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Quick Guide to APA Citation (6th ed.) | In-Text Citation & Reference List

APA citation

APA style is one of the most common formats for citing sources Other well known citation styles include  MLA and Chicago .

APA Style citations consist of two parts:

  • In-text citation : A brief citation in parentheses when you mention a source, citing the author’s last name and the year of publication, e.g. (Smith, 2019) . It identifies the full source in the reference list.
  • Reference list entry : Full publication details listed on the reference page , which appears at the end of your paper. The reference provides all the information needed to find the source, e.g. Smith, P. (2019, April 18). Citing Sources in APA Format. Retrieved April 21, 2019, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/

This citation guide is based on the 6th edition of the APA Manual. The latest edition, published in October 2019, is not yet supported, but we have compiled a quick guide to the most important 7th edition changes . You can also use our free APA Citation Generator to automatically create accurate citations.

Table of contents

In-text citations, reference list, apa formatting for papers.

An in-text citation is a concise way to show the reader where the original idea came from and to give credit to the original author. Use one every time you quote or paraphrase a source.

Include the author’s last name and the year of publication. When quoting a source, it’s also necessary to include the page number(s) of the quote.

  • An earlier study in which X and Y were compared revealed that … (Smith, 2017) .
  • Smith (2017) shows how, in the past, research into X was mainly concerned with …

When there are two authors, separate their last names with an ampersand (&), or with the word ‘and’ when they appear in the running text.

  • Research shows that there is a great need for … (Reynolds & Thomas, 2014) .
  • Reynolds and Thomas (2014) write that there is a great need for …

3-5 authors

When there are three or more authors, separate their last names using commas . The last two authors’ last names should be separated by both a comma and an ampersand.

  • Recent research suggests that there is … (McGuire, Morrison, Reynolds, & Thomas, 2014) .
  • McGuire, Morrison, Reynolds, and Thomas (2014) argue that …

If you cite the same source again, to save space, you shorten the citation. Instead of including all the authors’ names, include only the first author, followed by “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”).

  • In this research, many participants made use of … (McGuire et al., 2014) .
  • McGuire et al. (2014) noticed that …

6 or more authors

If a source has six or more authors, use the shortened version from the first citation.

  • Lunott et al. (2015) discuss the …

Organization as author

When a source does not list an individual author, it can often be attributed to an organization instead.

  • According to new research … (Microsoft, 2014) .

When you quote a source , you also have to add the page number to the in-text citation.

  • According to the company’s business plan, “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work, but many students benefit from it” (Swan, 2014, p. 5) .

Multiple sources in one citation

Sometimes, it’s necessary to cite multiple sources in one sentence. You can combine them into one set of parentheses, separated by semicolons .

  • Various studies show that … ( Docker & Vagrant, 2002 ; Porter, 1997 ; Lima, Swan, & Corrieri, 2012 ).

Full in-text citation guide

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

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how to write apa style 6th edition

Every source cited in the text must also appear in your reference list .

The format differs depending on the source type, but every reference begins in the same way: with the author’s last name and initials, the publication year or date, and the title of the source.

Book citations

Note: Book titles should be italicized .

  • Format Last Name, Initials. (Year). Book title (edition). City, State/Country: Publisher.
  • Example Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.

Journal article citations

Note: The journal title and volume number should be italicized .

  • Format Last Name, Initials., & Last Name, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal Name , Volume (Issue), Page Number(s). https://doi.org/DoiNumber
  • Example Andreff, W., & Staudohar, P. D. (2000). The evolving European model of professional sports finance. Journal of Sports Economics , 1 (3), 257–276. https://doi.org./10.1177/152700250000100304

Website citations

  • Format Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Page title [OptionalType]. Retrieved from http://webaddress
  • Example Worland, J. (2015, July 27). U.S. flood risk could be worse than we thought. Retrieved from http://time.com/3973256/flooding-risk-coastal-cities

Report citations

Note: The title should be italicized .

  • Format Organization Name or Author Last Name, Initials. (Year). Report title . Retrieved from http://webaddress
  • Example Royal Bank of Scotland. (2015). Annual report and accounts 2014 . Retrieved from http://investors.rbs.com/~/media/Files/R/RBS-IR/2014-reports/annual-report-2014.pdf

More APA Style examples

Do you want to cite an image , interview , YouTube video , movie , or another source type that is not on this list? We have many more APA Style examples to help you cite correctly.

Sorting the reference list

Sort the references in alphabetical order based on the author’s last name. If you cite multiple sources by the same author, then sort them by publication year.

When you use the APA Citation Generator , your reference list is alphabetized automatically.

Full reference list guide

There are certain formatting rules you must adhere to when writing a paper in APA format .

The basic requirements are:

  • Times New Roman 12 pt
  • Double line spacing
  • One-inch (2.54 cm) margins
  • Left-aligned running head with a shortened title and page number

In addition to these general rules, there are more specific requirements for formatting the title page , running head , abstract , reference page , and headings and subheadings .

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APA Style 6th Edition: Citing Your Sources

  • Basics of APA Formatting
  • In Text Quick View
  • Block Quotes
  • Books & eBooks
  • Thesis/Dissertation
  • Conference Presentations
  • Course Documents
  • Social Media
  • Government Documents
  • Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
  • Additional Resources

Sample Reference Page

  • Generic Example
  • Identified Reference Types
  • Formatting Rules

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • References cited in text must appear in the reference list and vice versa (exception for personal communication which is not included in a Reference list).
  • Make sure that all citation information (names of authors, titles, volume and issue numbers, edition number, page numbers, city and state name, publisher name and location information) is correct.
  • When listing titles, the only words you should capitalize are the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle (if there is one), and proper nouns (Russia, Eleanor Roosevelt).  The only exception to this rule is when you list the titles of magazines, newspapers, or academic journals that contain the articles you’re quoting.  In these cases, use “headline” capitalization (meaning you capitalize all words except articles, conjunctions, and prepositions).  See examples below for clarification
  • The following should be italicized:  Titles of books, ebooks, newspapers, journals, magazines, movies, dissertation/thesis, films, videos, television series, podcasts, YouTube videos, artwork, maps, music albums and unpublished manuscripts.  Additionally, volumes of journals are also italicized.
  • Reference lists must be double-spaced , with a hanging indent:
  • The following cities can be listed without a state because they are well known for publishing: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Jerusalem, London, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tokyo, Vienna.

Order of References in Reference List

  • Alphabetize letter by letter
  • Alphabetize prefixes such as Mc and Mac literally
  • Alphabetize surnames that contain articles and prepositions (de, la, du, von, etc.) according to the rules of the language of origin
  • Alphabetize items with numerals as if the numerals were spelled out
  • Alphabetize group authors such as associations or agencies by the first significant word of the name, and use the full official name, not an acronym
  • If the author is designated as Anonymous, then the entry is alphabetized as if Anonymous were a true name
  • If there is no author, the entry is alphabetized by the first significant word in the title
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  • Last Updated: Sep 22, 2022 11:20 AM
  • URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/APA-citation-style
  • APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines

General Guidelines for Writing a Paper: APA Style

  • All sources of information and data, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, are cited with parenthetical references in the text of your paper ( p. 170 ).

Example: (Walker, 2003).

  • Double-space your entire paper, including the References list and any block quotes ( pp.171, 180 ).

Citations In Text

How to cite a direct quote ( pp.170-171 ), how to cite summaries or paraphrases.

Even if you put information in your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original author or researcher and the date of publication. You are also encouraged to provide a page or paragraph number; check with your instructor to see if page numbers are required.

For example, a paraphrase of Gibaldi’s earlier quotation might be identified as follows:

Within the research paper, quotations will have more impact when used judiciously (Gibaldi, 2003, p. 109).

 You may want to check out  The Owl at Purdue for more tips on paraphrasing.

How to Cite Sources when the Primary Authors have the same Surname ( p.176 )

How to cite different numbers of authors, how to cite information if no page numbers are available ( pp.171-172 ), how to cite information when you have not seen the original source ( p.178 ), how to cite when you are altering a direct quote, creating a reference list.

Start the Reference list on a new page and include the word “References” in uppercase and lowercase centered. (pp, 180-192)

The References list should be double-spaced. Each entry should be formatted with a hanging indent ( p.180 ).

References cited in text must appear in the References list and vice versa. The only exceptions to this rule are personal communications and classical works; they are cited in text only and are not included in the References list ( p.174 ).

Use  ONLY the initial(s) of the author’s given name,  NOT the full name ( p.184 ).

If the References list includes 2 or more entries by the same author(s), list them in chronological order with the earliest first ( p. 182 ).

 If the author’s name is unavailable, use the first few words of the title of the article, book or Web source, including the appropriate capitalization and italics formatting ( pp.176-177 ). E.g. (Scientists Say, 2000).

Arrange References entries in one alphabetical sequence by the surname of the first author or by title or first word if there is no author ( pp.181-183 ). Ignore the words A, An, and The when alphabetizing by title.

In titles and subtitles of articles, chapters, and books, capitalize only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns, except in parenthetical (in text) citations ( p.185 ).

Italicize book titles, journal titles, and volume numbers. Do  NOT italicize issue numbers.

Do  NOT include retrieval dates unless the source of the material may change over time such as a blog entry or wikis. (p.192)

If a  Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is listed on either a print or an electronic source it is included in the reference ( pp.188-192 ).  A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that is used to identify a certain source (typically journal articles).  It is often found on the first page of an article.  Example: doi:10.1080/14622200410001676305

When the References entry includes a URL that must be divided between two lines, break it  BEFORE a slash or dash or at another logical division point. Do  NOT insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL or a period at the end of the URL. ( p.192 ).

For a helpful list of some of the abbreviations used in References (such as Vols. for Volumes) check out page 180 of the APA Manual .

Subject Guide

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  • APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines. Authored by : Gisela Butera. Provided by : Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library. Located at : http://libguides.gwumc.edu/c.php?g=27779&p=170331 . License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
  • Table of Contents

Instructor Resources (Access Requires Login)

  • Overview of Instructor Resources

An Overview of the Writing Process

  • Introduction to the Writing Process
  • Introduction to Writing
  • Your Role as a Learner
  • What is an Essay?
  • Reading to Write
  • Defining the Writing Process
  • Videos: Prewriting Techniques
  • Thesis Statements
  • Organizing an Essay
  • Creating Paragraphs
  • Conclusions
  • Editing and Proofreading
  • Matters of Grammar, Mechanics, and Style
  • Peer Review Checklist
  • Comparative Chart of Writing Strategies

Using Sources

  • Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism
  • Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
  • Citing Paraphrases and Summaries (APA)

Definition Essay

  • Definitional Argument Essay
  • How to Write a Definition Essay
  • Critical Thinking
  • Video: Thesis Explained
  • Effective Thesis Statements
  • Student Sample: Definition Essay

Narrative Essay

  • Introduction to Narrative Essay
  • Student Sample: Narrative Essay
  • "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
  • "Sixty-nine Cents" by Gary Shteyngart
  • Video: The Danger of a Single Story
  • How to Write an Annotation
  • How to Write a Summary
  • Writing for Success: Narration

Illustration/Example Essay

  • Introduction to Illustration/Example Essay
  • "She's Your Basic L.O.L. in N.A.D" by Perri Klass
  • "April & Paris" by David Sedaris
  • Writing for Success: Illustration/Example
  • Student Sample: Illustration/Example Essay

Compare/Contrast Essay

  • Introduction to Compare/Contrast Essay
  • "Disability" by Nancy Mairs
  • "Friending, Ancient or Otherwise" by Alex Wright
  • "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard
  • Writing for Success: Compare/Contrast
  • Student Sample: Compare/Contrast Essay

Cause-and-Effect Essay

  • Introduction to Cause-and-Effect Essay
  • "Cultural Baggage" by Barbara Ehrenreich
  • "Women in Science" by K.C. Cole
  • Writing for Success: Cause and Effect
  • Student Sample: Cause-and-Effect Essay

Argument Essay

  • Introduction to Argument Essay
  • Rogerian Argument
  • "The Case Against Torture," by Alisa Soloman
  • "The Case for Torture" by Michael Levin
  • How to Write a Summary by Paraphrasing Source Material
  • Writing for Success: Argument
  • Student Sample: Argument Essay
  • Grammar/Mechanics Mini-lessons
  • Mini-lesson: Subjects and Verbs, Irregular Verbs, Subject Verb Agreement
  • Mini-lesson: Sentence Types
  • Mini-lesson: Fragments I
  • Mini-lesson: Run-ons and Comma Splices I
  • Mini-lesson: Comma Usage
  • Mini-lesson: Parallelism
  • Mini-lesson: The Apostrophe
  • Mini-lesson: Capital Letters
  • Grammar Practice - Interactive Quizzes
  • De Copia - Demonstration of the Variety of Language
  • Style Exercise: Voice

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Howe Center for Writing Excellence

Apa style (6th edition), in-text citations.

APA requires citing with the (1) the author’s last name and (2) the publication year. These pieces of information can never be separated and will always appear together within the text. In-text citations can appear either within the sentence or at the end of the sentence.

When the authors' names are mentioned within the sentence, the year of publication will follow in parentheses.

In Williams (2011) , the data showed that citations are important.

Williams' (2011) data showed that citations are important.

When the authors' names are not used within the sentence, they must appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence, followed by a comma and the year of publication.

The data showed that citations are important (Williams, 2011) .

For in-text citations in specific contexts, see our headings below:

Direct Quotations

Page numbers are required for direct quotations from sources that have numbered pages, such as books or journals. This number appears in parentheses at the end of the sentence and is preceded by "p." and one space.

According to Smith (2003) , “It is better to overcite than undercite” (p. 2) .

Research requires the frequent use of citations: “It is better to overcite than undercite” (Smith, 2003, p. 2) .

Multiple Authors

When a source with multiple authors is mentioned within the sentence, write out the word "and." However, when the source appears in parentheses at the end of the sentence, use the abbreviation for "and" (&) instead.

In Williams and Jones (2011) , the data showed that citations are important.

The data showed that citations are important (Williams & Jones, 2011) .

When a source has 3 to 5 authors, list all of the authors the first time the source is mentioned. In subsequent citations, use only the first author's last name and “et al.” (meaning "and everyone else"). Write "et al." in lowercase, place a period after "al." and do not place a comma between the author's name and "et al."

1st Use: The data showed that citations are important (Williams, Jones, & Smith, 2011) .

2nd Use: The data also showed that direct quotations should be used sparingly (Williams et al., 2011) .

When a source has 6 or more authors, use only the first author's last name and “et al.” within the text.

Saal et al. (2013) argued that historic homes should be preserved.

Historic homes should be preserved (Saal et al., 2013) .

When a source does not list an author, you have two options:

1. Use the name of the publisher. When you are citing a webpage, the publisher will appear at the bottom of the website with the copyright date.

The data showed that citations are important (Organization for Research, 2005) .

2. Use the shortened title of the source. Note: A source without a named author or publisher might not be reliable.

The data showed that citations are important (“Using Sources,” 2005) .

No Publication Year

When a source does not list the year of publication, you have two options:

1. Use the copyright date. When you are citing a webpage, the copyright year will appear at the bottom of the website.

2. Use the abbreviation “n.d.” for no date.  Note: A source without a publication year or copyright year might not be reliable.

The data showed that citations are important (“Using Sources,” n.d.) .

Multiple Sources

When citing multiple different sources in the same citation, list them in alphabetical order (like on your References page) and separate them with semicolons.

The data showed that citations are important (Aeron, 2009; Coldwater et al., 2013; Williams & Jones, 2011) .

When citing two or more sources with the same author(s) and the same year of publication, place a lowercase letter ("a," "b," "c," etc.) after the year of publication, to differentiate the sources. These letters should also appear on the References page. Assign letters based on the alphabetical order of the sources on the References page.

The data showed that citations are important (Aeron, 2009a; Aeron, 2009b) .

References Page

The References page lists the full citation of each source used in your paper. Follow these general notes on APA format:

  • Start your References on a new page.
  • Write the word "References" at the top of the page and center it, with no bold or italics.
  • Highlight all of the citations on your Bibliography.
  • Right-click and select “Paragraph.”
  • Under “Indentation,” go to “Special” and select “Hanging” from the drop-down menu.
  • Alphabetize sources by the author's last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first major word in the title.
  • For 8 or more authors, list the first 6 names, insert an ellipsis (. . .), and end with the very last author's name (Allison, H. L., Brown, M., Rothes, N., Cherry, G., Astor, J. J., Page, E., . . . Gordon, L. D.).
  • Italicize books and journals, and place quotation marks around article and webpage titles..
  • An article title will look like this.
  • A book title will look like this .
  • A Journal Title Will Look Like This .

The information provided in each of your citations will be different for each type of source. You can check this format at the Purdue OWL. Here are some examples of Reference citations for common types of sources:

Because all of the content in a book is written by the same author(s), you can cite the entire book on your References, even if you only used information from one chapter or a few pages. If a book has multiple copyright dates, use the most recent.

General Format

AuthorLastName, A. A., & AuthorLastName, B. B. (year). Book title in lowercase and italics: Capitalize only the

first word of the title and subtitle (edition, if applicable). Publication City, State: Publisher Name.

Example, with No Edition

Lord, W. (2012). The night lives on: The untold stories and secrets behind the sinking of the "unsinkable"

ship—Titanic . New York, NY: Open Road Integrated Media.

Example, with Edition

Butler, D. A. (2012). "Unsinkable": The full story of the RMS Titanic (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Da Capo Press.

Article or Chapter in Edited Book

Edited books contain articles or chapters written by different authors. Thus, your References must list each individual article or chapter that you used in your research.

AuthorLastName, A. A., & AuthorLastName, B. B. (year). Article title in lowercase with no quotation marks:

Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle. In A. EditorLastName & B. EditorLastName (Eds.),

Book title in lowercase and italics: Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle (pp. page range of article).

Publication City, State: Publisher Name.

Example, with One Book Editor

Beesley, L. (1960). The loss of the S. S. Titanic, its story, and its lessons. In J. Winocour (Ed.), The story

of the Titanic: As told by its survivors (pp. 1-110). New York, NY: Dover Publications.

Example, with Two Book Editors

Middleton, P., & Woods, T. (2004). Textual memory: The making of the Titanic's archive. In T. Bergfelder

& S. Street (Eds.), The Titanic in myth and memory: Representations in visual and literary culture (pp. 63-72).

New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Journal Article

Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle. Journal Title in All Caps and Italics, volume number

italicized (issue number), article page range. 

Frey, B. S., Savage, D. A., & Torgler, B. (2010). Interaction of natural survival instincts and internalized

social norms exploring the Titanic and Lusitani a disasters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ,

107 (11), 4862-4865.

Newspaper Article

AuthorLastName, A. A., & AuthorLastName, B. B. (year, month day). Article title in lowercase with no

quotation marks: Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle. Title of Newspaper in All

Caps and Italics . Retrieved from http://www.fullURL.com/

Broad, W. J. (2012, April 9). A new look at nature's role in the Titanic 's sinking: The iceberg was

only part of it. The New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/

science/a-new-look-at-natures-role-in-the-titanics-sinking.html?_r=0

If a webpage does not have a stated author, use the publisher listed at the bottom of the page, next to the copyright date. If the webpage does not provide a year of publication, use the most recent copyright date at the bottom of the page.

Organization or Publisher. (year). Webpage title in lowercase with no quotation marks: Capitalize only the

first word of the title and subtitle. Retrieved from http://www.fullURL.com/

Example, with Publisher as Author

National Geographic Channel. (2012). Titanic facts: Some fast facts about her builders, her victims,

and her survivors. Retrieved from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/titanic-100-years/

articles/titanic-the-final-word-with-james-cameron-facts/

Style and Format

APA has the following stylistic requirements for the body of your paper:

  • Refer to authors by their last names only.
  • Use past tense verbs when discussing a source's statements or data, because the source was published in the past.
  • Write out numbers one through nine, but use numerals for numbers 10 and higher.
  • Use the percent symbol (%) instead of the word “percent” when discussing statistics.

If your direct quotations have 40 words or more, format them as block quotations. This means you will remove the quotation marks and completely indent the quotation one inch from the rest of the paragraph. For example:

Many scholars continue to prefer humans over computers:

The human brain, with its flexibility and capacity to imagine, is still superior in many ways to the electronic model. The computer is never tired or preoccupied or careless, so it is wonderful at remembering and observing rules. But it doesn’t have the imagination of even a very young human brain—which not only can forget the rules, but can find in them loopholes and options. Electronic intelligence can process information like a house afire, but it still can’t think . (LaRocque, 1999, p. 52)

APA also had standards for formatting your paper, tables, and figures.

Page Headers

In APA, the first-page header will be different from headers on the following pages. To make the first-page header different from the rest, follow these steps:

  • Double-click on the header
  • Go to the "Header and Footer Tools" tab
  • Check the option for "Different First Page"

Your first-page header should be as follows. Note that “head” is not capitalized:

Running head: SHORTENED TITLE OF PAPER IN ALL CAPS

The headers for the rest of the paper should be as follows:

SHORTENED TITLE OF PAPER IN ALL CAPS

This text should be on the left side of the header with your page number on the right. All of the headers should be in the same font type and font size as the rest of the paper. See an example APA paper at the Purdue OWL .

Section Headings

The format for each heading level in APA can be seen below. All headings should be in the same font size and type.

Level 1 Headings Are Centered and Bold

Level 2 Headings Are Left-Aligned and Bold

The paragraph text for a Level 2 section will begin on the next line.

Level 3 headings are indented half an inch, bolded, lowercased, and followed by a period. The paragraph text for a Level 3 section

will begin on the same line.

Level 4 headings are indented half an inch, bolded, italicized, lowercased, and followed by a period . The paragraph text for a Level 4

section will begin on the same line.

Level 5 headings are indented half an inch, italicized, lowercased, and followed by a period. The paragraph text for a Level 5 section

Tables and Figures

Table captions appear above the table. Write the table number on its own line and the title of the table on the next line.

Title of Table Capitalized in Italics

Figure captions appear below the figure. Write the figure number and the title on the same line and follow each with a period.

Figure 1 . Title of figure, lowercased.

Additional Resources

  • Purdue OWL APA Guide
  • APA Style Blog

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Information

How to cite references using apa style.

  • Getting Started
  • Finding Help
  • Books, E-Books (including book chapters & encyclopedia entries) & Dissertations/Theses
  • Articles from Scholarly Journals, Magazines & Newspapers (print & online)
  • Class Resources (Lectures, PowerPoints, Handouts)
  • Webpages, websites & social media
  • Government Reports, Legal Citations & Regulations, Lecture Notes, Interviews, ERIC Documents, archival materials and other miscellaneous
  • Images, film, music, media
  • ChatGPT and APA Style
  • Sources from Business-Specific Databases
  • Formatting Author Names, Abbreviations, Rules & More
  • In-text citation help
  • APA 6th Edition

APA 6th Edition Examples - Books & Book Chapters

Drucker, P. F. (1998). Peter Drucker on the profession of management . Boston: Harvard Business School.

  • Two Authors

McGuire, M. T., & Anderson, W. H. (1999). The US healthcare dilemma: Mirrors and chains . Westport, CT: Auburn House.

  • Three authors

Marquart, J. W., Olson, S. E., & Sorensen, J. R. (1994). The rope, the chair, and the needle: Capital punishment in Texas, 1923-1990 . Austin: University of Texas Press.

  • More than three authors

Sakakibara, S., Hidetoshi, Y., Hisakatsu, S., Kengo, S., & Shimon, F. (1988). The Japanese stock market: Pricing systems and accounting information . New York: Praeger.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1998). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

  • Corporate author

American Health Association. (2000). American Hospital Association guide to the health care field . Chicago: Author.

  • Edited Book

Gibbs, J. T., & Huang, L. N. (Eds.). (1991). Children of color: Psychological interventions with minority youth . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  • Article or chapter in an edited book

Massaro, D. (1992). Broadening the domain of the fuzzy logical model of perception. In H. L. Pick Jr., P. van den Broek, & D. C. Knill (Eds.), Cognition: Conceptual and methodological issues (pp. 51-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Philips, M., & Rasberry, S. (1997). Marketing without advertising (2nd ed.). Berkley, CA: Nolo Press.

  • Book in several volumes

Magill, F. N. (1993). Survey of social science: Psychology series (Vol. 2). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Shotton, M. A. (1989).  Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency  [DX Reader Version]. Retrieved from http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/htm/index.asp

  • E-book with DOI

Schiraldi, G. R. (2001).  The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth  [Adobe Digital Editions version]. doi: 10.10.36/0071393722

  • E-book from a database

Munroe, M. (2009).  Echoes of the Haitian Revolution, 1804-2004  [Monograph]. Retrieved from ebrary.

  • E-book only (no print version, no DOI)

O’Keefe, E. (n.d.).  Egoism & the crisis in Western values . Retrieved from http://www.onlineoriginals.com/showitem.asp?itemID=135

  • Chapter in an e-book

Strong, E. K. Jr., & Uhrbrock, R. S. (1923). Bibliography on job analysis. In L. Outhwaite (Series Ed.),  Personnel Research Series: Vol. 1. Job analysis and the curriculum  (pp. 140-146). doi: 10.1037/10762-000

  • Online reference book (author listed)

Graham, G. (2005). Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.),  The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy  (Fall 2007 ed.). Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/

  • Online reference book (no author listed)

Heuristic. (n.d.). In  Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary  (11th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/heuristic

  • APA Style Manual

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

For whole e-books, include the E-reader version and its original retrieval URL or doi

If the ebook has no DOI, try to find a permalink for the book.

If the book is read online, such as Google Books, ebrary, ebl, EbscoBooks, do not include the E-reader version.

For example, this is a book from ebrary. I read it online, so I do not need to include an E-reader version. I used the Share Link to Book to get a permalink for a book title.

Denzin, N. K. (2016). Searching for Yellowstone : Race, gender, family and memory in the Postmodern West. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/wayne/detail.action? docID=10411861

In text citing from e-books

For e-books from platforms that are read online do not have page numbers (such as Books 24x7), add an overarching heading plus a paragraph number within that section. If the heading is too long to cite in full, create a short title in quotation marks.

In-text citation, no page numbers, using a heading   (Smith, 1978, Introduction section, para. 5)

In-text citation, no page numbers, create a short title   (Smith, 1978, "The Future of Libraries," para. 1)

APA 6th Edition Examples - Periodical Articles

  • Journal article (print)

Light, M. A., & Light, I. H. (2008). The geographic expansion of Mexican immigration in the United States and its implications for local law enforcement. Law Enforcement Executive Forum Journal, 8 (1), 73-82.

  • Journal article with Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24 , 225-229. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

  • Article from an online-only journal

Frederickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3 . Retrieved from http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html

  • Article with more than seven authors

Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009). Web site usability for the blind and low-vision user. Technical Communication, 57 , 323-335.

  • Electronic copy of a journal article retrieved from a database

Borman, W. C., Hanson, M. A., Oppler, S. H., Pulakos, E. D., & White, L. A. (1993). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78 (3), 443-449.

  • Newspaper (print) (author listed)

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post , pp. A1, A4.

  • Newspaper (print) (no author listed)

Obesity affects economic, social status. (1993, September 30). The Washington Post , pp. A1, A4.

  • Online newspaper article

Brody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental reserves keep brain agile. New York Times . Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com

Magazine Articles

  • Magazine article (print) (author listed)

Chamberlin, J., Novotney, A., Packard, E., & Price, M. (2008, May). Enhancing worker well-being: Occupational health psychologists convene to share their research on work, stress, and health. Monitor on Psychology, 39 (5), 26-29.

Note: For weekly magazines, add the day in addition to the month and year (2008, May 24).

  • Magazine article (print) (no author listed)

Enhancing worker well-being: Occupational health psychologists convene to share their research on work, stress, and health. (2008, May). Monitor on Psychology, 39 (5), 26-29.

  • Online magazine article

Clay, R. (2008, June). Science vs. ideology: Psychologists fight back about the misuse of research. Monitor on Psychology, 39 (6). Retrieved from http://apa.org/monitor/

  • Electronic copy of a magazine article retrieved from a database

Frank, M. (1993, June). The wild, wild, West. Architectural Digest, 50, 180-185, 193. 

Editorials, Reviews, Interviews, etc.

  • Editorial/ Letter to the Editor

Marshall-Pescini, S., & Whiten, A. (2006). “What is a disaster” and why does this question matter? [Editorial]. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 14 , 1-2.

  • Review of a book

Schatz, B. R. (2000, November 17). Learning by text or context? [Review of the book The social life of information , by J. S. Brown & P. Duguid]. Science, 290 , 1304. doi: 10.1126/science.290.5495.1304

  • Online book review

Zacharek, S. (2008, April 27). Natural women [Review of the book Girls like us ]. The New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Zachareck-t.html?pagewanted=2

  • Review of a DVD

Axelman, A., & Shapiro, J. L. (2007). Does the solution warrant the problem? [Review of the DVD Brief therapy with adolescents , produced by the American Psychological Association, 2007]. PsycCRITIQUES, 52 (51). doi: 10.1037/a0009036

  • Interview (published in a periodical)

The entry should follow the format of the original source of the interview (in this case, a journal article with one author).  In this example, the interview lacks a title, so a description of the interview is given in brackets . 

Archer, N. (1993). [Interview with Helen Burns, author of Sense and Perception]. Journal of Sensory Studies, 21 , 211-216.

If the interview has a title, include the title (without quotation marks) after the year, and then give a further description in brackets if necessary. 

Fromm, M. G. (2014). Interview with Frank Ochberg. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 31 (2), 206-216. doi:10.1037/a0036147

Example adapted from http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/citation/apa/interview/

APA 6th Edition Examples - Electronic Resources

  • An entire website (but not a specific document on the site)

Do not include in reference list; cite in text only. [More Information] Example: The Michigan Online Resources for Educators (MORE) database is a excellent resource for lesson plans (http://more.mel.org/).

  • Document on an organization's website

Canarie, Inc. (1997, September 27). Towards a Canadian health IWAY: Vision, opportunities and future steps . Retrieved from http:www//canarie.ca/press/publications/pdf/health/healthvision.doc

  • Website (no author, no year, no page number)

Social workers come out in support of marriage for same-sex couples. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2004/081704.asp

  • Online product review (such as epinions.com)

Pixeltech. (2010, December 10). Sony VAIO L Series Just Touch it [Review of Sony VAIO notebook]. Retrieved from: http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Sony_VAIO_L_VPCL137FX_R_24_All_in_One_Touchscreen_Computer_Red_PC_Notebook

  • Online government report

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2003). Managing asthma: A guide for schools (NIH Publication No. 02-2650). Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/lung/asthma/asth_sch.pdf

Do not include in reference list; cite in text only. Example: According to S. D. Cathcart (personal communication, September 20, 2001), management is refusing to agree to the proposal.

  • Message posted to a newsgroup, online forum, or discussion group

Ramperdas, T. (2005, June 8). Re: Traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions [Online forum content]. Retrieved from http://www.wipo.int/roller/comments/Weblog/theme_eight_how_can_cultural#comments

  • Electronic mailing list (Listserv)

Smith, S. (2006, January 5). Re: Disputed estimates of IQ [Electronic mailing list message]. Retrieved from http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/Group/ForensicNetwork/message/670

MiddleKid. (2007, January 22). Re: The unfortunate prerequisites and consequences of partitioning your mind [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/01the_unfortunate_prerequisites.php  

APA 6th Edition Examples - Miscellaneous & Unpublished

  • Annual report

Home Depot. (2001). Home Depot 2000 annual report . Atlanta, GA: Author.

  • Online annual report

Proctor & Gample Company. (2010). P & G 2010 annual report. Retrieved from http://www.pg.com/annualreport2010/index.shtml

  • Interview or personal communication

Do not include in reference list;cite in text only. Example: P. Drucker (personal communication, September 20, 2001) believes that there are several different types of managers.

  • Doctoral dissertation or master's thesis retrieved from the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database

McNiel, D. S. (2006). Meaning through narrative: A personal narrative discussing growing up with an alcoholic mother (Master’s thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 1434728)

IMPORTANT:  The Publication Number is located in the field titled Publication Number in the Indexing Document Details area of the record in the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database. The number is prefaced with AAT, which should not be included in the Publication Number. The Publication Number is equivalent to the UMI number that appears in the example for the APA citation for the dissertation or theses on page 208, APA Publication Manual, 6th Edition.

  • ERIC document

Greenberg, J. & Walsh, K. (2010). Ed school essentials: A review of Illinois teacher preparation . Washington, DC: National Council on Teacher Quality. (ED512668)

  • Conference proceedings (Unpublished paper or speech)

Smith, S. (2009, August). Putting the grrrr! Back in progressive . Paper presented at the meeting of the Progressive Librarians Guild, Detroit, MI.

  • Conference proceedings (Unpublished poster)

Ruby, J., & Fulton, C. (1993, June). Beyond reading: Editing software that works . Poster session at the annual meeting of the Society for Scholarly Publishing, Washington, DC.

  • Brochure/pamphlet

National Cancer Institute. (2000, June). Cancer research-because lives depend on it [Brochure]. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute.

Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

  • Legal statute

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. § 4331 (1970).

  • Code of Federal Regulations

FDA Prescription Drug Advertising Rule, 21 C.F.R. § 202.1 (2006).

  • Government report

U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2002). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

  • House or Senate Committee Report

Iraq: Meeting the challenge, sharing the burden, staying the course, a trip report to members of the Committee on Foreign Relations , U.S. Senate, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (S. Prt. 108-31). (2003).

  • DSM-5 Individual chapter from DSM-5 American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Cautionary statement for forensic use of DSM-5. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.744053
  • Archival Materials from the Walter P. Reuther Library When citing materials please use the full name of the collection and of the Library. In the event your research becomes a source for publication, the Library requests a copy of the publication. Example: Doe, John. (July 1, 1923). Letter from John Doe to Jane Smith (Box 9, Folder 23). The Acme Company Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

APA 6th Edition Examples - Audiovisual Media

The following are interpretations based on rules put forth by the APA Publication Manual, 6th Edition. The Manual does not speak specifically to many types of online visual resources.

General rules

Always check your URL to make sure it works

Follow standard form for author’s name when possible (Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial.)

Use n.d. if no date exists

Do not use a URL if material was retrieved from a library database. Use the library database name.

  • Online Video Blog Post (YouTube, TED, Vimeo, TeacherTube, etc).

Use the designated shareable link as the URL, such as the Share URL in YouTube.

For Corporate Author or Channel, use as the Author. Use upload date as date if no creation date is available

Author Last Name, Author First Initial. Author Middle Initial. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL

TEDtalksDirector. (2009, February 16). Barry Schwartz: The real crisis? We stopped being wise [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/lA-zdh_bQBo

  • Image found in a free online resource

To assure copyright compliance, use a resource such as Flickr’s Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Creator’s last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Role of creator). (Year of creation). Description or title of image. [Type of work]. Retrieved from URL.

Comas, J. S. (Photographer). (2007). Jordi Comas Teaching. [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/24567742@N03/4475421910/

Konopacki. (Cartoonist). Overcrowding. [Cartoon]. Retrieved from http://www.sites4teachers.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.solidarity.com/hkcartoons/teachertoons/images/kono2DEC.gif

  • Image found in a library database

If it is a single image you found in a search in a library database . If there are credits under the image for the author or the original publisher, that should be noted in the citation.

Creator name. (Role of creator). (Year of creation). Description or title of image. [Type of work]. Retrieved from Database Name.

Cusic-McClatchy, C. C. (Photographer). (2009). Middle School Sex Education Class. [Digital Image]. Retrieved from GALE Opposing Viewpoints in Context.

  • If the image is part of an article , cite the source in your bibliography and follow the discussion of the image with an in-text reference to the published source. For non-standard presentation, such as Powerpoint, Wiki, etc., follow the reproduction of the image with a caption that includes (Article Author(s) Last Name, Year, p. xx, title of image)

Example: This would appear immediately following the reference to the image from the article, book, etc.

(Andrews & Sayers, 2006, p. 35, Table 1)

This would be the citation for the reference:

Andrews, P. & Sayers, J. (2006). Conditions for learning: Part 3. Mathematics Teaching, 199. 34-38. Retrieved from ProQuest Research Library.

  • Music recording

Artist. (Year) Name of Song. On Name of Collection/Album [Medium of recording]. City, State: Recording Label Company.

Coldplay. (2000). Trouble. On Parachutes [iTunes]. EMI Records Ltd. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/parachutes/id23533494

Van Nuys, D. (Producer). (2007, December 19). Shrink rap radio [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.shrinkrapradio.com/

  • Television show episode

Egan, D. (Writer), & Alexander, J. (Director). (2005). Failure to communicate [Television series episode]. In D. Shore (Executive producer), House . New York, NY: Fox Broadcasting.

  • Live television broadcast

Crystal, L. (Executive Producer). (1993, October 11). The MacNeil/Lehrer news hour [Television broadcast]. New York and Washington, DC: Public Broadcasting Service.

  • Motion Picture/Video

Grey, B., King, G., & Pitt, B. (Producers), & Scorsese, M. (Director). (2006). The Departed [Motion Picture]. United States: Plan B Entertainment.

Author Names

When citing an author with a hyphenated first name in order of appearance, use the first letter with period, then present the second letter preceded by a hyphen.

Author is Jean-Baptise Lamour      Reference citation style is  Lamour, J.-B.

Author is Ru-Jye Chuang                Reference citation style is   Chuang, R.-J.

Source:  APA Publication Manual, 6th Edition, 6,27, p 184

If an author's first name is hyphenated, retain the hyphen and include a period after each initial. Do not put a space after the period of the first initial and the - preceding the second initial.

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APA Style (6th ed.)

  • Position of the citation
  • Secondary Referencing
  • Date of Publication
  • Page numbers
  • Citing Sources Multiple Times
  • Citing from Web pages
  • Paraphrasing and Summarising
  • Reference Lists and Bibliographies
  • Examples of References in APA (6th ed.) style

Examples of References in APA style (6th edition)

  • Examples of References in APA style
  • APA Reference Examples A-Z
  • Comparison of 6th and 7th editions of APA
  • Setting the Bibliographic Style
  • Inserting In-text Citations
  • How to create a Reference List
  • Managing Sources
  • Editing Citations
  • Updating your Reference list
  • Find Sources
  • Evaluate Sources
  • Write the Reference
  • Write the Annotation
  • Examples of Annotations
  • Journal Articles
  • Web pages and social media
  • Newspaper articles

Dictionary or Encyclopaedia

Thesis or dissertation.

  • Reports and Datasets
  • Conferences
  • Images, figures and tables

Exhibitions

  • Audiovisual and Digital Media
  • Lecture Notes and Presentations
  • Author/Editor (Surname, Initials) ,
  • (Year of publication).
  • Title (in italics) .
  • Edition (other than first edition) .
  • Place of publication: Publisher.

how to write apa style 6th edition

An e-book retrieved from an academic database that does not have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is referenced as though it were the print version, as above. (A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet. DOIs can be found in database records and the reference lists of published works).

Books with a URL or a DOI can be referenced like this:

  • Author/editor (Surname, Initials)
  • (Year of publication)
  • Title of book (in italics)
  • (Edition) (if not the 1st edition)
  • DOI or Retrieved from URL

how to write apa style 6th edition

Book Chapter

  • Author of chapter/section (Surname, Initials)
  • ‘Title of chapter/section’.
  • ‘In:’ followed by author/editor of book, (in direct order)
  • Title of book (in italics) .
  • (Page reference).
  • Place of publication: Publisher,

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal article (print)

  • Author(s) (Surname, Initials)
  • Title of article
  • Title of journal (in italics, first letter of each word should be capitalised, except for words such as and, of, the)        
  • Issue information (volume, issue, pages) (volume in italics)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal article (online)

  • Title of article.
  • Title of journal (in italics, first letter of each word should be capitalised, except for words such as and, of, the)
  • Issue information (date, volume, issue no., pages) (volume in italics)
  • Retrieved from: URL

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal article (database without DOI)

Journal articles retrieved from databases without a DOI can be referenced like a print journal, as above.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal article (with DOI)

  • Issue information (date, volume , issue no., pages) (volume in italics)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal article (more than 7 authors)

List the first six authors followed by three spaced ellipsis points (...) and then the last author's name.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal article (pre-publication)

“Pre-print”, “In press” and “advanced online publication” usually refer to articles that have been accepted for publication, but may not yet have been assigned to a publication volume/issue. These articles can be cited using the year of online publication and the DOI.

  • Issue information (date, volume, issue no., pages) (if any available)
  • Advance online publication.

how to write apa style 6th edition

arXiv is a collection facility for scientific 'e-prints'. Some of them have been published and some have not. APA recommends updating your references when you're close to finishing your assignment. If you've cited a preprint that has since been published, cite the published journal article.

In the example below, you will see that the title is in italics. This is because it hasn't yet been accepted in a journal and is, therefore, considered a stand-alone work.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Journal Article (with article numbers, not page numbers)

If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word “Article” and then the article number instead of the page range.

  • Journal Title  (in italics)
  • Volume ,  (in italics)
  • Article number 

how to write apa style 6th edition

Magazine Article

  • (Year of publication, Month day)
  • Title of magazine (in italics, first letter of each word should be capitalised, except for words such as and, of, the)      

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author (Surname, Initials or Organisation name)
  • (Year)  (Month Day, if applicable).
  • Title of webpage   (in italics)

how to write apa style 6th edition

If no date can be established, use n.d. to indicate no date in the citation and the reference.

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author of message
  • (Year, Month Day).
  • Title of message
  • [Blog post]

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author (surname followed by initials) and/or [screen name]
  • (Year, Month day) tweet posted
  • full text of tweet (If a tweet is longer than 40 words, write the first 40 words)

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author and/or [given name]
  • (Year, month day)
  • Title of page   or post
  • [Facebook status update].
  • For individual authors, provide their full first name in square brackets after their initial as this is their social media identity information.
  • For the title, provide the name of the page or the content or caption of the post (up to the first 40 words).

how to write apa style 6th edition

LinkedIn Profile

  • Author (name associated with the account)
  • Title of page ( Use the page title in the reference (e.g., “Home,” “About,” “Jobs”).)
  • [LinkedIn page].
  • Retrieved date from: URL ( Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived)

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author and/or [screen name]
  • (Year posted, month day)
  • Content of the post (up to the first 20 words)
  • [Photograph]
  • Retrieved from URL

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author and/or [Username]
  • Content of the post up to the first 20 words. Count a URL or other link, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each, and include them in the reference if they fall within the first 20 words. Do not italicize emojis.
  • [Video]  description of the audiovisuals

how to write apa style 6th edition

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia, created and edited by volunteers around the world. It is not a scholarly source, so your lecturer may not be happy for you to use it as a source in your assignments. Scholarly assignments should generally rely on peer-reviewed and other scholarly work vetted by experts in the field. However, it may be a good starting point for you in your research to find citations to original source materials that you do want to use.

Wikipedia is a constantly changing site, so cite an archived version of the page, if you can (select 'view history' and then the date of the version you used). If it doesn't have a permanent link to an archived version of the page, include a URL for the entry and the retrieval date. The retrieval date is always required because the source material may change over time. 'n.d.' is an abbreviation of 'no date' and it is used as Wikipedia is constantly changing.

  • Title of wiki (in italics)
  • Retrieved date, from URL

how to write apa style 6th edition

Newspaper article (print)

  • Author (Surname, Initials) 
  • (Year of publication, Month day).
  • Title of article 
  • Title of newspaper (in italics) .
  • Page reference.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Newspaper article (online)

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author of entry (if there is one) (Surname, initials)
  • Title of entry.
  • ‘In:’ Editor (initial and surname) (Ed.)
  • Title of dictionary or encyclopaedia  (in italics) .
  • (Edition, page numbers of entry)

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Author (Surname, Initials)
  • (Year of submission).
  • Title of thesis (in italics) .
  • (Type of thesis or dissertation)  e.g. Unpublished Master's thesis
  • Degree awarding body, location (if unpublished)
  • Name of database or archive, URL  (if published)

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Title of data (version)   (in italics)
  • [Type of work]  (i.e. dataset)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Government Publication

  • Name of Government Department
  • Title (in italics)
  • (Report Series and number) (if available)
  • Place of publication: Publisher (if in print)
  • URL (if online)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Company Report

  • Title of report . (in italics)
  • Place of Publication: Publisher or URL 

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Name of authority or organisation.
  • Number and title of standard (in italics) .
  • Place of publication: Publisher (if in print) .
  • URL (if accessed online)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Conference Paper (in edited book)

  • Title of the contribution paper
  • In: Name of editor or conference chair (Initial, Last name (Ed (s).)
  • Title of conference proceedings (in Italics)
  • (Page numbers)
  • Place of publication: Publisher

how to write apa style 6th edition

Conference Paper (Journal)

  • Author of paper
  • Title of paper
  • Title of Journal (in italics)
  • Issue information (volume, issue, date)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Conference Paper or Poster Presentation 

  • (Year, month of conference).
  • Paper or Poster presented at Title of conference: Subtitle of conference

how to write apa style 6th edition

Images, illustrations, photos (print)

If you are citing an illustration, figure, diagram or table, start with the source in which it appeared. In your in-text citation, give the page number and any caption number that will help to identify the illustration, using the terminology in the book or article (for example, illus./fig./diagram/logo/table). The reference list entry will be for the whole article or book.

In-text citation:

how to write apa style 6th edition

Reference List:

In the reference list, you list the book in which the image is found:

how to write apa style 6th edition

When you include an image or photo in your text, as well as citing the source, you will also need to include a caption and list it in a Table of Figures ( click here for more information ). Images you created yourself don't have to be cited, but should still be included in the list of figures.

Image, illustration, photo or table (online)

  • Creator  (Surname, initial(s))
  • [Internet handle] (if appropriate)
  • Title of image, figure, illustration or table 
  • [Type of image]. (image, chart, diagram, graph, illustration or photograph)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Photographs (Online Collection)

  • Photographer
  • Title of photograph/video (or collection) 
  • [Type of image].  

how to write apa style 6th edition

If you viewed an image in person rather than online (e.g. in a museum or gallery), the source information is different. You will need to include the name and location of the institution where you viewed the image.

  • (Year of creation)  (if available)
  • Title of the work (in italics)
  • [Format description]  (in square brackets)
  • City, Country: Institution or collection that houses the work

how to write apa style 6th edition

If you haven't seen the artwork in person and saw it online, use the website in the location part of your reference.

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Originator (Name of organisation)
  • Sheet number, scale.
  • Publisher (if different from author)
  • URL (if viewed online)

how to write apa style 6th edition

It can often be hard to find accurate information about images accessed online.  However, if you do need to cite an image with no author, date or title listed, there are ways around this.  For untitled images, include a description of the image, in square brackets, where the title would usually go. If there is no publication date, add “n.d.” in place of the date, and add the date that you accessed the image.

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Curator(s) (Surname, Initial(s)) .
  • (Year or years ran).
  • Exhibition Title [Exhibition].
  • Museum name,
  • City, Country.
  • URL of exhibition website (if available)

how to write apa style 6th edition

When the curator is unknown, move the title of the exhibition to the author position of the reference.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Exhibition Catalogue

  • Artist (Surname, Initial) (or Gallery/Institution).
  • [Exhibition catalogue].
  • City of publication, Country/State: Publisher.

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Director(s) (Surname, Initial) (Director) &
  • Producer(s) (Surname, Initial) (Producer)
  • (Year of original release).
  • [Description]. (e.g. Film)
  • Country of origin: studio.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Film (from Streaming Service)

  • (Year) (in round brackets)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Online Video

  • Creator (Surname, Initial). [Screen name].
  • (Year, Month day).
  • Title of video [Video file]

how to write apa style 6th edition

TV Programme

  • Producer(s) & Director(s)
  • (Year, Month day)
  • Title (in italics) [Television broadcast].
  • Place of broadcast: Name of broadcaster.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Episode of a TV Series

  • Writer (surname and initial(s)) & Director (surname and initial(s))
  • (Date of broadcast or copyright)
  • Title of episode [Television series episode]
  • Producer (initials and surname)
  • Series title (in italics)
  • Place of publication: Production company

how to write apa style 6th edition

Radio Programme (Online)

Presenter (Surname, Initial) (Host).

  • ( Year, Month Day of broadcast).

Title of programme [Description i.e. Radio broadcast ].

Place of production: Broadcast channel.

Retrieved from URL (if heard online)

how to write apa style 6th edition

  • Name of primary contributor (Host or Producer)
  • Title of podcast (in italics)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Lecture Notes

Notes you took during a lecture or class handouts that are not posted online are not retrievable by someone else, so do not belong in your reference list. Instead, you treat them like personal communication and just refer to them in your text.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Lecture Notes or Powerpoint Slides (online)

  • Lecturer (Surname, Initial(s))
  • Course/Module and T it le of lecture [Lecture notes or PowerPoint slides]. (in italics)

how to write apa style 6th edition

Recorded Lectures/Talks

  • Author (Surname, Initial(s))
  • (Year, Month).
  • Title of lecture [file format].

how to write apa style 6th edition

Online Course or Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

  • Instructor(s)  (Surname, Initial(s))
  • (Year of course creation  if known ).
  • Title of course [format].
  • Site that holds the course

how to write apa style 6th edition

Open Educational Resource

  • Author  (Surname, Initial(s))
  • (Year added with Month day).
  • Retrieved date from URL

how to write apa style 6th edition

Music on CD or Vinyl

  • Writer ( Surname, Initial ).
  • Title of song
  • [Recorded by Artist (Initial, Surname or Band name, if different from writer) ].
  • Title of album (in italics)
  • [Medium of recording].
  • Location: Record Label.

how to write apa style 6th edition

Music Streaming

  • Name of artist.
  • Title of album/track (in italics)
  • [Description; Name of streaming service].
  • Record Label

how to write apa style 6th edition

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East Carolina University Libraries

  • Joyner Library
  • Laupus Health Sciences Library
  • Music Library
  • Digital Collections
  • Special Collections
  • North Carolina Collection
  • Teaching Resources
  • The ScholarShip Institutional Repository
  • Country Doctor Museum

APA Citation Style, 6th Edition: Three to Five Authors/Editors

  • One Author/Editor
  • Two Authors/Editors
  • Three to Five Authors/Editors
  • Chapter in a Book
  • Edition Other Than the First
  • Electronic Books
  • Journal Article with One Author
  • Journal Article with Two Authors
  • Journal Article with Three to Six Authors
  • Journal Article with Seven or More Authors
  • Government Publication
  • Magazine Articles
  • Newspaper Article
  • Reference List

Books with Three to Five Authors

(this libguide is for apa 6th edition, click   here   to visit our new   apa 7th edition libguide ).

The formatting guidelines below refer to books with three authors. If the book has four or five authors, you would follow this format and add the fourth and fifth author's after the third.

General Format:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Author's Last Name, Author's Last Name, & Author's Last Name, year)

In-Text Citation (Direct Quote):

(Author's Last Name, Author's Last Name, & Author's Last Name, year, page number)

References:

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year).  Book title: Subtitle.  Location of publication: Publisher.

In-text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Ledlow, Manrodt, & Schott, 2017)

Note: In the first in-text citation, include all of the three to five author's last names. After the first in-text citation, all subsequent in-text citations include the first author's last name, et al., and the year. For example: (Ledlow et al., 2017). See table below for more information.

In-text Citation (Direct Quote):

(Ledlow, Manrodt,  & Schott, 2017, p. 52)

Ledlow, G. R., Manrodt, K. B., & Schott, D. (2017).  Health care supply chain management: Elements, operations, and strategies.  Burlington, MA: Bartlett & Jones Learning.

Books with Three to Five Editors

The formatting guidelines below refer to books with three editors. If the book has four or five editors, you would follow this format and add the fourth and fifth editor's name after the third.

(Editor's Last Name, Editor's Last Name, & Editor's Last Name, year)

(Editor's Last Name, Editor's Last Name, & Editor's Last Name, year, page number)

Editor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., Editor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., & Editor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Eds.). (Year).  Book title: Subtitle.  Location of publication: Publisher.

(Blumenthal, Diclemente,  Braithwaite & Smith, 2013)

Note:  In the first in-text citation, include all of the three to five editor's last names. After the first in-text citation, all subsequent in-text citations include the first editor's last name, et al., and the year. For example: (Blumenthal et al., 2013). See table below for more information.

(Blumenthal, Diclemente, Braithwaite, & Smith, 2013, p. 52)

Blumenthal, D. S., Diclemente, R.J., Braithwaite, D., & Smith, S.A. (Eds.). (2013).  Community-based participatory health research : Issues, methods, and translation to practice.  New York: Springer Pub.

More than Five Authors or Editors?

If you are looking to cite a book with more than five authors or editors, follow the same format as three to five authors/editors. The only difference is with in-text citations. Even in your first in-text citation, you can shorten to the last name of the first author followed by et al., and the year. For example: Rodgers, Chung, Hightower, Collins, Long, Carr, & Thomas (2016) would be (Rodgers et al., 2016) starting with the first in-text citation. See the table below for more information or page 177 of the APA Manual, 6th Edition.

Citing References in Text

Carrie forbes, mls.

Profile Photo

Page References

Citation information has been adapted from the APA Manual (6th Edition). Please refer to pages 176-177 and 184 of the APA Manual (6th Edition) for more information.

Helpful Tips

-If two or more references of three or more authors/editors and publication year short to the same in-text citation, cite as many last names as needed to differentiate them. Example from p.175 of APA Manual: both Ireys, Chernoff, DeVet, & Kim, 2001 and Ireys, Chernoff, Stein, DeVet, & Silver, 2001 shorten to (Ireys et al., 2001). Instead, use Ireys, Chernoff, DeVet, et al. (2001) and Ireys, Chernoff, Stein, et al. (2001) respectively. Please refer to page 175 of the APA Manual, 6th Edition for more in depth information.

-Be mindful of hyphenated names, particularly hyphenated first names in your reference list. If an author or editor has a hyphenated first name, include first initials for both separated by a hyphen. For example: Lamour, J.-B. for Jean-Baptiste Lamour.

-If your reference list includes publications by two or more authors with the same last name, you should include the first initial in all in-text citations in order to help the reader avoid confusion.

-Suffixes like "Jr." or "III" are not included in in-text citations but are included in the reference list.

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Annotated Bibliographies

  • Annotated Bibliography Using RefWorks
  • Sample Annotated Bibliography
  • More Help with MLA
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  • APA 7 Manual in Print
  • What is the APA?
  • APA 7 General Rules
  • Additional Resources

Cover Art

Print copies are available at the Ryan Help Desk, the Ryan Research Desk, the Arrigoni Help Desk, and on the reference shelves.

Online access to the apa style guide is available from the link below:.

  • APA Style - Online access

APA stands for the American Psychological Association and is the format for many disciplines in the social sciences.

Always check with your professor to know the preferred format.

It is essential in your academic writing to know how to use sources and how to cite them.

The APA manual provides guidelines and examples. It is available in the Iona Libraries at the Ryan Help & Research Desks, the Arrigoni Help Desk, the reference shelves R 150.03 A 51-7, and online at the APA website .

  • Use periods after the elements author, date, title, and source. 
  • If more than one author use an ampersand - & 
  • List authors' names and initials for up to 20 individuals
  • If there are 21 or more authors, use the first 19 names, then ellipses, and then the final name
  • Do not use a period after an URL or a DOI 
  • Format the DOI -  https://doi.org/xxxxx  
  • Hyperlink all URLs and DOIs (this means you do not need to write Accessed or Retrieved from) 
  • Use the title References on the top and center of the References page. The title should be bolded 
  • Add a Double spaced / hanging indent for each source 
  • Spell out the full name of the organization in the reference list but it can be abbreviated in the text. Example: National Council of Teachers of English in References, NCTE in the text.  
  • If information is missing follow the rules found on   APA - Missing Information
  • APA Style Official Website
  • APA Style Website's Instructional Aids
  • APA Style: Basics of 7th Edition Tutorial
  • Excelsior Owl - APA
  • Purdue OWL APA Style Workshop (Quick Guide)
  • Credo Video on APA Style, 7th Edition, Video & Tutorial
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  1. Quick Guide to APA Citation (6th ed.)

    Knowledge Base APA Style 6th edition Quick Guide to APA Citation (6th ed.) | In-Text Citation & Reference List This article reflects the APA 6th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 7th edition guidelines. APA style is one of the most common formats for citing sources Other well known citation styles include MLA and Chicago.

  2. APA Formatting and Style Guide (6th Edition)

    APA Style (7th Edition) MLA Style; Chicago Style; IEEE Style; AMA Style; ASA Style; APA Style (6th Edition) Avoiding Plagiarism; Teacher/Tutor Resources. Overview; Writing Instructors; Writing Letters of Recommendation for Students; Writing Tutors; Teaching Resources; OWL Exercises; Preventing Plagiarism; Translingual Writing; Writing in the ...

  3. APA Changes 6th Edition

    In-Text Citations: The Basics In-Text Citations: Author/Authors Footnotes and Endnotes Reference List: Basic Rules Reference List: Author/Authors Reference List: Articles in Periodicals Reference List: Books Reference List: Other Print Sources Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications) Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources

  4. Quick Answers—References (6th edition)

    Here's the general format for creating a reference for a video found on YouTube and other video-posting websites: If both the real name of the person who posted the video and the screen name are known: Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file].

  5. APA Style 6th Edition: Citing Your Sources

    Academic Writer Academic Writer (formerly APA Style CENTRAL) combines learning and teaching tools, writing and content processing technology, and full integration of APA's Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Slated to transition to 7th edition updates in August 2020. APA Style Blog Owl at Purdue Popular guide for APA.

  6. APA Style 6th Edition: Citing Your Sources

    Make sure that all citation information (names of authors, titles, volume and issue numbers, edition number, page numbers, city and state name, publisher name and location information) is correct. When listing titles, the only words you should capitalize are the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle (if there is one), and ...

  7. APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines

    General Guidelines for Writing a Paper: APA Style. All sources of information and data, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, are cited with parenthetical references in the text of your paper ( p. 170 ). Example: (Walker, 2003). Double-space your entire paper, including the References list and any block quotes ( pp.171, 180 ).

  8. APA Style 6th Edition Blog: How-to

    140 posts categorized "How-to" December 10, 2018 How to Cite Instagram in APA Style Note: For examples and guidelines for citing Instagram (photos, videos, highlights, and profiles) in seventh edition APA Style, see the seventh edition reference examples page. The examples here are in sixth edition APA Style. by Timothy McAdoo

  9. APA Style (6th Edition)

    Begin the citation with the author (s). Write all author names in inverted order and abbreviate first and middle names to be initials (LastName, A. A.). For 8 or more authors, list the first 6 names, insert an ellipsis (. . .), and end with the very last author's name (Allison, H. L., Brown, M., Rothes, N., Cherry, G., Astor, J. J., Page, E., . . .

  10. APA 6th Edition

    Three authors Marquart, J. W., Olson, S. E., & Sorensen, J. R. (1994). The rope, the chair, and the needle: Capital punishment in Texas, 1923-1990. Austin: University of Texas Press. More than three authors Sakakibara, S., Hidetoshi, Y., Hisakatsu, S., Kengo, S., & Shimon, F. (1988).

  11. APA Style Sixth Edition Resources

    Sample Papers These sample papers illustrate various elements of sixth edition APA Style. Sample Meta-Analysis Sample Paper: One-Experiment Paper Sample Paper: Two-Experiment Paper Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions About Sixth Edition APA Style ®

  12. Quick Answers—Formatting (6th edition)

    Here are some guidelines on formatting your table. Place each table on a separate page at the end of your manuscript, after the reference list. If font size and style are not specified by the organization for which you are writing (e.g., publisher, university), the suggested font is 12-point Times New Roman.

  13. Examples of References in APA (6th ed.) style

    DOIs can be found in database records and the reference lists of published works). Books with a URL or a DOI can be referenced like this: Author/editor (Surname, Initials) (Year of publication) Title of book (in italics) (Edition) (if not the 1st edition) DOI or Retrieved from URL.

  14. APA Citation Style, 6th Edition: Three to Five Authors/Editors

    Please refer to page 175 of the APA Manual, 6th Edition for more in depth information. -Be mindful of hyphenated names, particularly hyphenated first names in your reference list. If an author or editor has a hyphenated first name, include first initials for both separated by a hyphen.

  15. APA Style (6th Edition)

    APA Style (6th Edition) APA Style Introduction; APA Style Workshop; APA Formatting and Style Guide (6th Edition) General Format; In-Text Citations: The Basics; In-Text Citations: Author/Authors; Footnotes and Endnotes; Reference List: Basic Rules; Reference List: Author/Authors; Reference List: Articles in Periodicals; Reference List: Books

  16. APA Style Introduction

    APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6 th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page.

  17. Title page setup

    Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the student title page. Place the title three to four lines down from the top of the title page. Center it and type it in bold font. Capitalize major words of the title. Place the main title and any subtitle on separate double-spaced lines if desired.

  18. Research Guides: Annotated Bibliographies: More Help with APA

    APA stands for the American Psychological Association and is the format for many disciplines in the social sciences. Always check with your professor to know the preferred format. It is essential in your academic writing to know how to use sources and how to cite them. The APA manual provides guidelines and examples.

  19. Hyphenation principles

    Hyphenation is covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 6.12 and the Concise Guide Section 5.2. This guidance is the same as in the 6th edition. ... The most important principle for writing temporary compounds is to use hyphens in them to prevent misreading. For example, if a compound adjective appears ...

  20. APA Sample Paper

    Note: This page reflects APA 6, which is now out of date. It will remain online until 2021, but will not be updated. The equivalent APA 7 page can be found here. Media File: APA Sample Paper. This resource is enhanced by an Acrobat PDF file. Download the free Acrobat Reader. Click this link to download the PDF handout of the APA Sample Paper.