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APA Citations

Reference Page Citation

The bibliography is called the "References" page in the APA style. Each source you use in your writing must have a full bibliographic citation on your reference page.

The reference page is formatted as follows:

  • begin the reference page on a new page,
  • References (the title of this page) is centered and in bold,
  • the sources are listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author,
  • double-space the references,
  • each source is formatted with a hanging indentation, and
  • in the title and subtitle, only capitalize proper names and the first letter of the first word.

Example:

References

Bladow, L. E. (2018). Worth the click: Why greater FTC enforcement is needed to curtail deceptive

practices in influencer marketing. William & Mary Law Review, 59(3), 1123-1164.

Goodrich, M., & Howell, J. (2019). Influencers: What every brand and legal counsel should know.

GPSolo, 36(5), 60–61.

Sliwinski, H. (2016). Understanding brands and influencer relations. Public Relations Tactics, 23(9), 8.

 

Number of Authors

The rules are different for listing authors on the references page compared to your in-text citations. All author names are listed in citations on the reference page unless there are more than 20 authors.

One Author:

Last name, A.A. (year).

Two Authors:

Last name, A. A., & Last name, B. B. (year).

Three to Twenty Authors:

Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B., & Last name, C. C. (year).

More than Twenty Authors:

List the first 19 author names then add an ellipsis (...) followed by the name of the very last author.

Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B., Last name, C. C., Last name, D. D., Last name, E. E., Last name, F. F., Last name, G. G., Last name, H. H., Last name, I. I., Last name, J. J., Last name, K. K., Last name, L. L., Last name, M. M., Last name, N. N., Last name, O. O., Last name, P. P., Last name, Q. Q., Last name, R. R., Last name, S. S. ...& Last name, Z. Z. (year).

Creating Citations

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year). Title of work: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules. Publisher.

Example:

Moore, A. & Lloyd, D. (2008). V for vendetta. Vertigo.

Notes:

  • Electronic sources should include a DOI (digital object identifier).
  • Write the DOI as a hyperlink beginning with “https://doi.org/” and then add the number.
  • Omit this if the DOI does not exist.
  • Do not provide the database URL if the DOI does not exist.

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year). Title of work: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules. Publisher. DOI.

Example:

Morin, C. (2018). The gothic novel in Ireland: C. 1760-1829. Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv3zp024.

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year). Title of work: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules (edition). Publisher.

Example:

Francis, P., & Oppenheimer, C. (2004). Volcanoes (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Format:

Editor's last name, A. A. (Eds.). (year). Title of work: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules. Publisher. DOI (if it exists).

Example:

Gonzalez, M., & Barekat, H. (Eds.). (2013). Arms and the people: Popular movements and military from the Paris Commune to the Arab Spring. Pluto Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt183gzws.

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year). Title of chapter: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules. In Editor(s) name (Eds.), Title of book italicized with capitilization rules (page numbers). Publisher.

Example:

Gallagher, M. (2009). Aimé Césaire and francophone postcolonial thought. In C. Forsdick & D. Murphy (Eds.), Postcolonial thought in the French speaking world (pp. 31-41). Liverpool University Press.

Notes:

  • This example contains the rules for listing both the volume number and issue number, but not all journals have an issue number. When this is the case, simply omit the issue number and parentheses.
  • Note that the volume number is italicized but the issue number is not.
  • Do not provide the database URL if the DOI does not exist.

Format:

Author, A. A. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal or Magazine, volume #(issue #), page numbers. DOI.

Example:

Fleck, L. M., & Murphy, T. F. (2018). First come first serve in the intensive care unit: Always? Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 27(1), 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180117000391.

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year, month day). Title of article: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules. Title of Newspaper or Magazine. Retrieved date, from URL

Example:

Pollock, N. (2018, March 16). Virginia’s juvenile justice reform. The Atlantic. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/juvenile-justice

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year). Title of entry. In Editor's name (Eds.), Title Encyclopedia (edition). Publisher.

Example:

Partanen, E., & Virtala, P. (2017). Prenatal sensory development. In B. Hopkins & R. G. Barr (Eds.), The Cambridge encyclopedia of child development (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Format:

Title of entry. (year). In Editor's name (Eds.), Title Encyclopedia (edition). Publisher.

Example:

Federal Reserve System. (2015). In T. Riggs (Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of U.S. economic history (2nd ed.). Gale.

Format:

Name of Organization. (year). Title of work: Subtitle follows same capitalization rules. URL.

Example:

Stanford History Education Group. (2016). Evaluating information: The cornerstone of civic online learning. https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/SHEG-Evaluating-Information-Online.

Note: Create a separate reference for each webpage you use from a website.

Format:

Website Name. (year). Name of specific webpage. URL

Example:

Office of the Governor. (n.d.). Meet the governor. http://gov.louisiana.gov/page/meet-the-governor

Notes:

  • Indicate the type of social media post in brackets, such as video, Tweet, status update, etc.
  • Indicate in brackets if a link is included.

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year, month day). Social media post [Link attached] [Status update]. Social media platform. URL.

Example:

Wheaton, W. (2019, October 23). I don't know how long this will last, but right now, you can hear whales singing to each other on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's hydrophone [Link attached] [Status update]! Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/itswilwheaton/posts/2330655153727680.

Notes:

  • Omit the publisher and URL if the presentation does not have one.

Format:

Last name, A. A. (year, month day). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Publisher. URL.

Example:

El-Bathy, N. K. (2019, September 13). Information literacy& student success [PowerPoint slides].

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