Using APA Style in the Citing of Reference Sources: The

Reference List

Sullivan University Library

Where do I find examples of APA style?

• The manual that is used to describe APA style is the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

• Copies of this manual can be found at the Sullivan University Library.

• Web sites can also be found that contain APA style information.

Citing Sources

There are various types of information sources such as magazines, books, newspapers, and encyclopedias.

The APA style usually will follow a particular format for each of these publication types.

References typically contain the following information in APA format:

• Author(s) (if known)• Publication date• Title • Publication information• Retrieval information, including URL if any

APA Format

If a periodical (magazine or journal):

Author. (Date of publication). Title of article.

Title of Periodical, volume number, page

number(s).

APA Format

If a book:

Author. (Date of publication). Title of book.

Place of publication: Publisher.

APA Format

All references in APA format should be double-spaced and in a hanging indent format.

Jones, T. M. (1999). I have a great life.

Los Angeles: McGraw-Hill.

Hanging indent

Double-spaced

Author

The usual format of the author entry is:

Last name, [space] First initial of first name. [space] First initial of middle name (if available).

Here is an example of an author entry:

Franklin, W. J.

More than One Author

The names are listed in the order in which they appear. They are not listed in alphabetical order.

The ampersand symbol (&) for AND is used. The word AND is not spelled out.

More than One Author

The authors’ entry for co-authors named John Allen Smith and Bernard Ulysses Jones would look like this:

Smith, J. A., & Jones, B. U.

Please check the APA style manual for information about entries containing more than 2 authors.

What If The Author Is Unknown?

If an author or editor is unknown, the book or article title should be listed first (before the date entry).

APA states that the first significant word of the title should be listed if the title is placed in the author’s position.

Publication Date

The publication year is listed in parentheses after the author entry for a book or scholarly journal.

If the publication is a popular (general magazine), the month (or month and day) are included.

Publication Date

The date of an article published in the Journal of Marketing in 1995 would be listed as:

(1995). This is a scholarly journal.

The date of an article in Time published on May 8, 2000 would appear as:

(2000, May 8). This is a popular magazine.

Title & Publication Information

The title entry and other publication information appears after the date.

Periodical Title and Publication Information

Periodical article information, the periodical title, the volume number, and page numbers appear after the date of publication.

Author. [space] (Date). [space] Article title. [space] Publication

Title, [space] volume number, [space] page number(s).

Examples of Periodical Citations in the

Reference List

Example of a Popular Magazine Article:

Kandel, E. R., & Squire, L. R. (2000, November

10).  Nutrition: Vitamins and anti-aging. Time,

290, 49-53.

Example of a Scholarly Journal Article:

Mellers, B. A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure

of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 910-

924.

Periodical Title and Publication Information

Smith, J. A. (2003). Accounting in the future. Journal of

Accounting, 23(2), 23-45.

If a scholarly periodical is paginated by issue number, the issue number would appear in parentheses directly after the volume number.

Example:

Book Title and Publication Information

The book title, the place of publication, and publisher information appear after the date entry.

Author. [space] (Date). [space] Book title. [space] Place of Publication: [space] Publisher.

Book Title and Publication Information

Examples:

Jones, B. A. (2002). This amazing world. New York:

McGraw-Hill.

Wilson, J. A. (2003). Earth and the future. Lexington,

KY: University of Kentucky Book Press.

What About Citing the Web?

Web sites from the Internet or other online resources may sometimes be used in a paper.

What About Citing the Web?

Below is an example of what may be included in the citing of a World Wide Web site:

Last name of author, Initial of first name. Initial

of middle name. (Date). Title of web site.

Retrieved Date from the WWW, from web

address

The date specifies the date that the site was published on the Internet or the date of the last revision. If the date is unknown, use (n.d.).

Do not place a period after the web address.

This is the date that you retrieved the site from the

WWW.

What About Citing the Web?

Below is an example of a web site citation:

Doe, J. E. (2000, January 2). Popular music of the

1990’s. Retrieved November 5, 2000, from

http://www.popularmusic.com

The first word of the title is capitalized.

The title is italicized.

If the author is unknown, begin the citation with the title of the web site.

Citing Articles From an Electronic Database

Citing an article from an electronic database is very similar to citing an article found in a hard copy (print)

resource. However, a retrieval statement must be added.

The format for an article found in an electronic database is: *

Author. (Date). Title of article. Title of Publication,

volume number, page numbers.

Retrieved Date, from Database.

*NOTE: An issue number would be included for an article from a scholarly journal that is paginated by issue.

Citing Articles from an electronic database

Jones, J. S. (1999, July 9). Forecasting the future.

Forecast Magazine, 56, 45-56. Retrieved April

23, 2003, from ProQuest database.

Jenkins, K. (2003). Future of plastics. Journal of

Business Education, 76(3), 89-100. Retrieved

March 23, 2003, from Business Source Premier,

an EBSCOhost database.

Some examples:

Conclusion

This was just a short introduction.

Other types of sources, such as newspapers and pamphlets are formatted differently. An editor may need to be included in a reference citation.

Please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and your instructor for specific information.