Access the APA 7th Edition Publication Manual online.
APA (American Psychological Association) is a set of guidelines for documenting sources and formatting papers.
Reasons to use a citation format:
Elements: Author. (Year, Month Date). Title. Publication, vol/issue, page number(s).
Note (from APA Online Style Guide):
Examples
One Author
Boggs, C. G. (2016). Public reading and the Civil War draft lottery. American Periodicals, 26(2), 149-166.
Two Authors
Abdo, D., & Bobroff, M. (2018). Cross-disciplinary teaching of Mariama Ba's So Long a letter. ADFL Bulletin, 45(1), 171-83. https://doi.org/10.1632/adfl.45.1.171
Three or more Authors (list all names)
De la Fuente, R., Bernad, A., Garcia-Castro, J., Martin, M. C., & Cigudosa, J. C. (2010, August 15). Retraction: Spontaneous human adult stem cell transformation. Cancer Research, 70(16), 6682. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-2451
No Author (Title goes first)
The Mozart effect myth: Listening to music does not help against epilepsy. (2023, March 26). NewsRx Science, 539.
without page number
Alpert-Abrams, H. (2016). Machine reading the primeros libros. Digital Humanities Quarterly, 10(4). https://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/10/4/000268/000268.html
with + nonconsecutive pagination
Migone, A., & Howlett, M. (2022). Policy shops, hired guns, and gatekeepers: The organization and distribution of policy analysts in Ontario. Canadian Public Administration, 65(4), 690+.
with article number
Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018, March 13). Teaching medicine with the help of "Dr. House". PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972
Magazine or Newspaper Article from the database (same as for a print article: do not include database info and a URL)
Lyons, D. (2009). Don’t “iTune” us. Newsweek, 153(24), 27.
Newspaper Article on Website
Carey, B. (2019, March 22). Can we get better at forgetting? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/health/memory-forgetting-psychology.html
Article from an Online Magazine
Schulman, M. (2019, September 9). Superfans: A love story. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/16/superfans-a-love-story
Article from a web page (include Retrieval date)
Stein, M. B., & Taylor, C. T. (2019). Approach to treating social anxiety disorder in adults. UpToDate. Retrieved September 31, 2023, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/approach-to-treating-social-anxiety-disorder-in-adults
Article Written by the Organization - on a Webpage
Mayo Clinic. (2023, June 28). Belly fat in women: Taking-and keeping-it off. Healthy Lifestyle Women’s Health. www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/belly-fat/art-20045809
Article on Blog (include Retrieval date)
Ouellette, J. (2019, November 15). Physicists capture first footage of quantum knots unraveling in superfluid: Research has implications for future topological quantum computers. Ars Technica. Retrieved October 1, 2023, from https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/study-you-can-tie-a-quantum-knot-in-a-superfluid-but-it-will-soon-untie-itself/
Book Chapter in an Edited Book
Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016
5 main elements: Author. (Year, Month Date). Title. Publication. URL
Retrieval Date (Month date, year, from URL): When contents of a page are designed to change over time.
Examples
Webpage, with Author and Date
Denchak, M. (2022, June 7). Ocean pollution: The dirty facts. Natural Resources Defense Council. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ocean-pollution-dirty-facts
Website - No Author (Title goes first)
Deaths from cardiac arrests have surged in New York City. (2020, April 13). The Economist. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/13/deaths-from-cardiac-arrests-have-surged-in-new-york-city
Webpage, Organization as the Author
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook. (2022, September 8). Registered Nurses. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm
National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). Anxiety disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
Mayo Clinic. (2023, June 28). Belly fat in women: Taking-and keeping-it off. Healthy Lifestyle Women’s Health. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/belly-fat/art-20045809
Florida Department of Education. (2016). Rule 6A-10.081, Florida administrative code, principles of professional conduct for the education profession in Florida. https://www.fldoe.org/teaching/professional-practices/code-of-ethics-principles-of-professio.stml
Webpage, Organization as the Author, no date
United Nations. (n.d.). What is climate change? Retrieved August 24, 2023, from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change
OER Open Educational Resource, with Retrieval Date
Fagan, J. (2019, March 25). Nursing clinical brain. OER Commons. Retrieved January 7, 2023, from https://oercommons.org/authoring/53029-nursing-clinical-brain/view
5 main elements: Author. (Year). Title. Publication. URL
Examples
Book (hard copy)
Davis, A. Y. (1998). Blues legends and black feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Pantheon.
E-Book
Christensen, A., & Wolff, T. (Eds.). (2010). American lives: A reader. University of Nebraska Press. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/broward-ebooks/detail.action?docID=496570
Book with Edition
Jackson, L. M. (2020). The psychology of prejudice: From attitudes to social action (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000168-000
Book with Editor(s)
Baron, S. A., Lindquist, E. N., & Shevlin, E. F. (Eds.). (2007). Agent of change: Print culture studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. University of Massachusetts Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vk8sv
Book with Multiple Volumes
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., & Wang, X. (2016). How the world changed social media (1st ed., Vol. 1). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1g69z35
Book Chapter in an Edited Book (need to include page numbers)
Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016
Video - App (Netflix, Hulu, Xfinity) (p. 343)
Simon, D., Colesberry, R. F., & Kostroff Noble, N. (Executive Producers). (2002-2008). The wire [TV series]. Blown Deadline Productions; HBO.
Video - YouTube (p. 344)
University of Oxford. (2018, December 6). How do geckos walk on water? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch=qm1xGfOZJc8
5 main elements: Author. (Year, Month Date). Title. Publication. URL
Retrieval Date (Month date, year, from URL): When contents of a page are designed to change over time.
Examples
Facebook Post
World Wildlife Fund. (2020, July 14). Five things to know on Shark Awareness Day. Facebook. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund/videos/745925785979440/
Facebook Page, no date
Community of Multiculturalism. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved October 14, 2023, from https://www.facebook.com/communityofmulticulturalism/
National Geographic [@natfeo]. (n.d.). IGTV [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved December 14, 2023, from https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/channel/
TikTok/X (formerly Twitter)
Cook, P. [@chemteacherphil]. (2021, September 17). Fighting fire with fire. #sciencetok#learnontiktok [ Video]. TikTok. Retrieved December 24, 2023, from https://www.tiktok.com/@chemteacherphil/video/7008953610872605957
Podcast
Seales, A. (Host). (2018-present). Small doses with Amanda Seales [Audio podcast]. Urban One Podcast Network. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/small-doses-with-amanda-seales/id1333316223
Webster, M., & Abumrad, J. (Hosts). (2020, September 11). Bringing gamma back, again [Audio podcast episode]. In Radiolab. WNYC Studios. https://radiolab.org/podcast/bringing-gamma-back
Blog Post
Ouellette, J. (2019, November 15). Physicists capture first footage of quantum knots unraveling in superfluid. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/study-you-can-tie-a-quantum-knot-in-a-superfluid-but-it-will-soon-untie-itself/
Image from a database (Artstor)
Fusco, P. (1991). USA. San Francisco, California. 1991. Homelessness [Photograph]. Paul Fusco/Magnum Photos.
Image from a Google search (p. 347)
McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg
Please confirm with your Professor that using a generative AI tool (ex: ChatGPT) is allowed for your assignment. Some Professors do not allow these tools to be used. If a generative AI tool is allowed, you must cite the information to avoid plagiarism.
APA does not consider information from a generative AI tool to be a personal communication as there’s no person communicating. Instead, APA considers the information from an AI tool to be an “algorithm’s output” and therefore the author is the creator of the AI tool.
For more information, please see:
https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt
Name of creator of generative AI Tool. (Year). Tool name (Month Date version) [Large language model]. General URL of tool
Example:
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (June 16 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Review the requirements for your paper and then consult the links below for details on formatting a paper.
This chart provides examples of the formatting to use for headers. See the link below for more details.
The below Word documents are sample templates of papers available from APAstyle.org.