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APA Quick Guide — 7th Edition

Examples of APA citations and resources properly formatted in APA style.

[Updated version — reflects guidelines provided in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition., released in October 2019]

Whenever you discuss someone else's ideas in your writing or presentation (even if you don't use their EXACT WORDS) you must cite the item in the text and then include a full citation in the reference list.

Parenthetical citation in text

Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler, 2016).

If you are directly quoting the text of a source, you should include the page number as well:

"There are limitations to any test, including point-of-care CRP, and it should never be a substitute for clinical judgement" (Penney, 2016, p. 238).

Narrative citation in text

As noted by Koehler (2016), falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue.

For more information, see the following page at Purdue's Online Writing Lab:

Reference list:

Each citation should be double spaced, with the first line flush left and all subsequent lines indented (use tab key or set a hanging indent).

Double space between citation entries.

Examples

Journal articles ERIC documents Web documents
Books and other works Personal communications Links to other resources

Scroll down for examples of various reference list citations, or click on the links above to jump to those sections.

Citing journals

Author. (Date). Article title. Journal title, v#(i#), pages. DOI or URL

Journal article (Print or from a database):

Anderson, M. (2018). Getting consistent with consequences. Educational Leadership, 76(1), 26-33.

Note: Articles found using a database are treated the same as print. There is no need to indicate the name of the database or a URL.

Journal article with a DOI:

McCauley, S.M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1-51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126

Journal article without a DOI, but with a non-database URL:

Ahmann, E., Tuttle, L. J., Saviet, M., & Wright, S. D. (2018). A descriptive review of ADHD coaching research: Implications for college students. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 31(1), 17-39. https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped/archived-jped/jped-volume-31

ERIC documents

Author(s). (Year of publication). Title of document (Report #). ERIC. URL

Mead, J.V. (1992). Looking at old photographs: Investigating the teacher tales that novice teachers bring with them (ED346082). ERIC. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED346082). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED346082.pdf

Please note that there are many different types of documents found in ERIC. The citation information they contain will vary. For example, not all documents will include a Report #.. Include as many elements from the example below as you can find.

Also note that if there is an EJ###### (ERIC journal #) instead of an ED###### (ERIC document #), you may cite the source like any other journal article (see above).

Web documents

Author(s) [username]. (Date). Title if present, first few words of content if not. Site Name. URL

Tweet

White, B. [@BettyMWhite]. (2018, June 21). I treasure every minute we spent together #koko [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BettyMWhite/status/1009951892846227456

Twitter profile

APA Style [@APA_Style]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved November 1, 2019, from https://twitter.com/APA_Style

Provide a retrieval date because the page changes over time.

Facebook post

Gaiman, N. (2018, March 22). 100,000+ Rohingya refugees could be at serious risk during Bangladesh's monsoon season. My fellow UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett is [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/neilgaiman/photos/a.306989681015/10155317233951016/?type=3&theater

Use similar formatting for posts to Tumblr, LinkedIn, and similar social media sites.

Instagram photo or video

Zeitz MOCAA [@zeitzmocaa]. (2018, November 26). Grade 6 learners from Parkfields Primary School in Hanover Park visited the museum for a tour and workshop histed by [Photographs], Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BqpHpjFBs3b/

Online forum post

National Aeronautics and Space Administration [nasa]. (2018, September 12). I'm NASA astronaut Scott Tingle. Ask me anything about adjusting to being back on Earth after my first spaceflight! [Online forum post], Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9fagqy/im_nasa_astronaut_scott_tingle_ask_me_anything/

Books and other works

Author(s). (Date). Title of book. Publisher Name(s). DOI or URL

Authored book

Burgess, R. (2019). Rethinking global health: Frameworks of power. Routledge.

Edited book

Schmid, H.-J. (Ed.). (2017). Entrenchment and the psychology of language learning: How we reorganize and adapt linguistic knowledge. American Psychological Association; De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1037/15969-000

Note that multiple publisher names should be separated with a semicolon.

Ebook or audiobook

Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking (K. Mazur, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Random House Audio. complete webpage URL

Encyclopedia, dictionary, or thesaurus entry

...with individual author

Graham, G. (2019). Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Summer 2019 ed.). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/behaviorism/

...with group author

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Positive transference. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved August 31, 2019, from https://dictionary.apa.org/positive-transference

Chapter in an edited book

Weinstock, R., Leong,, G. B., & Silva, J. A. (2003). Defining forensic psychiatry: Roles and responsibilities. In R. Rosner (Ed.), Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry (2nd ed., pp. 7-13). CRC Press

Book review

Siewert, K. (2009). [Review of the book Patient Zero by J. Maberry]. Library Journal, 134(4), 64-66.

Personal communications

Because they cannot be retrieved at a later date, personal communications (such as emails, personal interviews, or live speeches) cannot be included in a reference list. They should only be cited in the text as parenthetical or narrative citations.

...according to B. Martin (personal communication, November 2, 2020)

Links to other resources