APA Formatting & Style Guide (7th Edition)

Parts of a book citation:

Author(s). (Publication Year). Title of book. Publisher. 

Example: 

Boylston, S. (2009). Designing sustainable packaging. Laurence King. 

Book

• Do not list the publisher's location
• Write publisher's name as seen on the work
• When the author is the same as the publisher, omit the publisher's name from the Source element

Reference page:

Boylston, S. (2009). Designing sustainable packaging. Laurence King.

In-text:

Boylston (2009) found . . . . (p. 35).    OR    . . . . (Boylston, 2009, p. 35).

See pp. 295-296, 321-325  in the APA Publication Manual

Editor & No Author

• If a book has no author but has an editor, list the inverted editor(s) name in the author element
• Treat the in-text citations as one would for the author element

Reference page:

Crocker, P. R. E. (Ed.). (2011). Sport and exercise psychology: A Canadian perspective (2nd ed.). Pearson.

In-text:

According to Crocker (2011). . .    OR     . . . . (Crocker, 2011, p. 3055).

Electronic Book (eBook)

• Instructions vary depending on whether a book is being cited wholly or is a part of a whole
• For the example below, the whole book is being cited as opposed to a singular chapter/section
  • If citing a chapter of the book in the example below, the title of the chapter needs to be in the title element
• The example below is also a book in a conceptual series, and consequently does not need to have the series title in the reference entry
• If citing from an audiobook, then in the reference list entry have [Audiobook] in brackets after the title element followed by a period.
• If an eBook was reprinted/reformatted from the original source, include the original source information after the Source element in parentheses
  • Author, A. (2015). Title element.* Source (Original work published in 1984)
  • *If citing a work that is whole (e.g. a whole book), italicize the title element.
• if an eBook was translated from the original source, include the translator(s) name after the title element in parentheses.
  • Author, A. (Date). Title element (J. Smith, Trans.). Source element

Reference page:

Dictionary Entry - No Author or Editor

• If no publisher or editor is on the work, record the publisher's name in the author element
• The title of the entry, needs to be recorded in the title element as seen in the example below

Reference page:

In-text:

Merriam-Webster (2007) defines “Myocardial Infarction” as . . . . (p. 582).    OR   . . . (Merriam-Webster, 2007, p. 582).

See p. 328 in the APA Publication Manual

Basic Web Page

• Use retrieval dates in the source element only if the resource is highly liable to be updated or changed as seen in the example below
• If the author's name and the site name are the same, omit the site's name in the source element
• Italicize the title of the webpage/website that's being cited 
• Do not use the copyright date at the bottom of the webpage as the reference date 
  • Use the specific date of the content from the webpage being cited 
  • if the content you are citing has an "updated" time, use this for the reference date 
• Most websites/webpages will not have page numbers. Use section titles and paragraph numbers, when directly quoting or paraphrasing

Reference page:

Medicine Hat College. (2010). Our mandate. Retrieved May 5, 2021, from https://www.mhc.ab.ca/AboutMHC/CollegeProfile/Mandate

In-text:

Medicine Hat College (2010) lists . . . . (Mandate section, para. 2).    OR    . . . . (Medicine Hat College, 2010, Mandate section, para. 2).

See pp. 273, 350-352 in the APA Publication Manual

Corporate/Government Online Report

• If present, include the report number in parentheses after the title in the title element
• If the report is gray literature, include a description in brackets after the title in the title element

Reference page:

In-text:

The Health Canada (2006) report noted that . . . . (p. 2).   OR    . . . . (Health Canada, 2006, p. 2).

See p. 329 in the APA Publication Manual

Blog Post

• Blogs follow the same rules as journal articles
• Italicize the name of the blog in the source element

Reference page:

Wikipedia Entry

• Cite the archived version of the Wikipedia page 
  • Find the archived version by selecting "View History" on the Wikipedia entry
• Use the permalink for the Wikipedia's archived page in the source element
• If no permalink, use the URL for the entry and add retrieval dates to the source element

Reference page:

Online News Article

• Determine whether the article being cited is from an online news website or if it's an article from an online magazine or newspaper
  • Online news sources are different than online newspapers
• For online news sources italicize the title element
• Retrieval dates vary. Use retrieval dates when webpages from online news sources are susceptible to updates or any type of modifications

Reference page:

In-text:

• For short articles, no page number is necessary. For longer articles without page numbers, include the section and paragraph number. 

According to Morton and Faulkner (2021, para. 3). . . .    OR    . . . . (Morton & Faulkner, 2021, para. 3).

See pp. 320, 351 in the APA Publication Manual

Social Media

• If real name is known, place this in the first position of the citation followed by screen name in brackets. If the user's real name is not known, use only the screen name without brackets.
  • If the username is in brackets following the author's name, include the "@" symbol before the username
• Retain hashtags, emojis, and links 
  • If you cannot recreate the emoji, where the emoji appears in the post/comment put a description of the emoji in brackets
  • For videos and links in posts, record in brackets the description of the content included in the post 
• Put a description in brackets after the title of the resource being cited
• Provide retrieval dates when citing social media profiles/accounts
• Italicize the title element
  • the title element is the content of the social media post up to 20 words

Facebook Example | Instagram Example | LinkedIn Example | X Example | TikTok Example

See pp. 348-349 in the APA Publication Manual

Online Video

• Use the screen name that the author/poster has adopted. 
• If the video file is from YouTube, put YouTube at the beginning of the source element followed by a period
• Italicize the title element

Reference page:

myredroom. (2007, June 10). Paul sings Nessun Dorma [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

In-text:

Simon Cowell, a notoriously difficult judge, said that Paul Potts' performance on Britain's Got Talent, “was a complete breath of fresh air” (myredroom, 2007).

OR

According to myredroom (2007) Cowell went on to say that, “I thought you were absolutely fantastic.”

See p. 215 in the APA Publication Manual

Citing artificial intelligence (AI) sources in an APA Style is still being explored thus it continues to evolve. We suggest reading this blog post from the American Psychological Association (APA) to learn how to cite AI prompts like ChatGPT. 

How to cite ChatGPT

McAdoo, A. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style Blog. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt 

For further reading on AI tools and use in research, see our AI LibGuide

TV Show

• Apply rules for audiovisual works
• Include writers and directors for the episode being cited
• Use time stamps for in-text citations for directly quoting the world
• Provide the season and episode number in parentheses after the title 
• After the season/episode number, list the description of the work being cited in brackets in the title element
• List those responsible for their work in the author element
  • Put roles in parentheses 

Reference page:

In-text:

Dolinsky and Alexander’s (1968) work . . . .    OR    . . . . (Dolinsky & Alexander, 1968).

See pp. 273-274, 342-343 in the APA Publication Manual

Video (VHS, DVD, BluRay)

• Provide the primary contributors such as producer and/or director.
  • Put roles in parentheses 
• This information is found in the credits or on http://www.imdb.com

Reference page:

Gillespie, M. (Producer), & Ashworth, S. (Director). (2000). Faces of reality [DVD]. Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

In-text:

In the video Faces of Reality* produced by Gillespie and directed by Ashworth (2000) . . . .    OR    . . . . (Gillespie & Ashworth, 2000)

*varies on the journal or assignment requirements

See pp. 273-274, 342-343 in the APA Publication Manual

TED Talk

• If citing the TED Talk from the TED Talk official website, list the name of the speaker as the author
• If citing the TED Talk from YouTube, cite the owner of the account as the author
  • record the speaker's name at the beginning of the title element followed by a colon. The name should also be italicized in the title element

Reference page:

In-text:

Genova discussed two typical types of memory failures . . . . (TED, 2021)  

OR 

TED (2021) invited neuroscientist Lisa Genova to discuss memory...

See pp. 343-344 in the APA Publication Manual

Course Materials

• Treat course packs and lectures posted online as published material. Treat your own lecture notes as Personal Communication
• Check with your instructor before using course materials.
• If the course materials come from a learning management system (LMS), list the LMS in the source element
  • Follow the LMS name (e.g. Canvas, Blackboard Learn) with an @
  • List the login URL in the source element
• If the material being cited consists of lecture notes, create a description of the notes in the title element

Reference page:

In-text:

Patterson (2009) explains . . . . (Slide 5)    OR   . . . . (Patterson, 2009, Slide 5)

See p. 347 in the APA Publication Manual

Infographic

• Use the format for citing a work and not for reproducing the infographic

Reference page:

In-text:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (n.d.), infographic states that . . . . (para. 2)     

OR

 . . . . (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., para. 2).

See pp. 346-347 in the APA Publication Manual

Conference Session

• Italicize the title and follow with Conference session in brackets
• The dates should align with the dates of the conference
• Include the location of the conference 

Reference page:

In-text:

Nussbeck et al. (2016) during the conference. . . . (p. 223).    OR    . . . (Nussbeck et al., 2016, p. 223).

See p. 332 in the APA Publication Manual

Webinar

• Recorded and retrievable Webinars follow this format
• Unrecorded webinars are cited as personal communication
• Include Webinar in brackets after the title in the title element
• To quote directly from a recorded webinar and lecture include time stamps

Reference page:

In-text:

Koym (2021) explains that RefWorks. . . . (00:07:36).    OR    . . . (Koym, 2021, 00:07:36).

See pp. 264, 341-344 in APA Publication Manual