A4.

If the article is taken from a single page, then use p.#.

References: Periodicals

Newspapers (online)

Lastname, A. A. & Lastname, B. B. (Year, Month day).

Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from

http://www.newspaperhomepage

References: Periodicals

Magazine (print)

Lastname, A. A. & Lastname, B. B. (Year, month). Title of

article. Title of Magazine, volume(issue), pages-pages.

References: Online Periodicals

Magazines

Lastname, A. A. & Lastname, B. B. (Year, month). Title of

article. Title of Magazine, volume(issue). Retrieved from

http://www.magazinehomepage

References: Web Documents

Webpage or Web document (non-periodical)

Lastname, A. A. (Date of Publication). Title of document.

Retrieved from http://Web address Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material may change over

time (e.g., wikis).

If no author, begin with the title, but be sure that there is truly no author (check the website’s home page; the author could be considered an organization)

If there is no date available for the document use (n.d.) for no date.

References: Web Documents

Online reference work

Lastname, A. A. (Date of Publication). Title of document. In

A. A. Editor (Ed.), Online encyclopedia or reference work

title. Retrieved from http://www.fullwebaddress

In-Text Citations

APA uses an author-date system for citing sources in the text of the paper.

Example paraphrase: Felines are obligate carnivores (Murdock, 2008).

Example paraphrase with signal phrase: According to Murdock (2008), felines are obligate

carnivores.

In-Text Citations

Remember: APA Style prefers paraphrasing rather than direct quoting.

Direct quote when a string of three or more words from the original text is used or if meaning will be changed if paraphrased.

In-Text Citations

Example direct quote:

Some scientists argue that felines possess an inherent drive for protein-rich sources of food. For example, findings of a recent study suggest, “Felis catus is primarily an obligate carnivore which derives no health benefit from grain-based food sources” (Murdock, 2008, p. 67).

In-Text Citations

Two authors: (Thompson & Carter, 2008).

Three to five authors. First use, list all authors: (Travis, Gray, Earnst, Strong, & Williams, 2005). Subsequent use: (Travis et al., 2005).

More than five authors: use the first author and et al. with the first and subsequent usages (Rockham et al., 2006).