Skip to Main Content

APA Style Guide

Use this guide to assist you in understanding and creating APA citations.

General Overview for In-Text Citations

Any time you include in your writing a direct quote, paraphrase, statistic, or idea derived from another resource, you must credit the authors/creators of the resource. In APA style, in-text citations use an author-date citation which directs readers to a full reference list entry. Along with giving credit to the originator of an idea, this system enables readers to locate the corresponding entry in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper.

  • Each work cited must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text.
  • The leading author name in an in-text citation must be the same as the leading element of that resource's reference page entry.
Example

In-Text: 

(Stead & Davis, 2016)

Reference Page Entry:

Stead, BG. B. & Davis, B. L. (2016). Culture and context in constructionist approaches to career counseling. In Busacca, L. & Rehfuss, M., (Eds.), Postmodern career counseling: Handbook of culture, context, and cases (pp. 65-75). American Counseling Association.
  • There are two types of in-text citations: narrative and parenthetical.
    • Narrative: You use this form of in-text citation when you are introducing the authors of the work within your writing. The citation therefore is listed after the authors' names and only includes the date.
    • Parenthetical: You use this form of in-text citation when you are not indicating any information about the work within your writing itself. The complete citation therefore goes at the end of the sentence.
Examples

Narrative: Ross and Myers (2009) argue that traffic stops deserve more critical attention because of the wide range of privacy rights issues and officer safety issues they can pose.

Parenthetical: Issues surrounding traffic stops require careful Fourth Amendment analysis (Ross & Myers, 2009).
Note

Be sure to provide citations for any facts, figures, or statistics that you include in your writing.

Example
In 2015 roughly 45 percent of Americans consumed most of their news via social media; by 2020 that number had ballooned to over 70 percent (Hoffstead and Vincetti, 2023).

Rules for Direct Quotes

If you use a direct quote from the source include a page number in the parentheses at the end of your sentence.

Example

Ross and Myers posit that “the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness” and that it has been considered reasonable for police to remove any or all occupants from a vehicle during a traffic stop at their discretion (2009, p. 470).

Rules for Multiple Authors and Sources

Multiple Authors and Sources

  • Long strings of citations may be disruptive to the flow of your writing and difficult for readers to understand (especially those using assistive technology like a screen reader). To avoid such disruption, include only citations needed to support your immediate point.
  • When citing a text with two authors, include both authors' last names (connected by an ampersand) in the citation.
Example

Narrative: Kyle and Isley (2022) explore this concept....

Parenthetical: (Kyle & Isley, 2022).
  • When citing a work with three or more authors, you need only to name the first author (as listed on the reosurce), followed by the abbreviation "et al.", followed by the date.
Example

Narrative: The idea is elaborated upon by Wayne, et al. (2021)...

Parenthetical: (Wayne, et al., 2021)
  • When multiple studies support the point you are making, you may include a citation for each of them inside the same set of parentheses. Within the parentheses, alphabetize the citations, so that they are listed in the same order in which they're listed on your references page, and separate them with semicolons.
Example

Despite evidence of cross-cultural efficacy generated by rigorous qualitative measures, there is no consensus among practitioners on clinical application of poetry therapy (Agee, 2017; Finger & Kane, 2022; Neidhart & Smith, 2019; Urai, et al., 2021).

What is a DOI?

Supplying a DOI with a citation is required unless that object was never assigned one.

DOI stands for digital object identifier. It is a unique ID number ideally given to all digitized journal articles and ebooks. The DOI is listed along with the article citation in many databases. DOI numbers are also sometimes found on the first page of an article PDF. Alternately, DOI numbers can be found by searching the Crossref website.


What If I Can't Find the DOI?

If no DOI is available for an article that is widely available, such as an article found in an academic research database or in a print journal, end the citation with the page numbers. If the article does not have a DOI but is freely available on a website, include the URL for the work.

Artwork and Images

General Rule

AUTHOR  DATE TITLE PUBLISHER URL

 

Artist, A. A.

 

 (2020). Title of work [Description].

Museum Name, Museum Location.

Website 

https://xxxxx 

Examples

Artwork from a Museum (either in their physical or online collections)

Delacroix, E. (1826-1827). Faust attempts to seduce Marguerite [Lithograph]. The Louvre, Paris, France.

 

Parenthetical citation: (Delacroix, 1826-1827)

Wood, G. (1930). American gothic [Painting]. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. https://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/6565

 

Parenthetical citation: (Wood, 1930)
Notes
  • Use this format to cite all types of museum artwork, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings, and installations; always include a description of the medium or format in square brackets after the title.
  • For untitled art, include a description in square brackets in place of a title.

Example

GDJ. (2018). Neural network deep learning prismatic [Clip art]. Openclipart. https:// openclipart.org/ detail/309343/neural-network-deep-learning-prismatic

 

Parenthetical citation: (GDJ, 2018)
Note
  • Use this format to cite (but not reproduce) most clip art or stock images. To reproduce clip art or stock images, permission and/or a copyright attribution may be necessary in addition to the reference. No citation, permission, or copy-right attribution is necessary for clip art from programs like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.

Examples

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. https://www. nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-yearsof-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg

 

Parenthetical citation: (McCurry, 1985)

Rinaldi, J. (2016). [Photograph series of a boy who finds his footing after abuse by those he trusted]. The Pulitzer Prizes. https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/jessica-rinaldi

 

Parenthetical citation: (Rinaldi, 2016)
Notes
  • Use this format to cite (but not reproduce) photographs or other artwork not connected to a museum. To reproduce a photograph, permission and/or a copyright attribution may be necessary in addition to the reference (see Section 12.15).
  • The source is the name of the site from which the photograph was retrieved.
  • For an untitled photograph, include a description in square brackets in place of a title.

Audiovisual Materials

General Rule

AUTHOR  DATE TITLE PUBLISHER URL

Director, D. D. (Director).

Producer, P. P. (Executive Producer).

Host, H. H. (Host).

Artist, A. A.

Uploader, U. U.

 (2020). Title of work [Description].

Production Company.

Label.

Museum Name, Museum Location.

Department Name, University Name.

https://xxxxx 
Examples

Tomlinson, K. & Borges, P. (Directors). (2017). Crazywise: Rethinking madness: Psychosis and spiritual awakening [Film]. Green Planet Films. https://www.kanopy.com/en/swc/video/2151020

 

Parenthetical citation: (Tomlinson & Borges, 2017)

Xo Rad Magical. (2022, February 25). Why do schizophrenic people draw eyes so much? [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube,com/watch?v=MJSnHqwVCYM

 

Narrative citation: Content creator Xo Rad Magical (2022) explains...
MEDIA TYPE INCLUDE AS THE AUTHOR
Film Director
TV series Executive producer(s)
TV series episode Writer and director of episode
Podcast Host or executive producer
Podcast episode Host of episode
Webinar Instructor
Classical music album or song Composer
Modern music album or song Recording artist
Artwork Artist
Online streaming video Person or group who uploaded the video
Photograph Photographer

Blog Posts

Example

Eleazer (2019, July 8). On these shoulders, I stand. Southwestern College. https://www.swc.edu/art-therapy-swc/on-these-shoulders-i-stand/

Books

General Rule

AUTHOR or EDITOR  DATE TITLE PUBLISHER INFORMATION DOI or URL

Author, A. A. & Author, B. B.

Name of Group

Editor, E. E. (Ed.)

Editor, E. E., & Editor, F. F. (Eds.).

 (2020).

Title of book.

Title of book (2nd ed., Vol. 4).  

Title of book [Audiobook].  

Title of book (E. E. Editor, Ed.).

Title of book (T. Translator, Trans.; N. Narrator, Narr.). 

Publisher Name.

First Publisher Name; Second Publisher Name.

https://doi.org/xxxx

https://xxxxx 
Examples

Capuzzi, D. & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Human growth and development across the lifespan: Applications for counselors. Wiley.

 

Parenthetical citation: (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016); (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022)

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

 

Narrative citation: As noted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2022)...
Notes on Formatting
Case
  • Follow the same case rules for book titles as you do for article titles (only leading letters of first words of title, first words of subtitles, and proper nouns should be capitalized).
Punctuation
  • Book titles should be italicized.
Author Elements and Abbreviations
  • Abbreviations for group authors are not required in the APA style but may be used if the abbreviation is common or the group author is mentioned multiple times.
  • The first time you name the American Psychiatric Association in your paper, spell the whole name out.
  • Afterwards, you can use the abbreviation "APA." 

First in-text citation: (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022).

Subsequent in-text citations: (APA, 2022).

Chapter in an Edited Book or Anthology

General Rule

CHAPTER AUTHOR  DATE CHAPTER TITLE EDITED BOOK INFORMATION DOI or URL

Author, A. A. & Author, B. B.

Name of Group

 (2020).

Title of chapter.

In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 3-13). Publisher Name.

In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 212-255). Publisher Name.

https://doi.org/xxxx

https://xxxxx 

 
Example

Balsam, K. F., Martell, C. R., Jones, K. P., & Safren, S. A (2019). Affirmative cognitive behavior therapy with sexual and gender minority people. In G. Y. lwamasa & P. A Hays (Eds.), Culturally responsive cognitive behavior therapy: Practice and supervision (2nd ed., pp. 287-314). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/ 10.1037 /0000119-012

 

Parenthetical citation: (Balsam et al., 2019)

Narrative citation: Balsam et al. (2019)
Entry in a Reference Work

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Neurodevelopmental disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).

Code of Ethics

Examples

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center

 

Narrative citation: American Counseling Association (2014) states in its Code of Ethics...

American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

 

Parenthetical citation: (American Psychological Association, 2017)

Journal Articles

General Rule

AUTHOR DATE TITLE JOURNAL INFORMATION DOI or URL

Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. 

Name of Group.

Author, C. C. 
[Username]. 

Username. 

(2020). 

(2020, January).

(2020, February 16). 

 Title of article.

Title of Periodical, 34(2), 5-14.

Title of Periodical, 2(1-2), Article 12.

Title of Periodical. 

https://doi.org/xxxx

https://xxxxx 
Example

Devine, S. (2023). Therapeutic impact of public art exhibits during COVID-19. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 40(1). 50-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2131359

 

Parenthetical citation: (Devine, 2023)

Narrative citation: Devine (2023) explores the impact of...
Notes on Formatting
Case
  • Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the article's title (even if that word is an article or preposition), the first letter of the first word of the article's subtitle, and the first letter of any proper nouns. The rest of the title should be lowercase.
  • Use title case for the journal's title (capitalize the first letter of all words except for short prepositions and articles)
Punctuation
  • A period should follow each element in the citation (author, date, title, journal info...).
  • No period should follow the DOI or URL element.
  • Italicize the title of the journal and the volume number (break from italics with the first parenthesis enclosing the issue number).

Personal Communication

Personal communications should be cited in your text. However, since they are not published works which are retrievable by your reader, they do no need to be cited on the references page.

Example

Narrative: J. Albright Knash (personal communication, September 23, 2020)

Parenthetical:  (J. Albright Knash, personal communication, September 23, 2020)

Power Point Slides or Lecture Notes

Examples

Albright Knash, J. (2023, February 27). [Lecture notes on group art therapy with youth]. Department of Art Therapy/Counseling. Southwestern College. swc.populiweb.com

 

Parenthetical citation: (Albright Knash, 2023).

Housand, B. (2016). Game on! Integrating games and simulations in the classroom [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. http://www.slideshare.net/brianhousand/gameon-iagc-2016

 

Narrative citation: Housand (2016) demonstrated the effect of...
Note on Source Element

If the slides come from a classroom website, learning management system ( e.g., Populi), or company intranet and you are writing for an audience with access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its URL (use the login page URL for sites requiring login; see Section 8.8 of APA Manual).

Citations with Missing Information

When no author's name (group author or individual author) is attached to a resource, substitute the author element in the citation with the title of the resource.

Example

In-Text (Book): 

(Information Literacy in Undergraduate Institutions, 2016)

In-Text (Article): 

("The Absence of Evidence," 2021)

Reference Page Entry:

The absence of evidence (2016). Journal of Culture and Scientific Inquiry, 26(3). 44-51. https://doi.org.10.1080/75868696869968.2016.26785.
  • When no date is attached to a resource, replace the year in the date element with the abbreviation n.d.
Example

Narrative: Kyle (n.d.) further examines the implications of such methods...

Parenthetical: (Kyle, n.d.)

Secondary Sources

Avoid citing secondary sources when possible. The library can assist in locating a primary source referenced or quoted in a resource you are reviewing. However, when you must cite a secondary source follow the format: author of primary source, date of primary source, as cited in author of secondary source, date of secondary source. Then on your references page, include a citation for the secondary source only.

Example

In-Text: 

(Zunker, 1999, as cited in Stead & Davis, 2016)

Reference Page Entry:

Stead, BG. B. & Davis, B. L. (2016). Culture and context in constructionist approaches to career counseling. In Busacca, L. & Rehfuss, M., (Eds.), Postmodern career counseling: Handbook of culture, context, and cases (pp. 65-75). American Counseling Association.

Tests, Scales, and Inventories

General Rule

AUTHOR  DATE TITLE DATABASE URL

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.

Group Author

 (2020).

Title of the test.

Title of the Test Database Record [Database record].

Test Database Name.

https://xxxxx 

 

Examples

Manual for a test, scale, or inventory

Tellegen, A., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality lnventory-2 Restructured Form (MMP/-2-RF): Technical manual. Pearson.

 

Parenthetical citation: (Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2011)

Narrative citation: Tellegen and Ben-Porath (2011)
Test, scale, or inventory itself

Project Implicit. (n.d.). Gender-Science IAT. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

 

Parenthetical citation: (Project Implicit, n.d.)

Narrative citation: Project Implicit (n.d.)
Note

Cite the test, scale, or inventory itself only if a manual or other supporting literature is not available to cite; if a manual is available for a test, cite the manual, not the test (see Example 81 in APA Manual).

Websites and Webpages

General Rule

AUTHOR  DATE TITLE WEBSITE NAME URL

Author, A. A. & Author, B. B.

Name of Group

 

(2020).

(2019, August).

2020, September 28).

(n.d.).

 Title of work.

 

Site Name.

https://xxxxx 

 

Examples
 

Webpage with individual author(s)

Bongiovanni, A. (n.d.). A quick and easy guide to they/them pronouns. Archie Bongiovanni. https://www.archiebongiovanni.com/they-them

 

Narrative citation: Bongiovanni (n.d.) offers resources on...
Webpage with a group of authors

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, January 23). People at high risk of developing flu-related complications. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/high_risk.html

 

Parenthetical citation: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).