APA Citation is most commonly used in Psychology, Education & Social Sciences.
A print copy of the APA manual is available at the Research Help Desk in the Academic Commons:
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Call Numbers:
(GAC) Ready Ref. BF76.7 .P83 2020
(CRC) Ref. 808 PUB
NOTE: All citations shall be double-spaced with the second line indented.
ARTICLE FROM A JOURNAL
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of the article. Journal Title, volume number (issue number), pages. DOI number.
Example: Ke, F., & Hoadley, C. (2009). Evaluating online learning communities. Educational Technology Research & Development, 57(4), 487-510. doi:10.1007/s11423-009-9120-2
Without a DOI (Hardcopy)
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of the article. Journal Title, volume number (issue number), pages.
Example: Carter, K. (1995). Teaching stories and local understandings. Journal of Educational Research, 88(6), 326-330.
Without a DOI (Database or Website)
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of the article. Journal Title, volume number (issue number), pages. Retrieved from website
Example: Goral, T. (2009). The sustainable learning community. University Business, 12(7), 18. Retrieved from http://www.universitybusiness.com/
NOTE: Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any subtitles, as well as the first letter of any proper nouns. The full title of the book, including any subtitles, should be stated and italicized.
NOTE: When a reference has up to seven authors, spell out all authors names in the reference list.
NOTE: Use the following in-text citation example: (Ke et al., 2009).
ARTICLE FROM A MAGAZINE
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year, Month of publication). Title of the article. Magazine Title, volume number(issue), pages.
Example: Zimmer, C. (2009, July/August). The brain. Discover, 30(7), 24-25.
ARTICLE FROM A NEWSPAPER
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of the article. Newspaper Title, pages. Discontinuous pages are separated by commas
Example: Poirot, C. (2004, March 17). HIV prevention pill goes beyond 'morning after'. The Hartford Courant, pp. F1, F6.
BOOK BY A SINGLE AUTHOR
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of the book. Place of Publication: Publisher name.
Example: Staff, F.E. (1969). The valentine & its origins. New York: Frederick A. Praeger.
WEBSITE
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year, Month Day of publication or date of last revision, if known). Title of the website/article. Retrieved from URL.
Example: Burka, L. P. (1993). A hypertext history of multi-user dimensions. Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~hceng028/m-hist.txt.
VIDEO
Format: Author's last name, Initial(s). [Screen name]. (Year, Month Day of publication).Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL
Example: BBC News. (2015, February 23). Astronomers discover 7 Earth-sized planets [Video file]. Retrieved from https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=YouTube.be&v=xLxrCRfBdi0
In-Text (Paraphrase or Quote): (Author Surname OR Screen name, Year)
DOI: Digital Object Identifier
The DOI is a set of numbers and/or letters given to individual journal articles.
You should include the DOI for articles retrieved online or from hardcopy
The database might give the DOI in the citation section. If not, then you may find it at the top or bottom of the first page
When you have a DOI, you do not need to include the web address
When you do not have a DOI, you must include the URL of the journal's homepage from the publisher's website. If this URL is too long, you may use the publisher's
homepage. You may have to search for this website online.
Do not use the direct URL of the article and do not use the database name or URL
(exceptions; a dissertation, an ERIC document or older JSTOR article)
Older hardcopy journals will not have a DOI, so you will cite it without one
Some useful online resources include:
APA Style Website:
The Basics of APA Style - APA Video (ONLY Internet Explorer)
What's New in the Sixth Edition - APA Video (ONLY Internet Explorer)
UMUC Library:
APA Citation Examples
Ezcelsior College OWL:
APA References - 7th Edition
Mendeley:
Mendeley Ultimate Citation Cheat Sheet (APA & MLA)
- Download PDF
Purdue OWL:
APA - 6 YouTube Video Series
UMUC Library:
How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - APA Style
The following guides may prove useful as you begin your search for articles...