APA

The APA citation style offers a simplified method for documenting research. This citation style is used primarily in the social sciences. Citations consisting of the name of an author and the date of his/her work's publication are used to identify works cited in the body of a research paper. An alphabetical list of these citations, with fuller information, appears at the end of the paper as a reference list.

The key to making this format reliable is to make sure that each citation is accurate and unique in referring to the work cited. Works by the same authors, same groups of authors, or authors of the same last name, etc., must be clarified in some unique way (i.e., by dates, first initials, etc.). The elements of the citation and the reference list entry for each work must match. Each item cited in the text of the paper must appear in the list of references, and each item in the list of references must be cited somewhere in the text.

Guidelines for Citations

♦There are two acceptable styles for in-text citations. The first can be called the parenthetical style, in which the author and publication date are both in parentheses.

• EXAMPLE: These were the findings from that project (Abbott, 2006).

The second acceptable style can be called the running text style, which places the author outside the parentheses as part of the text.

• EXAMPLE: Abbott (2006) found a positive correlation in his studies.

♦Refer to multiple works as follows:

• EXAMPLE: Research shows (Abbott, 2006; Duby, 2002)... [parenthetical style]

• EXAMPLE: Abbott (2006) and Duby (2002) assert... [running text style]

♦Use "et al." as allowed, but reinsert as many authors as necessary to make clear which work is being cited:

• EXAMPLE: New research (Duby, Ramirez et al., 2002) shows... [parenthetical style]

• EXAMPLE: Duby, Anson et al. (2002) say... [running text style]

♦For works with no author given, use the first few words of the title, along with the date, as the citation:

• New findings (College today, 2001) show... [parenthetical style]

Guidelines for the Reference List

• Entries are double-spaced and start with the first line to margin; subsequent lines are indented five spaces.

• Entries are alphabetized, letter by letter, by the author's last name and first initials. Works without an author are listed by the title.

• Follow the rule that "nothing comes before something":

EXAMPLE: Brown, G. precedes Browner, G.

• Works by the same author or author groups are listed by date, oldest first. Add letters to the date to distinguish works in the same year by the same author(s):

EXAMPLE: Fry, J. (1999); Fry, J. (1999a), etc.

• Use ampersand [&] to link two authors and the last two of any group of up to five authors.

• Published titles of works and journal titles are italicized; titles within publications, like journal article titles, encyclopedia article titles, and book chapter titles are not.

• Give city and publisher information for published works; include state postal abbreviation for obscure cities or cities with names that are likely to be confused with cities in other states.

• Always acknowledge electronic sources as such. Give date retrieved and web site and/or database name. Give any available paragraph or section numbers when no page numbers are given in online sources.

Examples

Refer below for various types of works, how to cite them, and how to include them in your reference list. It is important to use punctuation marks and italics correctly. This guide does not present an exhaustive list of examples for using the APA style. For help with citation situations not covered here, stop at the Information Desk and consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., pp. 207-281. The call number is Ref. BF76.7.P83 2001. You can also visit the American Psychological Association's APA Style.org site for more information.

In addition, Duke University has a useful site for learning citation styles, and our Style Sheet for Research Papers has more good links.

If you need help clarifying details about the APA style, talk to your instructor or go to the writing lab at the Center for Learning Resources in Maxcy Hall, Room 108.

♦BOOK BY ONE AUTHOR:

TEXT IN PAPER: Abbott (2006) suggests... [or] Recent research (Abbott, 2006) shows...

REFERENCE LIST:

Abbott, B. (2006). Survey of attitudes. New York: Worldwide Publishing.

♦BOOK BY TWO AUTHORS:

TEXT IN PAPER: Babson and Wilson (2002) say... [or] Recent research (Babson & Wilson, 2002) shows...

[Note: Use "and" for running text style and "&" for parenthetical style.]

REFERENCE LIST:

Babson, L. & Wilson, P. (2002). Student life today: How students cope. San Diego:

     University Press.

♦BOOK BY THREE, FOUR OR FIVE AUTHORS:

♦♦Example 1:

TEXT IN PAPER: Card, Henry, Jackson, Jillson and Holt (2005) say...

[Note: List all authors the first time; in any subsequent paragraph, use Card et al. (2005), and after that, omit the date.]

REFERENCE LIST:

Card, A., Henry, B., Jackson, C., Jillson, D. & Holt, E. (2005). They are at it again.

     Buffalo, NY: Dipstick Press.

♦♦Example 2:

TEXT IN PAPER: Jameson and Biggers (2001) hypothsize that...

[Note: When you are told to alphabetize by author, this means that you should alphabetize the entire reference list.  For example: If the title page of the book says that the work has been written by Dennis Jameson and Louisa Biggers -- in that order -- do not write these names in your final reference list as Biggers and Jameson.]

REFERENCE LIST:

Jameson, D. and Biggers, L. (2002). Office games people play.

     Westport, CT: Grassy Knoll Publishing.

In other words, don't put L. Biggers before D. Jameson in your reference list, even though "B" comes before "J."  Remember that you are alphabetizing your reference list and not alphabetizing within a single reference.

♦BOOK BY A GROUP OR INSTITUTIONAL AUTHOR:

TEXT IN PAPER: Center for Health Studies [CHS] (2000) reports...

[Note: Include the acronym and shorten thereafter: CHS (2000) reports...]

REFERENCE LIST:

Center for Health Studies (2000). Health. Washington: Government Printing Office.

♦BOOK WITH NO AUTHOR:

TEXT IN PAPER: College today (2001) claims...

REFERENCE LIST:

College today (2001). Chicago: ABC Press.

♦BOOK CHAPTER IN EDITED WORK:

TEXT IN PAPER: Duby (2002) asserts...

[Note: Chapter author is Duby; chapter title is "New horizons"; book editor is W. Mays.]

REFERENCE LIST:

Duby, W. (2002). New horizons. In W. Mays (Ed.), Sociology today (pp. 31-52).

     New York: Banks Publishing.

♦JOURNAL ARTICLE:

TEXT IN PAPER: Franklin (1775) reported that...   

[Note: Article title is "Theories of electricity"]

REFERENCE LIST:

Franklin, B. (1775). Theories of electricity. Journal of Physical Sciences, 10, 200-210.

Note: If the journal had a number or issue in addition to the volume -- which is 10 in the example above -- it should appear in your list like this:

Franklin, B. (1775). Theories of electricity. Journal of Physical Sciences, 10(3), 200-210.

The volume is 10 (italicized); the issue (often referred to as "number") is 3 -- not italicized. The non-italicized numbers 200-210 refer to the page numbers.

♦NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:

TEXT IN PAPER: Gordon (2003) says...

[Note: If no author, cite by article title: "New ideas" (2003) demonstrates...]


REFERENCE LIST:

Gordon, J. (2003, September 30). New ideas on campus. The New York Times,

     pp. A1, A4, A7-9.

♦ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE:

TEXT IN PAPER: Moneybags (1998) is of the opinion...

[Note: Article title is "Accounting"]

REFERENCE LIST:

Moneybags, B. (1998). Accounting. In The encyclopedia of finance (Vol. 10, pp. 207-210).

     Chicago: Business Press.

♦ELECTRONIC SOURCES: Show date retrieved and web site or database.

♦♦Example 1:

TEXT IN PAPER: Franklin (1775) reported that...

[Note: Article title is "Theories of electricity"]

REFERENCE LIST:

Franklin, B. (1775). Theories of electricity. Journal of Physical Sciences, 10, 200-210.

     Retrieved November 20, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile database.

♦♦Example 2:

TEXT IN PAPER: Price (2002) has determined that...

[Note: Title of online work is "Big Ideas"]

REFERENCE LIST:

Price, R. (2002, May 1). Big ideas. Top Entrepreneur. Retrieved May 5, 2002, from

     http://www.topentrepreneur.com/arts/toc/02-05-01_569874.asp 

Any questions? Contact us by stopping at the Information Desk, calling us at (203) 932-7189, or by Email.

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rev 12/06