APA (American Psychological Association) is a citation style most commonly used for citing article sources within the social sciences.

Citing sources in the text in APA Citation

When referring to a work or a citation from a work, you should cite APA in the format author-date-page number, for example (Freud, 1927). The author’s last name and the year of publication should be used when citing the source within the text. If the author is already mentioned in the award, there is no need to mention the author again, just insert the year of publication in parentheses after the author has been mentioned.

The page number should follow before the sentence period, for example. (p. 00)

For example:

According to Freud (1927), “Religion is comparable to an infantile neurosis” (p. 53).

Freud (1927) compares religion to an infantile neurosis (p. 53).

He said: “Religion is comparable to an infantile neurosis” (Freud, 1927, p. 53), in which I do not agree.

APA Works Cited Page

At the end of your article, you should have a Works Cited page in APA Citation. It should start on a new page and should be titled “References.” It should be centered at the top of the page. Do not put bold, underline or put quotation marks in the title. Some use an APA paper citation generator, but it’s usually done manually.

General rules of the reference list in the APA citation:

Spacing should be double spaced.

The indentation of the entree must be a hanging indentation.

List entries in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

If you have multiple sources for one author, order them starting with the oldest publication.

Capitalization:

Capitalize main words only for journal titles. Do not capitalize prepositions/conjunctions unless they are the first word of the title/subtitle.

For books, book and magazine chapters or articles, or web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the title and subtitle.

Capitalize proper nouns.

italics:

Italicize the titles of longer works, such as books and magazines.

Titles of shorter works, such as poems, short stories, magazine articles, and essays, should not be italicized, underlined, or enclosed in quotation marks.

APA Citation Examples

BOOKS in APA citation

Basic size:

Author Last Name, First Name Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of the work: Capital letters also for subtitle. City, State Abbreviation: Publisher.

If you’re not in the US, just type in the city.

An author:

Moran, A. (2012). Sport and Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.

If the edition is different from the first, simply add the edition in parentheses after the title of the work.

Two authors:

Write the authors by their last names and initials; use the ampersand instead of the word “and”.

Kitchener, K. S. & Anderson, S. K. (2012). Foundations of ethical practice, research, and teaching in psychology and counseling. London: Psychology Press.

From three to seven authors:

Separate the authors with a comma. The last author must be preceded by an ampersand instead of “and”.

Keith-Spiegel, P., Whitley, BE, Balogh, DW, Perkins, DV, and Wittig, AF (2002). The ethics of teaching: a casebook. London: Psychology Press.

More than seven authors:

Mention the first six followed by a “…” and then mention the last author. It is not necessary to use the ampersand.

Keith-Spiegel, P., Whitley, BE, Balogh, DW, Perkins, DV, Miller, FH, Harland, AA,… Wittig, AF (2002). The ethics of teaching: a casebook. London: Psychology Press.

Chapter or article in an edited book:

Only the first word of the chapter title and subtitle should be capitalized. Only the first word of the book should be capitalized. For multiple authors, follow the above format. For multiple editors, separate them with commas and ampersands where appropriate.

Seligman, M. (1992). Positive psychology, positive prevention and positive therapy. In Snyder, CR, & Lopez S. (Eds.), Positive Psychology’s Gender Handbook. (pp. 107-123). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.

JOURNAL ARTICLES in APA style citation

The journal is in italics with all main words capitalized. The title of the article should only have the first word in capital letters.

The basic format:

Author Surname, AA (Year of publication). Title of the article or chapter. Journal, Volume (issue if available), Pages.

Brandon, N. (2012). Prediction of persistence, non-persistence, and recent onset of nonmedical opioid and stimulant use in adolescents. Addictive Behaviors, 37(6), 716-721.

Two authors:

Just like you would cite APA in a book. Separate with an ampersand.

Brandon, N. & Rogers, P., (2012). Prediction of persistence, non-persistence, and recent onset of nonmedical opioid and stimulant use in adolescents. Addictive Behaviors, 37(6), 716-721.

For three or up to seven authors, follow the list of authors as you would the book to cite in APA. The same rule applies for seven or more authors.

Online book:

Use “nd” if no date is available. Include the full URL where readers can find it.

Smith, D. (2008). Where to find happiness. Available from URL_GOES_HERE

NEWSPAPERS in APA citation

Print:

Articles in newspapers can usually be several pages long. If there is only one page, use p. For multiple pages, use pp. for an APA citation.

Example

Single page: pg. A2

Multiple Pages: pp. C2, C5-C7

Mention the full date (year, date of month), for example. (2006, March 26)

APA citation examples:

Richards, S. (April 28, 2007). Alcohol policies around the world. Washington Post, pp. 2A, 3A.

Online:

Include the full URL

Tierney, J. (2011, May 16). A new indicator to see what lies beyond happiness. The New York Times. Retrieved from URL_GOES_HERE

JOURNAL in APA citation

Basic Format (Print):

Borgia, M. (2000, April 9). Pass the global schools mark. Newsweek, 135, 26-28.

Online:

Use np if the name of the publisher is not given and nd if no publication date is available. Add the full URL to cite in APA.

Ronalds, T.M., Peters, A., & Ricci, D. (2008). Abnormal eating among adolescents. Cosmopolitan Online, 10(3), 35-36. Obtained from

URL_GOES_HERE

WEBSITE in APA citation

Include the date of access because the websites are frequently updated. Add the full URL of the site.

Use nd if a publication date is not provided.

Author, A. (Date if available). Title of the document/article/or page. Retrieved from URL_GOES_HERE

Evans, E. (May 5, 2010). Soup for the soul. Retrieved from URL_GOES_HERE

Evans, E. (nd). Soup for the soul. Retrieved from URL_GOES_HERE

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