APA format is a citation style created by the American Psychological Association. It is used for research papers in many college classes, including Social Science classes. The style manual for APA is in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by the American Psychological Association Staff. The seventh edition was published in October 2019.
General guidelines for American Psychological Association citation style:
In-text parenthetical citations: Whenever you use a quotation, a paraphrase, or a summary, you should give the author’s last name (or the title if no author is included) and the year in parentheses; if no date is provided, use the abbreviation “n.d.” for no date. You should also add the page number if you are using a quotation from a printed source. A parenthetical source for a quotation from a printed source might look like this: (Ross, 2020, p. 42).
Parenthetical/In-text Citation: (Mallon, 1989) or (Mallon, 1989, p. 13), if a direct quotation is used.
If the author is not named in the signal phrase, place the author’s name, the year, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation. Example: Bolton (2020) pointed out that students who do not use libraries often find frustration in their research efforts (p. 74).
For more examples, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2019).
All sources with three authors or more are now attributed in-text using the name of the first author followed by “et al.”
Books: | |
Book by one author |
Mallon, T. (1989). Stolen words: Forays into the origins and ravages of plagiarism. Ticknor and Fields.
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Book by two or more authors |
Lathrop, A., & Foss, K. (2000). Student cheating and plagiarism in the internet era. Libraries Unlimited.
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E-Book from library database |
Schmid, D. (2014). Natural born celebrities: Serial killers in American culture. Ticknor & Fields.
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Article from a reference book (if no author is listed start with the title) |
Cooper, J. M. (1998). Socrates. In Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy (Vol. 9, pp. 8-19). Routledge.
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Entry in an online reference work |
Graham, G. (2005). Behaviorism. In E.N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2007 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/
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Book with an organization as the author |
American Psychiatric Association. (2015). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). Author.
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An article or chapter in an edited book (anthology) |
Crews, H. (2009). Why I live where I live. In G.H. Muller, & H.S. Wiener (Eds.), The short prose reader (12th ed.) (pp. 307-310). McGraw-Hill.
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Print Articles: | |
Article from a journal (if no author is listed, start with the title) |
Giaquinto, R. A. (2009-2010). Instructional issues and retention of first-year students. Journal of College Student Retention, 11(2), 267-285. (Special Note: “11” is the volume number, and “2” is the issue number.)
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Article from a magazine (if no author is listed, start with the title) |
Posnanski, J. (2009, December 28). The running back, the cheerleader, and what came after the greatest college football game ever. Sports Illustrated, 111(26), 58-64.
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Article from a newspaper (if no author is listed, start with the title) |
Nearing, B. (2009, December 16). State energy plan: Less is more. Times Union, D1-D2.
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Online Articles: | |
Article (with a digital object identifier number) from a database |
Ohman, A., & Mineka, S. (2001, July). Fears, phobias, and preparedness: Toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning. Psychological Review, 108(3), 483-522. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.483
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Article from a database without a doi |
Weeks, J. (2013, February 22). Coastal development. CQ Researcher, 23(8), 181-204.
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Website: | |
Web page (if no author is listed, start with the title) |
Baldwin, C. (2020, February 18). Help for National History Day research. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/help-for-national-history-day-research
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Media: | |
DVD/ Motion Picture/ Film |
Mulligan, R. (Director). (1962). To kill a mockingbird. [Film]. Universal Pictures.
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Video streaming from subscription database |
Lumet, S. (Director). (1957). 12 angry men [Video]. Swank Digital Campus. http://digitalcampus.swankmp.net
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Episode from a series streaming |
Kruener, P. (Writer), & Dzilvelis, P. (Director). (2010). The potato (Season 16, Episode 3) [TV series episode]. In D. Cambou (Producer), Modern marvels. A&E Television. Films on Demand. http://fod.infobase.com
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YouTube Video |
AsapSCIENCE. (2019, September 23). We stayed awake for 36 hours and it changed our faces [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z30Wkbc8W_M
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TED Talk |
Lindenberger, E. (2019, April). Why we need to fight misinformation about vaccines [Video]. TEDxMidAtlantic. https://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_lindenberger_why_we_need_to_fight_misinformation_about_vaccines#t-428838
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Song |
Joel, B. (1989). We didn’t start the fire [Song]. On Storm front. Columbia.
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Painting, sculpture or photograph retrieved from Artstor |
Rockwell. N. (1943). Freedom from want. [Oil on canvas for posters]. Artstor. http://library.artstor.org/#/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000958361
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Painting, sculpture or photograph retrieved online |
Cezanne, P. (1890). Still life with apples and a pot of primroses [Painting]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/51.112.1
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Podcast episode (audio) |
Clark, J. (Host). (2015, September 10). How chili peppers work [Audio podcast episode]. In How stuff works. NPR. http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/how-chili-peppers-work.htm
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Tweet |
Brokaw, T. [@tombrokaw]. (2012, January 22). SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320
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What is a digital object identifier, or doi?
A digital object identifier (doi) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency ( the International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to it's location on the Internet. The publisher assigns a doi when the article is published and made available electronically.
We recommend that when doi's are available, you include them for both print and electronic sources. The doi is typically located on the first page of the electronic journal, near the copyright notice. The DOI will be included in the citation of articles found in our databases.