AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APA) FORMAT (5th Edition)

 

This crib sheet is a guide to the APA style and is not intended to replace the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition. Only selected examples were chosen for inclusion here.  For other examples, see the printed Manual.  When using the APA format it is important to remember that the intent of the Publication Manual is to assist the editorial staff of APA journals in typesetting. This crib sheet it intended for use for students writing term papers.  Therefore according to APA, you may relax the APA's rules in some cases to make it more readable. Students should find out whether their instructor has rules that take precedence over those of the Publication Manual.

 

Journal Article, One Author

Simon, A. (2000). Perceptual comparisons through the mind’s eye. Memory & Cognition, 23,

     635-647.

 

Journal Article, Two Authors

Becker, M. B., & Rozek, S. J. (1995). Welcome to the energy crisis. Journal of Social Issues,

     32, 230-343.

 

Magazine Article, one author

Garner, H. J. (1997, July). Do babies have a universal song? Psychology Today,102, 70-77.

 

Newspaper Article, No Author

Study finds free care used more. (1982, April 3). Wall Street Journal, pp. A1, A25.

 

Book, Two Authors

Strunk, W., & White, E. B. (1979).  The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.

 

Edited Book

Letheridge, S., & Cannon, C. R. (Eds.). (1980). Bilingual education. New York: Praeger.

 

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

Sheets, B. (2006). The cost of lingering arm injuries. In B. Selig,. & W. Selig (Eds.), A compilation of long stories (pp. 211-234).

     Milwaukee, WI: MB Press.

 

ERIC Document

Peterson, K. (2002). Welfare-to-work programs: Strategies for success (Report No. EDO-JC-02-04). Washington D.C.: Office of

     Educational Research and Improvement. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED467985)

 

Entry in an Encyclopedia

Imago. (2000). In World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 10, p. 79).  Chicago: World Book Encyclopedia.

 

Report from a Private Organization

Kimberly-Clark. (2002). Kimberly-Clark (Annual Report). Dallas, TX: Author.

 

Brochure

Minnesota Coconut Growers Association. (2008). Growing coconuts for fun and profit [Brochure]. Crookston, MN: Author.

 

Dissertation

Olsen, G. W. (1985). Campus child care within the public supported post-secondary educational institutions in the

     state of Wisconsin (dare care) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985). Dissertations Abstracts

     International, 47/03, 783.

 

Videotape

Mass, J. B. (Producer), & Gluck, D. H. (Director). (1979). Deeper into hypnosis. (Motion picture).

     Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

 

Citation of a Work Discussed in a Secondary Source

To cite secondary sources, refer to both sources in the text, but include in the References list only the source that you actually used. For example, suppose you read Fielder (2008) and would like to paraphrase the following sentence within that article: Braun (2008) defined bat speed as "the ability to catch up to a baseball with a moving bat" (p. 11).

In this case, your in-text citation would be "(Braun, 2008, as cited in Fielder, 2008)." 

Fielder (2008) would be fully referenced within the list of References.

 

Electronic Formats

 

Internet Article Based on Print Source

The citation is done as if it were a paper article and then followed by a retrieval statement that identifies the date retrieved and source.

 

Sahelian, R. (1999, January).  Achoo!  Better Nutrition, 61, 24.  Retrieved September 17, 2001,

     from Academic Index.

 

Web Page with Private Organization as Author

Midwest League. (2003). Pitching, individual records. Retrieved October 1, 2003, from

      http://www.midwestleague.com/indivpitching.html

 

Chapter or Section in an Internet Document

Thompson, G. (2003). Youth coach handbook.  In Joe soccer. Retrieved September 17, 2004, from

      http://www.joesoccer.com/menu.html

 

Web page, Government Author

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (2001). Glacial habitat restoration areas.

     Retrieved September 18, 2001, from http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wildlife/hunt/hra.htm

   

Company Information from Aggregated Database

Ripon Pickle Company Inc. (company profile). (2003). Retrieved September 18, 2002, from

     Business and Company Resource Center.

 

Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (company profile). (2004). In Hoovers.  Retrieved

     April 29, 2004, from Lexis-Nexis.

 

Personal Communications

Personal communications may be things such as email messages, interviews, speeches, and telephone conversations.

Because the information is not retrievable they should not appear in the reference list.  They should look as follows:  Example:  J. Burnitz (personal communication, September 20, 2000) indicated that .… or   In a recent interview (J. Burnitz, personal communication, September 20, 2000) I learned that ….

 

Reference Citations in Text

To refer to an item in the list of references from the text, an author-date method should be used.  That is, use the surname of the author (without suffixes) and the year of the publication in the text at appropriate points.

Example: Researchers have indicated that more is expected of students in higher education (Hudson, 2001) and secondary education (Taylor & Hornung, 2002).

One author

Issac (2001) indicated in his research..

In a recent study, research indicates (Isaac, 2001)

Two or more authors

When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs. For works with three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs.  In subsequent citations, include only the last name of the first author followed by et al.

When a work has no authors

Cite in text the first few words of what appears first for the entry on the list (usually the title) and the year.

Specific parts of a source

(Yount & Molitor, 1982, p. 19)

(Cooper, 1983, chap. 4)

Works with no author

(“New Student Center,” 2002)

 

 

For more detailed information to illustrate the use of parenthetical citations, consult this University of Wisconsin page. http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPACitations.html

For information on formatting a term paper using APA guidelines, consult this page.  

A sample title page for term papers.

 

Some general rules for APA reference pages:

·          Begin the reference list on a new page.  The page begins with the word References (Reference if there is only one), centered in the top, middle of the page, using both upper and lower case. If the references take up more than one page, do not re-type the word References on sequential pages, simply continue your list.

·          Use one space after all punctuation.

·          The first line of the reference is flush left.  Lines thereafter are indented as a group, a few spaces, to create a hanging indention.

·          Double space between citations.  Single space in the citations.

·          Use italics for titles of books, newspapers, magazines, and journals.

·          References cited in text must appear in the reference list; conversely, each entry in the reference list must be cited in text.

·          Arrange entries in alphabetical order

·          Give in parentheses the year the work was published.  For magazines and newspapers, give the year followed by the month and date, if any.  If no date is available, write (n.d.)

·          Give volume numbers for magazines, journals, and newsletters.  Include the issue number for journals if and only if each issue begins on page 1.

Please forward any comments or suggestions regarding this crib sheet to Owen Williams
Prepared by Owen Williams, University of Minnesota, Crookston

Last updated March 24, 2008

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