APA 6th Edition Citation Guide
The American Psychological Association (APA) system for documenting your research includes:
• In-text citations within the body of the text that enable your reader to find the full citation in a list of references.
• A list of references at the end of your research paper that cites all the sources you quoted, summarized, or
paraphrased in the paper.
This guide was created using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition.
Arrangement of the list of references:
 Title your list References. Put this title at the top center of the page.
 For each source you cite, determine the type of source and follow the guidelines for citing that type of source.
 Put references in order by the author’s last name, or the first author’s last name if there is more than one author. .
If listing source by title, alphabetize by the first main title word (instead of initial articles such as A, An, or The).
 Double-space the entire reference list.
 All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left
margin. This is called hanging indentation.
Basic citation format:
1. Author & Editor: List last name, then initials (for the first and middle names). When a source has multiple
authors, use & before final author’s last name. Use Ed. Or Eds. in parentheses to indicate any editor(s). When no
author/editor is indicated, begin with the title.
2. Publication Date: List in parentheses. For books and journal articles, list the year. For magazine and newspaper
articles, list the year with month and day. If no date is available, write n.d. in parentheses.
3. Title: Quotation marks are not used. For a book title, use italics and sentence case (capitalize first word of title,
first word of subtitle, and all proper nouns). For a periodical title (newspaper, magazine, or journal), use italics
and title case (capitalize all main words). For an article or chapter title, do not use italics, and capitalize according
to sentence case.
4. Publication information: For books: list city and state, or city and country of publication, then the name of the
publisher. For journals and magazines, give the volume number in italics and include the journal issue number in
parentheses, without italics, if available, then list the page range. For newspapers and parts of books, use p. or pp.
to indicate pages. For articles from the library subscription databases, include the Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
at the end of the citation.
A DOI is a unique string of numbers assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI
Foundation) to online journals to identify their content and provide a consistent link to their locations on
the Internet. The DOI number is usually located on the first page of the electronic journal article and in
the citation or on the first page of the article record in the database.
If a DOI is not available, it may help your reader if you include “Retrieved from”: with the database name and/or
the periodical’s website URL. In general, it is not necessary to include database information, however the GWC
Library recommends it when citing from the library’s article databases. (6.32, p. 192) Retrieval date is not
required, unless the source is not dated or is likely to change over time (e.g., Wikis, Internet websites). (6.32, p.
192)
Citing References in Text (APA Manual 6.15, p. 177)
APA Style uses the author-date citation system. This system allows readers to find the sources cited in text in the
reference list, where each source is listed alphabetically.
To insert a citation in text, include the author’s surname and year of publication. For a direct quotation, include the page
number or specific location of the phrase or sentences in the original work.
Author and Date Cited in Text
(no
parenthetical
citation
necessary)
Author Not Cited in
Text
Author Cited in Text
Direct Quotation with
Name of Author
Direct Quotation without Name of Author
In a 1989 article, Gould explores some of Darwin's most
effective metaphors.
As metaphors for the workings of nature, Darwin used the
tangled bank, the tree of life, and the face of nature
(Gould, 1989).
Gould (1989) attributes Darwin's success to his gift for
making the appropriate metaphor.
Gould (1989) explains that Darwin used the metaphor of the tree of
life "to express the other form of interconnectedness–genealogical
rather than ecological–and to illustrate both success and failure in
the history of life" (p. 14).
Darwin used the metaphor of the tree of life "to express the other
form of interconnectedness–genealogical rather than ecological"
(Gould, 1989, p. 14).
For each of the samples above the correct APA style format for the Reference List would be:
Gould, S. J. (1989). The wheel of fortune and the wedge if progress.
Natural History, 89(3), 14-21.
If there is no author, move the title to the author position. (“School and teenagers,” 2007) If the source cited is a book,
italicize the title.
When you need to cite two or more works together, arrange the in-text citations alphabetically in the same order in which
they appear in the reference list.
Here are some examples of citations that include more than one work in the same parenthesis:
Training materials are available (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2001, 2003)
Past research (Gogel, 1990, 2006)
Several studies (Derryberry & Reed, 2005a, 2005b; Rothbart, 2003a, 2003b)
Several studies (Miller, 1999; Shafranske & Mahoney, 1998)
Additional information on citing sources are available at:
• Knight Cite - http://webapps.calvin.edu/knightcite/
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) APA guide - https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed., 2010. A reference copy is available at the
GWC Library (Location: Reference Stacks, Call #: BF76.7 .P83 2010).
• Ask a Librarian! Research help is available in person at the library, by calling 714-895-8741, via text messaging
at 714-882-5425 or live chat online at www.goldenwestcollege.edu/library during library operating hours.
APA Style Examples by Source Type
PERIODICALS (APA Manual 7.01, p. 198)
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Publication year). Title of Article. Title of Periodical, xx,
pp-pp. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx
ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE
Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.
ARTICLE IN A SCHOLARLY (PEER-REVIEWED) JOURNAL
Bahr, P. (2008). Cooling Out in the Community College: What is the Effect of Academic Advising on Students’ Chances
of Success? Research In Higher Education, 49(8), 704-732. doi:10.1007/s11162-008-9100-0
ARTICLE WITH NO AUTHOR
Mad-cow may tighten blood-donor curbs. (2001). The Gazette [Montreal], p. A13.
ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER
Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The Country Today, pp.
1A, 2A.
ARTICLE ON A WEBSITE
Cain, K. (2012, June 29). The Negative Effects of Facebook on Communication. Social Media Today RSS.
Retrieved January 3, 2013, from http://socialmediatoday.com
BOOKS (APA Manual 7.02.18, p. 203)
For a book:
Author(s) or Editor(s) Last name, First Initial(s). (Publication year). Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher.
For a chapter or article in a book, or entry in a reference book:
Author(s) of article or chapter. (Year of publication). Title of article or chapter. In Name of editors (Ed.), Title of book
(Page numbers). City of publication: Publisher.
BOOK WITH ONE TO SEVEN AUTHORS
Alper, S., Schloss, P. J., Etscheidt, S. K., & Macfarlane, C. A. (1995). Inclusion: Are we abandoning or helping students?
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
EDITED BOOK, NO AUTHOR
Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing up poor. New York, NY: Russell Sage
Foundation.
EDITED BOOK WITH AUTHOR(S)
Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals. K. V. Kukil (Ed.). New York, NY: Anchor.
ARTICLE, ENTRY, OR CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK
O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: A metaphor for healing, transition, and
transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York, NY:
Springer.
GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Commission on the Evaluation of Pain. (1986).
Report of the Commission on the Evaluation of Pain. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA (7.07, p. 209)
For a motion picture, use the following format:
Producer, A. A. (Producer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year). Title of motion picture. Country of Origin: Studio.
For a music recording, use the following format:
Writer, A. (Copyright year). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist if different from writer]. On Title of album [Medium
of recording: CD, record, cassette, etc.] Location: Label. (Date of recording if different from song copyright date)
VIDEOCASSETTE, DVD, LASER DISC
Smith, J.D. (Producer), & Smithee, A.F. (Director). (2001). Really big disaster movie [Motion picture]. United States:
Paramount Pictures.
MUSIC RECORDING
Taupin, B. (1975). Someone saved my life tonight [Recorded by Elton John]. On Captain fantastic and the brown dirt
cowboy [CD]. London, England: Big Pig Music Limited.
Examples from GWC Library Databases and Electronic Resources
ARTICLE FROM ONESEARCH
Evans, G. (1988). A father’s place is in the home. New Statesman & Society, 1(504), 22-23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost
database.
SIRS ISSUES RESEARCHER
Frick, R. (2004). Investing in medical miracles. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 5(345), 80-87. Retrieved from SIRS
Knowledge Source database.
LITERATURE RESOURCE CENTER
Eisinger, C. E. (1994). Herzog: Overview. Reference Guide to American Literature, 25-29. Retrieved from Literature
Resource Center database.
Schoenberg, T. J., & Trudeau, L. J. (Eds.). (2006). Writers of the Lost Generation. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
178. Detroit, IL: Gale. Retrieved from Literature Resource Center database.
CQ RESEARCHER
Billitteri, T. J. (2009, November 20). The value of a college education. CQ Researcher, 19, 981-1004. Retrieved from CQ
Researcher.
PROJECT MUSE
Maher, K. H. (2004). Borders and Social Distinction in the Global Suburb. American Quarterly, 56(3), 781-806. The
Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved from Project MUSE database.
EBOOK COLLECTION (EBSCOHOST)
Downie, D., Brash, K., & Vaughan, C. (2009). Climate Change : A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Retrieved from eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).