APA Style Guide for Citing Sources in Reference Lists
This quick guide will help you format references in APA style, the style guide of the American Psychological Association.

There are a few things to remember about formatting your references page in APA style:

  • List references alphabetically by author's last name (or by title if there is no author given).
  • Double space between lines on the page and use a hanging indent for references that are longer than one line (i.e., the first line of the reference should be flush left, and each subsequent line should be indented one-half inch).
  • Italicize titles of books and journals. Do not put quotation marks around article titles.
  • Only include references to sources of information that are cited in your paper.

For information not included here, or for more details, consult the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(5th ed.)
located at the General Reference Desk (3rd floor, Marriott Library).
Call No. BF76.7 .P83 2001

 

Generally, you will need the following information about a source to create an accurate APA reference:

 

Book
Journal Article*
Web Site
Author last name(s)
and initial(s)
Author last name(s)
and initial(s)
Author last name(s)
and initial(s)
Publication date
Publication date
Date given on site
Full title
(including any subtitle)

Article title
Web page or document title
Volume number or edition
(if applicable)
Journal title
Web site title
Place of publication
(e.g. city)
Volume and issue numbers
Date Retrieved
Name of publisher
Inclusive page numbers of the article
URL (location)
*If you accessed the full text of the article from a database, you also need to include in your reference the name of the database and the date you retrieved the article.
     
Examples are given below for citing Journal Articles, Database Articles, Magazine Articles, Online Journals, Newspaper Articles, Newswires, Books, Electronic Books, Book Chapters, Films or Television Broadcasts, Reports and Government Documents, Web Pages, and Personal Communications
   
Type of Source
Sample References

 

Journal article

 

Brunsma, D. L., & Rockquemore, K. A. (1998). Effects of

student uniforms on attendance, behavior problems, substance

use, and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Research,

92 (1), 53-62.

Hughes, W. J. (2002). Gender attributions of science and

academic attributes: An examination of undergraduate science,

mathematics, and technology majors. Journal of Women &

Minorities in Science & Engineering, 8(1), 53-65.

 

  • List authors in order given in article; see Publication Manual of the APA for rules about punctuating lists of author names.
  • Capitalize only the first word of the article title and any proper nouns.
  • Do not italicize the article title or place it in quotation marks.
  • Italicize the journal title and volume information.
  • Include page numbers (inclusive)

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Resource from
a library or
other database

 

Hughes, W. J. (2002). Gender attributions of science and academic

attributes: An examination of undergraduate science,

mathematics, and technology majors. Journal of Women &

Minorities in Science & Engineering, 8(1), 53-65. Retrieved

February 5, 2004 from Academic Search Elite database.

 

  • If you accessed the full text of the resource from a library or other database, include the date retrieved and the name of the database in the citation.
  • Follow the reference format for the type of resource (journal article, newspaper article, book, etc.).
  • Item or accession numbers are not required.

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Article from
a magazine

 

 

Neuman, H. (1999, March). Internships. Career World, 27, 16-19.

 

  • Give the date shown on the publication-month for monthlies, or month and day for weeklies. Give the volume number after the magazine title.

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Article from
an Internet-only journal

 

McGowan, J. (2002). Understanding jazz styles through sociolinguistic

models. Discourses in Music, 4(1). Retrieved February 1, 2003,

from http://www.discourses.ca/v4n1a1.html

(*Note: Do not use a period at the end of the reference if the reference ends with a URL.)

 

 

  • If the article is from an Internet-only journal, include the date retrieved and the URL for the article.

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Newspaper article

 

Burton, G. (2001, February 18). Gay marriage showdown may be

inevitable in Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune, pp. A1, A18. Retrieved

October 17, 2001 from ProQuest Newspapers database.

Dual-voiced diva gives classical career advice. (2001, March 20). The

Toronto Star, p. EN02. Retrieved February 5, 2004 from Newspaper

Source database.

Herbert, B. (2000, January 10). The teacher crisis [editorial]. The New

York Times, p. A19.

 

 

  • If there is no author given, alphabetize by the first significant word in the title.
  • Precede page numbers with p. or pp. Separate discontinuous page numbers with a comma.
  • Include type of article (e.g., letter to editor, editorial, review, etc.) if relevant.

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Newswire
or daily newspaper article,
electronic version

 

Clark, D. (2003, August 18). Former football player tackles head chef job

at Rock Hill, S.C., restaurant. The Herald. Retrieved February 5,

2004 from

http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2W63245331838&db=nfh

(*Note: Do not use a period at the end of the reference if the reference ends with a URL.)

 

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Book

 

Beck, C. A. J., & Sales, B. D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts,

myths, and future prospects. Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

Prytherch, R. (Comp.). (1995). Harrod's librarians' glossary (8th ed.).

Aldershot, United Kingdom: Gower.

 

 

  • In general, follow the rules for listing authors of articles.
  • Italicize the name of the book. Capitalize the first letter of the first word, and any proper nouns.
  • Include the place of publication including city and state for US addresses, and country for international addresses, followed by the publisher. See the Publication Manual of the APA for more information about place of publication abbreviations

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eBook


Chambers, I. (1994). Migrancy, culture, identity. New York: Routledge.

Retrieved February 26, 2004 from Marriott Library catalog,

University of Utah: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utah/Doc?id=5004135

(*Note: Do not use a period at the end of the reference if the reference ends with a URL.)

 

 

  • Generally, cite the same information as for a print book, followed by online retrieval information (retrieval date, Web site, and URL). If some of this information is unavailable, cite what is available.

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Book chapter
or part of book
(e.g., encyclopedia article)

 

Australia. (1993). In The Columbia encyclopedia (5th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 185-

187). New York: Columbia University Press.


Bjork, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive

mechanism in human memory. In H. L. Roediger III & F. I. M.

Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory & consciousness (pp. 309-

330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

 

 

  • If there is no author given, alphabetize by the first significant word in the title.
  • If the book lists an editor or editors, include them followed by (Ed.) or (Eds.).
  • Include page numbers (inclusive) for the part of the book you used (chapter or section) in parentheses with p. or pp.

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Film or television
broadcast

 

Crystal, L. (Executive Producer). (1993, October 11). The Macneil/Lehrer

news hour [Television broadcast]. New York and Washington, DC:

Public Broadcasting Service.

Grazer, B. (Producer), & Howard, R. (Director). (2001). A beautiful mind

[Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures/Dreamworks

Pictures.

Lewis, J. U. (Producer). (1998). Faces of change: Social work in the new

millennium [Motion picture]. Reno, NV: Council on Social Work

Education.

 

 

  • Give the name(s) and, in parentheses, the function of the originator or primary contributors.
  • Identify the work as a motion picture or television broadcast (in brackets) immediately after the title.
  • Give the country of origin, studio or production company, and distributor information if the film is not widely available.

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Reports and
Government Documents

 

Chavers, D. (Ed.). (2000). Deconstructing the myths: A research agenda

for American Indian education. Albuquerque, NM: Catching the

Dream. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED447985)

U.S. Census bureau. (2000). Statistical abstract of the United States:

2000 (120th ed.). Washington DC: U.S. Government printing Office.

US Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). Healthy people

2010: Understanding and improving health (2nd ed.). Washington,

DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Utah Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, Demographic and

Economic Analysis Section. (1998). 2002 Olympic winter games:

Economic, demographic and fiscal impacts. Salt Lake City, UT:

State of Utah.

 

 

  • Include author, date of publication, title of the report, and, if the issuing organization assigned a number to the report, give that number in parentheses immediately after the title. Do not use a period between the title and the parenthetical material; do not italicize the parenthetical material.
  • For reports from a document deposit service (like NTIS or ERIC), enclose the document number in parentheses at the end of the entry. Do not use a period after the document number.
  • Government documents available from the Government Printing Office (GPO) should show GPO as the publisher.

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Information from
a Web page

 

Background of Win Day, a technical writer. (2003, November 3).

Retrieved February 5, 2004, from Job Profiles Web site:

http://www.jobprofiles.org/bustechnicalwriter.htm

Society for Technical Communications. (n.d.). A career in technical

communication: What's in it for you? [online brochure]. Retrieved

February 5, 2004, from the STC Web site:

http://www.stc.org/PDF_Files/aCareer.pdf

U.S. Department of Labor. (2002). Occupational outlook handbook

(2002-2003 ed.). Indianapolis, IN: JIST Publishing. Retrieved

February 5, 2004 from http://www.bls.gov/oco/

 

 

  • Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited; whenever possible, reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages.
  • When the document comprises multiple pages (the sections have different URLs), provide a URL that links to the entry page for the document.
  • Make sure that you have provided an accurate URL for the information you are citing.
  • Include as much information as possible including a document title or description, a date (of publication, update, and/or retrieval), and an author or authors whenever possible.
  • Use n.d. (for "no date") when a publication date is not available.
  • Use a section identifier if available in place of page numbers.
  • If the information you are citing is part of an organization's Web site, identify the host organization before giving the URL; precede the URL with a colon.
  • Do not put a period at the end of a URL.

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Personal
Communication
(e.g., email message,
interview, letter, etc.)

 

Because they do not provide recoverable data, personal communications ARE NOT included in your reference list. Cite personal communications within the text of your paper by providing the surname and initials of the communicator and the date the communication took place. Example:

(T.K. Lutes, personal communication, December 18, 2003)

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For more information, consult the following Web sites: