REFERENCING: APA CITATION STYLE

The research paper, dissertation or thesis should follow an academic style of writing and in academic
style of writing you have to provide an accurate citation. There are several styles of citation and referencing and
you can follow one. It depends on your university, college or academic institute that which style you follow in the
research. Not all citation and referencing styles can be adopted in every research, some styles of referencing
are used in sciences while other are more acceptable in social sciences and some are used in arts and
humanities. References and citation is used in the research writings to avoid literary plagiarism or theft. In every
research the researcher uses foreign sources as an evidence or just to give information. These sources must be
acknowledged by providing references. The researcher uses a referencing system that is allowed to be used by
the organization or university from which he is publishing his research. The second thing to be considered in
deciding about the referencing system is the academic discipline.

APA is now the standard editorial style in many social science and health-related fields, including
psychology, sociology, economics, business, criminology, social work, education, and nursing. (Microsoft Encarta,
2009).

CITATIONS are notes acknowledging the source of ideas, information, and quoted passages used in a
research paper. A complete citation typically includes the author, title, publisher, date, and other information to
help readers locate the original source.

“Cite the work of those individuals whose ideas, theories, or research have directly influenced your work”
(APA, 2009, p. 169).

THE PURPOSE OF REFERENCING/DOCUMENTATION

A. to identify (cite) other people’s ideas and information used within your essay or term paper, and
B. to indicate the sources of these citations in the References list at the end of your paper.

NOTE: Each type of source requires specific formatting, both in text and on the references list.

The American Psychological Association (APA) provides a method for source documentation that is used
in most social sciences courses. The social sciences place emphasis on the date a work was created, so most
APA citation involves recording the date of a particular work in the physical text. The date is usually placed
immediately after the author’s name in the “References” page at the end of an essay. The most recent APA
formatting can be found in the sixth edition of the APA manual.

IN-TEXT CITING OF YOUR REFERENCES

APA requires writers to document their references—paraphrases and direct quotes—throughout the text of their
paper (in-text citation). Also, writers must prepare a references page at the end of their paper which includes a
more detailed reference citation of each source. The reference citations “…are listed alphabetically in the
reference list” (APA, 2009, p. 174). Pay close attention to subtle formatting requirements, such as use of italics and
location of punctuation marks. The basic format for an in-text citation includes author and date. If you have a
direct quote you must also indicate the page number for the quoted material. For example:

You must list all authors for each citation on the references page, unless there are more than seven authors.
However, use the following guidelines for listing authors in an in-text citation (APA, 2009, pp. 174-175):

One (Jones, 2005).

Two (Jones & Doe, 2005).
Three to Five (Jones, Doe, & Black, 2005). List all authors first time, then (Jones et al., 2005).
Six or More (Jones et al., 2005). Only list first author for all in-text citations.
GUIDELINES IN IN-TEXT CITATION

APA, 6th edition (pp. 169-179) Basic Citation Rules

Follow the author-(latest) year of publication method. Although not required, APA encourages you to indicate
the page numbers even in paraphrases or summaries. Place the period after the citation when it is at the end of
the sentence.

EXAMPLES:

 For a work with only one author

According to Sipacio (2014), APA style is required for business student majors.

APA style is applied in the social sciences (Sipacio, 2014).

 For two authors, notice in the example the use of “&” when the citations are inside the parentheses.

According to Sipacio and Barrot (2014), APA style is required for business student majors.

APA style is applied in the social sciences (Sipacio & Barrot, 2014).

 For three to five authors, name all three during the first citation. Then use the primary author followed by
‘et al.’ (et al. is short for et alia (which means ‘and authors’ or ‘and others’) for subsequent citations. Note
how the phrase et al. is punctuated. No period comes after et, but al. gets a period because it is an
abbreviation for a longer Latin word. In parenthetical references, include a comma after et al. but not
before. Remember this rule by mentally translating the citation to English: “Henderson and others, 2010.”
 When a work has three or more authors, always cite all the authors the first time the text is used. Thereafter,
use the first author’s last name followed by ‘et al.’
 Omit year upon third time citing source.

First citation:

According to Sipacio, Barrot, and Sanchez (2014), the APA style is appropriate for the fields of nursing and
education.

The APA style is appropriate for the fields of nursing and education (Sipacio, Barrot, and Sanchez, 2014).

Subsequent citation:

Sipacio et al. states that in general, the social sciences employ this citation style (2014).
Sipacio et al. (2014) states that in general, the social science employ this citation style.
In general, the social sciences employ the citation style (Sipacio et al., 2014).
Sipacio et al. states . . .

 Rowling, Brown, Benis, George, and Cramer (2005) argue for the development of new curricula.
 Rowling et al. (2005) argue . . .
 Rowling et al. argue . . .
 The development of new curricula has been argued before (Rowling, Dowling, Benis, George, & Cramer,
2005).
 The development of new curricula has been argued before (Rowling et al., 2005).
 The development of new curricula has been argued before (Rowling et al.).

o Italicize the title of a book or periodical.

(Title of Book, or Title of Periodical, year, page number)

Example: Statistics show a higher incidence of criminal activity during summer months (New Yorker, 2007, p. 97).
  In most other cases, use double quote marks around the title. (“Article title or Chapter title,” year, page
number)

Example: Statistics show a higher incidence of criminal activity during summer months (“Study Results,” 2007, p.
77).

IN-TEXT CITATION GUIDELINES FOR DIRECT QUOTATIONS

When you use a direct quote less than 40 words, you are required to include the page number(s) enclosed
in parenthesis. The page number must be preceded by ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’ for multiple pages. Check the examples
focusing on the variety of formats and the use of capitalization, parentheses, quotation marks, period, spacing,
and numbers.

1. Sipacio (2014) claimed that “beginners found the APA style guide too complex” (p. 56).
2. According to Sipacio (2014) “beginners found the APA style guide too complex (p. 56).
3. He claimed that “beginners found the APA style guide too complex” (Sipacio, 2014, p. 56) because of
several factors.
4. According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first
time" (p. 199).
5. One researcher asserted that “APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners” (Jones, 1998, p.
199).

 When you use a direct quote with 40 words or more, you are still required to include the page number/s.
Start your quotation in a new line with a ½ indentation on the left margin. There is no need to enclose long
quotations in quotation marks, but the parenthetical citation should be placed after the period.

In his article “Poverty in the Philippines: Income, Assets, and Access”, Scheliz (2005) suggests a list of causes of
poverty.

(1) Low to moderate economic growth for the past 40 years; (2) low growth elasticity of poverty reduction;
(3) weakness in employment generation and the quality of jobs generated; (4) failure to fully develop the
agriculture sector; (5) high inflation during crisis periods; (6) high levels of population growth; (7) high and
persistent levels of inequality (incomes and assets), which dampen the positive impacts of economic
expansion; and (8) recurrent shocks and exposure to risks such as economic crisis, conflicts, natural
disasters, and environmental poverty. (p. 2) *period before the parentheses for long quotations

INTEGRATING RESEARCH INTO YOUR WRITING

Citing a quotation and then continuing with a
paraphrase from the same source later in the
sentence
The professor’s study explained that “students who use
active listening techniques to stay engaged in a class
lecture demonstrated better marks on exams”
(Velasquez, 2011, p. 72); her report described the
various strategies that successful students use to
mentally participate in the learning process (p. 81).
OR
 Velasquez (2011) explained that “students who use
active listening techniques to stay engaged in a class
lecture demonstrated better marks on exams”
(Velasquez, 2011, p. 72); her report described the
various strategies that successful students use to
mentally participate in the learning process (p. 81).
Citing a quotation used at the start of a sentence, and He found that the “results demonstrated that the first
then continuing with your own variable (persistence) had the most effect on the
words/ideas/comments outcome of an exam” (Twoyoungmen, 2010, p. 96),
but the study lacked sufficient detail.
OR
Twoyoungmen (2010) found that the “results
demonstrated that the first variable (persistence) had
the most effect on the outcome of an exam” (p. 96),
but the study lacked sufficient detail.

GUIDELINES IN REFERENCE CITATION

Sample Reference Citations—BOOKS

“Entire Book” print (APA, 2010, pp. 202), basic format:

Author Last Name, Author First Initial. Author Middle Initial. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Location (city, state
abbreviation or country of publication): Publisher.

EXAMPLES:

Small, G., & Vorgan, G. (2011). The Alzheimer’s prevention program: Keep your brain healthy for the rest of your
life. New York, NY: Workman Publishing.

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

Label, W. A. (2010). Accounting for non-accountants: The fast and easy way to learn the basics (2nd ed.)
Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Broadway, B. (2002). Pink houses and family taverns. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Single author - Pollan, M. (2006). . . .

Two authors - Use the ampersand (&) instead of “and.” Bell, J. K., & Cohn, A. (1968). . . .

For 3 to 7 authors, include every author. List by last names and initials. Commas separate author names. An
ampersand (&) should come before the last author’s name.
Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T., & Bach, J. S. (1993). There's more to self-esteem than
whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.

Many authors - If there are more than seven authors, after the sixth author's name, use an ellipses in place of the
remaining names. Then provide the final author name.
Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009)...

A Work Authored by an Organization

Sometimes the author is actually a group, such as “…corporations, associations, government agencies, and study
groups…” and “…names of some group authors are spelled out in the first citation and abbreviated thereafter”
(APA, 2009, p. 176). For example:

First time cited in text: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013).
Subsequent times in text: (CDC, 2013).

• When citing a work that has no individual author(s) but is published by an organization, use the
organization’s name in place of the author’s name. Lengthy organization names with well-known
abbreviations can be abbreviated. In your first citation, use the full name, followed by the abbreviation
in square brackets. Subsequent citations may use the abbreviation only.
• It is possible for a patient to have a small stroke without even realizing it (American Heart Association
[AHA], 2010).
• Another cause for concern is that even if patients realize that they have had a stroke and need medical
attention, they may not know which nearby facilities are best equipped to treat them (AHA, 2010).

Corporation/organization author - American Psychiatric Association. (2005). . . .

Parenthetical Citations—Groups as Authors

Corporations, associations, government agencies, research groups, etc. are usually listed each time they are
used in text, unless an abbreviation makes the group easily recognizable.

First time mentioned: Full name (year).

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports… (2002).

Subsequent mentions: abbreviation (year).

The NIMH reports… (2002).

. . . (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2002).

Subsequent mentions (abbreviation, year)

. . . (NIMH, 2002).

Unknown author - Start with the title.

The Chicago manual of style (15th ed.). (2003). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Oxford essential world atlas. (2001). . . .

Two or more works by the same author - Include the author’s name for each entry. Order according to year
(earliest first).
Borroff, M. (1979). . . .
Borroff, M. (1992). . . .
Two or more works by the same author, same year. - Include the author’s name for each entry. Order according
to year. Within a single year, order alphabetically by title. Give repeated years a lowercase letter suffix.
Slechty, P. C. (1997a). . . .
Slechty, P. C. (1997b). . . .

Online sources - In APA citation, online sources often include DOIs (digital object identifiers). If a DOI is available,
it is used in place of a URL. The DOI is frequently found on the first page of an online source. APA generally cites
author, date, page title, site title, available page numbers, and a URL or DOI.

General format (online sources) - Author. (Year [use n.d. if not given]). Article or page title. Larger Publication
Title, volume number(issue number). Retrieved from http://url address

Entire website:

The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U. (2008). The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. Retrieved July 16, 2018,
from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

REFERENCE LIST — JOURNAL ARTICLES

o Last name, first initial. (year). Title of article. Title of publication/Journal name, volume, pages.

Tyson, P. A., & Gordon, M. G. (1998). The psychology of women. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic
Association, 46, 361-364.

Bernstein, B. J. (1994). Atomic diplomacy: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Diplomatic History, 28(3), 126-129.

Bagchi, A. (1996). Conflicting nationalisms: The voice of the subaltern in Mahasweta Devi’s Bashai Tudu. Tulsa
Studies in Women’s Literature, 15(1), 41–50.

NOTE: Italicize only the journal title/name but not the journal article titles.

REFERENCE LIST – NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES

o Last name, first initial. (year, month day of publication). Title of article. Title of newspaper or
magazine, page numbers.

o For magazines, the volume number is italicized, with the issue number in parentheses after,
and inserted after the magazine title; formatted: Volume(Issue).

PRINTED NEWSPAPERS:

 Kramer, C. F. (2003, June 22). A health threat baffling for its lack of a pattern. The New York Times, p. A14.
 Krugman, P. (2007, May 21). Fear of eating. The New York Times, p. A1.
REFERENCE LIST — ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER

o Last name, first initial. (year, month, day of publication). Title of article. Title of publication.
Retrieved date, from web address.

Foreman, R., Bennett, E., & Collins, T. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out. The
New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

MAGAZINES:

Chamberlin, J., Novotney, A., Packard, E., & Price, M. (2008, May). Enhancing worker well-being: Occupational
health psychologists convene to share their research on work, stress, and health. Monitor on Psychology.
39(5), 26-29.

Crane, N. F. (2003, September). Anarchy at sea. Atlantic Monthly, 50-80.

Poniewozik, J. (2000, November 20). Election 2000: TV makes a too-close call. Time, 156(21), 70–71.

Magazine article, with author, Wells, P. (2009, July 28). Our universities can be smarter. Maclean’s, 122(29).
web version Retrieved from http://www2.macleans.ca

NOTE: Don’t abbreviate the names of months, ever.

Two or More Works Cited in One Reference

At times, you may provide more than one citation in a parenthetical reference, such as when you are discussing
related works or studies with similar results. List the citations in the same order they appear in your references
section, and separate the citations with a semicolon.

Some researchers have found serious flaws in the way Rosenhan’s study was conducted (Dawes, 2001; Spitzer,
1975).

Both of these researchers authored works that support the point being made in this sentence, so it makes sense
to include both in the same citation.

Online Sources without Page Numbers

If an online source has no page numbers but you want to refer to a specific portion of the source, try to locate
other information you can use to direct your reader to the information cited. Some websites number paragraphs
within published articles; if so, include the paragraph number in your citation. Precede the paragraph number
with the abbreviation for the word paragraph and the number of the paragraph (e.g., para. 4).
As researchers have explained, “Incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables into one’s diet can be a challenge for
residents of areas where there are few or no easily accessible supermarkets” (Smith & Jones, 2006, para. 4).
If an online source has no listed author and no date, use the source title and the abbreviation n.d. in your
parenthetical reference.

It has been suggested that electromagnetic radiation from cellular telephones may pose a risk for developing
certain cancers (“Cell Phones and Cancer,” n.d.).
Personal Communication

For personal communications, such as interviews, letters, and e-mails, cite the name of the person involved, clarify
that the material is from a personal communication, and provide the specific date the communication took
place. Note that while in-text citations correspond to entries in the references section, personal communications
are an exception to this rule. They are cited only in the body text of your paper. They do not appear in the
Reference list.

J. H. Yardley, M.D., believes that available information on the relationship between cell phone use and cancer is
inconclusive (personal communication, May 1, 2009).

Citing Summaries or Paraphrases

When you put an information in your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original author
and year. APA (2010) also recommends you include a page or paragraph number to “help an interested reader
locate the relevant passage” (p. 171)

One researcher emphasized the necessity of flexibly applied thinking to cope with rapidly changing technology
(Lee, 2007, p. 82).

OR Lee (2007) emphasized that flexibly applied thinking is vital to cope with rapidly changing technology (p. 82).

Break website URL before
punctuation such as / or – but
don’t break http://
Use publisher name only:
MacMillan Publishers Ltd.
Entry/definition in print
encyclopedia, author known
Entry/definition in a web
encyclopedia, author unknown
Blog post
Photo, artwork, painting, map,
image, etc.
Image on a website, no
photographer, no date, but has
copyright permission
Motion picture with producer and
director identified
YouTube or video weblog, author
unknown
How to study effectively – 8 concentration strategies. (2017). Retrieved July
17, 2017, from http://studenthacks.org/2007/10/12/study-
effectively/
Smith, F. M., & Jones, W. (2004). The college student. In C. Wood, & M.
Meyer (Eds.), Cross-cultural education (pp. 75-105). London,
Canada: MacMillan.
Davidson, T. (2002). Common cold. In J. L. Longe (Ed.), The Gale
encyclopedia of medicine (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 869-872). Detroit, MI.
Gale Group.
Cell division. (2008). In E. Martin and R. Hine (Eds.), Dictionary of biology.
Retrieved from http://www.oxfordreference.com
Webber, S. (2007, July 11). Survey of plagiarism penalties [Blog post].
Retrieved from http://information-literacy-
blogspot.com/2007/07/this-was-published-last-month-tennant-
p.html
Jens, G. (n.d.). Flower blue close [Digital photo]. Retrieved from http://all-
free-photos/download/flower_blue_close_219450.html
Human digestive system human internal organ [Photograph]. (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/human-digetive-system-
163714/
Brandt, F. (Producer), & Messina, P. F. (Director). (1995). Too smart for
strangers [Motion picture]. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Home Video.
SevereAvoidance. (2012, September 25). The official grumpy cat [Video
file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INscMGmhmX4

Note: Include both the real name and [screen name] of the person who
posted the video as the author. Use the screen name without [ ] if
no real name is available.
REFERENCE LIST FORMAT

o Used to indicate where information presented in the essay can be retrieved.

o Only include texts cited in the essay.

o Listed alphabetically by author or title.

o Reference list begins a new page, with “References” centered at top of page.

o The first line of an entry is at the left margin, and subsequent lines are indented one-half inch
(hanging indent).

o Double-space all reference entries.

GUIDELINES FOR REFERENCE CITATION

• Place the reference list on a new page separate from the text of your writing; label this page “References”
and align it at the center at the top of page. Do not use bold face, underline, or quotation marks for the
title. Do not add an extra blank line after the title.

• Apply hanging indentation. This simply means the lines following the first line in an entry should be indented
from the left margin. Every line after the first line of a reference entry should be indented one-half inch
from the margin.

• All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of the paper.

• References are listed in alphabetical order based on the last name of the authors.

• Follow this sequence in writing the names of the author: last name, first name initial, middle initial.

• All titles except journal titles have only the first word capitalized

• Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title, the first letter of the first word of its subtitle after a
colon, and the proper nouns.

• Article titles do not use quotation marks, underlines, or italics

• Book titles should be italicized

• For online sources, make sure to remove the hyperlink of the URL. Use plain black text.

• Page number at top right of every page

• For print sources, place a period at the end of the entry.

• Classical works such as the Bible are only cited in-text. Include the reference and version used: (1 Cor.
13:1, Revised Standard Version)

• In Reference list, exceptions are personal communications, classical religious works such as the Bible or
the Qur’an, and classical works. These do not appear in the References list.

SOURCES:

American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(6th ed., 2nd printing). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

The Internet