www.langara.bc.ca/library/research-help/citing-help/index.html
The American Psychological Association (APA) style for documentation is widely used in the fields of behavioral and social sciences such as education, nursing, nutrition and food services, and psychology. This guide provides examples for citing common types of sources and identifying them in the text of your essay. For more information, consult the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (BF 76.7 P83 2010). Copies are available at Langara Library, including one at the Reference Desk.
GENERAL NOTES ON APA STYLE
Reference List
o A reference list is a list of all the sources cited in the text of your paper. The entries are arranged alphabetically by the last names of the authors (or by the title, if no author or editor is given).
o Start the reference list on a new page at the end of your paper. Use the word References as the heading of the page and center it. All reference entries are double-spaced.
o Begin each entry flush with the left margin, and indent the subsequent line(s) 0.5 inch from the left margin.
Reference Components
o Authors
Invert all authors’ names – give surnames and initials for up to and including seven
authors.
When authors number eight or more, include the first six authors’ names, then insert three ellipsis points, and add the last author’s name.
o Publication date
For books and journal articles, give the year that the work was published.
For articles from magazines and newspapers, give the year and the exact date of the publication (month or month and day), separated by a comma and enclosed in parentheses. If the date is given as a season, give the year and the season.
o Journals/Magazines: Title and volume/issue number
Give the journal/magazine title in full, in uppercase and lowercase letters.
Citing References in Text
References in APA style are cited in text with an author-date format.
Source Citation in Text
With 1 author (Greene, 2010)
With 2 authors (Scarlett & New, 2007)
With 3-5 authors (Thompson, Manore, & Sheeshka, 2010) Subsequent citation: (Thompson et al., 2010) (Torabian, Haddad, Rajaram, Banta, & Sabat, 2009)
Subsequent citation: (Torabian et al., 2009) With 6 or more authors (Gibson et al., 2010)
With no author (The First Few Words of the Book Title, 2009) (“The First Few Words of the Article Title,” 2008) With no date (Jarry, Kossert, & Ip, n.d.)
Specific parts or direct quotations
(Molgat, 2010, pp. 18-21)
(Stockert & Smith Higuchi, 2009, p. 997) (Public Safety Canada, 2009, Chapter 3)
(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2010, “Possible health concerns,” para. 2)
Multiple sources (Bishop, 2009; Dai, 2008; Greene, 2010)
Secondary Sources (“as cited in”)
Sources you cite should be ones that you have actually examined in their original, complete form. A secondary source is a source that cites the original work which you intend to use as a reference. When you have to use a secondary source for some reason, give the secondary source in the reference list; in the text, name the original work and give a citation for the secondary source. For example, if Smith’s work is cited in Blackwell and you did not read Smith’s work, list the Blackwell reference in the reference list. In the text, use the following citation:
EXAMPLES OF REFERENCES
You may not always find guidelines or examples specific to the kind of source you want to cite. Keep in mind that the intent of the reference list is to give enough information for the reader to locate the works. Do the best you can, and make sure the format of all your references is consistent. When in doubt, err on the side of more rather than fewer details.
Articles (Print)
Journal article Loge, J., & Sorrell, J. M. (2010). Implications of an aging population for mental
health nurses. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 48(9), 15-18.
Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009). Web site usability for the blind and low-vision user. Technical Communication, 57, 323-335.
Magazine article Gretzner, B. (2010, July/August). On the digital path. PMA Magazine, 86(6), 20-21.
Newspaper article – with author
Cohen, T. (2010, October 28). B.C. handed a failing grade over its treatment of ADHD students. The Vancouver Sun, pp. B3, B5.
Newspaper article – with no author
Daily low dose of Aspirin cuts risk of cancer, expert says. (2010, October 22). The Globe and Mail, p. L1.
Articles (Online)
NOTE 1: Journal articles
When citing a full-text journal article obtained from a library database (e.g., CINAHL, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect), donot include the name of the library database.
Start with publication information formatted as if it is a print source, and add the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) at the end of the citation.
Where to find the DOI:
A DOI is either in the database record or on the first page of the journal article.
If the database record does not provide a DOI, you can look it up from CrossRef – http://www.crossref.org/guestquery
Journal article from library database – with DOI
Torabian, S., Haddad, E., Rajaram, S., Banta, J., & Sabat, J. (2009). Acute effect of nut consumption on plasma total polyphenols, antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation. Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics, 22, 64-71. doi:10.1111/j.1365-277X.2008.00923.x
Journal article from library database – without DOI
Gibson, D. R., Zhang, G., Cassady, D., Pappas, L., Mitchell, J., & Kegeles, S. M. (2010). Effectiveness of HIV prevention social marketing with injecting drug users. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 1828-1830. Retrieved from http://ajph.aphapublications.org
Magazine article from library database
Greene, A. (2010, March/April). Making the case for vitamin supplements. Total Health, 30(5), 32-33. Retrieved from http://www.totalhealthmagazine.com
Magazine article free on the Web
Helgoe, L. (2010, September 1). Revenge of the introvert. Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com
Newspaper article from library database
McGinn, D. (2010, October 25). How many calories did you burn? Are you sure? The Globe and Mail, p. L3. Retrieved from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Newspaper article free on the Web
Wald, M. (2010, October 24). When a cancer therapy puts others at risk. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Books (Print)
Multipleauthors/editors
Thompson, J., Manore, M., & Sheeshka, J. (2010). Nutrition: A functional approach (2nd Canadian ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson.
Spirduso, W. W., Poon, L. W., & Chodzko-Zajko, W. (Eds.). (2008). Exercise and its mediating effects on cognition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Chapter or titled part of a print book
Stockert, P. A., & Smith Higuchi, K. A. (2009). Sleep. In P. A. Potter, A. G. Perry, J. C. Ross-Kerr, & M. J. Wood (Eds.), Canadian fundamentals of nursing (4th ed., pp. 987-1008). Toronto, ON: Mosby Elsevier.
Article in a print encyclopedia
Scarlett, W. G., & New, R. S. (2007). Play. In R. S. New & M. Cochran (Eds.), Early childhood education: An international encyclopedia (pp. 626-633). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Books (Online)
NOTE: When citing an entire e-book, part of an e-book, or an encyclopedia article from a library online collection (e.g., ebrary, Gale Virtual Reference, Oxford Reference Online), provide a complete URL that links directly to the source.
If citing an ebrary e-book, the URL in the address bar is a direct link to the book.
If citing an encyclopedia article from the Gale Virtual Reference collection, copy the Document URL at the bottom of the html page of the article.
If citing an entry from Oxford Reference Online, copy the URL provided in the “How to cite this entry” section, which is usually located at the bottom of the page.
Entire e-book from library collection
Bishop, V. (Ed.). (2009). Leadership for nursing and allied health care professions. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/langara /docDetail.action?docID=10347089
Chapter or titled part of an e-book from library collection
Stanley, D. (2009). Clinical leadership and the theory of congruent leadership. In V. Bishop (Ed.), Leadership for nursing and allied health care
professions (pp. 142-163). Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/langara/Doc?id =10347089&ppg=161
Online encyclopedia article from library collection
Dai, D. Y. (2008). Intelligence and intellectual development. In N. J. Salkind & K. Rasmussen (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational psychology. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CCX2660600155&v =2.1&u= vanc85972&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
Courseware
NOTES:
Treat the items in your courseware like articles or chapters in an edited book that are reprinted from another source. Use the instructor’s name as the editor/compiler, and Langara College as the publisher.
If there is credit given to the original source include this in brackets beginning with (Reprinted from….). Otherwise omit this.
Some courseware has continuous pagination throughout; others preserve the original pagination of the compiled material. Cite whatever page numbers are available.
Documents from Websites
NOTE: When citing a web document, list as many of the following elements as are available: author’s name, publication date (or “n.d.” if no date can be found), title (in italics), and URL. When a web document consists of multiple web pages, provide a URL that links to the entry page of the document. Give your retrieval date only if the content of the source is likely to change.
Document with author and date
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2010, October 9). Artificial sweeteners: Understanding these and other sugar substitutes. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners /MY00073/METHOD=print
Document with no date
Jarry, J. L., Kossert, A., & Ip, K. (n.d.). Do women with low self-esteem use appearance to feel better? Retrieved from http://www.nedic.ca /knowthefacts/documents/Appearanceandselfesteem.pdf
Document with no author
Post-traumatic stress disorder. (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/publications /factsheets/ptsd
Section in a Web document
Health Canada. (2010, March 5). Diabetes. In First Nations, Inuit and aboriginal health. Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/diseases-maladies/diabete/index-eng.php
Government Publications
Print Public Safety Canada, National Crime Prevention Centre. (2009). School-based
drug abuse prevention: Promising and successful programs. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Online Public Safety Canada, National Crime Prevention Centre. (2009). School-based
drug abuse prevention: Promising and successful programs. Retrieved from http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/2009-01-drg-abs-eng.aspx Molgat, M. (with Larose-Hébert, K.). (2010). The values of youth in Canada.
Retrieved from Policy Research Initiative website: http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/collection_2010/prp-pri/PH4-57-2009-eng.pdf
Media
VideoDennis, B. (Producer), & Lynd, L. (Director). (2010). Open heart [DVD]. Canada: Barna-Alper Productions.
Online Baulu, K. (Producer), & Bellange, T. (Director). (2010). Doctors without
