Reference Citations - Examples - APA Style Guide - Guides at Lone Star College-Kingwood

Books and Reference Works

Basic Format

Note: Double spaced, hanging indent.

Author, A. A. (Date). Title of book (edition). Publication information. DOI or URL

For more information, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, pp. 321-325

Journal Articles

Basic Journal Citation

Basic citation

Author, A. A. (Date). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), pages. doi or other electronic location

For more information, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, pp. 198-202

From the Web

Author, A. A. (Date). Title of work. Website. URL

Is the title in italics or not? That depends. If it is a stand alone, such as a government document, an ebook, or an entire web site, use italics. If it is just a part of the site, such as an article in WebMD, use plain text.
What date do you use? If a date is given at top of an article, use that. Last updated or revised dates are also good. Do not use page copyright dates. If you can not find a good date, use n.d. for no date.

For more information, see the APA Blog

TItle. (date). Retrieved from url

Reference

A look at the shocking student loan debt statistics for 2017. (2017, May 17). Retrieved from https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/

In-text citation

(A look, 2017)

For more information, see the APA Blog

Organization as author. Start with the responsible agency as the author.

Corporate author. (date). Title. Retrieved from url

National Rifle Association, Institute for Legislative Action. (2017, July 21). The need for national reciprocity. Retrieved from https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170721/the-need-for-national-reciprocity

In text citation. Because there are no page numbers, count the paragraphs and use the paragraph number. If there are named sections, use a section as well. See the Adaptive access example below.

(National Rifle Asso., 2017, para. 2)

Organization as author; No publication date.

Corporate author. (n.d.) Title. Retrieved from url

Adaptive Access. (n.d.). Home changes. Retrieved from http://www.adaptiveaccess.com/home_changes.php

In-text citation. Because there are no page numbers, use a section name and paragraph number in the in-text citation, if available.

(Adaptive Access, n.d., Bathroom remodeling, para. 2)

For more information, see the APA Blog

Start with the responsible agency as the author.

Agency. (date). Title. Retrieved from url

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. (2014, April 30). Cat-scratch disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/cat-scratch.html

Alternative citation - see More Information below

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. (2014, April 30). Cat-scratch disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/cat-scratch.html

In-text citation

Use the full agency name the first time you cite it in text. If the name is long and an acronym is commonly used, include the acronym in brackets after the name. You may use the acronym for subsequent citations.
Because there are no page numbers but there are section names, use the section name and paragraph number in place of a page number.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014, How cats and people, para. 1)

(CDC, 2014, How cats and people, para. 1) for subsequent citations.

Author [pseudonym]. (date). Tweet first forty words [Tweet]. Retrieved from url

Use the author’s real name, followed by the username in brackets. If the real name is not available, use the username with no brackets. For the title, use the whole tweet unless it is more than forty words. In that case, use the first forty words.

Real name and pseudonym

Asher, Jay. [jayasherguy]. (2017, June 13). Currently trying to remind myself that dentists are not the enemy. But sometimes-- Oh! Here he comes... [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/jayasherguy

In-text citation

(Asher, 2017)

No pseudonym

Dutch_50. (25 July 2017). I know it’s illegal to launder money, so I’ve decided to stop doing laundry entirely. Just to be on the safe side [Tweet]. Retrieved from http://funnytweeter.com/

In-text citation

(Dutch_50, 2017)

For more information, see the APA Blog

Author, A. A. [pseudonym]. (date). Title [Blog post]. Retrieved from url

When the author uses a pseudonym, you still use the real name if you know it and put the pseudonym in brackets. If you do not know the real name, use the pseudonym without brackets.

No pseudonym

Roth, J. D. (2016, June 8). The value of a college education [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/01/10/the-value-of-a-college-education/

(Roth, 2016)

Pseudonym and real name

Emborsky, D. [crochetdude]. (2017, July 10). Motivation Monday? How about every day [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://drewemborsky.com/2017/07/motivation-monday-how-about-every-day/

(Emborsky, 2017)

Pseudonym, no real name

Bunny. (2017, February 6). Trimming fur [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://lasewist.blogspot.com/2017/02/trimming-fur.html

(Bunny, 2017)

For more information, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7.11, #76 and the APA Blog

Is homework a necessary evil?

Multimedia

Video online, such as YouTube or TEDTalk. For the date, use the date posted, not date created. Note that YouTube uses a specific day while TEDTalk uses only a month and a year.

Author, A. A. (date). Title [Video File]. Retrieved from url

Murphy, C. (2017, May 4). APA format in Word – in 4 minutes V2 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/qZVIa2sTbpM

Chalabi, M. (2017, March). Three ways to spot a bad statistic [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/mona_chalabi_3_ways_to_spot_a_bad_statistic

In-text citation for the whole video:

(Murphy, 2017)

In-text citation for a specific spot on the video (such as for a direct quotation), use the time as minutes:seconds

(Chalabi, 2017, 4:30)

In the following example, the title of the video is italicized except for the book title within the video title.

FightMediocrity. (2015, March 28). The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey: Animated book review [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlTxC4QG8g

In-text citation

(FightMediocrity, 2015)

For a film or DVD, the first person listed is the name people associate with the work. It can be an author, producer, director, or possibly even starring actor.

Relevant person (position). (date). Title [DVD]. Place of publication: Publisher.

Reference

Lewis, C. S. (author) and Kirby, A. (director). (2002). The chronicles of Narnia [DVD]. New York, NY: BBC.

In-text citation

(Lewis, 2002)

In-text citation for a specific spot on the video (such as for a direct quotation), use the time that the quote starts, as minutes:seconds or hours:minutes:seconds

(Lewis, 2002, 15:42)

For more information, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7.07.

For an online video, see that listing on this LibGuide

Writer, A. (copyright year). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist if different from writer]. On Title of album [Medium]. Location: Label. (date of recording if different from song copyright date).

Reference. For a pseudonym such as Beyoncé, include the real name in brackets.

Beyoncé [Beyoncé Knowles Carter]. (2016). Sand castles. On Lemonade [CD]. Germany: Sony Music.

In-text citation. Include the track number in the location position.

(Beyoncé, 2016, track 8)

Reference recorded by someone other than the writer.

Beethoven, L. van (1980). Symphony no. 3 in E flat major (Eroica) [Recorded by L. Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra]. On Beethoven: The nine symphonies [CD]. Hamburg, Germany: Deutsche Grammophon. (2004)

In-text citation. Because the copyright date for the piece differs from the date of the CD, include both.

(Beethoven, 1980/2004, track 9)

For more information, see the APA Blog

Artwork viewed in person

Artist, A. A. (date of work). Title of work [medium]. City, State or country: location.

Adickes, D. (1988) Virtuoso [Concrete sculpture]. Houston, TX: Lyric Building.

In-text citation

(Adickes, 1988)

Artwork viewed online

Artist, A. A. (date of creation). Title of work [medium]. Retrieved from url

Remington, F. (1903). Fight for the waterhole [Painting]. Retrieved from https://www.mfah.org/art/departments/american-painting-and-sculpture

(Remington, 1903)

Artwork in a book

Picasso, P. (1937). The weeping woman [painting]. In A. Baldassari (Ed.), The surrealist Picasso (p. 137). Paris, France: Flammarion. (2005)

In-text citation

(Picasso, 1937/2005, p. 137)

For more information, see the APA Blog

Personal communication such as an interview, email, or telephone conversation will have an in-text citation but will not appear in the reference list (J. Bond, personal communication, April 1, 2010). Only items that can be retrieved appear in the list.