APA-Style Citation Guide
Reference List –Why We Do This
The purpose of a reference list is to give credit to the sources used and to refer the reader to relevant
sources. Your reference list should be clear and accurate enough to lead your readers precisely to the
same sources you found and used in your paper. APA guidelines are different from the MLA so you will
need to refer to the manual at www.apastyle.org
The current APA Manual: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (6th ed.) (2010).
RMU Call No. : REF 808.0661/Pub
To prepare your Reference List see Section 6.22 (pg 180)
For your term paper , see Section 8.03 (pg 228) “Preparing the Manuscript for Submission.”
Also the webpage at www.apastyle.org
General Format for Papers
Preferred fonts- Times New Roman 12-pt.
Number all pages in the upper right hand corner
Double Space Everything!
Uniform Margins at least 1 inch
If a number is less than 10, write it out. Use a 0 before decimal places such as 0.1.
Space only once after punctuation.
See the handout for more detailed instructions on In-Text citations.
Basic Facts for an APA style Reference List
A complete citation will contain the author, year of publication, title and publishing data.
Initials of only author’s first and middle names.
Smith, J.D., Crane, B.C.
Date of publication always follows the name in parenthesis.
Smith, J.D. (2010).
Titles of articles are just plain text.
Titles of publications are italicized.
Alphabetize the list entries by surname.
Multiple authors list in order given.
If there is no author, but corporate author: alphabetize using the first significant word of the
agency, association, institution or organization.
1
APA-Style Citation Guide
If there is no author, or agency, as above, the title moves to the first position and is
alphabetized by the first significant word of the title.
If there is more than one work by the same author, arrange by the year of publication, with
the earliest first.
Use a hanging indent on the second line of the citation.
All citations in the manuscript MUST appear in the reference list, all references must be cited in the
text.
DOI-What is this? A DOI is a Digital Object Identifier which should be provided for digital sources in
the text. For more information consult the website or manual pages 188-189.
FORMATTING EXAMPLES-PRINT RESOURCES
Book with One Author
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Flynn, G. (2006). Sharp Objects. New York: Shaye Areheart Books.
Editor Book no Author
Editor’s last names, initials. (Eds.). (Year). Title. City: Publisher.
Edited Book with an Author
Last name, F. (Year). Title. Editor name (Ed.). City: Publisher.
No Author or Editors
Name of resource (ed.). (Year). City, State: Publisher.
Translation
Last Name, A. (Year). Title. (Names of translators First Initial, last name, Trans.). City: Publisher. (Original
work published date).
Later Editions of a book
Last name of first authors followed by first initials, last names of others. (Year). Title (ed.). City, State:
Publisher.
Article or Chapter in an edited book
2
APA-Style Citation Guide
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of
book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.
Multivolume Work
Last name,F I. (Ed.). (Year). Title (Vols. numbers). City, State: Publisher's.
Book found on a website of DOI
Author(s). (Year published). Title of work. doi:xxxxx
Author(s). (Year published). Title of work. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxx
Encyclopedia Entry
Last name, F.I. (Year). Encyclopedia entry. In The New Encyclopedia Britannica. (Vol. no, pp. 102-303).
City, State: Publisher.
Works discussed in a Secondary Source
Use the original source in the text and then in the citation put the secondary source.
Last name followed by other authors (year). Title of article. Title of Review, volume, page numbers.
How it would look in-text: In Einstein’s Study as cited by Smith…
Journal
Author(s). (Year published). Article title. Journal title, volume number, page numbers.
Journal article with more than Six Authors
Smith, S. A., John, T., Adams, Q., Ten, J., Cox, D., Lingu, L., et al. (2010).
A cultural experiment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 23, 756-760.
Journal Articles with DOI
Drabst, M.N., & Smith, T.A. (2012). Nursing. Health Psychology, 56, 150-155. doi:XXXXXXXX
3
APA-Style Citation Guide
Magazines/Newspapers/Articles Basic Form
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number
(issue number), pages.
Magazine
Smith, J. L.,V. (2012, May 5). First class. Time, 135, 23-25.
Newspaper
Stevens, S. (2008, October 24). Call to arms. The Country Today, pp. 2A, 3A.
Letter to the Editor
Jim, B. (2010, September). Times of the essence. Scientific Journal Quarterly, 288(3), 15.
Review
Treble, C. (1999). Teaching the best [Review of the book The Sacred Teacher: How to Keep a class under
control, by J.W. Smith]. Teaching Today, 24, 500-505.
Formats for Electronic Resources
Article in an Online Periodical
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume
number (issue number if available). Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Valenti, J. (2012). Not wanting kids is entirely Normal. The Atlantic Health, 149. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/not-wanting-kids-is-entirelynormal/262367/
Article from an Online Periodical with DOI
4
APA-Style Citation Guide
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page
range. doi:0000000/000000000000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000
Article from a Database
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page
range. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Abstract
Author (Year). Title[Abstract]. Title of Resource, Issue(VOL), pp.
Newspaper Article
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Electronic Books
Author. (n.d.). Titles. Retrieved from http://digital.library.html
Chapter/Section of a Web/Online Book
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. In Title of book or larger document
(chapter or section number). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Online Book Reviews
Author. (Year, Month Day). Title [Review of the book Title of Book]. Review Resource. Retrieved
from http://www.website.com
Thesis From a Database
Author. (Year). Title. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (AAT Number)
Online Encyclopedias and Entries
5
APA-Style Citation Guide
Entry Title. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia online. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/topic/
Online Bibliographies and Annotated Bibliographies
Author. (Year). Title of bibliography. Retrieved from http://...
Online Interviews
Name(Interviewer) & Name. (Interviewee). (Year). Title [Interview transcript]. Retrieved from
Web site: http://
Online Lecture Notes and Presentation Slides
Name, Initial. Title [PDF document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: http://
Website
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from
http://Web address
Computer Software/Downloaded Software
Last name, Initional First name. (Year). Title [computer software]. City: Publisher.
E-mail
Name, personal communication, Month Date, Year)
Online Forum/Discussion
Last name, Intitials (Year, Mo date). Title make sure letters are lowercase [Msg number]. Message
posted to
http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/
6
APA-Style Citation Guide
Blog and Video Blog Post
First initial, last name. (Year, Month Day). Title [Web log comment]. Retrieved from
http://www.website.com
Chemistry Video Blog #4 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/
Wikis
Title of Wiki. (date). Retrieved Month Date, Year from the Title of Wiki: http://...
Audio Podcasts
Last name, First Initial. & Last name, I. (Year, Month Day). Title. Podcast name. Podcast
retrieved from http://
Movie/DVD
Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion
picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.
Television Show/Single Episode
Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of broadcast or copyright). Title of
broadcast [Television broadcast or Television series]. In P. Producer (Producer). City,
state of origin: Studio or distributor.
Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of episode
[Television series episode]. In P. Producer (Producer), Series title. City, state of origin:
Studio or distributor.
Music Recording
7
APA-Style Citation Guide
Songwriter, W. W. (Date of copyright). Title of song [Recorded by artist if different from song
writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. (Recording date if
different from copyright date).
8