Reference Citations in Text

In APA style, citations to sources are placed in the text of the paper in order to briefly identify sources for readers and enable them to locate the source of the cited information in the Reference List. These parenthetical (in text) references include the author's last name and the year of publication enclosed in parentheses. Citations are placed within sentences and paragraphs so that it is clear what information is being quoted or paraphrased and whose information is being cited.

Examples:

Works by a Single Author

The last name of the author and the year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate point.

from theory on bounded rationality (Simon, 1945)

If the name of the author or the date appear as part of the narrative cite only missing information in parentheses.

Simon (1945) posited that

In 1945 Simon posited that

Works by Multiple Authors

When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text. In parenthetical material join the names with an ampersand (&).

as has been shown (Leiter & Maslach, 1998)

In the narrative text, join the names with the word "and."

as Leiter and Maslach (1998) demonstrated

When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs.

Kahneman, Knetsch, & Thaler (1991) found

In all subsequent citations per paragraph, include only the surname of the first author followed by "et al." (Latin for "and others") and the year of publication.

Kahneman et al. (1991) found

Works by Associations, Corporations, Government Agencies, etc.

The names of groups that serve as authors (corporate authors) are usually written out each time they appear in a text reference.

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2007)

When appropriate, the names of some corporate authors are spelled out in the first reference and abbreviated in all subsequent citations. The general rule for abbreviating in this manner is to supply enough information in the text citation for a reader to locate its source in the Reference List without difficulty.

(NIMH, 2007)

Works with No Author

When a work has no author, use the first two or three words of the work's title (omitting any initial articles) as your text reference, capitalizing each word.

the book College Bound Seniors (1979)

Place the title in quotation marks if it refers to an article or chapter of a book, or italicize it if it refers to a book, periodical, brochure, or report.

on free care ("Study Finds," 1982)

Anonymous authors should be listed as such followed by a comma and the date.

on free care (Anonymous, 1998) 

Specific Parts of a Source

To cite a specific part of a source (always necessary for quotations), include the page, chapter, etc. (with appropriate abbreviations) in the in-text citation.

(Cheek & Buss, 1981, p. 332)

(Shimamura, 1989, chap. 3)

Miele (1993) found that "the 'placebo effect,' which had been verified ... were studied in this manner" (p. 276)

If page numbers are not included in electronic sources, provide the paragraph number preceded by the paragraph symbol or the heading and following paragraph.

(Myers, 2000 ¶ 5)

(Beutler, 2000, Conclusion section, para. 1)

Reference List

References cited in the text of a research paper must appear in a Reference List or bibliography. This list provides the information necessary to identify and retrieve each source.

• Entries should be arranged in alphabetical order by authors' last names. Sources without authors are arranged alphabetically by title within the same list.
• Write out the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work.
• Capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle, and any proper names that are part of a title.
• Use an ampersand (&) instead of the word "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work.
• Use the abbreviation p. or pp. to designate page numbers of articles from periodicals that do not use volume numbers, especially newspapers. These abbreviations are also used to designate pages in encyclopedia articles and chapters from edited books.
• Indentation *: The first line of the entry is flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented (5 to 7 spaces) to form a "hanging indent".
• Underlining vs. Italics *: It is appropriate to use italics instead of underlining for titles of books and journals.

* The APA has special formatting standards for the use of indentation and italics in manuscripts or papers that will be typeset or submitted for official publication. For more detailed information on these publication standards, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, or consult with your instructors or editors to determine their style preferences.

Examples:

Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers
References to periodical articles must include the following elements: author(s), date of publication, article title, journal title, volume number, issue number (if applicable), and page numbers.

Journal Article, one author

Sweeny, K. (2008). Crisis decision theory: Decisions in the face of negative events. Psychological Bulletin, 134(1), 61-76.

Journal Article, two authors

Sanchez, D. & King-Toler, E. (2007). Addressing disparities consultation and outreach strategies for university settings. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 59(4), 286-295.

Journal Article, more than two authors

Van Vugt, M., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2008). Leadership, followership, and evolution: Some lessons from the past. American Psychologist, 63(3), 182–196.

Magazine article

Kluger, J. (2008, January 28). Why we love. Time, 171(4), 54-60.

Newspaper article, no author

As prices surge, Thailand pitches OPEC-style rice cartel. (2008, May 5). The Wall Street Journal, p. A9.

Newspaper article, multiple authors, discontinuous pages

Delaney, K. J., Karnitschnig, M., & Guth, R. A. (2008, May 5). Microsoft ends pursuit of Yahoo, reassesses its online options. The Wall Street Journal, pp. A1, A12.

Books
References to an entire book must include the following elements: author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, title, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

No Author or Editor

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

One Author

Kidder, T. (1981). The soul of a new machine. Boston: Little, Brown & Company.

Two Authors

Frank, R. H., & Bernanke, B. (2007). Principles of macro-economics (3rd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Corporate Author, Author as Publisher

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2000). Tasmanian year book 2000 (no. 1301.6). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Author.

Edited book

Gibbs, J. T., & Huang, L. N. (Eds.). (2001). Children of color: Psychological interventions with culturally diverse youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Essays or Chapters in Edited Books
References to an essay or chapter in an edited book must include the following elements: essay or chapter authors, date of publication, essay or chapter title, book editor(s), book title, essay or chapter page numbers, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

One Author

Massaro, D. (1992). Broadening the domain of the fuzzy logical model of perception. In H. L. Pick Jr., P. van den Broek, & D. C. Knill (Eds.), Cognition: Conceptual and methodological issues (pp. 51-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Two Editors

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

Encyclopedias or Dictionaries and Entries in an Encyclopedia
References for encyclopedias must include the following elements: author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, title, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

Encyclopedia set or dictionary

Sadie, S., & Tyrrell, J. (Eds.). (2002). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (2nd ed., Vols. 1-29). New York: Grove.

Encyclopedia article

Bergman, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501- 508). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Technical and Research Reports
References to a report must include the following elements: author(s), date of publication, title, place of publication, and name of publisher. If the issuing organization assigned a number (e.g., report number, contract number, or monograph number) to the report, give that number in parentheses immediately after the title. Additional information is included when a report is published by the Government Printing Office (GPO) or when it is available from a document deposit service such as NTIS or ERIC.

Government report

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2005). Medicaid drug price comparisons: Average manufacturer price to published prices (OIG publication No. OEI-05-05-00240). Washington, DC: Author.

Government report, GPO Publisher

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S.

Report available from document deposit service

Osgood, D. W., & Wilson, J. K. (1990). Covariation of adolescent health problems. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. (NTIS No. PB 91-154 377/AS)

Audio-Visual Media
References to audio-visual media must include the following elements: name and function of the primary contributors (e.g., producer, director), date, title, the medium in brackets, location or place of production, and name of the distributor. If the medium in indicated as part of the retrieval ID, brackets are not needed (see example for Audio Recording).

Videocassette/DVD

Achbar, M. (Director/Producer), Abbott, J. (Director), Bakan, J. (Writer), & Simpson, B. (Producer) (2004). The corporation [DVD]. Canada: Big Picture Media Corporation.

Audio Recording

Costa, P. T., Jr. (Speaker). (1988). Personality, continuity, and changes of adult life (Cassette Recording No. 207-433-88A-B). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Motion Picture

Gilbert, B. (Producer), & Higgins, C. (Screenwriter/Director). (1980). Nine to five [Motion Picture]. United States: Twentieth Century Fox.

Television Broadcast

Crystal, L. (Executive Producer). (1993, October 11). The MacNeil/Lehrer news hour [Television broadcast]. New York and Washington, DC: Public Broadcasting Service.

Television Series

Miller, R. (Producer). (1989). The mind [Television series]. New York: WNET.

Music Recording

Jackson, M. (1982). Beat it. On Thriller [CD]. New York: Sony Music.

Electronic Media and Online Sources
APA's recommendations for citing electronic media call for consistent observation of at least two important guidelines: 1) Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited -- whenever possible, reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages; 2) Provide addresses that work. At a minimum, a reference of an Internet source should provide a document or title description, a "date" (either the date of publication, update, or date of retrieval), and an address (in Internet terms, a URL). Whenever possible, identify the authors of the document as well.

Internet articles based on a print source (exists in print and online)

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

Moerman, D. E. (2003, June). "Placebo" versus "meaning": The case for a change in our use of language. Prevention & Treatment, 6(1). Retrieved May 6, 2008, from http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=2003-07872-007

Journal article from a database

Choi, J. (2008). Event justice perceptions and employees' reactions: Perceptions of social entity justice as a moderator. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 513-528. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from PsycARTICLES database.

Article from an online encyclopedia

Containerization. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9026035

Professional web site

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2008). Biofuels. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from: http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_biofuels.html

Document available on university program or department site

Chou, L., McClintock, R., Moretti, F., & Nix, D. H. (1993). Technology and education: New wine in new bottles: Choosing pasts and imagining educational futures. Retrieved August 24, 2000, from Columbia University, Institute for Learning Technologies Web site: http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/papers/newwine1.html

Entire web site
When citing an entire web site (and not a specific document on that site), no Reference List entry is required if the address for the site is cited in the text of your paper.

Witchcraft In Europe and America is a site that presents the full text of many essential works in the literature of witchcraft and demonology (http://www.witchcraft.psmedia.com/).

Some of the examples above were taken from the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Find the most up-to-date information about APA citation style for electronic media from their web site as well as APA's responses to queries about APA citation style. For detailed information on APA citation style such as information on articles in press, journal special issues and supplements, translations, newsletters, or books that have been revised, translated, issued in multivolume sets et cetera, see the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.

Other citation guides and useful web sites:

Purdue University Online Writing Lab's APA Formatting and Style Guide
Harnack & Kleppinger's Online! a reference guide to using internet sources
Landmark's Son of Citation Machine

Other documentation styles:

• The Chicago Manual of Style
• MLA Style

Prepared by Cornell University Library PSEC Documentation Committee
Nov. 2002; Revised May 2008