www.langara.bc.ca/library/research-help/citing-help/index.html
The American Psychological Association (APA) style for documentation is widely used in the fields of
behavioral and social sciences such as education, nursing, nutrition and food services, and psychology.
This guide provides examples for citing common types of sources and identifying them in the text of your
essay. For more information, consult the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (BF 76.7 P83 2010). Copies are available at Langara Library, including one at
the Reference Desk.
GENERAL NOTES ON APA STYLE

Reference List
o A reference list is a list of all the sources cited in the text of your paper. The entries are
arranged alphabetically by the last names of the authors (or by the title, if no author or editor
is given).
o Start the reference list on a new page at the end of your paper. Use the word References as
the heading of the page and center it. All reference entries are double-spaced.
o Begin each entry flush with the left margin, and indent the subsequent line(s) 0.5 inch from
the left margin.

Reference Components
o Authors
 Invert all authors’ names – give surnames and initials for up to and including seven
authors.
 When authors number eight or more, include the first six authors’ names, then insert
three ellipsis points, and add the last author’s name.
o Publication date
 For books and journal articles, give the year that the work was published.
 For articles from magazines and newspapers, give the year and the exact date of the
publication (month or month and day), separated by a comma and enclosed in
parentheses. If the date is given as a season, give the year and the season.
o Journals/Magazines: Title and volume/issue number
 Give the journal/magazine title in full, in uppercase and lowercase letters.
 Italicize the journal/magazine title and the volume number, if any.
 If each issue of a journal/magazine begins on page 1, give the issue number in
parentheses immediately after the volume number. Do not italicize it.
o DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
 A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a document. It is most commonly
assigned to scholarly journal articles.
 A DOI is typically located on the first page of the online journal article, near the
copyright notice. Some article databases (e.g., PsycINFO) include DOIs in the
records.
 Some online journal articles, not all, include a DOI. Cite the DOI, when available.
See detailed notes regarding citing DOIs in the “Articles (Online)” section on page 3.
J:\LIBRARY\Common\Reference\Reference area docs\Citing documents\APA\Citing Your Sources in APA Style_02Oct2012.docx

Citing References in Text
References in APA style are cited in text with an author-date format.
Source

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Citation in Text
With 1 author
(Greene, 2010)
With 2 authors
(Scarlett & New, 2007)
With 3-5 authors
(Thompson, Manore, & Sheeshka, 2010)
Subsequent citation: (Thompson et al., 2010)
(Torabian, Haddad, Rajaram, Banta, & Sabat, 2009)
Subsequent citation: (Torabian et al., 2009)
With 6 or more authors
(Gibson et al., 2010)
With no author
(The First Few Words of the Book Title, 2009)
(“The First Few Words of the Article Title,” 2008)
With no date
(Jarry, Kossert, & Ip, n.d.)
Specific parts or direct
quotations
(Molgat, 2010, pp. 18-21)
(Stockert & Smith Higuchi, 2009, p. 997)
(Public Safety Canada, 2009, Chapter 3)
(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2010,
“Possible health concerns,” para. 2)
Multiple sources
(Bishop, 2009; Dai, 2008; Greene, 2010)
Secondary Sources (“as cited in”)
Sources you cite should be ones that you have actually examined in their original, complete form. A
secondary source is a source that cites the original work which you intend to use as a reference.
When you have to use a secondary source for some reason, give the secondary source in the reference
list; in the text, name the original work and give a citation for the secondary source. For example, if
Smith’s work is cited in Blackwell and you did not read Smith’s work, list the Blackwell reference in
the reference list. In the text, use the following citation:
Smith’s research (as cited in Blackwell, 2009)
EXAMPLES OF REFERENCES
You may not always find guidelines or examples specific to the kind of source you want to cite. Keep in
mind that the intent of the reference list is to give enough information for the reader to locate the works.
Do the best you can, and make sure the format of all your references is consistent. When in doubt, err on
the side of more rather than fewer details.
Articles (Print)
Journal article
Loge, J., & Sorrell, J. M. (2010). Implications of an aging population for mental
health nurses. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health
Services, 48(9), 15-18.
Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S.
T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009). Web site usability for the blind and low-vision
user. Technical Communication, 57, 323-335.
Magazine article
Gretzner, B. (2010, July/August). On the digital path. PMA Magazine, 86(6), 20-21.
Newspaper article –
with author
Cohen, T. (2010, October 28). B.C. handed a failing grade over its treatment of
ADHD students. The Vancouver Sun, pp. B3, B5.
Newspaper article –
with no author
Daily low dose of Aspirin cuts risk of cancer, expert says. (2010, October 22). The
Globe and Mail, p. L1.
Articles (Online)
NOTE 1: Journal articles
When citing a full-text journal article obtained from a library database (e.g., CINAHL,
PsycINFO, ScienceDirect), do not include the name of the library database.
Start with publication information formatted as if it is a print source, and add the DOI (Digital
Object Identifier) at the end of the citation.
Where to find the DOI:
 A DOI is either in the database record or on the first page of the journal article.
 If the database record does not provide a DOI, you can look it up from CrossRef –
http://www.crossref.org/guestquery
If you cannot find a DOI:
 Provide the URL for the home page of the journal. You may have to search the Web to
find it.
NOTE 2: Magazine and newspaper articles
When citing a magazine or newspaper article which is either from a library database or freely
available on the Web, give the URL of the homepage when the article can be located by
search. The name of the library database is not needed for citation.
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Journal article from
library database –
with DOI
Torabian, S., Haddad, E., Rajaram, S., Banta, J., & Sabat, J. (2009). Acute effect of
nut consumption on plasma total polyphenols, antioxidant capacity and
lipid peroxidation. Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics, 22, 64-71.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-277X.2008.00923.x
Journal article from
library database –
without DOI
Gibson, D. R., Zhang, G., Cassady, D., Pappas, L., Mitchell, J., & Kegeles, S. M.
(2010). Effectiveness of HIV prevention social marketing with injecting
drug users. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 1828-1830. Retrieved
from http://ajph.aphapublications.org
Magazine article
from library
database
Greene, A. (2010, March/April). Making the case for vitamin supplements. Total
Health, 30(5), 32-33. Retrieved from http://www.totalhealthmagazine.com
Magazine article
free on the Web
Helgoe, L. (2010, September 1). Revenge of the introvert. Psychology Today.
Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com
Newspaper article
from library
database
McGinn, D. (2010, October 25). How many calories did you burn? Are you sure?
The Globe and Mail, p. L3. Retrieved from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Newspaper article
free on the Web
Wald, M. (2010, October 24). When a cancer therapy puts others at risk. The New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Books (Print)
Multiple
authors/editors
Thompson, J., Manore, M., & Sheeshka, J. (2010). Nutrition: A functional
approach (2nd Canadian ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson.
Spirduso, W. W., Poon, L. W., & Chodzko-Zajko, W. (Eds.). (2008). Exercise and
its mediating effects on cognition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Chapter or titled
part of a print book
Stockert, P. A., & Smith Higuchi, K. A. (2009). Sleep. In P. A. Potter, A. G. Perry,
J. C. Ross-Kerr, & M. J. Wood (Eds.), Canadian fundamentals of nursing
(4th ed., pp. 987-1008). Toronto, ON: Mosby Elsevier.
Article in a print
encyclopedia
Scarlett, W. G., & New, R. S. (2007). Play. In R. S. New & M. Cochran (Eds.),
Early childhood education: An international encyclopedia (pp. 626-633).
Westport, CT: Praeger.
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Books (Online)
NOTE: When citing an entire e-book, part of an e-book, or an encyclopedia article from a
library online collection (e.g., ebrary, Gale Virtual Reference, Oxford Reference Online),
provide a complete URL that links directly to the source.
 If citing an ebrary e-book, the URL in the address bar is a direct link to the book.
 If citing an encyclopedia article from the Gale Virtual Reference collection, copy
the Document URL at the bottom of the html page of the article.
 If citing an entry from Oxford Reference Online, copy the URL provided in the
“How to cite this entry” section, which is usually located at the bottom of the page.
Entire e-book from
library collection
Bishop, V. (Ed.). (2009). Leadership for nursing and allied health care
professions. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/langara
/docDetail.action?docID=10347089
Chapter or titled
part of an e-book
from library
collection
Stanley, D. (2009). Clinical leadership and the theory of congruent leadership. In
V. Bishop (Ed.), Leadership for nursing and allied health care
professions (pp. 142-163). Retrieved from
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/langara/Doc?id
=10347089&ppg=161
Online encyclopedia
article from library
collection
Dai, D. Y. (2008). Intelligence and intellectual development. In N. J. Salkind & K.
Rasmussen (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational psychology. Retrieved
from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CCX2660600155&v
=2.1&u= vanc85972&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
Courseware
NOTES:



Article in
courseware
Treat the items in your courseware like articles or chapters in an edited book that are
reprinted from another source. Use the instructor’s name as the editor/compiler, and
Langara College as the publisher.
If there is credit given to the original source include this in brackets beginning with
(Reprinted from….). Otherwise omit this.
Some courseware has continuous pagination throughout; others preserve the original
pagination of the compiled material. Cite whatever page numbers are available.
Freund, P. E. S., McGuire, M. B., & Podhurst, L. S. (2012). A sociological
perspective on health, illness, and the body. In L. Richardson (Comp.),
HKIN 2261 Health, policy and society (pp.1-9). Vancouver, BC: Langara
College. (Reprinted from Health, illness, and the social body: A critical
sociology, pp. 1-9, by Freund, P.E.S., et al., 4th ed., 2003, Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall)
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Documents from Websites
NOTE: When citing a web document, list as many of the following elements as are
available: author’s name, publication date (or “n.d.” if no date can be found), title (in
italics), and URL. When a web document consists of multiple web pages, provide a URL that
links to the entry page of the document. Give your retrieval date only if the content of the
source is likely to change.
Document with
author and date
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2010, October 9).
Artificial sweeteners: Understanding these and other sugar substitutes.
Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners
/MY00073/METHOD=print
Document with no
date
Jarry, J. L., Kossert, A., & Ip, K. (n.d.). Do women with low self-esteem use
appearance to feel better? Retrieved from http://www.nedic.ca
/knowthefacts/documents/Appearanceandselfesteem.pdf
Document with no
author
Post-traumatic stress disorder. (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/publications /factsheets/ptsd
Section in a Web
document
Health Canada. (2010, March 5). Diabetes. In First Nations, Inuit and aboriginal
health. Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/diseasesmaladies/diabete/index-eng.php
Government Publications
Print
Public Safety Canada, National Crime Prevention Centre. (2009). School-based
drug abuse prevention: Promising and successful programs. Ottawa, ON:
Author.
Online
Public Safety Canada, National Crime Prevention Centre. (2009). School-based
drug abuse prevention: Promising and successful programs. Retrieved
from http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/2009-01-drg-abs-eng.aspx
Molgat, M. (with Larose-Hébert, K.). (2010). The values of youth in Canada.
Retrieved from Policy Research Initiative website: http://dsppsd.pwgsc.gc.ca/collection_2010/prp-pri/PH4-57-2009-eng.pdf
Media
Video
Online
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Dennis, B. (Producer), & Lynd, L. (Director). (2010). Open heart [DVD].
Canada: Barna-Alper Productions.
Baulu, K. (Producer), & Bellange, T. (Director). (2010). Doctors without
residency [Streaming video]. Retrieved from http://www.nfb.ca
/film/doctors_without_residency