Sample Citations in APA Format

For additional information and examples see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. (BF 76.7 P 83 2001 Reference Desk)

Documenting within the Paper

When you refer to a publication within your paper, give the last name of the author and the year of publication in parentheses, for example (Atkinson, 1999). If you quote verbatim, you must also include the pagination (Atkinson, 1999, p. 193). The reader then refers to the list of references under Atkinson in order to get the full bibliographic information.

Organizing the List of References

Everything you refer to in the paper should be cited in the list, and nothing should appear in the list that you do not actually cite. Alphabetize the list by authors' last names. If you cite more than one work by a particular author, arrange them by publication date, from oldest to most recent. (For example, a 1995 article by Smith would be listed before Smith's 1999 book.) If an author has a sole-author publication and is also the first author of a group, list the sole-author publication first. (Therefore, "Smith" would be listed before "Smith & Jones.") Use hanging indent format, which means that the first line of each reference is flush with the left margin and all subsequent lines are indented five spaces. Double space the entire list of references.

Sample Citations

For a Book

Pattern: Author's Last Name, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of work. Location: Publisher.

Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, if any. (Proper names, such a Supreme Court in the example below, are always capitalized.) Put the title in italics.

Example: Atkinson, D.N. (1999). Leaving the bench: Supreme Court justices at the end. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

For a Chapter or Essay in an Edited Collection

Pattern: Author, A., & Author, B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter or essay. In A. Editor and B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.

Example: Seeman, M.V. (1996). The mother with schizophrenia. In M. Goepfert, & J. Webster (Eds.), Parental psychiatric disorder: Distressed parents and their families (pp. 190-200). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

For a Journal Article

Pattern: Author, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (Year of publication, add month and day of publication for daily, weekly, or monthly publications). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume number, pages.

All important words in a journal title are capitalized. The periodical title and volume number are italicized.

Note: If the periodical uses continuous pagination throughout each volume, you only need to give the volume number. If each issue begins with page 1, you should give the issue number as well: Title of Periodical, Volume (Issue), pages.

Example: Platania, J., & Moran, G. (1999). Due process and the death penalty: The role of prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument in capital trials. Law & Human Behavior, 23, 471-486.

For a Journal Article Obtained Online

Same as above, but add the phrase: Retrieved Month Day, Year, from Online Resource Name.

Example: Davidson, P., Stewart, S., Elliott, D., Daly, J., Sindone, A., & Cockburn, J. (2001). Addressing the burden of heart failure in Australia: The scope for home-based interventions. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 16, 56-68. Retrieved August 20, 2002 from EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier.

For a Page or Set of Pages from a Website

Pattern: Author's last name, Initial(s). (Date of page). Title of page. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL (address of web page)

Example: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2000, January 27). Preventing bicycle-related head injuries. Retrieved August 21, 2002 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/bikehel.htm

Additional Examples

Additional examples for electronic resources can be found at the American Psychological Association website <http://www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html>.

Additional examples of APA style citations can be found at Diana Hacker's excellent Research and Documentation Online <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html>.

These examples are not endorsed by the American Psychological Association. They are our BEST GUESSES based on the guidelines provided by the APA Style Manual.
Created by Kathy Coleman, Librarian Emerita. Revisions and additional examples by Anne Turhollow.

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