Skip to Main Content
 

Citations

Fundamentals of APA

American Psychological Association (APA) style includes parenthetical in-text citations and a reference list

APA uses parenthetical citations as its form of in-text citation. Provide a parenthetical citation before the period directly following the information you are citing. These citations should correspond to a more detailed citation in the reference list but only need to specify a page number if directly quoting or borrowing from the source material. The essential elements for this in-text citation are the author's last name and the date for the specific publications. The last name may be omitted if the sentence states or makes clear the source material.

APA uses a reference listan alphabetized list of sources following the end of the book or paper, for its complete list of sources referenced. This list should be titled "References" in bold and alphabetized by the first item in the citation, which, in most cases, is the author's last name. Each reference from this list must be cited in your paper and vice versa.

Basic Format

Books

Author Last Name, Author First Initial. (Year of publication). Title. Publisher Name.

 

Print Articles

Author Last Name, Author First Initial, & Author Last Name, Author First Initial. (Year). Article Title. Periodical Title, volume number(issue number), pages.

 

Electronic Articles

Author Last Name, Author First Initial. (Year). Article Title. Periodical Title, volume number(issue number), pages. doi or static url.

 

Physical Images/Artwork

Artist Last Name, Artist First Initial. (Year). Artwork Title [medium]. Host Institution Name, City, State, Country. URL of institution.

 

Electronic Images/Artwork

Artist Last Name, Artist First Initial. (Year). Image Title [medium]. Source Title. URL of image.

In-text Citation Examples

Standard case:

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit ametconsectetur adipiscing elit" (Last name, 2000, p.10).

 

If the author is not available, the title of the source may be used:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit ametconsectetur adipiscing elit ("Source title", 2000, pp.10-11).

 

If multiple authors cited have the same last name, use the author's first initial along with their last name:

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit ametconsectetur adipiscing elit" (E. Bronte, 1847, p.10).

Lorem ipsum dolor sit ametconsectetur adipiscing elit (C. Bronte, 1847, p.10).

 

Full Citation Examples for the Reference List

Archival material:

Child, J. (1974). Journal, 1974. [Unpublished journal]. Papers of Julia Child, 1925-1993(MC 644, item 4). Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/c/sch00222c00006/catalog.

 

Image:

Child, P. (1967). Julia Child at the White House [Photograph]. Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, https://id.lib.harvard.edu/images/olvwork539731/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:4510469/catalog.

 

Book:

Beck, S., Bertholle, L., & Child, J. (1961). Mastering the art of French cooking. Knopf.

Child, J. & Child, P. (1968). The French chef cookbook. Alfred A. Knopf.

 

Journal article:

Muneal, M. (2011). Studies in Popular Culture, 34(1), 152–154. www.jstor.org/stable/23416357.

Nussbaum, D. (2005). "In Julia Child's Kitchen, October 5 1998". Gastronomica, 5(3), 29-38. doi: 10.1525/gfc.2005.5.3.29.

 

Resources