APA

Citation Cheat Sheet

In-text citations
When citing a reference within the text of your writing, you need to include the following information
about the reference:

1. Author’s last name

2. Year of publication
3. Page number (only required if you are citing a direct quote, optional if not using a direct quote)

You have several options for presenting this information. Here are a few examples:

• Patients sometimes avoid telling their doctor that they are seeking alternative medicine services
(Kaptchuk & Miller, 2005, p. 287).
• According to Kaptchuk & Miller, patients sometimes avoid telling their doctor that they are
seeking alternative medicine services (2005, p. 287).
• According to a 2005 article by Kaptchuk & Miller, patients sometimes avoid telling their doctor
that they are seeking alternative medicine services (p. 287).

Please note: If the work you are citing has more than 3 authors, you must list all authors the first time
you cite the work. In following citations, you use list only the first author, followed by “et al.”. The term
“et al.” is an abbreviation of the term et alii, which means “and others”.

Example:

1st time you cite the article:

The MYMOP questionnaire is a useful instrument for charting clinical changes in acupuncture patients
(Hull, Page, Skinner, Linville & Coeytaux, 2006, p. 253).

2nd time you cite the article:

The MYMOP is “the single most useful instrument for assessing clinical change” (Hull et al., 2005, p.
253).

Reference page
The last page of your paper/report should include a page title “reference page”. The reference page
lists all materials cited in your paper in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

For a journal article:

Author’s last name, first initial. (year of publication). Name of article. Journal title italicized, volume
number (issue number if applicable), pages.

Kaptchuk, T. J. & Miller, F. G. (2005). What is the best and most ethical model for the relationship
 between mainstream and alternative medicine: Opposition, integration, or pluralism? Academic
Medicine, 80 (3), 286-290.

Please note: the second line is indented 5 spaces. In addition, all authors are listed—et al. is not used in
the reference list.

For a book:

Author’s last name, first initial. (year of publication). Title of book italicized. City of publication:
Publisher.

Scott, J. & Barlow, T. (1986). Acupuncture in the treatment of children. Seattle: Eastland Press.

If you have further questions, please check the Online Writing Lab (owl) website at:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/