APA Citation Style

According to the American Psychological Association (2020) they explain, "In a reference, the source indicates where readers can retrieve the cited work" (p. 293).

The source element¹ falls within two categories: 

• Works that stand alone
  • whole books, gray literature, dissertations and theses, informally published works, data sets, videos, films, podcasts, etc.
• Works that are a part of a greater whole
  • periodical articles, edited book chapters, TV and podcast episodes. 

For works that are part of a greater whole, the greater whole is the information that will go within the Source element.

1. See pp. 293-301 in APA Seventh Edition 

The source element is dependent on the work's reference category. The information included on this page was selected for popular reference categories that are highly cited within the medical domain. For information on how to determine the formatting for the source, see sections 9.25-9.37 (American Psychological Association, 2020, pp. 294-300).

For works that are part of a greater whole include in the source element:

• The source element is the greater whole
  • The information regarding the greater whole will go into the Source element
  • The source element for works being cited that are part of a whole may require additional information (e.g. edition number, volume number, page numbers, etc.) in the source element. 
  • For works being cited, where the information is volatile (or are subject to change, e.g. article in the UpToDate database), include the retrieval dates in the source element
• If applicable, the DOI or URL that will help the user retrieve the work

See p. 293, 319, 323-324, 326-329 in APA Seventh Edition 

For works that stand alone include in the source element:

• Include the publisher
  • Some reference categories and resource types may require additional information for the source element (e.g. edited book chapters; books with multiple publishers; translated works; etc.)
• If applicable, the DOI or URL that will help the user retrieve the work
• For works being cited, where the information is volatile (or are subject to change, e.g. article in the UpToDate database), include the retrieval dates in the source element

See pp. 293, 323-324, 326-329 in APA Seventh Edition 

For periodicals (i.e. journal articles, etc.) for the source element:

• Only abbreviate the periodical title, if the official journal abbreviates its name
  • e.g. JAMA Pediatrics
• Use title case for the periodical name (i.e. the journal's name)
• Follow the periodical name with a comma
• Italicize the periodical name and volume number if applicable 
• For periodicals with issue numbers, put the issue number in parentheses (do not italicize) following the volume number with no space between
  • Nature, 587(7834)
• Follow the issue number (or volume number for periodicals with no issue number) with a comma and list the page numbers of the article's location within the periodical
• For articles that lack page numbers and have e-locators use:
  • Article e0269585

See p. 294, 317-319 in APA Seventh Edition 

Reference categories such as whole books, edited book chapters, software, and data sets require the publisher to be listed

• If the publisher and the author name is the same, do not include publisher's name in the source element
• Do not include the location of the publisher
  • Exceptions: Conference Sessions and Presentations and some types of Visual Works
• Do not abbreviate the publisher's name unless that is the format on the work being cited 
• List the publisher's name exactly how it is on the work being cited 
• If there is more than one publisher, list all publisher names in the order as they are found on the work being cited 

See pp. 295-296, 332-333, 346-347 in APA Seventh Edition 

For edited book chapters 

• For edited book chapters, the names of the editors, title of 'the greater whole,' and additional information regarding the resource will need to be listed within the Source element.
• Provide the names of the book's editors by beginning the Source element with the word "In." Follow with the un-inverted names of the editors with first and middle names as initials. Use (Ed.) for one editor and use (Eds.) for more than one editor after listing the editors' names.
  • Include the book's edition, volume number, and page numbers in this order if the resource has this information. Some edited book chapters may not have volume information such as in the example below
    • In P.  Wexler (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Toxicology (3rd ed., pp. 822-829) Elsevier Inc. https://10.1016/B978-0-12-386454-3.00080-4 
• For books that are numbered volumes, include the volume number after the main title of the book preceded by a colon
  • Main Title of Book: Vol. 2. Volume Title. 

See pp. 295, 326-329, 343, 345 in APA Seventh Edition 

Here "Website" in "Website Sources" means the webpages and websites' reference category. It is important to remember that only a few works fall within this category as many of the works that can be found online fall within one of the other reference categories. 

• Ensure the work is not classified within another reference category
  • e.g. if you found a government report on a government website, you would cite it as you would a "government report" as opposed to a "webpage" or "website"
• Provide the website's name in the source element, unless the website's name is the same as the author's name

See pp. 282, 298, 350-352 in APA Seventh Edition 

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/000165-000