Assignment 2
APA Referencing
It is very important that you reference all sources of information in all written and oral work.
Failure to acknowledge sources of information is a serious academic offence and is regarded
as cheating.
The Faculty of Education uses the APA referencing style. For those of you who have studied
in other disciplines, this may be a slightly different style of referencing to what you are
accustomed to using. You will find the following url very useful for APA referencing.
http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/instruct/ref/APA.htm
See also the Guide below.
Guide to Referencing APA Style
The following guidelines are provided to assist you with the referencing of any academic
writing you do. It is essential that you follow them accurately and pay close attention to detail
(rather like the concentration needed to “count grains of sand”). All academic writing must be
fully and accurately referenced.
They are based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychologist Association (5th
Edition). The relevant section, along with the page number, from the 5th Edition is in brackets
after each heading in the guide below.
It is important that any references follow the style described in the 5th Edition so if you are
accessing information on the web or anywhere else ensure it has been updated. Be warned
that there are a number of web sites which refer to the 4th Edition.
A good guide to using APA can be found at this web site
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_apa.html
Other information is available at http://www.apastyle.org
If you wish to purchase a manual the easiest way appears to be through Amazon books at
http://www.amazon.com (around $90 for a spiral bound copy including postage).
Referencing Within the Text.
All material by another author, whether it is directly quoted or paraphrased, must be cited in
the text using the author - date format. For direct quotes also include the page number. A
complete reference must also appear in the reference list at the end of your work (see next
section).
Information regarding referencing (citing) within the text can be found in sections 3.943.103, pp. 207 - 214, of the Publication Manual.
Note though that the material relating to direct quotations is found in sections 3.34-3.41, pp.
117 - 122.
While there is no one section relating to electronic referencing within a text the rules relating
to no author, or no date apply. More information can be found at
http://www.apastyle.org/electext.html (Citations in Text of Electronic Material) or in the
Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html
1. One Work by One Author
(3.94, p 207)
a. If the name of the author is included in the text only the date is in brackets.
Smith (1983) compared sales performance….
b. If not, both author and date should be included in the brackets. Note that even where
the reference includes the month of publication only the year is given in the citation.
A recent study of sales performance (Smith, 1983) showed that…
c. When the author is referred to more than once in the same paragraph you do not need
to include the date in subsequent references as long as the study cannot be confused
with others cited.
In a recent study of sales performance, Smith (1983) showed that…….Smith also found
that…
2. One Work by Multiple Authors
(3.95, p 208)
a. Where a work has two authors always cite both names every time the reference occurs
in the text.
Where there are between 3 and 5 authors they must all be named the first time the
work is cited, after that et al. is used. (Note the full stop)
The date is included in the first two citations but not in subsequent ones
First citation: Smith, Robinson, Jones, Williams and Brown (1998) found that
Second citation: Smith et al., (1998) found that
Subsequent citations: Smith et al. found that
b. If there are six or more authors only the surname of the first author is given followed
by et al. and the year for the first and subsequent references
Smith et al., (2000).
c. If two or more multiple author references shorten to the same form when using et
al. include enough authors to avoid ambiguity.
(Brown, Matthews, et al., 1998) to distinguish from (Brown, Robinson, et al., 1998)
d. Where there are multiple authors the names are joined by "and" in the text and with an
ampersand (&) in reference lists and brackets.
Smith, Walker and Jones (1999) in a similar study also showed that….
It was shown in a similar study (Smith, Walker & Jones, 1999) that….
3. Groups as Authors
(3.96, p 209)
The rule of thumb as to whether or not to write out a group name (e.g. organisation,
government agency, institution) in full or to abbreviate it is that there must be enough
information for the reader to locate the entry in the reference list easily.
Where it is possible to abbreviate in the first citation write the organization out in full and
include the abbreviation in “square” brackets. This is the abbreviation to be used in
subsequent citations.
In reference list: National Institute of Mental Health. (1999).
First text citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1999)
Subsequent citations (NIMH, 1999)
In reference list: University of Auckland. (2000).
All text citations: (University of Auckland, 2000)
4. Works With No Author
(3.97, p 210)
If you are citing a work, such as a web page, which has no author, the first few words of
the reference list entry should be used. This is usually a short version of the title of the
work.
Quotation marks are used around the title of an article or chapter and for web pages. The
title of a book, journal, brochure or report is italicised.
In a study of student use of referencing ("Using APA," 2001)…
The book College Bound Seniors (1979)
5. Multiple Works by the Same Author
(3.99, p 212 - Two or More Works Within the Same Brackets)
Identify works by the same author in the same year by suffixes a, b, c, etc. These are
allocated in the reference list where they are ordered alphabetically by title.
(Haynes & Walker, 1990a)
(Haynes & Walker, 1990b)
(Haynes & Walker, 1990a, 1990c)
6. Two or More Works Within the Same Brackets
(3.99, p 212)
When referencing two or more works in the same brackets list them alphabetically (the
same order they appear in the reference list). If they are by the same author only name the
author once and list the publication date.
Note the names are separated by a semi-colon where there is more than one author.
(Jones & Richmond, 2001a, 2001b)
(Jones, 2002; King, 2000; Walker, 2001)
7. Works With No Date
(3.100, p 213 - Classical Works)
Where there is no date given such as for electronic sources the abbreviation n.d. (no
date) is used.
("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).
8. Direct quotations ( 3.39, p 120)
The format varies depending on whether the source is in print or electronic form. For all
print sources you must include the page number.
Smith (1983, p 25) stated that "…..sales people with high need for achievement sell the
most kitchen appliances, whereas those with low need for achievement are better at
selling garden tools."
It has been stated that "sales people with high need for achievement sell the most kitchen
appliances" (Smith, 1983, p 25).
For electronic format there will be no page number (unless it is a PDF document). If
paragraph numbers are available use them instead of page numbers. If neither page
numbers nor paragraph numbers are visible use the document heading for the relevant
section and provide a paragraph number. For paragraph numbers use either the symbol ¶
or the abbreviation para.
As Thompson (1999, ¶2) states, "sales performance is based on…".
"Sales performance can be improved through …"(Thompson, 1999, Raising Performance
section, ¶ 4).
Reference List
Formatting the reference list is covered in chapter four of the Publication Manual (sections
pp. 215 - 281). Remember all material referred to in the text must be included in the reference
list. Conversely all entries in the reference list must be cited in the text.
1. General Comments
a. Periodicals include sources that are published on a regular basis such as magazines,
newspapers, or journals.
b. Nonperiodicals include sources that are published separately such as books,
conference papers, reports.
c. APA style does vary in some instances between periodicals and nonperiodicals.
d. Each entry usually contains author, date of publication, title and publishing
information. Electronic material is often an exception in terms of author and date.
e. Note the punctuation carefully as there are some strict guidelines and they do vary
between examples
f. Finish each part of the entry with a full stop (author, date etc).
g. Use a hanging indent for reference lists - that is the first line is flush left and
subsequent lines are indented about 1.25 cm (1/2 inch).
h. One space comes between any double initials and after a colon.
i. Two spaces occur between wherever a full stop occurs and the next component.
j. You do not include personal communications (e-mails, memos, interviews etc.) in the
reference list, as other people cannot retrieve them. However, they must be cited in
the paper. (3.103, p 214)
k. Section 4.03 (p 217) gives a complete list of acceptable abbreviations in a reference
list.
2. Order of References
(4.04, p 219)
a. Firstly arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author.
b. When there is more than one work by the same author (or authors) they are then
arranged by year of publication date with the earliest first.
c. One-author entries go before multiple-author entries beginning with the same
surname.
d. References with the same first author but different second authors are arranged
alphabetically by the second author; or if the second author is the same the third
author and so on.
e. References by the same authors with the same publication date are arranged
alphabetically by the title (exclude A or The). Remember to use a, b, c etc on the end
of the date.
f. Where different authors have the same surname works are arranged alphabetically by
the first initial. Note that in such cases the initials should be included with the
surname in citations in the text also to avoid confusion.
3. APA Reference Style
Sections 4.07 - 4.15 (pp. 222 -231) describe the main elements of APA referencing while
section 4.16 (pp. 231 - 281) contains examples of references in APA style. When looking
at examples it is important to note the punctuation.
4. Author
(4.08, p 224)
a. The surnames and initials are given for up to six authors (with surnames first). Where
there are more than six authors the seventh and subsequent authors are abbreviated to
et al.
b. If the author’s name is hyphenated the hyphen is kept along with a full stop after each
initial (Sun, C.-R.).
c. Use commas to separate authors and to separate surnames and initials.
d. The name of a group author (organization etc) must be written out in full not
abbreviated.
e. In a reference to an edited book (as opposed to a chapter in an edited book) place the
editors’ names in the author position followed by the abbreviation Ed. or Eds. in
brackets.
f. Where the work has no author the title is moved to the author position.
5. Publication Date
(4.09, p 225)
a. The publication date goes in brackets after the author.
b. For magazines, newsletters and newspapers give the month, or the month and day, of
publication after the year
c. For papers and posters presented at conferences give the year and the month of the
conference.
d. If no date is available use n.d. instead.
6. Title of an article or chapter
(4.10, p 226)
a. Only the first words of a title or sub-title have capitals unless they are a proper noun.
b. Do not use italics or quotation marks
7. Title of Work or Publication: Periodicals
(4.11, p 227)
a. Give the periodical (e.g. journal) title in full and capitalise. The volume number
follows this. Both the title and the volume number are in italics
b. Only give an issue number where each issue starts at page 1. The issue number (if
used) goes in brackets after the volume number.
c. Page numbers are inclusive and are not in italics.
d. Do not use abbreviations for volume (vol.) or pages (pp.)
8. Title of Work: Nonperiodicals
(4.12, p 228)
a. Only the first word of the title, and subtitle, are in capitals (unless a proper noun).
b. The title is in italics.
9. Title of Work: Book Chapters
(4.13, p229)
a. After the author, date and chapter title comes the information about the book the
chapter is in. This is preceded by the word In. Then comes the name(s) of the
editor(s) and the book title with page numbers.
b. There is only a comma between the editor’s name and the title of the book.
c. Because the editor’s name is not in the author position it is not inverted. Initials and
surnames must be given for all editors. Use an ampersand (&) before the last two
names where necessary.
d. The abbreviation Ed. or Eds. must be included in brackets after the names.
e. Give inclusive page numbers after the title in brackets, followed by a full-stop. You
do use the abbreviation pp.
10. Publication Information
(4.14, p 230)
a. This includes the location of the publishing company and its name.
b. Where the work has been published in a well-known city, which is easily
recognisable, no state, province or country is needed. Otherwise it is necessary to
include more information for location such as state or province; and/or country.
c. If the publisher is a University and the name of the state or province is included in the
name of the University do not repeat it.
11. Retrieval Information
(4.15, p 231)
a. For electronic sources it is necessary to include the date the information was accessed
along with the name and/or address of the source.Use the words retrieved
from.
b. If the information is found in a document available on the Internet the URL (page
address) is needed.
c. Use available from if the address you give tells you where to find the
information rather than taking you directly to it.
d. There is further information about electronic sources on pages 268 – 281.
12. Reference Examples
While the APA manual includes many more examples in section 4.16 the main ones are
shown here. For any sources that are not included here please refer either to a copy of the
manual (short term loan at the library) or try the Purdue University web site given above
which has more examples.
a. Journal article
Smith, L. (1993). Ethics in applied research. Journal of Science, 32, 135-136.
b. Book
Deeks, J. & Bloxall, P. (1998). Labour relations in New Zealand. Auckland: Longman
Paul.
c. Chapter in an edited book
Capelli, P. (1990). Collective bargaining. In J.A. Fossum & B.R. Smith (Eds.),
Employee and labour relations (pp. 135-154). Washington, DC: Bureau of
National Affairs
d. Magazine article
Ostell, A. (1986, September). Where stress screening falls short. Personnel
Management, 34-36.
e. Newspaper article
Labour party strikes gold. (1983, September 6). New Zealand Herald, p. A3.
f. Unpublished conference paper
Brener, J. (1992, August). Energy, information and stress. Paper presented at the
meeting of the Society for Heart Research, Princeton, New Jersey.
g. An online journal article
There is a difference between an electronic version of a Journal Article and an article
which is either in an on line journal or that is different from the print version. For the
latter it is necessary to include retrieval information.
Vandenbos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection
of resources by psychology undergraduates [Electronic version]. Journal of
Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123.
Vandenbos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection
of resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research,
5, 117-123. Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html