APA

A QUICK GUIDE
TO REFERENCING
REFERENCING IS NECESSARY TO AVOID PLAGIARISM, TO
VERIFY QUOTATIONS AND TO ENABLE READERS TO IDENTIFY
AND CONSULT ANY ITEM TO FOLLOW-UP A CITED AUTHOR’S
ARGUMENTS
This guide is an introduction to the APA (American Psychological
Association) referencing system. For a more comprehensive
guide please refer to:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual
of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington,
DC: Author.
PLEASE NOTE
Before you write your reference list, check with your
lecturer/tutor for the referencing style they prefer you to use
and refer to the instructions included with your assignment.
The information in this guide is intended to provide you with
guidance on using the APA referencing style, for more detailed
information, please refer to the style manual above.
USEFUL TIPS
• APA is an Author’s Name and Date of Publication System. It
consists of in-text citations and a reference list at the end of
your document
• The most important principle in referencing is to be consistent
• All sources used in assignments, essays, reports and theses
must be acknowledged in the text of your document (these are
called ‘in-text citations’)
• For direct quotations of less than 40 words, use double
quotation marks to enclose quotations in text
• Quotations of 40 words or more are indented (quotation
marks are not
(quotation required).
marks are not Start quotations on a new line.
required).
• Page or paragraph numbers must be given for all direct
quotations
• Creating a reference list:
- The reference list includes all books, articles, audiovisual
items and websites that are cited in the text.
- The reference list is arranged alphabetically by author.
Where an item has no author it is cited by its title, and
ordered in the reference list alphabetically by the first
significant word of the title.
- Each reference in the list must have a hanging indent.
- The reference list should be double-spaced

The details, order and punctuation required for a reference list entry in its basic form are outlined below:

BOOK (PRINT)
The details required, in order, are: name of author(s), editor(s), or the institution responsible; publication year; title (italicised, capitalise the first
word of the title, subtitle and proper nouns); edition; place of publication and publisher. Not all of these details will be required for each reference.
AUTHOR YEAR OF PUBLICATION TITLE (Italics) PLACE OF PUBLICATION PUBLISHER
Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð
Griggs, R. A. (2006). Psychology: A concise introduction. New York, NY: Worth.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (PRINT)

The details required, in order, are: name of author(s); publication year; title of the article; title of the journal (italicised); volume number
(italicised); issue number (where required) and page numbers.
AUTHOR YEAR OF PUBLICATION TITLE OF ARTICLE TITLE OF JOURNAL (Italics) PAGE NUMBERS
Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð

Aranda, S. (2008). Designing nursing interventions. Collegian, Ð15(1), 19-25.

Ð
VOLUME (Italics) ISSUE

WWW.VU.EDU.AU/LIBRARY
APA – A QUICK GUIDE TO REFERENCING
IN-TEXT EXAMPLE REFERENCE LIST EXAMPLE

BOOKS

Book – single author ….. issues for the elderly (Arnott, 2005) Arnott, G. D. (2005). Working in aged care and
OR disability services. Croydon, Victoria: Tertiary Press.
According to Arnott (2005) …
Book – two authors Sinclair and Dangerfield (1998) discuss Sinclair, D., & Dangerfield P. (1998). Human growth
Edition OR after birth (6th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
(Sinclair & Dangerfield, 1998) An edition number is placed after the title of the
work.
Cite both authors each time the reference occurs.
Book – 3, 4 or 5 authors (Broyles, Reiss, & Evans, 2007) Broyles, B. E., Reiss, B. S., & Evans, M. E. (2007).
Cite all of the authors the first time the reference occurs. Pharmacological aspects of nursing care (7th ed.).
Albany, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.
In subsequent citations include only the surname of the
first author followed by et al. and the year. Include all of the authors in the reference list.
(Broyles et al., 2007)
Book – 6 or more authors (Mussen et al., 1973) Mussen, P., Rosenzweig, M. R., Aronson, E., Elkind, D.,
Cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. Feshbach, S., Geiwitz, P. J., et al. (1973). Psychology: An
and the year. introduction. Lexington, MA: Heath.
Provide surnames and initials up-to and including
seven authors.
Book - 8 or more authors (Hutchings et al., 2009) Hutchings, D., Poliness, S., Leggat, I. K., Nemeth, T., West,
Cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. A., Ngo, A., . . . Mascilongo, J. (2009). How to use
loseaalibrary.
library.
and the year for first and subsequent citations. St. Albans, Melbourne: Victoria University Press.
Include the first six authors' names, followed by
three dots (. . .), then add the last author's name.
Book – no author (The CCH Macquarie dictionary of business, 1993) The CCH Macquarie dictionary of business. (1993). North
OR Ryde, New South Wales: CCH Australia.
As defined in The CCH Macquarie dictionary of business (1993). The title is used in the author position if there are no
named authors or editors.
Book – editor(s) (Healey, 2006) Healey, J. E. (Ed.). (2006). Australian identity and
values. Thirroul, New South Wales: Spinney Press.
Use (Eds.) for multiple editors.
Chapter in an edited book (Bauman, 2005) Bauman, Z. (2005). Time and class. In P. Leistyna
(Ed.), Cultural studies: From theory to action (pp. 56 -
67). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
E-Book (Towl, 2007) Towl, G. (2007). Psychology in Prisons. Retrieved
from http://www.public.eblib.com/EBLWeb/
choice/?mode=publiccatalog
If no DOI (digital object identifier) is available include
the URL of the E-Book. If no DOI is available for
E-Books accessed via the Library databases, use the
URL of the publisher’s homepage.
APA – A QUICK GUIDE TO REFERENCING
JOURNALS
Journal article – single author
Journal article –
3, 4 or 5 authors
Electronic journal article –
with DOI (digital object
identifier) assigned
3, 4 or 5 authors
PLEASE REFER TO EXAMPLES IN 'BOOKS' SECTION ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE OF THIS GUIDE.
Electronic journal article –
No DOI assigned
SECONDARY SOURCES
When you are referring to the
ideas or words of an author
who has been cited in another
author's work
IN-TEXT EXAMPLE
(Aranda, 2008)
(Aoun, Kristjanson, Oldham & Currow, 2008)
Cite all of the authors the first time the reference occurs.
In subsequent citations include only the surname of the first
author followed by et al. and the year.
(Aoun et al., 2008)
(Stice, Marti, Spoor, Presnell, & Shaw, 2008)
Cite all of the authors the first time the reference occurs.
In subsequent citations include only the surname of the first
author followed by et al. and the year:
(Stice et al., 2008)
PLEASE NOTE: FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO CITE MULTIPLE AUTHORS,
(Bowen, 2008)
OR
Bowen (2008) concludes….
Benner describes intuition (as cited in Miller and Babcock,
1996)
Name the original work in the text of your paper and give a
citation for the secondary source.
REFERENCE LIST EXAMPLE
Aranda, S. (2008). Designing nursing interventions.
Collegian, 15(1), 19-25.
Aoun, S., Kristjanson, L., Oldham, L., & Currow, D.
(2008). A qualitative investigation of the palliative
care needs of terminally ill people who live alone.
Collegian, 15(1), 3-9.
Include all of the authors in the reference list.
Stice, E., Marti, C., Spoor, S., Presnell, K., & Shaw,
H. (2008). Dissonance and healthy weight eating
disorder prevention programs: Long-term effects from
a randomized efficacy trial. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 76, 329-340. doi:10.1037/0022-
006X.76.2.329
If a DOI is available it is included at the end of the
citation. The database name and URL are not required.
No retrieval date is included as the content of the article
is not likely to be changed or updated.
If no page numbers are displayed, paragraph or section
numbers may be used.
Bowen, S. (2008,). Beyond self-assessment - assessing
organizational cultural responsiveness. Journal of
Cultural Diversity, 15, 7-15. Retrieved from
http://www.tuckerpub.com/jcd.htm
If no DOI is available include the URL of the journal
homepage.
If no page numbers are displayed, paragraph or section
numbers may be used.
Miller, M. A., & Babcock, D. E. (1996). Critical
Critical thinking
thinking
applied
applied totonursing.
nursing. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Provide a reference for the book or article that you
actually read.
 APA – A QUICK GUIDE TO REFERENCING
IN-TEXT EXAMPLE REFERENCE LIST EXAMPLE
OTHER ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Newspaper article online (Davidson, 2008) Davidson, K. (2008, November 10). Time to spend big
on infrastructure. The Age. Retrieved from http://
www.theage.com.au

Internet document –
organisation as author
(The Australian Psychological Society, 2008)
The Australian Psychological Society. (2008). Understanding
and managing anxiety. Retrieved November 5, 2008
from http://www.psychology.org.au/publications/
tip_sheets/anxiety
Include the date an electronic source was retrieved if
the content is likely to be changed or updated.

Internet document -–
government department as
author
(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008)
Organisational names may be abbreviated in subsequent
citations where the abbreviation is familiar or readily
understood:
(AIHW, 2008)
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2008).
Australia's health 2008. Retrieved from
http://www.aihw.gov.au/

Internet document no author –
no date
(What is holistic medicine?, n.d.)
If the author is not identified use the title of the resource.
What is holistic medicine? (n.d.). Retrieved September
20, 2006 from http://www.holisticmed.com/
whatis.html
Use n.d. (no date) when a publication date is not
available.
Include the date an electronic source was retrieved if
the content is likely to be changed or updated.

Document on Victoria University (Clancy, 2006) Clancy, D. (2006). Education in Australia: Week
E-Reserve 3 lecture notes. Retrieved from Victoria University
E-Reserve Web site: http://library.vu.edu.au/
search/r?SEARCH=Ass1013

Image on the internet
(Stanford Prison Experiment, 2007)
Stanford Prison Experiment [Image] (2007). Retrieved
October 16, 2009 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/
futursimple/2435590398/
Include the retrieval date only if the image is likely
to be changed or updated.

Photograph on the internet
(Caire, 1880) Caire, N.J. (1880). Western entrance to Melbourne
International Exhibition [Photograph ID: AB713-1-8710].
Retrieved from http://catalogue.slv.vic.gov.au/vwebv/
holdingsInfo?bibId=1719334
Include the retrieval date only if the image is likely to
be changed or updated.

Video blog post (Hall, 2007) Hall, A. (2007, December 20). Studying at Oxford
(For example, youtube) University. [Video file]. Video retrieved from http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxAU88LxLis

Last revised November 2009