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BASICS OF APA STYLE FOR REFERENCES
This guide is intended to assist you with APA Style and Format for citing references in text and
in your reference list. It is also meant to point you to the relevant chapters and pages in the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition. The numbers in
parentheses throughout this guide refer to the chapter and section(s) of the manual.
Citing References in Text (6.11-6.21)
APA Style uses the author-date citation system. This allows your readers to locate the sources that you
have cited in your text in the reference list at the end of your paper.
To cite in text, you will include the author’s surname (last name) and the year of publication. Direct
quotations should include the page number or specific location of the phrase/sentence in the original
work (like the paragraph number).
When there is no identified author, you will cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry and
the year. You will usually use the title. Put double quotation marks around the title of an article, book
chapter, or a webpage. You will italicize the title of a journal/magazine, a book, a brochure, or a report.
Here are some examples:
Hofstede (1993) explained management theories as….
Management theories in the United States are unique in their characteristics (Hofstede, 1993).
In 1993, Hofstede examined the management theories….
In the United States, there are equal numbers of young men and young women employed in the
summer (“School’s Out,” 2011). This example is from an online article without a credited author.
A Bureau of Labor and Statistics’ report Highlights of women’s earnings in 2008 found that “women
aged 35 and older earned about 75 percent as much as their male counterparts” (2009, p. 1). This
example is from a report authored by an organization with page numbers available.
For multiple authors:
Two Authors: (Author and Author, year)
Example: (Smith and Barley, 2005)
Basics of APA Style Guide. AM Birek 09/2011. Argosy University Online
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Three or more authors: (Author et al., year)
Example: (Smith et al., 2009)
The phrase “et al.” as seen in the citation for three or more authors is a Latin phrase; “et” is a whole
word and does not need a period, “al.” is an abbreviation and needs a period.
Here are the references from the examples above:
Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Executive (19389779), 7(1), 81-94.
doi:10.5465/AME.1993.9409142061
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor and Statistics. (2011, July). School’s out. Retrieved from
http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2011/schools_out/
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor and Statistics. (2009, July). Highlights of women’s earnings in
2008 (Report No. 1017). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2008.pdf
See 7.03 in the Publication Manual for more information on references for technical and research
reports.
The Reference List Essentials (6.22-6.25)
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The purpose of your reference list is to give credit to the sources you have cited and also to
enable your readers to locate those sources.
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All citations should be listed in the reference list.
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References should be in alphabetical order by author’s surname (or the first author’s surname if
there is more than one author).
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References should be in hanging indent style and double spaced.
Basics: References for articles found in print and electronic journals (7.01)
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The article title is in sentence case (only first word and proper nouns are capitalized) and the
journal title will be in title case (each word capitalized).
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Italicize the journal title and the volume number. Include the issue number in parentheses after
the volume, do not italicize.
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Do not put a period at the end of the DOI or URL. See page 3 of this guide for more information
on DOIs.
Basics of APA Style Guide. AM Birek 09/2011. Argosy University Online
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Reference guidelines for citing sources found in an electronic library
database or on the Web (6.31-6.32)
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Include journal number and page numbers when available.
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Place article DOI (if available) at the end of the reference.
Formatting the reference for articles found in library databases
Articles found in library databases are referenced in the same format as print articles. The
purpose of your citation is to give credit to your source and also allow others to locate your
resources. Not everyone has access to the same databases that we do; however, anyone can
locate an article if they have the proper citation (they may access the print version or request a
copy through their own library or even purchase a copy from the publisher).
NOTE: Though the citation tools in most library databases allow you to copy and paste the
citation, they often include a link. This is not an accurate example of an APA format citation for
an article or document from a library database. Also note that in our class, your readings are
listed as citations with a link. This link is only valid for Argosy students and here in our
classroom.
APA 6th edition states that database information is not necessary for citations. This is because
databases change over time (p. 192). However, it is sometimes good practice to include the
information especially if an instructor questions where you found the article or document. Here
are some examples:
Lamb, A. (2010). Everyone does it: Teaching ethical use of social technology. Knowledge
Quest, 39(1), 62-67. Retrieved from ProQuest.
Shirky, C. (2011). The Political Power of Social Media. Foreign Affairs, 90(1), 28-41. Retrieved
from EBSCOhost.
If the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, you should provide this because the DOI is
unique to a document and should not change over time (p.189). Not all publishers provide
DOIs. In a reference, we do not capitalize “doi.” Here is an example of an article citation with a
DOI:
Basics of APA Style Guide. AM Birek 09/2011. Argosy University Online
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Potts, J., Cunningham, S., Hartley, J., & Ormerod, P. (2008). Social network markets: A new
definition of the creative industries. Journal of Cultural Economics, 32(3), 167-185.
doi:10.1007/s10824-008-9066-y
If it seems like the article would be difficult to locate without the database information (for
example, the journal is only available in electronic version through the database), then include
the database information—again, this is NOT mandatory. Otherwise, format the reference like
a print article. Example:
Touchette, F. (2010). Avoid social networking poison. Health Management Technology, 31(11), 32.
Author, (publication year). Article title. Journal Name, volume(issue), page number(s).
If an article is from an online magazine or newspaper (not through a library database), you will
include “retrieved from” with the web address (URL). You do not use dates of retrieval in APA
6th edition.
Thompson, C. (2011, August 30). Clive Thompson on the problem with online ads. Wired.
Retrieved from http://www.wired.com
Tedeschi, B. (2011, August 31). Reference resources for the budding know-it-all. The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Note: We use the Wired and New York Times main URLs because we can use the search tool on
the homepage to find the article. This allows us to avoid providing non-working URLs in case the
article is moved in the future (p.201).
Formatting the reference for web pages and web documents
For web pages (not articles from periodicals like journals, magazines, newspapers), here is the
basic format:
Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of webpage/Document. Retrieved from URL
Sometimes there may not be an author credited for the web page or the author is an
organization. If there is no credited author or organization, the webpage title is used and you
Basics of APA Style Guide. AM Birek 09/2011. Argosy University Online
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will italicize it. If no publication date is available, you will use n.d. for “no date.” You do not
provide the date in which you accessed the webpage (unless you are citing a wiki or other web
document that is frequently updated).
Example of a webpage with no credited author:
Steven Jobs biography-Biography.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.biography.com/articles/Steven-Jobs-9354805?part=0
Example of a webpage authored by an organization:
Health Resources and Services Administration. (n.d.). About health literacy. Retrieved from
http://www.hrsa.gov/publichealth/healthliteracy/healthlitabout.html
Note: we do not place a period at the end of URLs in our citations.
Formatting the reference for print books and electronic books
Reference for a chapter in an edited book (7.02)
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After the chapter title type In, the editor’s name, the abbreviation Ed. In parentheses, and then
the title of the book. If multiple editors, use Eds.
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Give page numbers in parentheses after the book title.
Callahan, C. L., Stevens, M. L., & Eyberg, S. (2010). Parent-child interaction therapy. Play therapy for
preschool children. In Schaefer, C.E. (Ed.), Play therapy for preschool children (pp. 199-221).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi: 10.1037/12060-010
(Note that this book also has a DOI.)
Reference to an entire print book (7.02)
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Type the book title in sentence case (only first word and proper nouns are capitalized). Also
capitalize the first ford following a colon ( : ) or ending punctuation (ex. ? ).
Fruchter, N. (2007). Urban schools, public will: Making education work for all our children. New York, NY:
Teachers College Press.
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For books or chapters of books that are only available online or as an electronic version, you
will use the electronic retrieval information in place of the publisher location and name. If you
accessed an electronic version of a book that is also available in print (this includes electronic
textbooks and eBooks through library databases like ebrary), format the reference as you
would a print book and include the retrieval information. You do not include the link to your
Digital Bookshelf, instead you point your readers to where they could find it if they wished to
view the version you are referencing.
Blum, S. D. (2009). My word!: Plagiarism and college culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com/
A digital textbook (this is book that is available in both print and electronic format):
Feldman, R.S. (2011). P.O.W.E.R. learning: Strategies for success in college and life (5th ed.). New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from http://www.vitalsource.com/
An entry in a reference book (the electronic version): This example is from an encyclopedia
accessed through Credo Reference in the Online Library (no author is credited).
ENIAC. (2003). In Encyclopedia of Computer Science. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/
Remember, not everyone has access to Credo Reference so the link in Credo Reference through
Argosy’s library should not be used.
Corporate Author that is the same as the publisher name:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
(6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
See 7.02 of the Publication Manual for additional types of books and their formats.
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Formatting the reference for an online class or lecture
When you want to reference something for our class, you should use this format:
In text citation: (Argosy University Online, 2011)
This is an example for Module 2 Filing and Organization. Adjust accordingly for other pages.
Argosy University Online. (2011). Information Literacy and Communication: Module 2 Filing and
Organization. Retrieved from http://www.myeclassonline.com
Reference:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Basics of APA Style Guide. AM Birek 09/2011. Argosy University Online