APA Style Guide
Based on Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition
A Pocket Style Manual, 7th Edition and http://apastyle.org/
CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT OF YOUR PAPER
Identify your sources throughout your paper by citing the author’s last name and the year of
publication. This information may be included within a sentence, or in parentheses. Full
information for these sources will be listed alphabetically in the reference list at the end of your
paper. For quotations, include page numbers; for example (Williams-Quinlan, 1998, p. 363).
Individual Author
McCook (2012) found...
In 2012, McCook found...
A recent study (McCook, 2012) found...
Multiple Authors
-two authors: cite both last names
(Batalova & Cohen, 2002)
-three to five authors: cite all on first mention
(Coplan, Gavinski-Molina, Legace-Seguin, & Wichman, 2013);
use first author, et al. in subsequent citations
(Coplan, et al., 2013)
-for citing within parentheses, join authors’ names with “&”; in text, join with “and”
Groups as Authors (corporations, government agencies, nonprofit organizations)
(National Eating Disorders Association, 2014)
No Identified Author
-cite the first word or two of the article title, plus the year
(“Research Shows,” 2009)
-where no author is identified, alphabetize by title (followed by date) in the reference list
REFERENCE LIST
BOOKS
Single Author
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Location: Publisher.
Erikson, E. H. (1985). Childhood and society (35th anniversary ed.). New York: W. W.
Norton & Company.
Group Author as Publisher
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.
Multiple Authors
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of work. Location: Publisher.
Doctor, R. M., & Kahn, A. P. (2000). The encyclopedia of phobias, fears, and anxieties (2nd
ed.). New York: Facts on File.
Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article or chapter. In A. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx).
Location: Publisher.
Kline, P. (2002). Defense mechanisms. In E. Erwin (Ed.), The Freud encyclopedia: Theory,
therapy, and culture (pp. 139-141). New York: Routledge.
Chapter in a Multivolume Work
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article or chapter. In A. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (Vol. x,
pp. xx-xx). Location: Publisher.
Lerner, A. (2001). Bibliotherapy. In W. E. Craighead & C. B. Nemeroft (Eds.),
The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science (3rd ed., Vol. 1,
pp. 205-206). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
PERIODICALS
Magazine Article
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Date). Title of article. Title of Magazine,
volume(issue), pages.
Wright, K. (2009, June). When money talks. Psychology Today, 42(3), 74-81.
Journal Article
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume
(issue), pages.
If the journal uses continuous pagination throughout a volume, list only the volume number. If
each issue begins with page 1, list the issue number as well.
Continuous pagination of volume:
Baker, J. O., & Smith, B. G. (2009). The nones: Social characteristics of the religiously
unaffiliated. Social Forces, 87, 1251-1263.
Each issue begins with page 1:
Bernstein, A. R. (2008). Protecting and promoting academic freedom in perilous times: A
philanthropist’s perspective. Change, 40(2), 7-9.
ONLINE PERIODICALS
When citing an article from an online database, begin by including the same information as
for the print source. If the article has a DOI (digital object identifier), include that number and do
not include the name of the database. If there is no DOI, include the name of the database and the
document number assigned by that database, if available.
Online Magazine Article
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of article. Title of Magazine, volume(issue), pages. Retrieved from
Source.
Rodgers, J. E. (2014, April). Go forth in anger. Psychology Today, 47(2), 72-79. Retrieved
from ProQuest Research Library database.
Online Journal Article
With DOI
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal,
volume(issue), pages. doi:xxxxxxx
Patrick, M. E., & Maggs, J. L. (2009). Does drinking lead to sex? Daily alcohol-sex
behaviors and expectancies among college students. Psychology of Addictive
Behaviors, 23, 472-481. doi:10.1037/a0016097
Without DOI
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume,
pages. Retrieved from Source.
Singley, D. B., & Sedlacek, W. E. (2009). Differences in universal-diverse orientation by
race-ethnicity and gender. Journal of Counseling and Development, 87, 404-411.
Retrieved from ProQuest Research Library database.
INTERNET
When citing an entire web site and not a specific document from that web site, it is not
necessary to have a separate entry in the Reference List. Just give the URL of the site in the text of
your paper.
To cite a section of a web site, include the following in the order listed:
Author(s)
Date of publication or most recent update (or “n.d.” for “no date”)
Document title
Retrieval statement, including publisher (if known and not listed as author) and URL
Author(s) Listed
Tippett, N., Thompson F., & Smith, P.K. (2014, April 23). Research on cyberbullying: Key
findings and practical suggestions. Retrieved from Education.com website:
www.education.com/reference/article/cyberbulling-research/
Organization or Government Website
World Health Organization. (2015, April). Ebola virus disease. Retrieved from
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
Internet Article Based on a Print Source
Novotny, A. (2009, November). Yoga as a practice tool. Monitor on Psychology, 40(10).
Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/
MCC-Maple Woods Library 05/2015
http://mwlibrary.mcckc.edu