APA Style In Brief

The information in this guide is based on the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and is provided to help students prepare a reference list. APA style is used primarily in psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work and criminology.

The reference list must include all sources used in the research and preparation of the paper. The information must be correct and complete and should contain the author, year of publication, title and publishing data.

Put the reference list on a separate sheet at the end of the paper. Double-space the reference list and use a hanging indent for entries. Arrange entries in alphabetical order by author's last name. Works without an author should be in alphabetical order by the first significant word in the title.

All materials cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and all sources in the reference list must be cited in the text.

Below are examples of the most common kinds of references needed for a reference list. For more examples of entries consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, REF BF76.7 .P83, or visit http://www.apastyle.org.


Articles
General Form:

Author, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume, page numbers.

Examples:

Journal article, one author

Mellers, B.A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 910-924.

Journal article, two to six authors, journal paginated by issue

Klimoski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and the hiring process in organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 45(2), 10-36.

Note: for articles with more than six authors, list the first six authors and abbreviate the remaining authors as et al.

Magazine article.

Kandel, E.R. & Squire, L.R. (2000, November 10). Neuroscience: Breaking down scientific barriers to the study of brain and mind. Science, 290, 1113-1120.

Daily newspaper article, no author.

New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, p. A12.


Books

Also used for other nonperiodical items such as reports, brochures, manuals and audiovisual media.

General Form:

Author, A.A. (Year). Title of work. Location: Publisher.

Examples:

Book, two to six authors.

Beck, C.A.J., & Sales, B.D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts, myths, and future prospects. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Note: for books with more than six authors, list the first six authors and abbreviate the remaining authors as et al.

Edited book.

Gibbs, J.T., & Huang, L.N. (Eds.). (1991). Children of color: Psychological interventions with minority youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Book, no author or editor.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Encyclopedia or dictionary.

Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (6th ed., Vols. 1-20). London: Macmillan.

Article or chapter in an edited book, two editors.

Bjork, R.A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory. In H.L. Roediger III and F.I.M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory & consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Article or chapter in a reference work.

Bergmann, P.G. (1993). Relativity. In The New Encyclopedia Britannica (vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.


Electronic Sources
Online periodical - general form:

Author, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume, page numbers. Retrieved month day, year, from source.

Examples:

Electronic copy of a journal article, three to five authors, retrieved from a database.

Borman, W.C., Hanson, M.A., Oppler, S.H., Pulakos, E.D., & White, L.A. (1993). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 443-449. Retrieved October 23, 2000, from PsycARTICLES database.

Internet article based on a print source.

VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates [Electronic version]. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123.

Article in an Internet-only journal.

Frederickson, B.L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html.

Online document - general form:

Author, A.A. (Year). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from source.

Examples:

Stand-alone document, no author identified, no date.

GVU's 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.) Retrieved August 8, 2000, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1997-10/

Multipage document created by private organization, no date.

Greater New Milford (Ct) Area Healthy Community 2000, Task force on teen and adolescent issues. (n.d.) Who has time for a family meal? You do! Retrieved October 5, 2000 from http://www.familymealtime.org

U.S. government report available on government agency Web site, no publication date indicated.

United States Sentencing Commission (n.d.). 1997 Sourcebook of federal sentencing statistics. Retrieved December 8, 1999, from http://www.ussc.gov/annrpt/1997/sbtoc97.htm


In-Text Citations

In-text citations must be used when you quote an author directly or paraphrase. The in-text citation is usually placed at the end of the sentence or paragraph being quoted or paraphrased. In parentheses, give the author's last name, year of the publication, and page number. For electronic sources with no page numbers, use the paragraph symbol () or the abbreviation para. followed by the paragraph number. When paraphrasing an author, a page number is not required, but is recommended. Following are some examples of in-text citations based on the references listed above.


Journal article, one author.

(Mellers, 2000, p. 915).

Journal article, two to six authors.

(Klimoski & Palmer, 1993, p. 30-32).

Daily newspaper article, no author.

("New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure," 1993, p. A12).

Book, two to six authors.

(Beck & Sales, 2001, p 89).

Note: For 3-5 authors cite all authors the first time the reference occurs. Use one author plus "et al." after that. For 6 or more authors, list the first author and abbreviate the remaining authors as "et al" in the first and subsequent citations.

Article or chapter in a reference work.

(Bergmann, 1993, p.502)


For further assistance, please ask at the Reference Desk.



Jane Kessler
January 2002