American Psychological Association (APA) Citation Formats

Click on the type of citation to find instructions regarding the formatting of different types of citations.

1. “Quotations”

2. (In-text Citations)

3. Reference List Citations© Steven Khan (2008).

Quotations• Basic Principles:

– ACCURACY• Ensure that wording, spelling and punctuation follow original source.

• Use three (3) spaced ellipsis points (…) to indicate material omitted from an original source.

• Always include author(s), year and page no.

• Remember to include complete reference in reference list.

– Direct Quotations fewer than 40 words should be incorporated with the text and enclosed with double quotation marks “”.

– Direct Quotations of 40 or more words should be displayed in a Block Quote without the double quotation marks.

• Start a block quotation on a new line. Indent the block to the same position as a new paragraph, 5 spaces, ½ inch or one ‘tab’ mark. The block quote is still double spaced.

• APA Publication Manual (5th Edition), Section 3.34 – 3.39

Example 1: Direct Quote fewer than 40 words.• This example illustrates 2 quotes from the same paper.

The quotes begin in mid-sentence.– Ladson-Billings (2005) laments, “…schools struggle with the

notion of developing global citizens because of the limited view of citizenship that they offer students” (p.76) and suggests that, “…we must often look beyond school [italics added] in order to find opportunities for students to develop competencies for citizenship, especially global citizenship” (p.77).

• The bolded red sections include the author’s last name (Ladson-Billings), the year of publication (2005) and the page numbers (p.76 and p.77). Beyond school was not italicized in the original. Note the full-stop AFTER the page reference and the location of the quotation marks!

Example 2: Block Quote Salomon and Perkins (1998) identify

the ability to construct a repertoire of new representations or behaviors based on prior experience…the opportunity to test and select among alternative representations…or refine or combine them…feedback of some sort…about how well an alternative fares…information sources…guidance through self-regulation…an approachable but manageable level of challenge…[and] conditions that sustain motivation…(p.3)

as critical factors for learning by any entity in any context.

• In this block quote parts of sentences are omitted (…) and an insertion is made [and] to the original quote.

Example 3: Alternative format for direct quotes

She laments that, “…schools struggle with the notion of developing global citizens because of the limited view of citizenship that they offer students” (Ladson-Billings, 2005, p.76).

They identify

the ability to construct a repertoire of new representations or behaviors based on prior experience…the opportunity to test and select among alternative representations…or refine or

combine them…feedback of some sort…about how well an alternative fares…information sources…guidance through

self-regulation…an approachable but manageable level of challenge…[and] conditions that sustain motivation… (Salomon & Perkins, 1998, p.3)

as critical factors for learning by any entity in any context.

Notes on Quotes• Use square brackets [ ] when inserting material

into a quotation.

• If you italicize words in a quotation for emphasis insert [italics added] in brackets immediately after the change.

• I have used bold in the examples for emphasis, do not bold in citations.

Using Quotations Effectively

• Quotations are a form of primary evidence to be used to SUPPORT your argument. – Quotations should not be free standing and must be referred to,

interpreted and their significance explained for the reader in the context of your argument.

• Summarize or paraphrase the author’s words and limit your use of direct quotations.– Never use a quotation as a substitute for your own words,

because you think they have said it better than you could, a form of intellectual laziness.

• DO use quotations for definitions and key concepts which are essential to your argument.

In text (parenthetical) citations• Basic Principles:

– This is the more common form of citation and is to be used when you have paraphrased an author’s ideas or drawn something from their work which someone else might be interested in following up in the alphabetically arranged reference list.

• When the author’s name is used in the body of the sentence include only the year in parentheses after the author’s name.

• If you are not using the author’s name in the sentence then at the end of the sentence or immediately after the idea include the citation in the format (author, year) [for direct quotes include the page number].

• For a single multi-author publication use the last names only in the same order as they appear in the publication. Separate each by a comma. Use the ‘&’ symbol before the last author.

• For several different publications, separate each by a semi-colon ( ; ) and arrange the citations alphabetically by first authors.

Examples• The following is a paragraph which discusses and situates the

author’s particular perspective on ethnomathematics:– There is no single ethnomathematical perspective and no simple answer to

the question ‘What is Ethnomathematics (EM)?’ (Rowlands & Carson, 2002).

• Multiple authors– This is a reflection not merely of the differences of opinion among the

many advocates of EM but more importantly represents a healthy diversity of interests, foci, methodologies, and agendas of the various researchers and practitioners.

• A comment on the opening line of the paragraph.– Several definitions are offered in the literature (see for eg. Adam, Alangui

& Barton, 2003; Eglash, 1997), • Reference to multiple studies by different authors.

– however, I situate my own opinion with that of Adam et al. (2003) who stress that “ethnomathematics is not a pedagogic philosophy. Rather it is a lens through which mathematics itself can be viewed” (p.329)

• Direct quote, multiple authors which have been mentioned in same paragraph. – and extend it to include D’Ambrosio’s (1997) view that such a lens must

also be turned to look on other socio-cultural constructions and phenomena…

• Single author, last name included in body of sentence.

More on in-text citations

• For electronic documents whose pages are NOT NUMBERED give the Author, Year and Paragraph number, eg. (Francis, 2007, ¶ 4).– IF there are HEADINGS use the section heading

and the paragraph number in that section. Eg. (Francis, 2007, Method section, ¶ 4).

– IF there is no date use the abbreviation (n.d.) in place of the year in the citation. [See the section on correctly referencing online documents & web pages].

Secondary Citations• If you are unable to locate primary source material and

wish to cite another person’s interpretation of the material the citation of the work under discussion is followed by “as cited in” and the work in which the reference is actually discussed follows as in the following example:

(Jones, Smith & Jones, 1983, as cited in Brown, 2007)Jones, Smith and Jones (1983, as cited in Brown, 2007) discuss…

NB 1: Only the Brown reference goes in the reference list!

NB 2: Citations within quotes must NOT be omitted. These do not have to be in the reference list unless you have actually used and cite those references elsewhere in your paper/report/study.

In text citation formats for specified types of sources

• Types of sources:– Single study by individual author.– Single study by multiple authors.– Single study by a group/corporation.– Multiple studies in same parentheses.– Personal communications.

• APA Publication Manual (5th Edition), Section 3.94 – 3.103

Single study by an Individual Author

• APA uses the author surname-year citation method. The author’s surname and the year the source material was published in the text at appropriate points or in parentheses.

• Jones (2007) examined indiscipline…

• A recent report on indiscipline (Jones, 2007) showed…

• In 2007 Jones’ report on indiscipline showed…

• In the SAME paragraph the year does NOT have to be repeated in subsequent citations AS LONG AS there is no chance that the study can be confused with another in the reference list.

• Jones (2007) report revealed that….Jones also found that…

Single study by Multiple Authors• For 2 authors, cite both EVERY time.

• Khan and Jones (2005)… (Khan & Jones, 2005)

– NB: The word ‘and’ is spelt out in citations in the body of a sentence and the ‘&” sign is used in parenthetical citations.

• For 3, 4 or 5 authors cite ALL the first time and the first author ONLY followed by “et al.” and the year in subsequent citations.– The year can be omitted in the second and subsequent citations

within the same paragraph.• Khan, Jones, and Khan (2006) found…Khan et al. (2006) also found…

Finally, Khan et al. concluded that…

• For 6 or more authors cite only the first author’s surname followed by et al. and the year in all subsequent citations.– In the reference list all the authors must be listed however.

Single study by a group/corporation• Organizations and groups also publish reports. These

need to be spelt out fully the first time they appear in a text citation. They can be abbreviated subsequently if they are well known eg. UNESCO, IMF and if doing so would not make it difficult or confusing to locate the reference in the reference list. In other cases the name must be spelt out fully each time it appears in the text.

• First text citation: The International Monetary Fund [IMF] (1999).

• Next citation: In the same report (IMF, 1999)…

– Previously used abbreviations should be spelt out fully the first time they appear in the major subsequent sections of a report. For example the IMF should be spelt out at its first use in the Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results etc.

Multiple studies in same parentheses.• When you wish to refer simultaneously to two or more

works by the same author(s), order the citations chronologically from earliest and separate each by a comma.

• Several studies of school violence (Jones, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2004)…

• For two works by different authors cite the authors alphabetically by surname, separate each by a semi-colon.

• Several studies of teen violence (Brown, 1999; Jones, 1986, 1991; Jones & Mohammed, 2003)

Personal communications

• These include letters, memos, emails, personal interviews etc. where the material is not available to any other scholar. These are cited in the text only. In this case the initials of the communicator are also used and the date is given as exactly as possible.

• M. Jones (personal communication, February 17, 2008).

Reference List Citations• Basic Principles:

– Only includes recoverable material, so exclude personal communications and cite these only in the text.

• Reference list must match exactly the citations in the body of the paper.

– Provide sufficient and complete information so that an interested reader can easily locate the source on their own.

• Usually contains the following:

• Author(s), year of publication, title, (type of publication) publisher, where published.

• Pay particular attention to location of commas, full stops and italicizing in APA styles.

– The Reference List is also double spaced and entries should have a hanging indent, i.e. the first line of a reference entry is flush left with the margin and each subsequent line of the same reference citation is indented 5 spaces, ½ inch or 1 tab mark.

Order of items in the Reference List

• Alphabetical by surnames of first authors– IF there are several works by the same first author (or

same set of authors in the same order) • Order these from earliest to latest.

• Place single author entries before multiple author entries.

– If the second or some subsequent authors are different, order the reference alphabetically by the surname of the second author or the author where there is a difference.

Most common types of References• Article in a Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journal/

Periodical.• Entire Book.• Single Chapter in an edited collection.• Conference Proceedings• Theses & Dissertations• Article in a completely Online (peer reviewed)

Journal.• Online document (not peer reviewed).• Audiovisual Media• Newspaper articles

Article in a Scholarly Journal/Periodical– Author, A. A., Author B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of publication). Title

of Article. Title of periodical, Volume Number(Issue), pages.

• Ben-Yehuda, M., Lavy, I., Linchevski, L., & Sfard, A. (2005). Doing wrong with words: What bars students’

access to arithmetical discourses. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 36(3), 176-247.

– Authors: Ben-Yehuada, M., Lacy, I., Linchevsky, L. & Sfard, A.

– Year: 2005

– Article Title: Doing wrong with words:…

– Periodical: Journal for Research in Mathematics Education

– Volume: 36

– Issue Number: 3

– Pages: 176-247.

» Note hanging indent after first line.

» Journal Title and Volume ONLY are italicized.

Entire Book– Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work in

italics (edition). Where published: Publisher

• Fink, A. (2005). Conducting research literature reviews (2nd ed.). California: Sage Publications Inc.

Single Chapter in an edited collection.

– Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter not italicized. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book italicized (pp. start-end). Where published: Publisher.

• Robitaille, D. F., & Travers, K. J. (1992). International studies of achievement in

mathematics. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics

teaching and learning (pp. 687-709). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Articles in Conference Proceedings or Presented at Conferences

• Regularly published proceedings are treated as periodicals.

• Khan, S. K. (2005). Harnessing the complexity of children’s consumer culture. In Proceedings of the

3rd Complexity Science and Education Research Conference (CSER), Baton Rouge, LA. November,

• Op’ T Eynde, P., & De Corte, E. (2003). Students’ mathematics related belief systems: Design and Analysis of a questionnaire. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago IL, April 2003.

Theses & Dissertations

• Give the University and year of the dissertation/thesis.– For Master’s theses give the name of the city

and state.

Article in a completely Online Journal• Include the author, date, title, date of

retrieval and a working address [URL]. The URL is the most important part as it allows retrieval.

Audiovisual Media• Give name and function of originator or primary contributors

(director or producers). Give the title of the production. Indicate its nature (motion picture, television series etc.) in brackets. Give the country of origin as well as studio.– Wachowski, L., & Wachowski, A. (Writers/Directors).

(1999). The Matrix [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner-Brothers.

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

• For musical recordings give the writer of the track, date of copyright, title of song [recorded by if this is different from the writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording – CD/LP/Cassette]. Locaton: Label. [Recording date if different from copyright date].– Eminem (2002). Square Dance. On The Eminem Show [CD].

USA: Interscope Records