APA Style Guide

APA STYLE GUIDE

The American Psychological Association (APA) has developed guidelines for the written presentation of research.  The complete rules appear in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6^th ed. (shelved in the Reference Section and at the Circulation Desk).  Examples of types of commonly cited works appear below.  Please check with your instructor for more specific information.

General Information

• Use a separate page for your reference list.
• Use 12 point Times Roman or Courier type. 
• Arrange citations alphabetically by author’s last name.
• Double space within all entries.
• Use hanging indents.  See the Publication Manual of the APA, section 8.03 for instructions.

Citing Sources in Text

            APA uses the author-date system for citations in the text of your paper.  These citations refer the reader to the Reference List at the end of the paper.  Below are examples of in-text citations:          

·         One Work by One Author- Viviano (1995) sees advantages in this line of defense.

·         One Work by Multiple Authors- Viviano, Smith, and Johnson (1994) found that native people have little to lose by adopting these practices.

·         Groups as Authors- (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1999) have taken a somewhat different approach.

References

            The Reference list appears at the end of your paper and should include only the sources used in the research and preparation of the paper.  Each reference in the Reference List should be directly cited in the text. Detailed information on preparing a Reference List can be found in The Publication Manual of the APA—see chapter 6 for detailed information on how to cite different types of materials, and see chapter 7 for detailed information on formatting the Reference List—or Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

Helpful websites: Guides to APA style

JCTC’s Research Guide on Citations <http://jefferson.kctcs.libguides.com/citations>

APA Style web site “Electronic References” <http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html>

University of Iowa.  Guide to Citation Style Guides <http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/journalism/cite.html>

University of Maryland University Libraries < http://www.umuc.edu/library/guides/apa.shtml >

More helpful websites: Input and print citations

EasyBib <http://www.easybib.com/> (Note: Must pay for subscription to use APA)

KnightCite Citation Service <http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php>

Son of Citation Machine < http://citationmachine.net/>

Print Sources

Books, Book Chapters and Entries in Anthologies

Book with a single author:

Author last name, Author first name initial. (Year published). Title of book. City where published: Company that published.

Von Borries, P. (2010). The Louisville baseball almanac. Charleston, SC: The History Press.

Book with two or more authors (but less than six authors):

Author last name, Author first name initial, & 2^nd Author last name, First name initial. (Year published). Title of book. City where published: Company that published.

Firestone, R.W., & Catlett, J. (1999). Fear of intimacy. Washington, DC: American

 Psychological Association.

Article or individual chapter in a book:

Article author last name, First initial. (Year published). Title of article or chapter. In Book author’s first initial. Last name, Title of book (page numbers). City where published: Company that published.

Vigil, J.D. (2005).  Young people join gangs because of social marginalization. In W. Dudley and L.I. Gerdes (Eds.), Gangs: Opposing viewpoints (pp. 79-89).  Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Encyclopedias

Entry with a named author:

Author last name, First initial. (Year published). Entry title. In Name of encyclopedia (Vol. #, page #). City where published: Company that published.

Calabrese, R.L. (2000). Alienation.  In Encyclopedia of psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 116-118). New

York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Entry without a named author:

Entry title. (Year published). In Name of encyclopedia (Vol. #). City where published: Company that published.

Egoism. (2010). In The new encyclopedia Britannica: Micropedia (Vol. 4). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Magazine, Journal and Newspaper Articles

A periodical is a publication that appears regularly at a fixed interval (e.g. a newspaper, a magazine or a scholarly journal). Names of newspapers should be properly capitalized and underlined or italicized.  Use p. or pp. before single or multiple page numbers respectively. Separate discontinuous pages with a comma.  For example, the article below started on page B1 and continued on page B7. 

Print Magazine:

Author last name, First initial. (Year published). Article title. Magazine title, volume #(issue #), page numbers.

Sanneh, K. (2011, March 7). Fish tales.  New Yorker, 25(3), 38-43.

Print Journal article:

Author  last name, First initial. (Year published). Article title. Journal title, volume#(issue#), page #.

Rosenblum, S., Sachs, D., & Schreuer, N. (2010). Reliability and validity of the children’s leisure assessment scale. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(4), 633-641.

Newspaper Entry with author:

Author last name, First name initial. (Year published). Article title. Newspaper Title, page#.

Norris, F. (2011, April 22).  After years of red flags, a conviction.  The New York Times, pp. B1, B7.

Newspaper Entry without author:

Article title. (Year published). Newspaper Title, page #.

Air controller suspended for watching DVD on job. (2011, April 19). The Courier-Journal, p. A6.

Electronic Sources

Books and Encyclopedias

Electronic book (from a source such as NetLibrary, Google Books or an e-Reader):

Author last name, First name initial. (Year published). Title of book. Retrieved from URL

Bell-Vilada, G.H. (2009). Garcia Marquez: The man and his work (2nd ed.). [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/

Skloot, R. (2010) The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. [Kindle version]. Available from Amazon.com 

Electronic Encyclopedia found through subscription database:

Author last name, First name initial. (Year published). Entry title. Name of encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://someaddress.com/

Mussen, P. (2011). Psychology. Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved from

http://ea.grolier.com/

Wikipedia (may not be accepted by your instructor):

Title of document.  (Date published). Retrieved from http://someaddress.com/full/URL

Mountaintop removal mining. (2004, July 22). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/

Journal, Magazine & Newspaper Articles

Please note, that while many online services offer citation tools for their articles, these citations are not 100% accurate. That is why it is important to check generated citations for accuracy.

Electronic Magazine article found through a subscription database:

Author last name, First name initial. (Year published). Article title. Magazine title, volume#(issue#), page #.

Borowitz, A. (2004, November 15). Pavlov’s brother. New Yorker, 80(35), 63.

Electronic Journal article found through a subscription database:

Author  last name, First initial. (Year published). Article title. Journal title, volume#(issue#), page #.

Hughes, J., Brestan, E., Christens, B., Klinger, L., & Valle, L. (2004). Problem-solving interactions between mothers and children. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 26(1), 1-16.

***Recent changes in APA style call for the use of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).  If no DOI is available, use a URL. Your instructor may ask you to use DOIs in accordance with the latest APA changes.

Entry with DOI inclusion:

Sagarin, B.J., & Lawler-Sagarin, K.A. (2005). Critically evaluating competing theories: An exercise based on the Kitty Genovese murder. Teaching of Psychology, 32(3), 167-169. doi:10.1207/s15328023top3203_8

Entry from an online newspaper:

Author last name, First name initial. (Year published). Article title. Newspaper Title. Retrieved from http://someaddress.com/

Carpenter, S. (2001, October). Sleep deprivation may be undermining teen health.  APA Monitor. 

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/

Newspaper article found on a subscription database:

Author last name, First Name initial. (Year published). Article title. Newspaper Title, page#. Retrieved from http://someaddress.com/

Markoff, J. (2011, April 26). Digging deeper, seeing farther: supercomputers alter science. New York Times, p. D.1.

Films and Video-recordings

Motion Picture:

Producer last name, First initial. (Producer) & Director last name, First initial. (Director). (Year released). Title of film [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio.

Rosellini, A. & Madigan-Yorkin, A. (Producers) & Granik, D. (Director). (2010). Winter’s bone [Motion Picture]. United States: Lionsgate.

Films on Demand:

Title of video. (Year released). [Medium]. Retrieved from Database's URL on the web

Accepting Life's Transitions. (1998). [Online video]. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com

Online Sources

Citing online sources can be confusing.  Refer to the Publication Manual of the APA or Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) for details on citing various electronic sources including e-mail and web pages. 

Web Page (author):

Author last name, First initial. (Date). Web page title. Retrieved from URL

Roudik, P. (2011, February 9).  Russian federation: New law on police.  Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/

Web Page (no author):

Web page title. (Date). Retrieved from URL

What is Alzheimer’s. (2011, April 20). Retrieved from http://www.alz.org/

Chapter or section on a Web Page:

Name of organization. (Date). Web page chapter or section title. In Web Page Title. Retrieved from URL.

National Institute of Mental Health. (2009, January 23). What conditions can coexist with ADHD? In Adolescent Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/