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Citing Sources: APA

Learn how to cite your sources.

APA 7th Edition Complete (Video Tutorial)

Complete APA Overview
Run Time: 7:45
Key Student Learning Competencies:
  • APA 7 Introduction (0:20)
  • Using APA (0:45)
  • Basic Elements (1:04)
  • In-Text Citations (2:53)
  • Reference Lists (4:50)

APA 7th Edition Citations: Format and Examples

APA Citation Guide

Basic Format for a Book:

Reference List: Authors' Last name, First Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle. (Edition) [if other than the 1st]. Publisher.

In-text: (Author, Year)

Book with One Author:

Reference List: Brader, T. (2006). Campaigning for hearts and minds: How emotional appeals in political ads work. University of Chicago Press.

In-text: (Brader, 2006)

Book with Two Authors:

Reference List: Miller, T. E., & Schuh, J. H. (2005). Promoting reasonable expectations: Aligning student and institutional views of the college experience. Jossey-Bass.

In-text: (Miller & Schuh, 2005)
*For more than two authors (3 or more), list only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in every citation, even the first, unless doing so would create ambiguity between different sources. Example: (Kernis et al., 1993)

Basic Format for an eBook:

Reference List: Author's Last name, First Initial. (Year). Book title [format of book]. Publisher. URL

In-text: (Author, Year)

Example:

Reference List: Brock, J., & Arciuli, J. (2014). Communication in autism [eBook edition]. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-475

APA Journal Article Citation Guide

Basic Format for a Print Journal Article:

Last name, First Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Magazine/Journal/Newspaper Title, Volume number(Issue number), Page numbers of the entire article.

Example:

Newman, J. L., Fuqua, D. R., Gray, E. A., & Simpson, D. B. (2006). Gender differences in the relationship of anger and depression in a clinical sample. Journal of Counseling & Development, 84, 157–161.

Basic Format for an Online Journal Article:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Article title. Magazine/Journal/Newspaper Title, Volume number(Issue number), Page numbers. DOI or URL of publication home page

Online Journal Article with DOI Assigned

Basic Format:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page range. https://doi.org/10.0000/0000

Example:

Denhart, H. (2008). Deconstructing barriers: Perceptions of students labeled with learning disabilities in higher education. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41(6), 483–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219408321151

Online Journal Article with No DOI Assigned:

Basic Format:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number). http://www.journalhomepage.com/full/url/

Example:

von Busch, O., & Palmas, K. (2016). Designing consent: Can design thinking manufacture democratic capitalism? Organizational Aesthetics, 5(2), 10–24. http://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/oa/

APA Image Citation Guide

Basic Format for Citing an Image in the Reference List:

Last name, First initial. (Year image was created). Title of work [Type of work]. URL

Note: If you can only find the screen name of an author, use that as the author's name. Maintain the formatting of the screen name. If there is no title, create your own title that describes the content of the image.

Example of a Reference List Citation for an Image:

Sipler, D. (2005). Nap time [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/photofarmer/284159867/in/set-72157594353612286

Formatting Figures in Your Paper:

Each image in your paper should have a figure number, a title, and a caption. The caption should describe the image, provide a citation for the image, and provide copyright information. For example:

Figure 1

Two Cats Resting

Two orange cats sleeping next to each other

Note. This photo shows two orange cats resting in the "loaf" position. From Nap time [Photograph], by D. Sipler, 2005, Flickr (link). CC BY 2.0.

If you have taken the photo or created the image, you do not need to cite it or provide copyright information. You will still need to label the picture with a figure number and title, and provide a caption describing the image.

More Information:

Navigating Copyright for Reproduced Images

If you did not create the image, you need to provide a copyright statement for that image. The APA Style Blog outlines four steps for navigating copyright for reproduced images:

  1. Understand the copyright status of the image.
  2. Determine whether permission is needed to reproduce the image.
  3. Secure permission to reproduce the image, if permission is needed.
  4. Write the APA Style copyright statement and reference list entry for the image.

For more information on copyright and finding safe-to-reuse images, see the library's Copyright Guide.

APA Article Citation Guide

Basic Format for a Print Article:

Last name, First Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Magazine/Journal/Newspaper Title, Volume number(Issue number), Page numbers of the entire article.

Magazine Article:

White, C. (2006, April). The spirit of disobedience: An invitation to resistance. Harper's Magazine, 312(1871), 31–40.

Newspaper Article:

Zernike, K. (2015, October 25). White House moves to limit school testing. New York Times, p. A1.

Note: For newspaper articles, p. or pp. precedes page numbers. Use p. for a single page (e.g., p. B2) and pp. for multiple pages (e.g., pp. B2, B4 or pp. C1, C3–C4).

Newspaper Article Found on a Newspaper's Website:

Basic Format:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Example:

Zernike, K. (2016, February 29). Testing for joy and grit? Schools nationwide push to measure students’ emotional skills. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/us/testing-for