APA utilizes the author-date citation system. Within the text, articles are cited with the author's last name followed by the date. These citations can also be found in a table, figure, footnotes, or an appendix. For every citation that is within the text, there must be a corresponding full citation in the reference list. There are four main components to a citation in the reference list for every type of information resource:
Check out the Basic Principles of Reference List Entries from the American Psychological Association (2019).
Both the author and the data, separated by a comma, appear in parentheses for a parenthetical citation (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 263).1
1. This quote was used from page 263 from the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association seventh edition. For statements that are not direct quotes, omit the page number.
The American Psychological Association (2020) states that the author element appears in running text and the date follows in parentheses immediately after the author name (p.263).2
2. In the example above the page number had to be included because the quote was closely paraphrased.
The Reference list starts on a new page. The word "References" should be centered, bolded, and placed before the reference list entries
Check out the Reference Quick Guide from the American Psychological Association (2020).
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Missing |
Solution |
Template |
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|---|---|---|---|
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Reference list entry |
In-text citation |
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Nothing—all |
Provide the author, date, title, and source of the work. |
Author. (Date). Title. Source. |
(Author, year) Author (year) |
|
Author |
Provide the title, date, and source. |
Title. (Date). Source. |
(Title, year) Title (year) |
|
Date |
Provide the author, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the title and source. |
Author. (n.d.). Title. Source. |
(Author, n.d.) Author (n.d.) |
|
Title |
Provide the author and date, describe the work in square brackets, and then provide the source. |
Author. (Date). [Description of work]. Source. |
(Author, year) Author (year) |
|
Author and |
Provide the title, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the source. |
Title. (n.d.). Source. |
(Title, n.d.) Title (n.d.) |
|
Author and |
Describe the work in square brackets, and then provide the date and source. |
[Description of work]. (Date). Source. |
([Description of work], year) [Description of work] (year) |
|
Date and title |
Provide the author, write “n.d.” for “no date,” describe the work in square brackets, and then provide |
Author. (n.d.). [Description of work]. Source. |
(Author, n.d.) Author (n.d.) |
|
Author, date, |
Describe the work in square brackets, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the source. |
[Description of work]. (n.d.). Source. |
([Description of work], n.d.) [Description of work] (n.d.) |
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Source |
Cite as a personal communication or find another work to cite (see the Publication Manual for more information). |
No reference list entry |
(C. C. Communicator, personal communication, month day, year) C. C. Communicator (personal communication, month day, year) |
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Missing reference information. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/missing-information
Narrative:
Klein (2000) wrote that some management theorists suggest, “Successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products” (p. 3).
Parenthetical:
Some management theorists suggest that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products (Klein, 2000, p. 3).
For pediatric liver transplants researchers found:
These findings might have implications for further development of allocations rules for pediatric liver transplant recipients in a sense that small children and infants are well served with left lateral graft even in large-for-size situations, whereas small-for-size situations that especially occur in larger children weighing 25–50 kg should be avoided (i.e., by allocation of whole organs from pediatric donors instead of smaller left lateral grafts from adults) (Herden et al., 2013, p. 1223).
Herden et al. (2013) found:
These findings might have implications for further development of allocations rules for pediatric liver transplant recipients in a sense that small children and infants are well served with left lateral graft even in large-for-size situations, whereas small-for-size situations that especially occur in larger children weighing 25–50 kg should be avoided (i.e., by allocation of whole organs from pediatric donors instead of smaller left lateral grafts from adults) (p. 1223).
Paraphrasing is expressing an idea from another’s work into your own words or by rephrasing the information.
Examples:
Klein (2000) suggested that management theories, developed in the mid-1980s, put forth the idea that branding is as important to corporate success as the actual product that is produced.
OR
It has been suggested that management theories, developed in the mid-1980s, put forth the idea that branding is as important to corporate success as the actual product that is produced(Klein, 2000).
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/000165-000