APA Citation Style

Seventh Edition

Disciplines within the Social Sciences typically use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) as the preferred style of citation.  This style is used when citing materials, creating a bibliography or setting up the structure of a research paper for assignments. 

The examples give an overview of APA citation style for in-text citation and the reference list at the end of the paper. 

Click to view the: APA STYLE TUTORIAL

APA Article (Academic Journal & Magazine) Citation

I. Journal Article Basic Format:

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Pages. DOI

• Italicize the Journal Title, and Volume.
• Article Title Capitalization: Capitalize only the first word of the article's title, the first word of the subtitle, proper nouns, and acronyms. 
• DOI: Always include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier), when available. Not all articles have a DOI. Use this formula: https://doi.org/xxxxx
• Do not include a URL 1) when an article is from a database (including Limestone's library databases) or 2) if the article includes a DOI (even if it is from a non-database source). 

Examples of Journal Articles from a database:

II. Magazine Article Basic Format:

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume(Issue), Pages. DOI

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, URL

• A published magazine article follows a similar format as an academic journal.
• Include the month and day with the year, when available (see below examples). 
• If you are citing a magazine article that you read on the magazine's website, include the URL. Sometimes, online-only editions will not include an volume and issue number.
• When you are citing a magazine with a volume and issue number that you accessed from a database or in print, do not include a URL.
• Do not include an access date for published sources, such as magazines.

Examples:

Fry, E. (2020, March). The grim business of containing an epidemic. Fortune, 181(3), 17–19. 

Harrary, K. (n.d.). The truth about Jonestown. Psychology Today, 25(2), 62.

Har'el, Alma (2020, March 5). Why women's history should be everyone's history. Time. https://time.com/5795675/documenting-100-women-of-the-year/ 

APA Book Citation

Book Citation Basic Format:

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. SecondInitial. (PublicationYear). Book title. City: Publisher.  

Note on Capitalization of the Title: only the first word of the title is capitalized. However, proper nouns and the first letter of the subtitle (if included) are also capitalized. Capitalize acronyms as well (e.g., FDA).

Every line after the first line should be indented, called a hanging indent. (Found under "paragraph" -> "indent" in Word.)

Examples:

APA Newspaper Citation

Newspaper Article Basic Format:

Print: 

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, p(p). 

Online: 

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, URL

​Examples:

APA Website Citation

I. Websites with an Author or Group Author (or Organization) and a Date:

When a website includes a publication date or last date of revision, use this citation template. Only include an access date if the website does not give a date of creation. Note: sometimes the date may be at the bottom of the page. If no individual name(s) are listed as authoring the content, the name of the group or organization that manages or owns the website.

Basic Format:

AuthorLastName, FirstInitial. (Year, Month Day). Title of work, Site Name. URL

Name of Group. (Year, Month Day). Title of work, Site Name. URL

​Examples:

II. Websites without a Date:

If a website does not give a creation date, include an "retrieval date" before the URL of the day you accessed the website if the website is likely to change over time. If you expect that the website will be archived or not altered, you can instead include as the date (n.d.), meaning "no date." The first example below is to a source likely to change, and includes a retrieval date. The second source is unlikely to be updated and/or is likely to exist in archived format. N.d. is the appropriate "date marker" for that website.

​Examples:

APA Video Citation

APA Citation for Online Streaming video (E.g., YouTube, non-commercial videos, and videos only available trough streaming):

Author, A. A. [User name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx

Sample APA Online Video Citation:

Carmelina Films (Producer). (2011). Open source revolution [Video file]. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=96757&xtid=47367

APA Citation for a Feature film:

Producer, A. A. (Producer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (year). Title of motion picture [Medium: DVD, video file, etc.]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx

APA In-text Citation & Quotations

APA uses an author-date citation style. To correctly use APA, a short in-text citation is used consisting of the author's last name and the year of publication. A full citation is included on the References list.

Basic Format

(AuthorLastName, Year). When a page number is included: (AuthorLastName, Year, p. #).

APA style prefers that the name of the author who is being cited should be included in the text of the sentence itself. If both the author and year of publication are stated in the sentence, no additional parenthetical citation is required (unless a page reference is included).

When to include a page number: If a direct quotation is included, a page reference (when available) must also be included in the in-text citation. Although not explicitly required, APA encourages the inclusion of page numbers for paraphrased passages or other direct references. 

Examples: 

• Preferred APA in-text citation style (where no page number is required/included): 

Parker (2018) argues that colleges should require students to carry computers to class.

• Preferred APA in-text citation including a direct quotation (in which case a page reference is required):

According to Parker (2018), "students who own laptops perform better on average in their courses than those who do not own their own computers" (p. 198). 

• Notice that page references follow the close parenthesis, even when the sentence does not end:

According to Parker (2018) "students have a responsibility to care for their equipment" (p. 121), which she also notes is not always a top priority for every student.

• An in-text citation where the author's name is not mentioned:

Additionally, she stated, "most students are perfectly responsible" (Jones, 2018, p. 121).

Works by Multiple Authors

Two Authors: 

For works by two authors, include both names in alphabetical order, including an "&" between them.

Parenthetical: (Jones & Smith, 2011). 

In a sentence: According to Jones & Smith (2011), . . . 

Three to Five Authors: 

For works by three to five authors, include all the authors' names the first time only. E.g., (Dexter, Hardwick, Jones, McMillan, & Smith, 2018).

In subsequent mentions of the same author, use et al. in place the second, third, fourth and fifth names.

Parenthetical: (Dexter et al., 2018)

In a sentence: According to Dexter et al. (2018), . . . 

et al. (et alia) is Latin for "and others," and is used to avoid printing all the names of the authors of a source. A period does not follow "et," only "al."

Six or More Authors:

If a work has six or more authors, use et al. from the first time the source is cited. See the section on three or more authors above.

E.g. (Kim et al., 2017)

Long Quotations 

Although it is best to avoid long quotations in an APA paper, if you include a quotation of more than 40 words, it must be included in a separate block of text. Indent the entire block quotation by one-half inch (the same as the standard tab indent), maintain double-spacing, and place the citation at the end in parentheses after the period or punctuation from the quotation. Do not include quotation marks. In good APA style, the quoted author should be introduced before the quotation begins.

Example:

According to Kim et al. (2017): 

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The remainder of the paper continues as normal. . . . 

Other APA Resources

Purdue OWL is an excellent website for locating in-depth APA information and finding APA examples. 

APA Research Paper Example

• From Purdue Owl  Provides an excellent example of how a research paper should be structured using APA 6th ed. standards.