APA style, recommended by the American Psychological Association, is commonly used in the social sciences. Both in-text citations and a list of references are used to document sources, as the models below show. For more information on citing sources in APA style, consult the following reference work.

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

The student paper that appears at the end of this chapter uses APA style.

Your paper must include in-text citations for all material you summarize, paraphrase, or quote from sources. There are two basic ways to write an in-text citation.

APA style requires only that you include page numbers for quotations, but your instructor may want you to include a page number for paraphrases and summaries as well, so make sure you ask. Signal phrases allow you to put your sources in context, so use a signal phrase for most citations. For either type of citation, follow these rules.

SIGNAL PHRASE

Avery and Ehrlich (2008) said “nasal sounds are made with air passing through the nose” (p. 21).

PARENTHETICAL CITATION

Snorts, snores, and other such sounds are created “with air passing through the nose” (Avery & Ehrlich, 2008, p. 21).

The following section provides guidelines for formatting in-text citations in APA style.

One author

According to Adams (2009), . . .

. . . (Adams, 2009).

Two authors. Include both authors’ last names and the year in a signal phrase or parenthetical citation. In the latter case, use an ampersand (&) in place of the word and.

Avery and Ehrlich (2008) have asserted . . .

. . . (Avery & Ehrlich, 2008).

Three to five authors. Include all authors’ last names the first time the source is mentioned. In subsequent references to the same source, use the first author’s last name followed by et al. (Latin for “and others”).

FIRST REFERENCE

Lewin, Krebs, Kilpatrick, and Goldstein (2011) have found . . .

. . . (Lewin, Krebs, Kilpatrick, & Goldstein, 2011).

LATER REFERENCES

Lewin et al. (2011) discovered . . .

. . . (Lewin et al., 2011).

Six or more authors. Use the first author’s last name followed by et al. in all in-text citations.

Two or more works by the same author(s). Cite the works chronologically, in order of publication.

Gaerlan (2001, 2011) believed that . . .

. . . (Gaerlan, 2001, 2011).

Two or more works by the same author in the same year. Add the lowercase letter a after the publication year for the first source as it appears alphabetically by title in your reference list. Add the letter b to the publication year for the source that appears next, and so forth. Include the years with the corresponding lowercase letters in your in-text citations. (See below for the corresponding reference entries.)

Adams (2009a) believed that . . .

. . . (Adams, 2009a).

Authors with the same last name. Use the first author’s initials with his or her name.

Research by V. M. Hoselton (2001) exemplified . . .

. . . (V. M. Hoselton, 2001).

Unknown author. Use the first few words of the title and the year in the signal phrase or parenthetical citation. Italicize a book title; put the title of a journal article in quotation marks. Unlike the entry in the list of references, use standard capitalization in the in-text citation.

As noted in “Gluten Free Recipes” (2009), . . .

. . . (“Gluten Free Recipes,” 2009).

Two or more sources in the same citation. When citing two or more sources in parentheses, put a semicolon between them and list them in alphabetical order.

. . . (Hoffman, 2011; Murphy, 2009).

Specific part of a work. When quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing a passage, include the page number on which the passage appears. If the work does not have page numbers, use paragraph numbers, if available (with the abbreviation para.), or the heading of the section in which the material appears.

Pinker (2007) offers an explanation for why swearing occurs across cultures: Obscenities “may tap into deep and ancient parts of the emotional brain” (p. 331).

If obscenities “tap into deep and ancient parts of the emotional brain” (Pinker, 2007, p. 331), then it makes sense that swearing occurs across cultures.

Chapter in an edited book or work in an anthology. An anthology is a collection of writings by different authors. In the in-text citation, name the author who wrote the work (not the editor of the anthology) and give the year. The corresponding entry in the list of references begins with the author’s last name; it also names the editor of the anthology.

IN-TEXT CITATION

As Pedelty (2010) notes . . .

. . . (Pedelty, 2010).

REFERENCES ENTRY

Pedelty, M. (2010). Musical news: Popular music in political movements. In S. E. Bird (Ed.), The anthropology of news and journalism: Global perspectives (pp. 215–240). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Multivolume work. When you cite one volume of a multivolume work, include the year of publication for that volume.

Terman (2008) indicates . . .

. . . (Terman, 2008).

When you cite two or more volumes of a multivolume work, give inclusive years for the volumes.

Terman (2008–2011) indicates . . .

Indirect sources. When you quote a source indirectly (rather than from the original source), include the words cited in along with the information for the source in which you found the quote.

According to Ephron, . . .(as cited in Thomas, 2009, p. 33).

Personal interviews, letters, emails, and conversations. Give the last name and initial of the person, the source of the communication, and the exact date. Do not include these sources in the list of references.

. . . (J. Lopez, personal communication, October 30, 2011) asserts that . . .

Internet sources. For direct quotations, give the author, year, and page (if available) in the signal phrase or parenthetical citation. If paragraph numbers are available, cite them with the abbreviation para.

Stevens (2011) maintains . . .

. . . (Stevens, 2011).

Follow these general guidelines for preparing the list of references.

The following sections describe how to format reference list entries for books, articles in periodicals, Internet sources, and other sources.

The basic format for a book is as follows.

Author. Give the author’s last name and initial(s). Do not spell out authors’ first names; include a space between initials: Myers, D. G.

Year. Include the year of publication in parentheses following the author’s name. Use the most recent copyright year if more than one is given.

Title. Italicize the title of the book. Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle (if any) and any proper nouns or adjectives, such as Juan or French.

Place of publication. Give the city of publication followed by the postal abbreviation for the state and a colon (Hillsdale, NJ:). For cities outside the United States, add the country after the city.

Publisher. Include the name of the publisher followed by a period. Use a shortened form of the name: Alfred A. Knopf would be listed as Knopf. Omit words such as Publishers and abbreviations such as Inc., but do not omit the word Books or Press if it is part of the publisher’s name: Academic Press, Basic Books.

Book with one author

Olson, Z. (2010). The constant giraffe: Stretchmarks of a lost generation. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.

Book with more than one author. Use inverted order (last name, initial) for all authors’ names. Separate the names with commas and use an ampersand (&) in place of the word and.

Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (2006). Jazz. New York, NY: Holiday House.

For citations with more than seven authors, list the first six (in the order they appear on the title page), an ellipsis (. . .), and then the last author’s name.

Book with no named author. Give the full title first, and alphabetize the entry by title. (Do not consider the words A, An, or The when alphabetizing.)

The new interpreter’s dictionary of the Bible. (2006). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Book by an agency or a corporation. List the agency as the author. If the publisher is the same as the author, write Author for the name of the publisher.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (2013). Feedback for better teaching: Nine principles for using measures of effective teaching. Seattle, WA: Author.

Government publication. List the agency as the author, followed by the date. Include the document or publication number if available.

U.S. Office of Management and Budget. (2009). A new era of responsibility: Renewing America’s promise. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Edited book or anthology. List the editor’s or editors’ names, followed by the abbreviation Ed. or Eds. in parentheses and a period.

Bradley, B., Feldman, F., & Johansson, J. (Eds.). (2013). The Oxford handbook of the philosophy of death. New York: Oxford University Press.

Chapter in an edited book or work in an anthology. List the author of the work first and then the date the work was published in the anthology. The title of the work follows. Then name the editor of the anthology (not in inverted order), give the title of the anthology (italicized), and insert the inclusive page numbers in parentheses for the work (preceded by pp.). The publication information follows in normal order.

Dachyshyn, D. (2006). Refugee families with preschool children: Adjustment to life in Canada. In L. Adams (Ed.), Global migration and education: Schools, children and families (pp. 251–262). London, England: Erlbaum.

Translated book. After the title, include the initial(s) and last name of the translator followed by a comma and Trans.

Kawakami, H. (2010). Manazuru (M. Emmerich, Trans.). Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.

Two or more works by the same author(s). Begin each entry with the author’s name. Arrange the entries in chronological order of publication.

Pollan, M. (2006). The omnivore’s dilemma: A natural history of four meals. New York, NY: Penguin.

Pollan, M. (2008). In defense of food: An eater’s manifesto. New York, NY: Penguin.

Two or more works by the same author in the same year. Arrange the works alphabetically by title; then assign a lowercase letter (a, b, c) to the year of publication for each source. (See above for the corresponding in-text citation.)

Adams, R. (2009a). Hellosunshine. New York, NY: Akashic Books.

Adams, R. (2009b). Infinity blues. New York, NY: Akashic Books.

Edition other than the first

Myers, D. G. (2014). Exploring psychology (9th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

Multivolume work. Give the volume numbers in parentheses after the title. If all volumes were not published in the same year, the publication date should include the range of years.

McAuliffe, J. D. (Ed.). (2001–2006). Encyclopedia of the Qur’an (Vols. 1–5). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

Article in a multivolume work. Include the author and title of the article, as well as the title, volume number, and publication information for the work.

Meerdink, J. E. (2006). Sleep. In Encyclopedia of human development (Vol. 3, pp. 1180–1181). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

If more than one of these rules applies to a source, cite the necessary information in the order given in the preceding examples. For instance, to cite a reading from this textbook, treat it as a work in an anthology in an edition other than the first. To do this, list the author of the reading, the date the reading was published in the anthology, the title of the reading, the editor and the title of this book, the edition number, the pages where the reading appears, and all other publication information.

Le Mieux, R. (2009). The lady in red. In K. T. McWhorter (Ed.), Successful college writing: Skills, strategies, learning styles (6th ed., pp. 253–255). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

General guidelines and sample entries for various types of periodical articles follow.

Author. Follow the basic format for listing authors’ names (see above). If no author is listed, begin with the article title and alphabetize the entry by its title (ignoring the words A, An, and The).

Date. For articles in journals, the year of publication appears in parentheses following the author’s name. For articles in newspapers and magazines, the issue, month and day, if relevant, follow the year.

Article title. Do not enclose article titles in quotation marks. Capitalize only the first word of the article title, along with any proper nouns or proper adjectives (American) and the first word following a colon.

Periodical title. Italicize the name of the periodical. Use standard capitalization.

Volume/issue. For scholarly journals and magazines, give the volume number in italics; if each issue is paginated separately, starting with page 1, give the issue number in parentheses and roman type.

Pages. The abbreviation p. or pp. is used only in entries for newspaper articles.

DOI. Include the digital object identifier (DOI), a code assigned to articles in scholarly journals, when it is available.

Article in a scholarly journal. If issues in each volume are numbered continuously (issue 1 ends on page 159 and issue 2 begins on page 160, for example), omit the issue number. If the journal article has been assigned a DOI (digital object identifier), add it at the end of the citation.

Article in a magazine (weekly)

Article in a magazine (monthly). Include the month of publication after the year.

Purple, M. (2013, October). Road ragin’. American Spectator, 46(8), 64–65.

Article in a newspaper. Include the year, month, and day in parentheses following the author’s name. Page numbers for newspaper articles should be preceded by a p. or pp.

Gugliotta, G. (2012, November 27). Looking to cities, in search of global warming’s silver lining. The New York Times, p. D3.

Editorial or letter to the editor. Cite the editorial or letter beginning with the author’s name (if available). Include Editorial or Letter to the editor in brackets following the title (if any). If the author’s name is not available, begin with the title.

The, E. B. Exposing the pay gap [Editorial]. (2013, September 25). The New York Times, p. A28.

Ginn, L. (2008, December) [Letter to the editor]. Wired, 16(12), 19.

Book or film review. List the reviewer’s name, the date, and the title of the review. In brackets, give a description of the work reviewed, including the medium (book or motion picture) and the title.

Peters, J. (2013, September–October). Original sin. [Review of the book Spam: A shadow history of the Internet]. Columbia Journalism Review, 52(3), 58–59.

Article with no author. Use the full title as the author.

The Business Week fifty. (2006, April 3). Business Week, 82.

For Internet sources, include enough information to allow readers to locate the sources online. Guidelines for documenting Internet sources are listed below. For more help with formatting entries for Internet and other electronic sources in APA style, consult the American Psychological Association’s Web site at http://apastyle.org/index.aspx, the APA Style Blog at http://blog.apastyle.org, and APA Style on Twitter at http://twitter.com/APA_Style.

Author. Give the author’s name, if available. If not, begin the entry with the name of the sponsor of the site or with the title of the document.

Date. Include in parentheses the year of Internet publication or the year of the most recent update, if available. If there is no date, use the abbreviation n.d.

Document title. Capitalize the first word of the title of the Web page or document or the subject line of the message, the first word following a colon, and any proper nouns or proper adjectives. Set in italics.

Web site title. Capitalize all important words of the Web site’s title and italicize it.

DOI/URL. End with the digital object identifier (DOI), a permanent code associated with specific online articles or books, or, if there is no DOI, insert the URL of the homepage for the journal or publishing company that published the source or give the URL for the source, preceded by the words Retrieved from, if the source will be difficult to find from the homepage. If necessary, break URLs before punctuation marks, such as dots (.) and question marks (?). DOIs and URLs are not followed by periods.

Document posted on an organization’s Web site. If the document is not dated or the content could change, include a retrieval date.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2009). ASPCA Milestones. Retrieved February 15, 2011, from http://www.aspca.org/pressroom/~/media/files/pressroom/press-kit/aspca-milestones-2009.pdf

Article from an online journal. Provide page numbers if available. Include the digital object identifier (DOI), if one has been assigned. Look for the DOI in the database where you get the name and author of the article.

Schubert, C. (2008). The need to consider the impact of previous stressors on current stress parameter measurements. Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 11(2), 85–87. doi:10.1080/10253890801895811

For articles with no DOI, give the URL for the journal’s homepage. Use the article’s URL if your source will be difficult to locate from the journal’s homepage.

Carter, M. (2013, April 6). The moral identity and group affiliation. Current Research in Social Psychology, 21(1). Retrieved from ://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp21_1.pdf

Article from an online encyclopedia

Calef, S. (2008). Dualism and mind. In J. Fieser & B. Dowden (Eds.), The Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from ://www.iep.utm.edu/

Article from an online newspaper

Sullivan, P. (2008, May 6). Quiet Va. wife ended interracial marriage ban. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com

Online government document

U.S. Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011, August 2). Byte out of history: Communist agent tells all. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/august/communist_080211/communist_080211

Film, video, or DVD

Greenfield, L. (Director). (2006). Thin [Motion picture]. New York, NY: Home Box Office.

Television program

Murphy, R. (Writer), & Buecker, B. (Director). (2011). Comeback [Television series episode]. In I. Brennan, R. Murphy, & B. Falchuk (Creators), Glee. New York, NY: Fox Broadcasting.

Computer software

Rosenbloom, C., & American Dietetic Association. (2006). Sports nutrition: Client education [Computer software]. Chicago, IL: American Dietetic Association