APA Sample Citations

The following are examples of citations and reference list entries using the APA (American Psychological Association) format. For examples not illustrated here, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (1994), which is on Permanent Reserve at Circulation & Reserves.

A retrieval statement that includes date of retrieval (not necessary for CD-ROMs) and source, followed in parentheses by the name of the specific database and any other information needed to retrieve the particular item. For Web sources, give the URL of an "entry page" for the database.

These criteria are still being developed by APA. For the most recent guidelines, check Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association.

Compiled by Judith E. Fryer
Fall 1999

SAMPLE CITATIONS (C = Citation form; R = Reference List)

*** If the author's name is clearly mentioned in the text near the parenthetical citation, the name should be omitted within the parentheses, and only the date used.

*** If both the author and the year appear in the text, no parenthetical information is needed.

*** Within a paragraph, you need not include the year in subsequent references to the work, as long as it cannot be confused with other works cited.

Index to APA Sample Citations

PERIODICAL ARTICLES

ONE AUTHOR, PRINT SOURCE

C	(Gallagher, 1992)
R	Gallagher, T. E. (1992). Vargas Llosa, The Storyteller, and the premature demise of ethnography. MACLAS Latin American Essays, 7, 121-133.

Return to the index

ONE AUTHOR, FULL TEXT ONLINE SOURCE (periodical)

C	(Ozawa, 1999)
R	Ozawa, T. (1999). The rise and fall of bank-loan capitalism: institutionally driven growth and crisis in Japan. Journal of Economic Issues, 32, 351+. Retrieved October 6, 1999 from Expanded Academic ASAP (InfoTrac) on the World WideWeb: http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/

Return to the index

TWO AUTHORS, QUOTATION (periodical)

C	(Economopoulos & O'Neill, 1995, p. 1074)
R	Economopoulos, A., & O'Neill, H. (1995). Bank entry during the antebellum period. Journal of Money, Credit & Banking, 27, 1071

Return to the index

MORE THAN TWO AUTHORS (periodical)

For three to five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; subsequent citations include the first author followed by et al. (not underlined and no period after et) and the year. List all in the Reference List. For six or more authors, cite only the first author followed by et al., but include all authors in the Reference List.

C	(Chambliss, Pinto, & McGuigan, 1997) first time
C	(Chambliss et al., 1997), subsequent times
R	Chambliss, C., Pinto, D., & McGuigan, J. (1997). Reactions to managed care among psychologists and social workers. Psychological Reports, 80, 147-154.

C	(Kneip et al., 1993) each time, including the first
R	Kneip, R. C., Delamater, A. M., Ismond, T., Milford, C., Salvia, L., & Schwartz, D. (1993). Self- and spouse ratings of anger and hostility as predictors of coronary heart disease. Health Psychology, 12, 301-307.

Return to the index

ENTIRE SPECIAL ISSUE (periodical)

C	("Testing," 1981)
R	Glaser, R., & Bond, L. (Eds.). (1981). Testing: Concepts, policy, practice, and research [Special issue]. American Psychologist, 36(10).

Return to the index

MORE THAN ONE ARTICLE BY SAME AUTHOR, SAME PUBLICATION YEAR
(periodical)

C	(Parish, 1990a)
C	(Parish, 1990b)
R	Parish, T. S. (1990a). Evaluations of family by youth: Do they vary as a function of family structure, gender, and birth order? Adolescence, 25, 353-356.
R	Parish, T. S. (1990b). Examining teachers' perceptions of children's support systems. Journal of Psychology, 124, 113-118.

Return to the index

AUTHORS WITH SAME SURNAME (periodical)

C	(S. Hood, 1998)
C	(G. Hood, 1993)
R	Hood, S. J. (1998). The myth of Asian-style democracy. Asian Survey, 38, 853-866.
R	Hood, G. (1993). Neither bang nor whimper. China Quarterly, 136, 1028-1029.

Return to the index

MONTHLY MAGAZINE (periodical)

C	(Gardner, 1981)
R	Gardner, H. (1981, December). Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today, 15, 70-76.

Return to the index

DAILY NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, NONCONSECUTIVE PAGES (periodical)

C	(Landler, 1995)
R	Landler, M. (1995, May 9). Jingling the keys to cyberspace, cable officials sing a new tune. The New York Times, pp. D1, D6.

Return to the index

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, ELECTRONIC SOURCE (periodical)

C	(Brown, 1994)
R	Brown, M. W. (1994, July 26). Comet that shook Jupiter may probe planet's secrets. New York Times, Late Edition, Final, Sec. C: Science Desk, p. 1. Retrieved from ProQuest database, (New York Times Ondisc, CD-ROM)

Return to the index

MONTHLY NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, NO AUTHOR (periodical)

C	("Study finds," 1982)
R	Study finds free care used more. (1982, April). APA Monitor, p. 14.

Return to the index

LETTER TO THE EDITOR (periodical)

C	(Aldridge, 1983)
R	Aldridge. D. W. III (1983, July 29). Kenneth B. Clark and the N.A.A.C.P. [Letter to the editor]. The New York Times, p. A22.

Return to the index

REVIEW OF A BOOK, FILM, OR VIDEO (periodical)

C	(Czubaroff, 1991)
R	Czubaroff, J. (1991). [Review of the book A rhetoric of science: inventing scientific discourse]. Journal of Communication, 41, 163-165.

Return to the index

PUBLISHED INTERVIEW, UNTITLED (periodical)

C	(Newman, 1982)
R	Newman, P. (1982, January). [Interview with William Epstein, editor of JEP: Human perception and performance]. APA Monitor, pp. 7, 39.

Return to the index

ANNUAL PUBLICATION (periodical)

C	(Bruck & Ceci, 1999)
R	Bruck, M., & Ceci, S. J. (1999). The suggestibility of children's memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 419-439.

Return to the index

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF AN ARTICLE, JOURNAL PAGINATED BY ISSUE
(periodical)

C	(Stutte, 1972)
R	Transcultural child psychiatry. Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 38(9), 229-231.

Return to the index

JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT (periodical)

C	(Regier, A. A., Narrow, W. E., & Rae, D. S., 1990) first time
C	(Regier et al., 1990) subsequent mention
R	Regier, A. A., Narrow, W. E., & Rae, D. S. (1990). The epidemiology of anxiety disorders: The epidemiologic catchment area (ECA) experience. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 24(Suppl. 2), 3-14.

Return to the index

WORKS DISCUSSED IN A SECONDARY SOURCE (periodical)

C	Johnson's study (as cited in Beatty, 1982)
R	Beatty, J. (1982). Task-evoked pupillary response, processing load, and the structure of processing resources. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 276-292.

Return to the index

ABSTRACT OF ARTICLE, ELECTRONIC SOURCE (periodical)

C	(England & Petro, 1998)
R	England, E. M. & Petro, K. D. (1998). Middle school students' perceptions of peer groups: relative judgments about group characteristics. Journal of Early Adolescence, 18, 349-373. Abstract retrieved October 5, 1999 from PsychINFO database on the World Wide Web: http://webspirs.silverplatter.com

Return to the index

BOOKS

ONE AUTHOR, CITING ENTIRE BOOK

C	(Gross, 1997)
R	Gross, P. A. (1997). Joint curriculum design: facilitating learner ownership and active participation in secondary classrooms. Mahwah: Erlbaum.

Return to the index

SPECIFIC PARTS OF A WORK OR QUOTATION (book)

C	(Gross, 1997, p. 42)
C	(Gross, 1997, chap. 3)

Return to the index

TWO AUTHORS (book)

C	(Klebanow & Lowenkopf, 1991)
R	Klebanow, S., & Lowenkopf, E. (1991). Money and mind. New York: Plenum.

Return to the index

MORE THAN TWO AUTHORS (book)

For three to five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; subsequent citations include the first author followed by et al. (not underlined and no period after et) and the year. List all in the Reference List. For six or more authors, cite only the first author followed by et al., but include all authors in the Reference List.

C	(Atkinson, Bower, & Crothers, 1965) first time
C	(Atkinson et al., 1965) subsequent times
R	Atkinson, R. C., Bower, G. H., & Crothers, E. J. (1965). An introduction to mathematical learning theory. New York: Wiley.

Return to the index

CORPORATE AUTHOR, TECHNICAL AND RESEARCH REPORTS

If the name of the corporate author is long and if the abbreviation is familiar or easily understandable, you may use the abbreviation in subsequent citations.

C	(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1990) first time
C	(NIMH, 1990) subsequent times
R	National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Return to the index

EDITION OTHER THAN THE FIRST (book)

C	(Roskin & Berry, 1997)
R	Roskin, M. G. & Berry, N. O. (1997). IR: the new world of international relations (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Return to the index

EDITOR(S) (book)

C	(Hall, 1989)
R	Hall, C. (Ed.). (1989). Toward a more inclusive curriculum: the integration of gender, race, and class. Gaithersburg: Ephemera/Belles Lettres.

Return to the index

NO AUTHOR OR EDITOR (book)

C	(Mental health, 1986)
R	Mental health needs of homeless persons (1986). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Return to the index

ARTICLE IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA

C	(Oboler, 1995)
R	Oboler, R. E. (1995). Nandi and other Kalenjin peoples. In Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Vol. 9, pp. 231-234). Boston: Hall.

Return to the index

DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS
AUTHOR AS PUBLISHER

C	(American Psychiatric Association, 1994, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders) first time
C	(DSM-IV) subsequent mention
R	American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Return to the index

ARTICLE OR CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK

C	(Borsdorf, 1989)
R	Borsdorf, L. (1989). Revising the canon through an adapted physical education course. In C. Hall (Ed.), Toward a more inclusive curriculum: the integration of gender, race, and class (pp. 57-63). Gaithersburg: Ephemera/Belles Lettres.

Return to the index

DOCUMENT IN COLLECTION OF FULL-TEXT SOURCES
(such as NTDB, NESE, or OSHA)

C	(Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 1994) first time
C	(OSHA, 1994) subsequent mention
R	Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (1994, May). Chemical sampling information. Washington: OSHA. Retrieved from OSHA regulations, documents, and technical information. (OSHA CD-ROM, A94-3)

Return to the index

MULTIVOLUME EDITED WORK, PUBLISHED OVER SEVERAL YEARS

C	(Wilson & Fraser, 1977-78)
R	Wilson, J. G., & Fraser, F. C. (Eds.). Handbook of teratology (Vols. 1-4). New York: Plenum Press.

Return to the index

ABSTRACT OF A MONOGRAPH, FROM A DATABASE

C	(Caruso & Chambliss, 1994)
R	Caruso, K. A. & Chambliss, C. A. (1994). Japanese and American college students' perceptions of familial and peer relationships. Abstract retrieved from ERIC database (WinSPIRS ERIC CD-ROM, version 4.0)

Return to the index

ENGLISH TRANSLATION (book)

C	(Laplace, 1814/1951)
R	Laplace, P. -S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott & F. L Emory, Trans.). New York: Dover. (Original work published 1814)

Return to the index

UNPUBLISHED PAPER PRESENTED AT A MEETING

C	(Fryer, 1989)
R	Fryer, J. E. (1989, April). Mayan epigraphy and iconography; interpreting a culture. Paper presented at the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies, Collegeville, PA.

Return to the index

POSTER SESSION

C	(Malone, D., 1995)
R	Malone, D. (1995, March). Building bridges: Collaborative collection development in a changing world. Poster session presented at the national conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Pittsburgh, PA.

Return to the index

PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS
(letters, memos, conversations, e-mail, electronic discussion groups or bulletin boards)

C	P. Erb (personal communication, August 27, 1993)

Return to the index

WORLD WIDE WEB

C	(Fash & Fash)
R	Fash, B. W., & Fash, W. L. Saving the Maya past for the future: Copan's new sculpture museum. Peabody Museum of Archaeology. Retrieved on September 17, 1999: http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/profiles/default.html

The format is

Author. (Publication date, if given). Title. Title of project or homepage. Retrieval statement: complete URL

Return to the index