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American Psychological Association (APA) Citation Style

Note: All citations should be double spaced and the 2nd & following lines indented 5 spaces. Additional format information provided below.

Book

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (Publication year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.

Example:
Okuda, M.A. & Okuda, D.A. (1993). Star Trek chronology: The history of the future. New York: Pocket.

Electronic book

Format:
Author last name, initial(s). (Publication year). Title of book [electronic version]. Location: Publisher. Date retrieved, from netLibrary.

Example:
Schlosser, E. (2001). Fast food nation [electronic version]. Boston: Houghlin Mifflin. Retrieved June 26, 2003, from netLibrary.

Article or chapter within books

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (Publication year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.

Example:
James, N.E. (1988). Two sides of paradise: The Eden myth according to Kirk and Spock. In Spectrum of the fantastic (pp. 219-223). Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Encyclopedia or other multi-volume work

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (Publication year). Title of article. In Title of work (vol. , pages of article). Location: Publisher.

Example:
Sturgeon, T.H. (1995). Science fiction. In The encyclopedia Americana. (Vol. 5, pp. 203-207). Danbury, CT: Encyclopedia Americana.

Article from Literature Resource Center

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) if available. (Publication year). Title of Article. Name of Source. Retrieved month day year, from Name of Database, Database Publisher, (document or accession number if available).

Example:
Doris (Helen) Kearns Goodwin. (2003). Contemporary authors. Retrieved January 19 2005, from Contemporary Authors Online, Gale Group Databases.

Article from a printed journal

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (Publication year). Title of article. Title of journal, volume number, pages.

Example:
Wilcox. R.V. (1991). Shifting roles and synthetic women in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Studies in Popular Culture, 126, 53-65.

Article from an online journal

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (Publication Year). Title of article. Title of journal, volume number (issue number if available). Retrieved month day, year, from Web address url. [if the article also appears in a printed journal, a URL is not required.]

Example:
Rohrbaugh, G. & deRosset, L. (2004). A new route to the necessity of origin. Mind, 113(425). Retrieved January 5, 2005, from http://mind.oupjournals.org/

Journal article from an online database

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (Publication year). Title of article. Title of journal, volume number (issue number if available), pages. Retrieved month, day, year, from name of database, database publisher, (document number if available).

Example:
Gump, S.E. (2005). The cost of cutting class: Attendance as a predictor of student success. College Teaching 53(1), 21-6. Retrieved January 5, 2005, from OmniFile Full Text Mega, H.W. Wilson, (200534903828004).

Article from a print magazine

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of magazine, volume (issue), pages.

Example:
Pimentel, D. & Wilson, A. (2004, Sept/Oct). World population, agriculture, and malnutrition. World Watch, 17(5), 22-25.

Article from an online magazine

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of magazine. Retrieved month day, year, from Web address url

Example:
Kiser, D. (2004, Oct). No one rules the net, not yet. Information Today. Retrieved January 6, 2005, from http://www.infotoday.com/

Magazine article from an online database

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of magazine, volume (issue), pages. Retrieved month, day, year, from name of database, database publisher, (document number if available).

Example:
Miller, M.J. (2004, Dec 28). The year of living musically. PC Magazine, 23(23), 7. Retrieved January 6, 2005, from Academic Search Elite, EBSCO, (152875470).

Article from a print newspaper

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of newspaper, pages.

Example:
Perez, E. (2005, January 5). New pressure to simplify air fares. Wall Street Journal, pp.D1, D8.

Article from an online newspaper

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of newspaper. Retrieved month, day, year, from Web address url

Example:
Assis, C. (2005, January 5). Ghosts in the river. Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved Jan 5, 2005, from http://www.hamptonroads.com/pilotonline/

Newspaper article from a database

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of newspaper. Retrieved month, day, year, from name of database, database publisher, (document number if available).

Example:
Biers, J.M. (2004, December 3). Corporate acquirers screen targets for possible corruption. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2005, from ABI/INFORM, Proquest.

Website

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) [if given] (date web page was created or last updated). Title of web document. Retrieved month day, year, from [host business, agency or program]: Web address url

Example:
Baumgarten, L. Looking at eighteenth century clothing. Retrieved January 6, 2005, from Colonial Williamsburg Explore and Learn: http://www.history.org/

Online posting

Format:
Author last name, initial(s) (date of posting year, month day). Title of posting. Message posted to: Web address url

Example:
Aasim (2003, May 6). About fuzzy logic. Message posted to: http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/ drmath.college.html

Notes

  • In APA style, the alphabetical list of works cited is titled "References."
  • Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by author, interfiling books, articles, etc.
  • DoubleSpace all lines.
  • Indent the second and following lines 5 spaces (or one half inch).
  • When a Web address must be divided at the end of a line, break it after a slash or before a period. Do not insert a hyphen.
  • If no author is given, start with the title.
  • Titles of books are italicized.
  • Precede page numbers for newspaper articles with p. or pp.
  • If the encyclopedia does not arrange its articles alphabetically, treat the encyclopedia article as if it were a book article. Specific volume and page numbers are cited in the text, not in the list of references.
  • For guidelines concerning differences between journals and magazine, consult the library's web page: Magazine vs journal.
  • Web sites: include the title of the web page, the name of the entire web site, the organization that posted it (this may be the same as the name of the website). Also include the full date the page was created or last updated (day, month, year if available) and the date you looked at it.
  • If a document is contained within a large and complex Web site (such as that for a university or a government agency), identify the host organization and the relevant program or department before giving the URL for the document itself. Precede the URL with a colon.
  • Internet Magazine Articles:
    • As for page numbers, different databases will provide different information. Include the range of pages (ex. 25-28.); or the starting page followed by a hyphen, a blank space, and a period (ex. 64- .); or the total number of pages or paragraphs (ex. 12 pp. or 33 pars.). If no page information is given, then leave it out.
  • The rules concerning a title within a title are not displayed here for purposes of clarity. See the printed version of the manual for details.
  • For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed version of the manual.
  • APA guidelines require that you use parenthetical citations to document quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and other material from a source used in your paper. These in-text citations correspond to the full bibliographic entries found in a list of references included at the end of your paper. Unless otherwise noted, electronic sources follow the same pattern as printed ones. For a guide on how to do parenthetical citations click here or consult the print version of the APA Style Guide found in Reference BF 76.7 P83 2001

Additional information

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Ref BF 76.7 .P83 2001 - Print edition of the APA style manual is available in the library.

APA Style - Electronic References style information

Citing Information - UNC Chapel Hill Libraries

Purdue Online Writing Center

Bedford/St. Martins Publishers - Citation styles for online sources.