Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
Concise Rules of APA Style by DOI Electronic articles and books now use the DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which is a unique number supplied by the publisher. Not all references have DOIs, in which case you will still need to provide the home page URL (or a persistent/permanent URL to the item, if available).
Retrieval Dates Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material may change over time (e.g., wikis).
Other changes in the 6th ed. include : "In general, it is not necessary to include database information." (p. 192)
"Some archival documents (e.g., discontinued journals, monographs, dissertations, or papers not formally published) can only be found in electronic databases such as ERIC or JSTOR. When the document is not easily located through its primary publishing channels, give the home or entry page URL for the online archive." (p.192)
If you do not find an example that exactly matches what you need to cite, choose one that is closest to yours and follow that format. "When in doubt, provide more information rather than less." (p. 193)
Quick APA Links:
Additional resources for APA style.
The correct form of abbreviation must be used in reference lists:
| ed. | edition |
| Rev. ed. | Revised edition |
| 2nd ed. | second edition |
| Ed. (Eds.) | Editor (Editors) |
| Trans. | Translators |
| n.d. | no date |
| p. (pp.) | Page (pages) |
| Vol. | Volume (as in Vol. 4) |
| Vols. | Volumes (as in 4 vols.) |
| Tech. Rep. | Technical Report |
| Suppl. | supplement |
Note: Abbreviations are used in some circumstances. For example, in a work with multiple editions, it is important to include this information after the title, like this: (4th ed.). As with all citation, your use of abbreviations is on a case-by-case basis. In a typical academic journal, you do not need to mention the "Vol." for Volume. However, when you have a multi-volume work, such as a print encyclopedia, you do need to clarify which Volume or Volumes you are using.
Examples of how to format sources for your reference list.
| Book, One Author |
|
Berry, W. (1981). The gift of good land. San Francisco: NorthPoint. |
| Book, Two or More Authors |
|
Winston, B. L., Reinhart, M. L., Sacker, J. R., Gottlieb, W., Oscar, B., & Harris, D.P. (1980). Nepal in crisis: Growth and stagnation at the periphery. Delhi: Oxford University Press. |
| Book, with Editor instead of Author |
|
Del Castillo, A. R. (Ed.). (1990). Between borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana history. Encino: Floricanto. |
| Scholarly Article, in print, from Journal with Continuous Pagination |
|
Mivedev, Z. (1990). The environmental destruction of the Soviet Union. The Ecologist, 20, 24-29. |
| Scholarly Article, in print, from Journal with Separate Pagination |
|
Ayoade, J. (1989). The culture debate in Africa. The Black Scholar, 20(2-3), 2-7. |
|
Scholarly Article, online (with DOI*) |
|
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(3), 443-449. DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.78.3.443 |
| Scholarly Article, online (without DOI) |
|
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(3), 443-449. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org |
| Newspaper Article, online |
|
Nikesh, A. (2008, May 18). Online revolution: Adapt or die. Sunday Times. Retrieved from http://www.timesonline.co.uk |
| E-book (with DOI) |
|
Schiraldi, G. R. (2001). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth [Adobe Digital Editions version]. DOI:10.1036/0071393722 |
| Encyclopedia Article, online |
|
Graham, G. (2005). Behaviorism. In E.N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2007 ed.). Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/ |
| Web Page |
|
Nunley, K. (2001). The caffeine craze of youth. Retrieved from http://help4teachers.com/caffeine.htm |
| Web Page, No Author |
|
Women and the Economy: A Project of UNPAC.(2006). Globalization and clothes. Retrieved from: http://unpac.ca/economy/g_clothes.html |
| Online Video/Movie |
|
Norton, R. (2006, November 4). How to train a cat to operate a light switch [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vja83KLQXZs |
APA Examples:
The global debt crisis is having a strong impact on women and children in developing nations (Bronstein, 1982, p. 277).
--OR--
Bronstein (1982) contends the global debt crisis is having a strong impact on women and children in developing nations (p. 277).
For electronic sources that have no page number, give the paragraph number, e.g., para 4.