 American
Psychological Association
 is the most commonly used format for
manuscripts in the Social Sciences.
 APA regulates
• Style
• In text Citations
• References
• A list of all sources used
 Term
Papers
 Research Reports
 Empirical Studies
 Literature Reviews
 Theoretical Articles
 Methodological Articles
 Case Studies



Information from sources must be cited. This
acknowledges the author’s work, and allows the
reader to access the information in the References
section of your paper
Follow the (author, date) method of in-text citation.
If no date is available, write (n.d.) in place of the
date
The author's last name and the year of publication
for the source should appear in the text, for
example
(Jones, 1998).
Three key points in APA citations
1.
2.
3.
Use author, date format whenever possible.
If the source is quoted, you MUST include the
page or paragraph number.
If author’s name is not available, use the title
of the document in place of the author’s name
 Three
types of text citations:
1. Paraphrase (summary)
2. Short Quote = less than 40 words
3. Long Quote= more than 40 words
A
paraphrase is material from a source
which has been summarized in your own
words.
 All
paraphrases must be cited, using the
author’s last name and year of
publication.
 No
page number is required.
 If
the author’s name is a part of the
sentence structure, the year follows the
author’s names in parenthesis. Quotation
marks are not included.
 Example:
Author’s last name, year of publication
Berk (2007) found that children begin to
play organized games with rules, once
they reach school-age.
 When
the author’s name is not part of the
sentence structure (parenthetical citation), the
author’s name and year of publication are
included at the end of the citation, in
parenthesis. Quotation marks are not included.
 Example:
Studies conducted found that children begin to
use organized play and games with rules at
school-age (Berk, 2007).
Author’s last name, year of publication

If the author’s name is part of the sentence, place
only the year of publication in parentheses.
• Example:
Berk (2007) found that children begin to play organized
games with rules, once they reach school-age.

When the author’s name is not part of the
sentence, place both the name and the year,
separated by a comma, in parentheses
• Example:
Studies conducted found that children begin to use organized
play and games with rules at school-age (Berk, 2007).
A
direct quote is information included in
a paper, which is taken directly from the
source.
 Short quotes = less than 40 words
• Enclosed within quotation marks
• Cited using the author’s last name, year of
publication, and page number (or paragraph
number, if page number is not available.)
 “Reading
makes use of many skills at
once, taxing all aspects of our
information-processing systems” (Berk,
2007, p. 306).
Author’s last name,
year of publication, page #
 Research
has shown that “mathematics
teaching in elementary school builds on
and greatly enriches children’s informal
knowledge of number concepts and
counting” (Berk, 2007, p. 307).
Author’s last name, year of publication, page #
Quotes over 40 words must be block
formatted.
 Quotation marks are not used. The entire block
quote is indented five spaces, and doublespaced.
 Example:

Notice: the
quote is
block
formatted
(indented 5
spaces), but
quotation
marks are
not used
Berk (2007) found the following to be true:
We have seen that middle childhood brings
major advances in perspective taking, the
capacity to imagine what other people may be
thinking and feeling. These changes support
self-self esteem, understanding of others, and a
wide variety of social skills. (p. 336)
Note: with 3 or more authors, after the first text citation, only the first author is
named. The remaining authors are included as “et al.”
Table 6.1
Basic Citation Styles
Type of Citation
First Citation in Text Subsequent
Citations in Text
One Author
Two Authors
Walker (2000)
Walker (2000)
Walker and Allen (2004) Walker and Allen (2004) (Walker & Allen, 2004)
Three Authors
Bradley, Ramirez, and
Soo (1999)
Bradley, Ramirez, Soo,
and Walsh (2006)
Walker, Allen, Bradley,
Ramiriz, and Soo
(2008)
Wasserstein et al.
(2005)
National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH,
2003)
University of Pittsburgh
(2005)
Four Authors
Five Authors
Six + Authors
Groups (abbrev.)
Groups (no abbrev.)
Bradley et al. (1999)
Bradley et al. (2006)
Walker et al. (2008)
Wasserstein et al.
(2005)
NIHM (2003)
Parenthetical
Format, First
Citations
(Walker,
2007)
Parenthetical
Format, Second
Citations
(Walker,
2007)
(Walker & Allen, 2004)
(Bradley, Ramirez, &
(Bradley et al., 1999)
Soo, 1999)
(Bradley, Ramirez, Soo, (Bradley et al., 2006)
& Walsh, 2006)
(Walker, Allen, Bradley, (Walker et al., 2008)
Ramirez, & Soo, 2008)
(Wasserstein et al.,
2005)
(National Institute of
Mental Health [NIMH],
2003)
University of Pittsburgh (University of Pittsburgh,
(2005)
2005)
(Wasserstein et al.,
2005)
(NIMH, 2003)
(University of
Pittsburgh, 2005)
(APA Publication Manual, 2009, 6.11-6.15)
 When
citing an electronic document,
whenever possible, cite it in the author-date
style.
 If electronic source lacks page numbers, locate
and identify paragraph number or paragraph
heading
 Example:
Recent research has yielded similar results
(Smith, 1997, para. 6).
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
 When
the author’s name is designated as
“Anonymous” cite in text the word
Anonymous followed by a comma and the
date.
 Example:
(Anonymous, 1998)
 In
the Reference list, an anonymous work is
alphabetized by the word Anonymous as the
author with the remaining publication data

When a work has no identified author, cite the title of the
reference and the year. If it is a long title, use the first few
words
• Use quotation marks around the title of an article, a chapter or a
webpage
• Italicize the title of a journal, a book, a brochure or a report.

Examples
Use the title of the article with the year in the citation when no
author is named.
• Recent research reveals (“Six Sites Meet,” 2006) significantly…
 Full publication title is “Six sites meet for comprehensive anti-gang
initiative conference.” Notice the title was shortened for the in text
citation because the title was long
• The book College Bound Seniors (2008) asserts that…
Use the title of the book with the year in the citation when no author
is named.
APA (2010), section 6.15
 Because
there is no author listed for these
sources, use the title in place of the author’s
name in the citation and on the References
page, in alphabetical order.
 Examples
• Recent research reveals (“Six Sites Meet,” 2006)
significantly…
• The book College Bound Seniors (2008) asserts
that…
On the Reference page, use the title in the place of
the author’s name. Place in alphabetical order.
 Because
there is no author listed for these sources,
use the title in place of the author’s name in
the citation and on the References page, in
alphabetical order.
 Examples
The name of the publication is NOT part of the
sentence structure, so both the title and the year of
publication are placed in parentheses.
• Recent research reveals (“Six Sites Meet,” 2006)
significantly…
• The book College Bound Seniors (2008) asserts
that…
The name of the book is part of the sentence
structure; it is the subject of the sentence, so only
the year of publication is placed in parentheses.
 References
cited throughout text are listed
in alphabetical order by author’s last name
on a new page following the text.
• Hanging indentation is used for all references.
• Entire reference page is double-spaced
 Center
the title References at the top of
the page
• Do not bold, underline, or use quotation marks for
the title.
APA Sample Reference Page:
http://www.vanguard.edu/uploadedFiles/Psychology/references.pdf

APA reference format always follows this basic formula
regardless of the type of source.
 References
Formula
Author(s) Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication).
Title, Publication Data.
• Author (s) last names, include ALL authors as they are listed
• Year of publication--if no date is available, write (n.d)
• Title of the book or title of the article
• Publication data = where do I locate the source material? For
example: Book publishing company information, full website
address, journal name, newspaper name, magazine name or
include issue and page numbers for journals, newspapers and
magazines
Journal article with DOI:
Murzynski, J., & Degelman, D. (1996). Body language
of women and judgments of vulnerability to sexual
assault. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26,
1617-1626. doi:10.1111/j.15591816.1996.tb00088.x
1.
Journal article without DOI:
Koenig, H. G. (1990). Research on religion and mental
health in later life: A review and commentary.
Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 23-53.
2.
Journal article without DOI, retrieved online
3.
•
[Note: For articles retrieved from databases, include the URL
of the journal home page. Database information is not
needed. Do not include the date of retrieval.]:
Aldridge, D. (1991). Spirituality, healing and medicine.
British Journal of General Practice, 41, 425-427.
Retrieved from
http://www.rcgp.org.uk/publications/bjgp.aspx
(Degelman, 2009)
Book:
Paloutzian, R. F. (1996). Invitation to the psychology of
religion (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
4.
Informally published Web document:
Degelman, D. (2009). APA style essentials. Retrieved
from http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty
/ddegelman/detail.aspx?doc_id=796
5.
(Degelman, 2009)
Informally published Web document (no date):
Nielsen, M. E. (n.d.). Notable people in psychology of
religion. Retrieved from
http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/psyrelpr.ht
m
6.
Informally published Web document (no author,
no date):
Gender and society. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html
7.
(Degelman, 2009)
8. Abstract from secondary database:
Garrity, K., & Degelman, D. (1990). Effect of server
introduction on restaurant tipping. Journal of
Applied Social Psychology, 20, 168-172. Abstract
retrieved from PsycINFO database.
Article or chapter in an edited book:
Shea, J. D. (1992). Religion and sexual adjustment. In J. F.
Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 7084). New York: Oxford University Press.
9.
(Degelman, 2009)
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders:
American Psychiatric Association. (2000).
Diagnostic and statistical manual of
mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.).
Washington, DC: Author.
10.
(Degelman, 2009)
American Psychological Association (2009). The Basics of APA style
tutorial. Retreived from
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx
American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the
American
Psychological Association (6th ed),
Washington,
DC: Author
Berk, L. (2007). Development through the lifespan
(4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Degelman, D. (2009). APA style essentials. Retrieved from
http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/d
etail.aspx?doc_id=796
Purdue Online Writing Lab (2010). Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
Schor, E. (1995). Caring for your school-age child; ages 5-12. New
York: Bantam Books.