Using the American Psychological
Association (APA) Format 6th Ed.

This information comes from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(6th
edition).It’s always best to consult the Publication Manualfirst
for any APA question. If you are using APA style for a class assignment, it’s
also a good idea to consult your professor, advisor, librarian, or a Writing Center for help with using APA style
they can tell you how the style should apply in your particular case.

Handling References
in Your Text
When using APA format, the author’s last name and the year
of publication for the source should appear in the text, and a complete
reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

Referencing
citations in the text is covered on pages
170-179 of the Publication Manual. APA uses the author-date method of
in-text citation.
If you are referring to information drawn from another work
but are
not directly quoting the material, you must show the
authors name and year of publication in your in-text reference.
If you are
paraphrasing an idea from another work, APA guidelines encourage you to also provide
the page number.

Examples for
paraphrasing from a work:
Jones (1998) compared student performance …
In a recent study of student performance (Jones, 1998), …
In 1998, Jones compared student performance …

If there is no
author given, such as when you are citing an anonymous article or a web
page that lists no author, use an abbreviated version of the title of the page
in quotation marks to substitute for the name of the author.
Example: A similar study was done of students learning to
format research papers (“Study Finds,” 2005).
Personal
communications, such as letters, e-mail
messages or interviews that you conducted with another person, should be
referenced in your in-text citations but NOT included in your reference list.
(For more information, see page 179 of the Publication Manual.)

To cite a personal communication, provide initials and last
name of the communicator, the words personal communication, and an exact
date.

For example:
P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had
difficulties with APA style (personal
communication, November 3, 2002).

Quotations
Formatting quotations is covered on pages 170-173 in the Publication
Manual. Quotations of fewer than 40 words should be integrated in your
text, enclosed in double quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and
specific page (or paragraph number, if the work doesnt have page numbers) in
the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list.

Examples:
According to Harrison
(1998), lack of sleep is a significant contributor to stress (p. 143). Recent
studies have found that academic performance often suffers when students
experience high stress levels” (Jones, 2003. para. 9).

Place quotations
longer than 40 words in a free-standing block and omit quotation marks.
Start the quotation on a new line and indent the entire block five spaces
(about inch) from the left margin.
If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation,
Indent the first line of each an additional five spaces.
Double-space the entire quotation. Cite the source and page
or paragraph number after the final punctuation mark.

Images
Visual information, such as photographs, drawings, charts,
tables, and so forth, must be credited in a footnote at the bottom of the
image.
The footnote gives the same information that is included in
the reference list entry (see next section), but it is formatted differently.
Exact instructions can be found in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association(6th ed.), section 2.12.
If the image will be used in a web page or in a published
article, book, or report, you should obtain permission from the owner or
publisher of the image before using it.

Reference List
Formatting the reference list is covered in chapters six
and seven of the Publication Manual, pages 180-224. The reference list
provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any
source cited in the body of the paper. The list appears at the end of the
paper. Each source cited in the paper (other than personal communications) must
appear in the reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must
be cited in the text. The reference list should be double-spaced.

(The examples given below are single-spaced in the interest
of saving paper.)

Basic Rules:
The reference list should be alphabetized by authors’ last
names.

Authors’ names are inverted (last name first); give the last
name and initials for all authors of a particular work.

If you have more than one work by a particular author, put
them in order by publication date, oldest to newest (thus a 1991 article would
appear before a 1996 article).

When an author appears both as a sole author and, in
another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries
first.

If no author is given for a particular source, alphabetize
using the title of the work, which will be listed in place of the author, and
use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.

If the author is given as Anonymous, treat Anonymous as a
real authors name.

Use “&” instead of “and” when
listing multiple authors of a single work.

All lines after the first line of each entry in your
reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is
called hanging indentation.

Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a
title, first word of any subtitle, and any proper nouns in the title.

Italicize titles of books and journals.

Italicize the volume number of a journal citation.

Chapter seven in the Publication Manualprovides
extensive examples covering a wide variety of potential sources.

Basic Forms for
Print Sources or Articles/Reports from Databases
1. An article in
a periodical (e.g., a journal, newspaper,
or magazine):
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year).
Title of article. Title of periodical, volume number(issue number),
pages.

Example:
Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., & Harlow,
T. (1993). There’s more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The
importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.

For a magazine or newspaper article, you need to include
specific publication dates (month and day, if applicable) as well as the year.
For a journal article, you do not need to include the month or day of publication.

If you have retrieved the article through one of the
Librarys subscription databases, such as ABI/Inform, PsycArticles, JSTOR,
etc., and the database entry gives a DOI (digital object identifier) number,
include that number in the citation following the page numbers.

Note: Type DOI in lower case letters.

Example:
Makoe, M., Richardson, J., & Price, L. (2008, March).
Conceptions of learning in adult students embarking on distance education. Higher
Education, 55(3), 303-320. doi:10.1007/s10734-007- 9056-6

You can add Retrieved from and the name of the database
to the end of the citation; however, APA does not require that this information
be included.

2. A book:
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work:
Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Example:
Auerbach, S. M. (1998). Stress management: Psychological
foundations.Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.

NOTE: For “Location,” you should always list the
city, but you should also include the state if the city is unfamiliar or if the
city could be confused with one in another state or country.

If you are using an electronic book, you should add the URL
of the e-book provider.

Example:
Losyk, B. (2005). Get a grip! Overcoming stress and
thriving in the workplace.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved
from .netlibrary.com/”>http://www.netlibrary.com

3. Part of a
nonperiodical (e.g., a book chapter or an
article in a collection):
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication).
Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book(pages
of chapter). Location: Publisher.

NOTE: When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in
parentheses after the book title, use “pp.” before the numbers: (pp.
1-21). This abbreviation does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references.

Example:
O’Neil, J. M., & Egan, J.
(1992).Men’s and women’s gender role
journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R.
Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle(pp. 107-123). New York: Springer.

4. A government
publication:
Agency name. (Year of publication). Title of publication
(Report number). Location: Publisher.

Example:
U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Marshall Space Flight
Center. (2001). Decadal
trends of Atlantic Basic tropical cyclones(NASA TP: 201991). Hanover, MD:
NASA. Retrieved from http://trs.nis.nasa.gov/archive/00000563/01/tp210991.pdf

Basic Forms for
Internet Sources

1. An article in
an Internet periodical:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication).
Title of article. Title of journal, volume number(issue number if
available). Retrieved from http://Web address.

Example:
Loy, D.R. (2000). How to reform a serial killer: The
Buddhist approach to restorative justice. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 7.
Retrieved from http://www.buddhistethics.org/7/current7.html

2. Nonperiodical
Internet document (e.g., a Web page or
report):
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title
of document. Retrieved from http://Web address.

NOTE: When an Internet document is more than one Web page,
provide a URL that links to the home page or entry page for the document. If no
author is given, begin the citation with the page title. If no date is
available for the document, use (n.d.) for no date.

Example:
Conflict resolution lessons. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroomdiscipline/resource/3038.html

3. Part of a
nonperiodical Internet document:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication).
Title of article. In Title of book or larger document(chapter or
section number). Retrieved from http://Web address.

Example:
Goodwin, E. (1861, March 1). President Lincolns inaugural. In Eugene Goodwin
Civil War diary. Retrieved from
http://www.ioweb.com/civilwar/goodwin_diary/index.html

For More Information:

For answers to frequently asked questions about APA style,
visit the APA FAQ page at
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspxUsing the American Psychological
Association (APA) Format 6th Ed.This information comes from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(6th
edition).It’s always best to consult the Publication Manualfirst
for any APA question. If you are using APA style for a class assignment, it’s
also a good idea to consult your professor, advisor, librarian, or a Writing Center for help with using APA style
they can tell you how the style should apply in your particular case.Handling References
in Your TextWhen using APA format, the author’s last name and the year
of publication for the source should appear in the text, and a complete
reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.Referencing
citations in the text is covered on pages
170-179 of the Publication Manual. APA uses the author-date method of
in-text citation. If you are referring to information drawn from another work
but arenot directly quoting the material, you must show the
authors name and year of publication in your in-text reference. If you are
paraphrasing an idea from another work, APA guidelines encourage you to also provide
the page number. Examples for
paraphrasing from a work:Jones (1998) compared student performance …In a recent study of student performance (Jones, 1998), …In 1998, Jones compared student performance …If there is no
author given, such as when you are citing an anonymous article or a web
page that lists no author, use an abbreviated version of the title of the page
in quotation marks to substitute for the name of the author.Example: A similar study was done of students learning to
format research papers (“Study Finds,” 2005).Personal
communications, such as letters, e-mail
messages or interviews that you conducted with another person, should be
referenced in your in-text citations but NOT included in your reference list.
(For more information, see page 179 of the Publication Manual.)To cite a personal communication, provide initials and last
name of the communicator, the words personal communication, and an exact
date. For example:P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had
difficulties with APA style (personalcommunication, November 3, 2002). QuotationsFormatting quotations is covered on pages 170-173 in the Publication
Manual. Quotations of fewer than 40 words should be integrated in your
text, enclosed in double quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and
specific page (or paragraph number, if the work doesnt have page numbers) in
the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list.Examples:According to Harrison
(1998), lack of sleep is a significant contributor to stress (p. 143). Recent
studies have found that academic performance often suffers when students
experience high stress levels” (Jones, 2003. para. 9).Place quotations
longer than 40 words in a free-standing block and omit quotation marks.
Start the quotation on a new line and indent the entire block five spaces
(about inch) from the left margin. If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation,
Indent the first line of each an additional five spaces.Double-space the entire quotation. Cite the source and page
or paragraph number after the final punctuation mark.ImagesVisual information, such as photographs, drawings, charts,
tables, and so forth, must be credited in a footnote at the bottom of the
image. The footnote gives the same information that is included in
the reference list entry (see next section), but it is formatted differently. Exact instructions can be found in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association(6th ed.), section 2.12. If the image will be used in a web page or in a published
article, book, or report, you should obtain permission from the owner or
publisher of the image before using it.Reference ListFormatting the reference list is covered in chapters six
and seven of the Publication Manual, pages 180-224. The reference list
provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any
source cited in the body of the paper. The list appears at the end of the
paper. Each source cited in the paper (other than personal communications) must
appear in the reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must
be cited in the text. The reference list should be double-spaced. (The examples given below are single-spaced in the interest
of saving paper.)Basic Rules:The reference list should be alphabetized by authors’ last
names.Authors’ names are inverted (last name first); give the last
name and initials for all authors of a particular work.If you have more than one work by a particular author, put
them in order by publication date, oldest to newest (thus a 1991 article would
appear before a 1996 article).When an author appears both as a sole author and, in
another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries
first.If no author is given for a particular source, alphabetize
using the title of the work, which will be listed in place of the author, and
use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.If the author is given as Anonymous, treat Anonymous as a
real authors name.Use “&” instead of “and” when
listing multiple authors of a single work.All lines after the first line of each entry in your
reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is
called hanging indentation.Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a
title, first word of any subtitle, and any proper nouns in the title.Italicize titles of books and journals.Italicize the volume number of a journal citation.Chapter seven in the Publication Manualprovides
extensive examples covering a wide variety of potential sources.Basic Forms for
Print Sources or Articles/Reports from Databases1. An article in
a periodical (e.g., a journal, newspaper,
or magazine):Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year).
Title of article. Title of periodical, volume number(issue number),
pages.Example:Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., & Harlow,
T. (1993). There’s more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The
importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.For a magazine or newspaper article, you need to include
specific publication dates (month and day, if applicable) as well as the year.
For a journal article, you do not need to include the month or day of publication.If you have retrieved the article through one of the
Librarys subscription databases, such as ABI/Inform, PsycArticles, JSTOR,
etc., and the database entry gives a DOI (digital object identifier) number,
include that number in the citation following the page numbers. Note: Type DOI in lower case letters.Example:Makoe, M., Richardson, J., & Price, L. (2008, March).
Conceptions of learning in adult students embarking on distance education. Higher
Education, 55(3), 303-320. doi:10.1007/s10734-007- 9056-6You can add Retrieved from and the name of the database
to the end of the citation; however, APA does not require that this information
be included.2. A book:Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work:
Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.Example:Auerbach, S. M. (1998). Stress management: Psychological
foundations.Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.NOTE: For “Location,” you should always list the
city, but you should also include the state if the city is unfamiliar or if the
city could be confused with one in another state or country.If you are using an electronic book, you should add the URL
of the e-book provider.Example:Losyk, B. (2005). Get a grip! Overcoming stress and
thriving in the workplace.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved
from .netlibrary.com/”>http://www.netlibrary.com3. Part of a
nonperiodical (e.g., a book chapter or an
article in a collection):Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication).
Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book(pages
of chapter). Location: Publisher.NOTE: When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in
parentheses after the book title, use “pp.” before the numbers: (pp.
1-21). This abbreviation does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references.Example:O’Neil, J. M., & Egan, J.
(1992).Men’s and women’s gender role
journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R.
Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle(pp. 107-123). New York: Springer.4. A government
publication:Agency name. (Year of publication). Title of publication
(Report number). Location: Publisher.Example:U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Marshall Space Flight
Center. (2001). Decadal
trends of Atlantic Basic tropical cyclones(NASA TP: 201991). Hanover, MD:
NASA. Retrieved from http://trs.nis.nasa.gov/archive/00000563/01/tp210991.pdfBasic Forms for
Internet Sources1. An article in
an Internet periodical:Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication).
Title of article. Title of journal, volume number(issue number if
available). Retrieved from http://Web address.Example:Loy, D.R. (2000). How to reform a serial killer: The
Buddhist approach to restorative justice. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 7.
Retrieved from http://www.buddhistethics.org/7/current7.html2. Nonperiodical
Internet document (e.g., a Web page or
report):Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title
of document. Retrieved from http://Web address.NOTE: When an Internet document is more than one Web page,
provide a URL that links to the home page or entry page for the document. If no
author is given, begin the citation with the page title. If no date is
available for the document, use (n.d.) for no date.Example:Conflict resolution lessons. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroomdiscipline/resource/3038.html3. Part of a
nonperiodical Internet document:Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication).
Title of article. In Title of book or larger document(chapter or
section number). Retrieved from http://Web address.Example:Goodwin, E. (1861, March 1). President Lincolns inaugural. In Eugene Goodwin
Civil War diary. Retrieved from
http://www.ioweb.com/civilwar/goodwin_diary/index.htmlFor More Information:For answers to frequently asked questions about APA style,
visit the APA FAQ page athttp://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx