How to Cite Sources in APA Style
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For more instructions and examples, see Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, at Howe Library Reference Desk, BF 76.7.A46
In your paper, include a citation wherever you have included information that came from a source—whether quoting directly or restating information in your own words (paraphrasing).
- Include author’s last name and year of publication in parentheses. (If no date, use “n.d.”)
- If there are three or more authors, name only the first and add “et al.”
- For direct quotations, include the page number (or paragraph number or section title of a web page).
- Block indent quotations of 40 or more words.
- If you name the author in the sentence, do not repeat the name in parentheses.
- If a source has no author, use first words of the title. (If title is set it italics in reference list, use italics; otherwise, use quotation marks.)
At the end of your paper, provide a list of sources cited.
- Center the heading “References” in bold type at the top.
- Arrange sources in alphabetical order; use double spacing and hanging indents.
- For each source, include information that would help someone locate the source (title, author, publication date, etc.).
How to Format References in APA style
References should be double spaced. (Examples are single spaced here to save space.)
For more instructions and examples, see Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, at Howe Library Reference Desk, BF 76.7.A46, or https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples
1—Journal or Magazine Article (Print or Online)
BASIC FORM:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year, date). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume#(issue#), page number(s). DOI or URL
NOTES: Do not include database name or retrieval date; include URL only if it leads to actual article. Include DOI when available, even if you used the print version of the article.
EXAMPLES:
Journal article (print or online) with a DOI number: O'Dwyer, B. (2003). Conceptions of corporate social responsibility: The nature of managerial culture. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 16(4), 523-557. https://doi: 10.1108/09513570310492290 Journal article (print or online) without a DOI number: Herzberg, M., & Wang, S. (2002). Identifying lead analysts for stock selection. Journal of Investing, 11(2), 25-35. Magazine article from a free Web site: Coy, P. (2019, August 29). The almighty dollar needs a rival. Bloomberg Businessweek. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ 2019-08-29/the-almighty-dollar-needs-a-rival?srnd=businessweek-v2
2—Entire Book (Print or E-book)
BASIC FORM (Do not include place of publication):
Author, A. A., & Author, B.B. (copyright year). Book title (Xth ed., Vol. X). Publisher. DOI or URL
EXAMPLES:
Print book with multiple authors: Harrod, R. P., & Martin, D. L. (2014). Bioarchaeology of climate change and violence: Ethical considerations. Springer. Print book with no author: Associations yellow book. (2003). Leadership Directories. Print book with editor(s) rather than an author: Gnan, L., Lundberg, H., Songin, L., & Pellegrini, M. (Eds.). (2014). Advancing European entrepreneurship research: Entrepreneurship as a working attitude, a mode of thinking and an everyday practice. Information Age Publishing. E-book with DOI number: Rabinowitz, F. E. (2019). Deepening group psychotherapy with men: Stories and insights for the journey. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/ 0000132-000
3—Chapter/Section of a Book or Online Reference Source
BASIC FORM (Do not include place of publication):
Author, A. A., & Author, B.B. (year, date). Title of section/
chapter. In editor(s) First Initial(s) and Last Name(s)
(Ed.), Title of book or online source (Xth ed., Vol. X,
pp. x-xx).Publisher. chapter DOI or URL
EXAMPLES:
Chapter or section of a book (or industry survey within a book)—with author: Barrett, C. (1999). Debt crisis in the third world. In P. O’Hara (Ed.), Encyclopedia of political economy (Vol. 1, pp. 183-186). Routledge. Chapter or section of a book (or industry survey within a book)--with no author: Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars. (2001). In A. Darnay (Ed.), Information, finance and services USA (pp. 768-770). Gale Group. Entry from an online encyclopedia: Zuesse, E. M. (2005). African religions: Mythic themes. In L. Jones (Ed.), Encyclopedia of religion (2nd ed., Vol. 1). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3424500055/GVRL ?u=vol_b92b&sid=GVRL&xid=3befd88f
4—Newspaper Article (Print or Online)
BASIC FORM:
Author, A. A., & Author, B.B. (year, date). Article title. Newspaper Title, page number(s) including section. URL
NOTES: Do not include database name or retrieval date. Include URL only if it leads to actual article.
EXAMPLES:
Newspaper article from a printed publication or library database: Feder, B. J. (2002, July 18). I.B.M. beats forecasts but with signs of weakness. The New York Times, C1. Newspaper article available free on the Web: Baird, J. (2016, May 23). Building height, scale remain Burlington issues. Burlington Free Press. https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2016/05/23/ building-height-scale-remain-burlington-issues/84539472/
5—Web Page
BASIC FORM:
Author, A. A., & Author B.B. (Last update or copyright date
listed on the Web page). Page title. Organization or
Website Name. Retrieved [date you accessed the page]
from [URL]NOTES: Include retrieval date only if Web-page content is meant to be updated over time and not if content is static or archived. To mention an entire website (without referring to particular information on the site), simply provide the name of the website in the text of your paper with the URL in parentheses. Do not create a reference or in-text citation.
EXAMPLES:
Web page—updated over time: Magi, T. (2019, July 24). Business research assistant. University of Vermont Libraries. Retrieved Nov. 19, 2019, from http://researchguides.uvm.edu/business Web page—static/archived content, no date, and no author (move website/organization name to author position): U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (n.d.). Compound interest calculator. http://www.investor.gov/tools/ calculators/compound-interest-calculator
6—Blog Post
BASIC FORM:
Author, A. A. (year, date). Title of post or comment. Blog Name. URL
EXAMPLE:
Vojdani, M. (2016, June 2). 6 financial tips for recent grads and their families. The Smarter Investor. http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual-fund-investor
7—Visual Work (photograph, clip art, infographic, etc.)
BASIC FORM:
Creator, A. A. (year). Title, if any [Description of work]. Name of the site from which it was retrieved. URL
EXAMPLE:
Tugnoli, L. (2018). [Photograph of malnourished boy]. The Pulitzer Prizes. https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/lorenzo-tugnoli-washington-post
8— Document from a Database of Unique or Archival Content (e.g., Company/Industry Report)
BASIC FORM:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year or date). Title of report or document. Database Name. DOI or URL
NOTE: If the URL of the work will not take the reader to the document, provide URL of the database home/login page.
EXAMPLES:
SEC report from EDGAR database—with corporate author: Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (2015). Annual report on form 10-K for fiscal year ended September 26, 2015. EDGAR. http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtm Industry report from IBISWorld database—with personal author: McCormack, R. (2015, December). IBISWorld industry report 11231: Chicken egg production in the U.S. IBISWorld. https://www.ibisworld.com Company profile from D & B Hoovers database—with no author: American International Group, Inc. [Company summary]. (2018). D & B Hoovers. http://www.hoovers.com
9—Technical, Research, or Government-Agency Report
BASIC FORM:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year, date). Title of report (Report No. 123). Publisher Name. DOI or URL
EXAMPLE:
Ruth, M. F., Lunacek, M. S., & Jones, B. (2017). Impacts of using
distributed energy resources to reduce peak loads in Vermont
(NREL Report No. NREL/TP-6A20-70312; DOE Report No.
DOE/GO-102017-5057). https://doi.org/10.2172/1411137
National Cancer Institute. (2018). Facing forward: Life
after cancer treatment (NIH Publication No. 18-2424).
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes
of Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/
life-after-treatment.pdf
10—Table/Report Generated in an Interactive Database
Some databases let you enter information or select variables and generate custom reports. If there is no author, use the name of the organization that produced the database as the author. Provide the date of the dataset, any title you assigned to the report you generated, and put in brackets a description including the name of the database or dataset.
EXAMPLE:
Simmons Research. (2017). Consumers of bubble gum [Custom cross-tabulation of data in National Consumer Study].
11—Your Personal Communication with Someone (e-mail messages, conversations, interviews, etc.)
Because personal communications are not recoverable by the person reading your paper, they are not included in the reference list. Simply cite your communication in the text of your paper. Example: Microsoft is the best software company in the world (W. Gates, personal communication, June 1, 2016).
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T. Magi, Howe Library, University of Vermont, January 13, 2020
Icons from The Noun Project used with permission under Creative Commons license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/):
1-Glenis Gomez Rios; 2-Edward Boatman; 3-Nicholas Menghini; 4-Gonzalo Bravo; 5 & 6-Gregor Cresnar; 7-GreenHill; 8-Denis Hananein; 9-Alfredo; 10-Joan Ang; 11-Mister Pixel