For more complete information, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. (2001) REF BF 76.7 .P 83 2001 or go to the APA Web site at http://www.apastyle.org/. A style guide also appears in the Assumption College Student Handbook. Consult the Academic Support Center on the second floor of the library for assistance in using the APA style.
This guide is intended as a quick reference to the most common aspects of the APA style. It does not replace the resources mentioned in the first paragraph.
General guidelines for the works cited list (source: Assumption College Student Handbook, 2005-06 ed., 184.)
- Author’s names and order of entries
- Use last name and then first initial for all authors of a particular work
- Alphabetize entries by author’s last name
- List works by the same author in oldest to newest order
- List works that have one author before those that have the same name as the first author of a group for an entry or entries
- If no author is listed, alphabetize by title and use a shortened title for parenthetical citations
- Use “&” instead of “and” to list multiple authors of a single work
- Start the first line for an entry at the left margin and indent each subsequent line ½ inch from the left margin (hanging indent)
- Double-space all references
- Capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle
- Italicize titles of books and journals
Electronic Sources
General Guidelines (APA Manual, 269)
- Whenever possible, reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages
- Provide URL addresses that have live links
Examples:
Electronic copy of a journal article retrieved from database (APA Manual, 278-279)
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 (APA Manual, 271-272)
VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe J. (2001). Role of
reference elements in the selection of resources by
psychology undergraduates. Journal
of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved October
13,
2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html
Article in an Internet-only journal (APA Manual, 272)
Fredrickson, 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
Chapter or section in an Internet document (APA Manual, 273)
Benton Foundation. (1998, July 7). Barriers to closing
the gap. In Losing ground bit by bit: Low-income
communities in the information age
(chap. 2). Retrieved August 18, 2001, from
http://www.benton.org/Library/Low-Income/two.html
Articles
Basic components: (APA Manual, 239-240)
- Article authors
- Date of publication
- Article title
- Periodical title
- Publication information
- Volume
- Issue number only if each issue begins at page 1
- Page numbers
Examples:
Journal article with one author and one pagination sequence for the entire volume (APA Manual, 240)
Mellers, B. A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure
of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126,
910-924.
Journal article with two to six authors and one pagination sequence for the entire volume [List each author] (APA Manual, 240)
Saywitz, K. J., Mannarino, A. P., Berliner, L., & Cohen, J. A. (2000). Treatment for sexually abused children
and adolescents. American Psychologist, 55, 1040-1049.
Journal article with two to six authors when each issue begins at page 1 (APA Manual, 240)
Klimoski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and the hiring process in organizations. Consulting
Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 45(2), 10-36.
Journal article with more than six authors and one pagination sequence for the entire volume [use et al. after the sixth author] (APA Manual, 240-241)
Wolchik, S. A., West, S. G., Sandler, I. N., Tein, J., Coatsworth, D., Lengua, L., et al. (2000). An
experimental evaluation of theory-based mother and mother-child programs for children of divorce.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 843-856.
Magazine article [include month for monthlies or month and day for magazines published more frequently] (APA Manual, 241-242)
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.
Books
Basic components (APA Manual, 248)
- Book authors or editors
- If a book has more than six authors, use “et al.” after the sixth author
- Date of publication
- Book title
- Publication information
- City
- Publisher
Examples:
Basic example for a book (APA Manual, 248)
Beck, C. A. J., & Sales, B. D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts, myths, and future prospects. Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Book with edition number and Jr. in the name of an author (APA Manual, 248)
Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J. R., Jr. (1987). People in organizations: An introduction to organizational
behavior (3 rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Book with a group author as publisher (APA Manual, 248-249)
- Alphabetize group authors by the first significant word in the name
- When the author and publisher are identical, use the word “Author” as the name of the publisher
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1991). Estimated resident population by age and sex in statistical local
areas, New South Wales, June 1990 (No. 3209.1). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Author.
Edited book (APA Manual, 249)
Gibbs, J. T., & Huang, L. N. (Eds.). (1991). Children
of color: Psychological interventions with minority
youth. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Book, revised edition (APA Manual, 249)
Rosenthal, R., (1987). Meta-analytic procedures for
social research (Rev. ed.). Newbury Park CA: Sage.
Author or chapter in an edited book (APA Manual, 252)
Basic components
- Article or chapter author
- Date of publication
- Book editors
- Book title
- Article or chapter page numbers
- Publication information
- City
- Publisher
Example:
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.
Reference citations in the text of a paper
General Guidelines (APA Manual, 207-211)
- Cite the last name of the author(s) and the date of publication
- If an author appears as part of the narrative, only put the date in parentheses
- If the author’s name is not part of the narrative, put both the last name and the date in parentheses
- If a work has two authors, cite both names every time
- If a work has three, four, or five authors
- Cite all authors the first time
- Cite the first author followed by “et al.” for subsequent citations
- If the same reference is used more than once within a paragraph, omit the date for the additional references within that paragraph
- If a work has six or more authors, cite only the last name of the first author followed by “et al.” for all citations for that source, including the first citation
- If the above rules would produce two identical citations:
- include as many subsequent last names as needed to distinguish between the sources, ending with “et al.” if necessary
- Use “and” to join author names that are part of the narrative, but use “&” to join names that are cited within parentheses
- If two or more primary authors have the same last name, include the first author’s initial in all text citations, even if the publication dates are different
- Names of group authors are usually spelled out in full each time they are cited, but long names can be shortened in subsequent citations if doing so will not create difficulty in locating the correct citation in the reference list
Examples (APA Manual, 207-211):
One work by one author, mentioned as part of the narrative
Walker (2000) compared reaction times...
One work by one author, not mentioned in narrative
In a recent study of reaction times ( Walker, 2000)...
A work by three, four, or five authors, first citation
Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, Gerstman, and Rock (1994) found...
The same work as a subsequent citation but in a different paragraph
Wasserstein et al. (1994)...
The same work mentioned more than once within a paragraph
Wasserstein et al. found...
Two works that begin with the same names
Author names for first source: Kosslyn, Koenig, Barrett, Cave, Tang, and Gabrieli (1996)
Author names for second source: Kosslyn, Koenig, Gabrieli, Tang, Marsolek, and Daly (1996)
Cite first source in text: Kosslyn, Koenig, Barrett, et al. (1996)
Cite second source in text: Kosslyn, Koenig, Gabrieli, et al. (1996)
Two primary authors with the same last name
R. D. Luce (1959) and P. A. Luce (1986) also found
Long group author name
First citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1999)
Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 1999)
Group author that has a short name or where abbreviation would be unclear
All citations: (University of Pittsburgh, 1993)