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How to Reference
using the APA System
The APA (American Psychological Association) System is the preferred referencing method for the
Psychology department at LSBU.
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why do we need to reference? .................................................................................................. 2
The two stages of the APA system.............................................................................................. 2
2.1 In-text citation .................................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Reference list ...................................................................................................................... 2
Citing references within the text ................................................................................................ 3
3.1 Work by a corporate author ............................................................................................... 3
3.2 Work with two authors ....................................................................................................... 3
3.3 Work with three to five authors ......................................................................................... 3
3.4 Work with six or more authors ........................................................................................... 3
3.5 Work with no author .......................................................................................................... 4
3.6 Multiple references with the same author and publication year ....................................... 4
3.7 Citing a direct quote ........................................................................................................... 4
3.8 Secondary referencing ........................................................................................................ 5
Format of the reference list ........................................................................................................ 5
Format of references .................................................................................................................. 5
5.1 General style guidelines ...................................................................................................... 5
5.2 Books................................................................................................................................... 6
5.2.1 Print book....................................................................................................... 6
5.2.2 Edited book .................................................................................................... 6
5.2.3 Chapter in an edited book .............................................................................. 6
5.2.4 E-book ........................................................................................................... 7
5.3 Journals ............................................................................................................................... 7
5.3.1 Print journal article ......................................................................................... 7
5.3.2 Online journal article ...................................................................................... 7
5.4 Newspapers ........................................................................................................................ 7
5.4.1 Print newspaper article................................................................................... 7
5.4.2 Online newspaper article ................................................................................ 8
5.5 Reports ................................................................................................................................ 8
5.5.1 Print report ..................................................................................................... 8
5.5.2 Online report .................................................................................................. 8
5.6 Conference proceedings ..................................................................................................... 8
5.6.1 Conference paper in print proceedings .......................................................... 8
5.6.2 Conference paper found online ...................................................................... 9
5.7 Dissertations and theses ..................................................................................................... 9
5.7.1 Unpublished thesis/dissertation ...................................................................... 9
5.7.2 Online thesis/dissertation ............................................................................... 9
5.8 Films and TV ........................................................................................................................ 9
5.8.1 Films .............................................................................................................. 9
5.8.2 TV or radio broadcasts ................................................................................. 10
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6.
7.
8.
5.8.3 Online video (for example YouTube) ............................................................ 10
5.9 Interviews ......................................................................................................................... 10
5.10 Web pages ........................................................................................................................ 10
5.10.1 Web page with author ................................................................................. 11
5.10.2 Web page with no author ............................................................................ 11
5.10.3 Web page with no date ............................................................................... 11
5.10.4 Blogs........................................................................................................... 11
Format of bibliography ............................................................................................................. 12
Referencing tools ...................................................................................................................... 12
Further help .............................................................................................................................. 12
1.
Why do we need to reference?
Referencing is an essential academic skill. You need to reference in order to:
 show evidence of your research
 support your arguments and analysis
 allow readers to identify and locate the sources you’ve used
 acknowledge the work and ideas of others
If you do not reference properly you will lose marks and risk plagiarising the work of others.
Plagiarism is the act of passing off someone else’s work as your own and is a form of
cheating. For further information, please read the Plagiarism help sheet available from
How to Guides on the My LSBU library pages.
NOTE: You need to acknowledge others’ work, even if you’re paraphrasing or putting their
work or ideas into your own words.
2.
2.1
The two stages of the APA system
In-text citation
When you refer to someone’s work in your essay you need to include an in-text citation.
This is normally the surname(s) of the author(s) and the year their work was published.
The citation normally comes at the end of a sentence in brackets:
Example: …although other authors have denied this (Hartley, 2005).
Or, if you include the author’s name as part of the sentence, put the year of publication
immediately after in brackets:
Example: … Hartley (2005) declared that …
If you use a direct quote, include the page number. See 3.7 for examples of citing direct
quotes.
2.2
Reference list
Include a list of full references at the end of your essay under the title ‘Reference list’.
These references should be arranged alphabetically, normally by author. See section 4 for
2
instructions.
When you have completed your referencing you should find that the in-text citations
match the reference list at the end of your work.
3.
Citing references within the text
3.1
Work by a corporate author
If the work is written by a corporate author, include the name of the corporation:
Example: (British Psychological Society, 2008)
If the name is long and may be easily understood if abbreviated, use an abbreviation in
second and subsequent citations:
Example of first citation: (Nursing and Midwifery Council [NMC], 2008)
Example of second and subsequent citations: (NMC, 2008)
3.2
Work with two authors
If there are two authors, always cite both surnames.
Example: (Chojna & Smith, 2012)
Note: If the names cited are placed in brackets, as in the example above, use the
ampersand ‘&’ to link them. If the names are in the body of the text – ‘….Chojna and Smith
(2012) have are argued that…’ then use ‘and’.
3.3
Work with three to five authors
For three to five authors use all authors the first time the reference occurs. For all
subsequent citations use only the surname of the first author followed by et al. (an
abbreviation of the Latin et alia meaning “and others”).
Example: … Anderson et al. (2003) concluded that …
3.4
Work with six or more authors
For six or more authors use only the surname of the first author followed by et al. for both
first and subsequent citations.
Example: (Nguyen et al., 2007)
In the reference list, include all authors unless there are eight or more authors. In which
case, include the first six authors, use an ellipsis ‘…’ for the rest but include the last author.
Example:
Nguyen, N. P., Vos, P., Karlsson, U., Nguyen, P., Dutta, S., Lemanski, C., ... Huang, S. (2007).
Quality of life following chemoradiation and postoperative radiation for locally
advanced head and neck cancer. ORL, 69(5), 271-276.
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3.5
Work with no author
If there is no author, use a brief form of the title.
If the title is of an article, chapter or web page use double quotation marks:
Example: (“HIV and depression,” 2011)
The title of a journal, book, brochure or report should be italicized:
Example: …the book Psychology, mental health and distress (2013)
3.6
Multiple references with the same author and publication year
Documents with the same author and publication year can be distinguished from each
other by putting a letter after the year as shown below.
Example: … (Williamson, 2001a), (Williamson, 2001b) etc. …
3.7
Citing a direct quote
If you quote the exact words directly from a text you must use quotation marks to indicate
this. The author(s) and year must be stated and if possible the page number (or at least
the chapter heading e.g. Chapter 6) from which the quote is taken.
Example: … Jackson (2004, p. 575) declared that “This is the finest example of
postmodernism …”
If there are no page numbers, use the paragraph number instead.
Example: (Smith, 2012, para 4).
If it’s a very long document such as an e-book on an e-book reader, include chapter
number as well as para number.
Example: (Smith 2008, ch.7 para 8).
For a long quote (over 40 words) you should ‘in block’ (i.e. indent) the text. Leave a line
space before and after the quote. Don’t use quotation marks.
Example:
Pears and Shields (2010) provide the following definition:
Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating and is generally defined as
presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own. These may be in
printed or electronic format and, in all cases, giving credit to the original
authors by citing and referencing your sources is the only way to use other
peoples work without plagiarising. (p.1)
You can leave out any section of a quote as long as you make this clear by inserting an
ellipsis (…).
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Example: Flinders (2001, p. 71) comments that “When MPs had an operational grievance
they were encouraged to direct their question … directly to the agency”.
3.8
Secondary referencing
If you want to cite a work which is referenced in another work, you should try and track
down the original. However, if this isn’t possible, make it clear in your text where you
found the information and only include a reference to the document you’ve read.
Example: According to Dunn (as cited in Campbell & Muncer, 1998), the theory was
discredited…
Your reference list will include the full details of the Campbell and Muncer work, but no
mention of Dunn’s.
4.
Format of the reference list

The reference list should only contain the details of sources you’ve cited in your work.

Don’t include personal communications in your reference list.

Put all your references in one list under the heading ‘Reference list’. Do NOT list resources
by type.

List references in alphabetical order by the authors’ surnames/names of corporate authors
or by the first letter of the reference.

Works by the same author should be listed by year of publication, the earliest first.

Works by the same author, published in the same year are arranged in alphabetical order
by title. Place lowercase letters – a, b, c etc – immediately after the year, within the
brackets:
Example:
Smith, A. (2012a). A guide to avoiding plagiarism. London: LSBU
Smith, A. (2012b). A guide to referencing. London: LSBU
5.
Format of references
5.1
General style guidelines

All lines of a reference after the first must be indented by 0.63cm, which is called a
‘hanging indent’.
o To create this indent in Microsoft Word, place the cursor in front of the first line of
text, right click and select the ‘Paragraph’ menu. Under ‘Indentation’, select
‘hanging’ from the drop down menu under ‘Special’. Click ‘okay’ to close this
window and apply the hanging indentation.
Example:
Rees, A. L. (2011). A history of experimental film and video: From the canonical avantegarde to contemporary British practice. London: BFI.

Place a colon (:) after the short title, before the subtitle, as in the above example.
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
Begin titles and sub-titles with a capital letter. The rest of the title should be in lower
case, unless it contains a proper noun (the name of a place, person or thing). The
exceptions are journal and newspaper titles which should have all major words
capitalised.

If you cannot find a date at all, insert (n.d) in the reference.
Example:
National Down Syndrome Society. (n.d.). Associated medical conditions. Retrieved
from http://www.ndss.org.

Titles of whole works are in italics e.g. titles of books and journals. Titles that are part of a
larger work are not in italics e.g. titles of chapters and journal articles.

Place of publication is normally a town or city. Only include the first place acknowledged if
more are listed. Spell out country names outside the UK or the USA – for example Geneva,
Switzerland. For American cities, include both the city and the two-letter abbreviation for
the state – for example Hoboken, NJ.
5.2
Books
5.2.1
Print book
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition if later than first.).
Place of publication: Publisher.
Example:
Higgs, P., & Jones, I. R. (2009). Medical sociology and old age: Towards sociology of health
in later life (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Finding the year of publication in a book:
If the year of publication is not clear look for the latest copyright date. This is next to the
copyright sign © usually on the reverse of the title page. Do not use a reprint date.
5.2.2
Edited book
Example:
Ezra, E. (Ed.). (2004). European cinema. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
NOTE: if you are referencing a chapter or essay in an edited book see the following
guidelines in 5.2.3 below.
5.2.3
Chapter in an edited book
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of the chapter. In Editor’s Initials.
Surname. (Ed.) or (Eds.), Title of the book (page range of chapter). Place of
publication: Publisher.
Example:
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Gaskell, G. (2003). Attitudes, social representations and beyond. In K. Deaux & G. Philogene
(Eds.), Representations of the social (pp. 228-241). Oxford: Blackwell.
5.2.4
E-book
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of book. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Ryan, F. (2012). Cognitive therapy for addiction: Motivation and change. Retrieved from
http://myilibrary.com
5.3
Journals
5.3.1
Print journal article
Details for referencing a journal article can normally be found on the first page of the
article.
If the journal numbers each issue from page one, include the issue number in brackets in
the reference. Don’t include an issue number if each issue within a volume begins with the
next consecutive page number from the last issue.
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of the article. Title of the Journal,
volume number(issue number, if available), page range of the article.
Example:
Smith, A., & Jack, K. (2005). Reflective practice: A meaningful task for students. Nursing
Standard, 19(26), 33-37.
5.3.2
Online journal article
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of the article. Title of the Journal,
volume number(issue number, if available), page range of the article. Retrieved
from URL or doi:
Example:
Mustafa, F.A., Bayatti, Z., & Faruqui, R. A. (2013). Gender differences in referral pathways
and admissions to a psychiatric intensive care unit in a county psychiatric hospital
in the UK. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 59(2), 188-189. Retrieved from
doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764012453235
5.4
Newspapers
5.4.1
Print newspaper article
The format is similar to that of a journal article but includes the specific date the article was
published and no volume or issue number. Include details of the section of the paper if
relevant.
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Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of article [details of
section or supplement if relevant], Title of Newspaper, page number(s).
Example:
Tobin, L. (2010, June 8). The crush starts here [Education Supplement]. The Guardian, p. 1.
Format for newspaper article with no author:
Title of article. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of Newspaper, page number(s).
Example:
Higher education in the EU. (2012, July 14). The Guardian, p. 8.
5.4.2
Online newspaper article
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of article. Title of
Newspaper. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Hipwell, D. (2012, Jan 20). Finalists line up for Olympic media site. The Times. Retrieved
from http://0-search.proquest.com.lispac.lsbu.ac.uk/uknews
5.5
Reports
5.5.1
Print report
Print Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials or name of organisation. (Year of publication). Title of report.
Edition or report number if available. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Example:
Arts Council England. (2010). Arts Council England grant-in-aid and lottery annual report
and accounts 2009/10. London: The Stationery Office.
5.5.2
Online report
For reports retrieved online, identify the publisher as part of the retrieval statement unless
the publisher has been identified as the author.
Online Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials or name of organisation. (Year of publication). Title of report.
(Edition or report number if available.) Retrieved from name of publisher website:
URL
Example:
Key Note. (2009). The aerospace industry. Retrieved from: http://www.keynote.co.uk
5.6
Conference proceedings
5.6.1
Conference paper in print proceedings
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For proceedings published in a book, use the same format as for a chapter in an edited
book.
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year). Title of paper. In Editor’s Initials, Surname (Ed(s.), Title of
published proceedings (inclusive page numbers). Place of publication: Publisher.
Example:
Pahl, J. (1991) Money and power in marriage. In P. Abbott & C. Wallace (Eds.), Gender,
power and sexuality (pp. 41-57). Basingstoke: Macmillan.
5.6.2
Conference paper found online
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year, Month). Title of paper. Paper presented at Title of
Conference, Location. Place of publication: Publisher. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Chamberlain, M. (2012, November). Becoming male: Female to male transitioning. Paper
presented at the 4th International Conference on Transgender Culture, London.
Retrieved from http://www.igr.org.uk/conference
5.7
Dissertations and theses
5.7.1
Unpublished thesis/dissertation
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year submitted). Title of dissertation/thesis (Unpublished
master’s thesis/doctoral dissertation), Name of awarding institution, Location of
awarding institution if not apparent by the name.
Example:
Smith, M. (2003). The quantity surveyors' contribution to sustainable construction
(Unpublished master’s thesis), London South Bank University.
5.7.2
Online thesis/dissertation
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials. (Year submitted). Title of dissertation/thesis (Master’s
thesis/Doctoral dissertation, Name of awarding institution). Retrieved from URL
Example:
Rardo Roques, R. (2011). ICT in teaching and learning: To what extent is a managed
learning environment useful? (Master’s thesis, London South Bank University).
Retrieved from http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/library/
5.8
Films and TV
5.8.1
Films
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Format:
Director’s Surname, Initials. (Director), & Producer’s Surname, Initials or name of
organisation. (Producer). (Year). Title of film [Medium]. Country of origin: Studio.
Example:
Demme, J. (Director), & Demme, J., Armian, N., & Platt, M. E. (Producers). (2008). Rachel
getting married [Motion picture]. United States of America: Sony Pictures Classics.
5.8.2
TV or radio broadcasts
Format:
Writer’s Surname, Initials. (Writer), & Director’s Surname, Initials. (Director). (Year). Title of
broadcast [Type of broadcast]. Location of broadcasting company: Channel.
Example:
Robbins, A. (Director). (2012). Psychedelic visions: A history of LSD [Television programme].
London: BBC4.
5.8.3
Online video (for example YouTube)
If the video is part of a series e.g. a video blog entry, don’t italicise the title. If it’s a
standalone video then put the title in italics.
Format:
Producer’s Surname, Initials. (Year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from
URL
Example:
Stanford Humanities. (2011, August 4). The art of living – R Lanier Anderson [Video file].
Retrieved from http://youtu.be/-YnLyBRvAwA
5.9
Interviews
An interview may be cited in text as a personal communication but should not be referred
to in the reference list.
Example:
(R. Patterson, personal communication, February 12, 2013)
5.10
Web pages
It’s best to start your research by searching LSBU library databases rather than the free
web as many academic publications require a subscription and the quality of web pages
vary.
Rather than using Google, try searching academic search engines such as Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.co.uk.
If the web page is part of a larger work don’t italicise the title. If you’re unsure whether
something stands alone, choose not to italicise.
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5.10.1
Web page with author
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials or name of organisation. (Year published or last update). Title of
web page/document. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Burke, L. (1997). Carbohydrates? They aren’t that simple. Retrieved from http://www.sportsci.org
5.10.2
Web page with no author
If there is no author, start the reference with the title of the web page or document.
Format:
Title of web page or web document. (Year published or last update). Retrieved from URL
Example:
Occupational performance measurement issues and methodologies. (2002). Retrieved from
http://www.otdirect.co.uk/measure.html
5.10.3
Web page with no date
If there is no publication date or last update information, put (n.d.).
Example:
National Down Syndrome Society. (n.d.). Associated conditions. Retrieved from
http://www.ndss.org/Resources/Health-Care/Associated-Conditions/
5.10.4
Blogs
NOTE: Blogs are often anonymous and many authors just use their first names or
pseudonyms.
Format:
Author’s Surname, Initials [pseudonym if provided]. (Year, month day of posting or last
update). Title of blog entry. [Blog post]. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Julia. (2005, January 22). Take back the craft. [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://knittinghistory.typepad.com/knitting_history/
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6.
Format of bibliography
You may be asked to compile a bibliography as well as a reference list. A bibliography lists all the
sources you’ve used in your research even if you did not cite them in your work. If necessary, clarify
what you’re being asked to provide with your lecturers, before you submit your work.
Typically, the bibliography comes after and follows the same format as the reference list.
7.
Referencing tools
There are a number of referencing tools, such as RefWorks which will generate references for you.
However, you will need to spend time learning how to use them and you will have to check that the
references generated are accurate. Therefore, they may be more suitable for students undertaking
a long piece of research such as a dissertation or thesis.
8.
Further help
For referencing examples of other resources, please consult the following books:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington: American Psychological Association.
[Copies in the LSBU library at 808.06615 PUB. Please check the catalogue for availability.]
Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2016). Cite them right: The essential referencing guide (10th ed.).
Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
[Copies in the LSBU library at 808.027 PEA. Please check the catalogue for availability]
Alternatively, contact your Information Adviser:
Applied Science - [email protected]
Updated by LLR 01/2017
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