If you are asked to use APA
format for a paper, the book to consult is the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (5th edition), which the American
Psychological Association has recently updated.
Citing electronic sources was a major part of
this update as these types of sources are increasingly
common in research within the social sciences.
Below, you will find some examples of these updated
citation styles. If you want to order an APA manual
or view the latest updates about electronic sources
in more detail, visit the new APA style web site
at
http://www.apastyle.org.
The documentation style of the American Psychological
Association
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association offers complete guidelines for manuscript
style and citation in APA, the documentation style
of the social sciences. This handout illustrates
the most commonly used types of sources with examples
drawn from the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, 4th ed. and The Bedford
Handbook for Writers, 4th ed. If you have a source
not illustrated here,
Points to remember about
APA:
APA uses an author/date style of in-text
citations, referring by the author's last name
to the References page at the end of the text.
All references are double-spaced.
For manuscripts submitted to journals, APA
requires the form illustrated here (with the first
lines of reference entries indented and subsequent
lines flushed left). The hanging indent form (first
line flushed left, subsequent lines indented)
is customary for student papers. Check with your
instructor to determine which form is appropriate.
Capitalize only the first word of an article
title and of the subtitle, if any, and any proper
names. On the references page, do not underline
the title of an article or place quotation marks
around it.
Capitalize significant words in the title
of a journal.
Capitalize only the first significant word
and only proper names within book titles. Capitalize
the first significant word of the subtitle, if
any.
Because personal communications (letters,
memos, telephone conversations, interviews) do
not provide recoverable data, they are not included
in the reference list. Cite personal communications
in text only. Example: (K. W. Schaie, personal
communication, September 28, 1993)
APA STYLE GUIDE
GENERAL FORMS
Periodical
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C.
C. (1994). Title of article.
Title of Periodical, xx, xxx-xxx.
Nonperiodical:
Author, A. A. (1994). Title of work. Location:
Publisher.
REFERENCES TO PERIODICALS
Journal article, one author:
Bekerian, D. A. (1993). In search of the typical
eyewitness. American Psychologist, 48, 674-576.
Journal article, two authors:
Klimoski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA
and the hiring process in organizations. Consulting
Psychology Journal: Practice and Research,
45 (2), 10-36.
Magazine article:
Posner, M. I. (1993, October 29). Seeing the mind.
Science, 262, 673-674.
Daily newspaper article, no author:
New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death
from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington
Post, p. A12.
Daily newspaper article, discontinuous pages:
Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects
economic, social status. The Washington Post,
pp. A1, A4-5.
Monthly newspaper article, letter to the
editor:
Markovitz, M. C. (1993, May). Inpatient vs. outpatient
[Letter to the editor]. APA Monitor, p.3.
REFERENCES TO BOOKS
One author:
Shaller, G. B. (1993). The last panda. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Two or more authors, Jr. in name, third
edition:
Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J. R., Jr. (1987).
People in organizations:
An introduction to organizational behavior (3rd
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Corporate author:
National Head Start Association. (1990). Head
Start: The nation's pride, a nation's challenge.
Report of the Silver Ribbon Panel. Alexandria,
VA:
Author.
Unknown author:
The Times Atlas of the World (9th ed.). (1992).
New York: Times Books.
Editors:
Fox, R. W., & Lears, T. J. J. (Eds.). (1993).
The power of culture:
Critical essays in American history. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
English translation of a book:
Laplace, P. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities
(F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New
York: Dover. (Original work published 1814)
In the text, cite the original publication date
and the date of the translation: (Laplace, 1814/1951).
Work in an anthology:
Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B. (1984). Language
acquisition and socialization: Three developmental
stories. In R. Schweder and R. Levine (Eds.),
Culture theory:
Essays in mind, self, and emotion (pp. 276-320).
New York: Cambridge University Press.
REFERENCES TO NONPRINT
SOURCES
Film:
Harrison, J. (Producer), & Schmiechen, R.
(Director). (1992). Changing our minds: The story
of Evelyn Hooker [Film]. (Available from Changing
Our Minds, Inc., 170 West End Avenue, Suite 25R,
New York, NY 10023)
· Television broadcast:
Crystal, L. (Executive Producer). (1993, October
11). The MacNeil/Lehrer news hour. New York and
Washington, DC: Public Broadcasting Service.
Music recording:
GENERAL FORM
Writer, A. (Date of Copyright). Title of song
[Recorded by artist if different from writer].
On Title of album [Medium of recording: compact
disk, record, cassette, etc.]. Location: Label.
(Recording date if different from copyright date)
Videotape:
National Geographic Society (Producer). (1987).
In the shadow of Vesuvius [Videotape]. Washington,
DC: National Geographic Society.
Presentation:
Lanktree, C., & Briere, J. (1991, January).
Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for
Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting
of the American Professional Society on the Abuse
of Children, San Diego, CA.
REFERENCES TO REPORTS
Report from the Government Printing Office
(GPO):
National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical
training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication
No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
Report from the Educational Resources Information
Center (ERIC):
Mead, J.V. (1992). Looking at old photographs:
Investigating the teacher tales that novice teachers
bring with them (Report No., NCRTL-RR-92-4). East
Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teacher
Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED 346 082)
Government Report not available from GPO
or ERIC:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
(1992). Pressure ulcers in adults: Prediction
and prevention (AHCPR Publication No. 92-0047).
Rockville, MD: Author.
REFERENCE CITATIONS
IN TEXT
One work by one author:
Rogers (1994) compared reaction times
In a recent study of reaction times (Rogers, 1994)
Within a paragraph, subsequent references to a
study need not include the year.
One work by multiple authors up to five:
Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, Gerstman, and Rock
(1994) found [first citation in text] Wasserstein
et al. (1994) found [subsequent first citation
per paragraph thereafter]
Groups as authors:
(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1991)
Subsequent references
(NIMH, 1991)
Works with no author:
("Study Finds," 1982)
Article titles are quoted.
(Science, 1993)
Book and journal titles are underlined.
· Specific parts of a source:
(Cheek & Buss, 1981, p. 332)
(Shimamura, 1989, chap. 3)See APA Style Sample
See APA
Style Sample
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