how to cite assignment instructions in apa

APA (7th ed.) Citation Style Guide: Course Related Material

• Paper Format Guidelines
• Four Elements of a Reference
• Missing Reference Information
• In-Text Citations
• Secondary Sources
• Tables and Figures
• Book Sections (Chapters)
• Reference Works
• Business Sources
• Audiovisual Material
• Social Media & Software
• Government Documents
• Open Textbooks
• Course Related Material
• Personal Communications
• Further Examples
• Legal Citation
• Nursing Resources

Power Point Slide - Blackboard

Author, A. A. (Date of posting). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Publisher. URL

Wardell, G. (2020). Diffusion and osmosis [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard. https://douglascollege.blackboard.com/

"If the slides come from a classroom website, learning management system (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard), or company intranet and you are writing for an audience with access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its URL (use the login page URL for sites requiring login)." ( Publication manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed., 2020, p. 347)

Power Point Slide - URL

Author, A. A. (Date of posting).  Title of presentation  [PowerPoint slides]. Publisher or Website name. URL

Hertzman, C. (2020). Aboriginal ECD in BC [PowerPoint slides]. UBC Human Early Learning Partnership. http://www.earlylearning.ubc.ca/presentations_general.htm# clyde

Parenthetical citation: (Hertzman, 2020)

Narrative citation: Hertzman (2020)

Lecture Notes

Canan, E., & Vasilev, J. (2019, May 22). [Lecture notes on resource allocation]. Department of Management, Control and Information Systems, University of Chile. https://uchilefau.academia.edu/ElseZCanan

Example taken from the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed., 2020, p. 347

Parenthetical citation: (Canan & Vasilev, 2019)

Narrative citation: Canan and Vasilev (2019)

Class Handout

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. Blackboard. URL

Hwang, J. (2021). Study skills: Core principles for success [Class handout]. Blackboard. https://douglascollege.yourblackboardlink.com

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. University Name, Course code.

Hwang, J. (2021) Study skills: Core principles for success [Class handout]. Douglas College, BUSN 1200.

Parenthetical citation: (Hwang, 2021)

Narrative citation: Hwang (2021)

Classroom Lecture

Unrecorded classroom lectures are considered personal communications (works that can not be recovered by readers).  APA instructs to "use a personal citation only when a recoverable source is not available.  For example, if you learned about a topic via a classroom lecture, it would be preferable to cite the research on which the instructor based the lecture.  However, if the lecture contained original content not published elsewhere, cite the lecture as a persona communication."  ( Publication manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed., 2020, p. 260)

Personal communications are cited in the text only, not in the reference list.

Parenthetical citation:  (R. Morris, personal communication, June 8, 2020)

Narrative citation:  R. Morris (personal communication, June 8, 2020)

Customized Textbook

Chang, T. (Ed.). (2019).  CRIM 2251: Psychological explanations of crime  (Douglas College ed.). Pearson.

Parenthetical citation: (Chang, 2019)

Narrative citation: Chang (2019)

Note: T. Chang is the instructor of the course.  She compiled the customized textbook and is considered the editor.

Chapter in a Customized Textbook

Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2014). Crime and mental disorders. In T. Chang (Ed.), CRIM 2251: Psychological explanations of crime  (Douglas College ed.) (pp. 101-144). Pearson.

Parenthetical citation: (Bartol & Bartol, 2014)

Narrative citation: Bartol and Bartol (2014)

Course Pack - Basic Format

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of document. In A. Instructor (Ed.),  Course number: Course title  (pp. xxx-xxx). Douglas College. (Reprinted from  Title of journal, volume (issue), page numbers).

Course packs are collections of materials that instructors compile from many sources. Treat the items in your course pack like articles or chapters in an edited book that are reprinted from another source. Use the name of the instructor as the editor. If the instructor's name is not given, use the department as editor. Use the date the course pack was issued as the date of publication. If there is no date of issue, use the current semester and year for the date of publication.

Course Pack

Collins, D. (2020). Legally speaking: Risk management in obstetrics and gynecology. In S. Kaye (Ed.), NURS 3130: Professional growth, nursing  ethics course pack (pp.5-8). Douglas College. (Reprinted from Contemporary OB/GYN, 51(11), 38-42).

Parenthetical citation: (Collins, 2020)

Narrative citation: Collins (2020)

Course Pack - Individual Page

Philosophical foundations, curriculum concepts and themes. (n.d) In L. Kirk (Ed.). (2012),  NURS 1130: Professional growth I  (pp. 95-96). Douglas College.

Parenthetical citation: ("Philosophical foundations", n.d.)

Narrative citation: "Philosophical foundations" (n.d.)

"If the title of the work is not italicized in the reference, use double quotation marks around the title in the in-text citation." ( Publication manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed., 2020, pp. 264-265)

Original Material in a Classroom Course Pack, No Author

Diagram of the tibia-basitarsis joint in Apis Melifera . (2015). In B. Haave (Ed.), NEU 451: Movement and perception (pp.44-45). Douglas College.

Parenthetical citation: ("Diagram of the Tibia-Basitarsis Joint in Apis melifera ," 2019)

Narrative citation: "Diagram of the Tibia-Basitarsis Joint in  Apis melifera ," 2019

(For further information see https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/classroom-course-references)

Course Pack - Appendix

Appendix 2: Curriculum framework glossary of terms (2018) In L. Kirk (Ed.) (2012),  NURS 1130: Professional growth I  (pp. 144-153). Douglas College.

Parenthetical citation: ("Appendix 2", 2018)

Narrative citation: "Appendix 2" (2018)

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• URL: https://guides.douglascollege.ca/APA-7

APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide

• Information for EndNote Users
• Authors - Numbers, Rules and Formatting
• In-Text Citations
• Reference List
• Books & eBooks
• Book chapters
• Journal Articles
• Conference Papers
• Newspaper Articles
• Web Pages & Documents
• Specialised Health Databases
• Using Visual Works in Assignments & Class Presentations
• Using Visual Works in Theses and Publications
• Using Tables in Assignments & Class Presentations
• Custom Textbooks & Books of Readings
• ABS AND AIHW
• Videos (YouTube), Podcasts & Webinars
• Blog Posts and Social Media
• First Nations Works
• Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries
• Personal Communication
• Theses and Dissertations
• Film / TV / DVD
• Miscellaneous (Generic Reference)
• AI software

APA 7th examples and templates

Apa formatting tips, thesis formatting, tables and figures.

• What If...?
• Other Guides

You can view the samples here:

• APA Style Sample Papers From the official APA Style and Grammar Guidelines

Quick formatting notes taken from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th edition

Use the same font throughout the text of your paper, including the title and any headings. APA lists the following options (p. 44):

• Sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11 point-Arial, 10-point Lucida,
• Serif fonts such as 12-point Times new Roman, 11-point Georgia or 10-point Computer Modern.

(A serif font is one that has caps and tails - or "wiggly bits" - on it, like Times New Roman . The font used throughout this guide is a sans serif [without serif] font). You may want to check with your lecturer to see if they have a preference.

In addition APA suggests these fonts for the following circumstances:

• Within figures, use a sans serif font between 8 and 14 points.
• When presenting computer code, use a monospace font such as 10-point Lucida Console or 10-point Courier New.
• Footnotes: a 10-point font with single line spacing.

Line Spacing:

"Double-space the entire paper, including the title page, abstract, text, headings, block quotations, reference list, table and figure notes, and appendices, with the following exceptions:" (p. 45)

• Table and figures: Words within tables and figures may be single-, one-and-a-half- or double-spaced depending on what you decide creates the best presentation.
• Footnotes: Footnotes appearing at the bottom of the page to which they refer may be single-spaced and formatted with the default settings on your word processing program i.e. Word.
• Equations: You may triple- or quadruple-space before and after equations.

"Use 1 in. (2.54 cm) margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right) of the page." If your subject outline or lecturer has requested specific margins (for example, 3cm on the left side), use those.

"Align the text to the left and leave the right margin uneven ('ragged'). Do not use full justification, which adjusts the spacing between words to make all lines the same length (flush with the margins).  Do not manually divide words at the end of a line" (p. 45).

Do not break hyphenated words. Do not manually break long DOIs or URLs.

Indentations:

"Indent the first line of every paragraph... for consistency, use the tab key... the default settings in most word-processing programs are acceptable. The remaining lines of the paragraph should be left-aligned." (p. 45)

Exceptions to the paragraph indentation requirements are as follows:

• Title pages to be centred.
• The first line of abstracts are left aligned (not indented).
• Block quotes are indented 1.27 cm (0.5 in). The first paragraph of a block quote is not indented further. Only the first line of the second and subsequent paragraphs (if there are any) are indented a further 1.27 cm (0.5 in). (see What if...Long quote  in this LibGuide)
• Level 1 headings, including appendix titles, are centred. Level 2 and Level 3 headings are left aligned..
• Table and figure captions, notes etc. are flush left.

Page numbers:

Page numbers should be flush right in the header of each page. Use the automatic page numbering function in Word to insert page numbers in the top right-hand corner. The title page is page number 1.

Reference List:

• Start the reference list on a new page after the text but before any appendices.
• Label the reference list References  (bold, centred, capitalised).
• Double-space all references.
• Use a hanging indent on all references (first line is flush left, the second and any subsequent lines are indented 1.27 cm (0.5 in). To apply a hanging indent in Word, highlight all of your references and press Ctrl + T  on a PC, or  Command (⌘) + T  on a Mac.

Level 1 Heading - Centered, Bold, Title Case

Text begins as a new paragraph i.e. first line indented...

Level 2 Heading - Flush Left, Bold, Title Case

Level 3 Heading - Flush Left, Bold, Italic, Title Case

Level 4 Heading Indented, Bold, Title Case Heading, Ending With a Full Stop. Text begins on the same line...

Level 5 Heading, Bold, Italic, Title Case Heading, Ending with a Full Stop.  Text begins on the same line...

Please note : Any formatting requirements specified in the subject outline or any other document or web page supplied to the students by the lecturers should be followed instead of these guidelines.

What is an appendix?

Appendices contain matter that belongs with your paper, rather than in it.

For example, an appendix might contain

• the survey questions or scales you used for your research,
• detailed description of data that was referred to in your paper,
• long lists that are too unweildy to be given in the paper,
• correspondence recieved from the company you are analysing,
• copies of documents being discussed (if required),

You may be asked to include certain details or documents in appendices, or you may chose to use an appendix to illustrate details that would be inappropriate or distracting in the body of your text, but are still worth presenting to the readers of your paper.

Each topic should have its own appendix. For example, if you have a survey that you gave to participants and an assessment tool which was used to analyse the results of that survey, they should be in different appendices. However, if you are including a number of responses to that survey, do not put each response in a separate appendix, but group them together in one appendix as they belong together.

How do you format an appendix?

Appendices go at the very end of your paper , after your reference list. (If you are using footnotes, tables or figures, then the end of your paper will follow this pattern: reference list, footnotes, tables, figures, appendices).

Each appendix starts on a separate page. If you have only one appendix, it is simply labelled "Appendix". If you have more than one, they are given letters: "Appendix A", "Appendix B", "Appendix C", etc.

The label for your appendix (which is just "Appendix" or "Appendix A" - do not put anything else with it), like your refrerence list, is placed at the top of the page, centered and in bold , beginning with a capital letter.

You then give a title for your appendix, centered and in bold , on the next line.

Use title case for the appendix label and title.

The first paragraph of your appendix is not indented (it is flush with the left margin), but all other paragraphs follow the normal pattern of indenting the first line. Use double line spacing, just like you would for the body of your paper.

How do I refer to my appendices in my paper?

In your paper, when you mention information that will be included or expanded upon in your appendices, you refer to the appendix by its label and capitalise the letters that are capitalised in the label:

Questions in the survey were designed to illicit reflective responses (see Appendix A).

As the consent form in Appendix B illustrates...

How do I use references in my appendices?

Appendices are considered to be part of your paper for the purpose of referencing. Any in-text citations used in your appendix should be formatted exactly the same way you would format it in the body of your paper, and the references cited in your appendices will go in your reference list (they do not go in a special section of your reference list, but are treated like normal references).

If you have included reproduced matter in your appendices, treat them like an image or a table that has been copied or adapted. Place the information for the source in the notes under the reproduced matter (a full copyright acknowledgement for theses or works being published, or the shorter version used at JCU for assignments), and put the reference in the reference list.

• Thesis Formatting Guide Our Library Guide offers some advice on formatting a thesis for JCU higher degrees.
• Setting up a table in APA 7th
• Setting up a figure in APA 7th
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• URL: https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apa

University of Tasmania, Australia

Referencing guide: apa 7th.

• AGLC This link opens in a new window
• Health & Medicine examples This link opens in a new window
• Transition from Harvard to APA
• General principles

In-text citations

• Works Cited
• Works Cited - Author
• Works Cited - Title
• Works cited - Title of Container
• Works Cited - Other Contributors
• Works Cited - Version & Number
• Works Cited - Publisher & Publication Date
• Works Cited - Location
• Works Cited - Optional Elements
• Works Cited - More Examples
• Simplified Author-date & Writing guide

APA 7th edition

What is apa style.

APA style  is a referencing method developed by the American Psychological Association and is a version of the commonly used  Author-Date system . 

This guide is based on the official APA website and the following text:

American Psychological Association. (2020).  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Which style does my School use? 

Some Schools or individual units require a different style from the one outlined here. Always use the citation style required by your lecturer. If in doubt, check your unit outline, in MyLO, or ask your lecturer or tutor.

• How to cite
• Multiple authors and works
• Direct quotes

In-text citations direct the reader to the Reference List to view the full details of the source.

When paraphrasing, In-text citations can be included as:

1. Parenthetical citations - by inserting the author and date in parentheses, usually at the end of a sentence, e.g....opportunity and economy are two factors that may have influenced changes in parental roles (Bomar, 2004).

2. Narrative citations - by incorporating the name of the author, followed by the date enclose in parentheses into the text of the paper, e.g. Sternberg (1993) suggests results should be carefully analysed...

• In-text citations guide, from APA Guidelines to help writers determine the appropriate level of citation and how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism
• In-text citations checklist, from APA

Multiple authors

Multiple works.

When citing multiple works in parentheses, arrange the citations in alphabetical order and separate them with semicolons, e.g.

(Citizen, 2019; Jones, 1999; Smith, 2001)

Multiple works can be arranged in any order when they are incorporated into the text of the paper (narrative citation).

• Page numbers are always included for direct quotations e.g. (Hiebert, 2009, p. 69).
• When the quote is 40 words or less d irect quotations should be placed within the text and surrounded by double quotation marks, e.g.  "we cannot possibly know and understand the culture of every individual and community we might encounter throughout the course of our careers" (Mkandawire-Valhmu, 2018, p. 24).
• When the quote is more than 40 words, direct quotations should be started on a new line and indented from the left margin, without quotation marks, e.g.

In an era of globalization, a healthcare provider needs to be prepared for encounters for people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. The culturally safe healthcare provider needs to have a deep understanding of where people have been and what they have experienced in their countries of origin. (Mkandawire-Valhmu, 2018, p. 73)

• Quotations More details from APA on how to include direct quotes in text

Reference Lists

A reference list is placed at the end of your paper. It contains the full details of all the references cited in the text of your paper. These details should be sufficient for the reader to be able to identify and locate the sources. 

• Elements of reference list entries APA provides detailed guidelines on each element of a reference.
• Author guidelines for the reference list Details for how to show individual, multiple and group authors in your reference list.
• APA guide to creating a reference list This document provides guidance on formatting the reference list.
• Quick Reference Guide to the 7th edition. This printable guide outlines how to reference books, book chapters and journal articles.
• Browse examples for each type of work APA provides many examples of commonly used reference types, for you to follow as a guide.

Fundamentals of APA This brief video conveys the simplicity of using APA 7th for citations and referencing, outlining a few fundamental characteristics of the style.

Commonly used reference types.

• Book chapters
• Journal articles

Format for a book:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Copyright Year). Title of the book: Subtitle (edition, if not the first). Publisher. URL or DOI (if electronic)

Example of a book:

Lang, T., & Heasman, M. (2015). Food wars: The global battle for mouths, minds and markets (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315754116

• https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/book-references Detailed instructions from APA for formatting a book.

Format for a chapter in an edited book:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Copyright Year). Title of the book chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (edition, pp. #–#). Publisher. DOI or URL

Example of a book chapter:

Davies, C., Robinson, K. H., Metcalf, A., Ivory, K., Mooney-Somers, J., Race, K., & Skinner, S. R. (2021). Australians of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. In T. Dune, K. McLeod, & R. Williams (Eds.), Culture, diversity and health in Australia: Towards culturally safe healthcare (pp. 213-231). Routledge.

• https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/edited-book-chapter-references Detailed instructions from APA for formatting a book chapter.

Boddy, J., & Dominelli, L. (2017). Social media and social work: The challenges of a new ethical space. Australian Social Work , 70 (2), 172–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2016.1224907

• https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/journal-article-references Detailed instructions from APA for formatting journal article references.

Format for a webpage:

Author. (Year, month day).  Title of the webpage . Publisher/Website Name. URL

Example of a webpage with an organisational group author:

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2015, September 23).  UNESCO and sustainable development goals.  https://en.unesco.org/sustainabledevelopmentgoals

Note: omit the publisher/website name if it is the same as the author

• https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/webpage-website-references Detailed instructions from APA for formatting webpage references.

Examples for other sources

APA provide an extensive array of examples for different sources, including:

• Textual works e.g. books, journal articles, standards, government reports
• Audiovisual media e.g. podcast, TED Talk, YouTube clip
• Social media e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok
• Webpages and web documents
• Health & medicine examples Formatting advice for some specialised health sources
• APA 7th examples for health and medicine sources v1 March 2024
• Examples from APA website Commonly used reference types for you to follow as a guide.

Further help with APA

• APA website

Some examples of topics found in the blog:

• How many names to include...? Explains and illustrates how many author names should be included in an APA reference list.
• How to cite ChatGPT An example of a blog entry, providing guidance on specific application of APA style rules to a resource type.
• The Frankenreference A blog post explaining how to craft a reference from scratch when the specific example you need is not shown anywhere.

The APA website includes comprehensive advice on how to use their referencing style. These are some of the popular topics:

• Basic principles of reference list entries
• Cite multiple works consecutively in-text
• Cite secondary sources
• DOIs and URLs
• Group author abbreviations in the text and references
• Missing reference information

Your feedback

• Tell us what you think! Feedback about this guide to APA is welcome!

APA Style Guides

We have the full APA style guide available to borrow from the University Library. 

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

In-Text Citations

Resources on using in-text citations in APA style

Reference List

Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats

Other APA Resources

APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Class Handouts, Presentations, and Readings

• What Kind of Source Is This?
• Advertisements
• Books & eBooks
• Book Reviews
• Class Handouts, Presentations, and Readings
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
• Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Personal Communication (Interviews, Emails)
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• Paraphrasing
• Works Cited in Another Source
• No Author, No Date etc.
• Sample Paper, Reference List & Annotated Bibliography
• Powerpoint Presentations

On This Page

Presentation slides from moodle, presentation slides from cams, powerpoint presentation slides from a website, class handouts from moodle, class handouts from cams, class handout in print, class lectures (notes from).

Note : All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

In-Text Citation or References List

Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as Powerpoint should be cited both in-text and on the References list.

Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the References list, since they are not a published source.

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation: Subtitle if any [PowerPoint presentation]. Moodle. URL of Moodle login page

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation: Subtitle if any [PowerPoint presentation]. CAMS. URL

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Presentation Was Created). Title of presentation: Subtitle if any [PowerPoint presentation]. Name of Website if given. URL

Note about h yperlinks:

It is acceptable for hyperlinks to be blue and underlined (live) or black without underlining.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. Moodle. URL of Moodle login page

Note: To cite other readings , follow the model for that type of document: eg a chapter from a book with an editor, an article from a library database, etc.. You do not need to identify Moodle as the source. If the instructor has not provided details that are necessary to to cite the reading, contact them to ask for these.

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. CAMS. URL

Instructor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Year Handout Was Created if known). Title of handout: Subtitle if any [Class handout]. Columbia College, Course code.

Note : Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the References list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content from the class lecture.

(First Initial of Faculty Who Gave Lecture. Second Initial if known. Last Name, personal communication, Month Day, Year lecture took place)

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Generate accurate APA citations for free

• Knowledge Base
• APA Style 7th edition

How to Cite in APA Format (7th edition) | Guide & Generator

This citation guide outlines the most important citation guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020). Scribbr also offers free guides for the older APA 6th edition , MLA Style , and Chicago Style .

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text.

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Table of contents

Apa in-text citations, apa references, formatting the apa reference page, free lecture slides, frequently asked questions.

In-text citations are brief references in the running text that direct readers to the reference entry at the end of the paper. You include them every time you quote or paraphrase someone else’s ideas or words to avoid plagiarism .

An APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and the year of publication (also known as the author-date system). If you’re citing a specific part of a source, you should also include a locator such as a page number or timestamp. For example: (Smith, 2020, p. 170) .

Parenthetical vs. narrative citation

The in-text citation can take two forms: parenthetical and narrative. Both types are generated automatically when citing a source with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator.

• Parenthetical citation: According to new research … (Smith, 2020) .
• Narrative citation: Smith (2020) notes that …

Multiple authors and corporate authors

The in-text citation changes slightly when a source has multiple authors or an organization as an author. Pay attention to punctuation and the use of the ampersand (&) symbol.

Missing information

When the author, publication date or locator is unknown, take the steps outlined below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

APA references generally include information about the author , publication date , title , and source . Depending on the type of source, you may have to include extra information that helps your reader locate the source.

Reference examples

Citing a source starts with choosing the correct reference format. Use Scribbr’s Citation Example Generator to learn more about the format for the most common source types. Pay close attention to punctuation, capitalization, and italicization.

Generate APA citations for free

It is not uncommon for certain information to be unknown or missing, especially with sources found online. In these cases, the reference is slightly adjusted.

On the first line of the page, write the section label “References” (in bold and centered). On the second line, start listing your references in alphabetical order .

Apply these formatting guidelines to the APA reference page:

• Double spacing (within and between references)
• Hanging indent of ½ inch
• Legible font (e.g. Times New Roman 12 or Arial 11)
• Page number in the top right header

Which sources to include

On the reference page, you only include sources that you have cited in the text (with an in-text citation ). You should not include references to personal communications that your reader can’t access (e.g. emails, phone conversations or private online material).

Are you a teacher or professor looking to introduce your students to APA Style? Download our free introductory lecture slides, available for Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g., a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and APA in-text citations .

When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.

When you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a source, you need to indicate the location of the passage in your APA in-text citation . If there are no page numbers (e.g. when citing a website ) but the text is long, you can instead use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two:

(Caulfield, 2019, Linking section, para. 1).

Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations , as they are unreliable.

If you are referring to the source as a whole, it’s not necessary to include a page number or other marker.

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors . Here’s how it works:

Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).

APA Style usually does not require an access date. You never need to include one when citing journal articles , e-books , or other stable online sources.

However, if you are citing a website or online article that’s designed to change over time, it’s a good idea to include an access date. In this case, write it in the following format at the end of the reference: Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/about-the-university/about-the-university.html

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Citing in APA: The Basics

New to citing? Check out the short playlist of videos to learn why you need to cite, how to cite in APA, and how to create in-text and reference list citations.

What is APA?

APA style was created by the American Psychological Association. It is a set of formatting and documentation rules for research published in the Social Sciences and Business. Papers submitted for publication in professional journals follow a slightly different set of rules than student papers do. The information in this guide pertains to student papers.

APA formatting rules tell us how different elements of a research paper should appear on the page. APA documentation rules tell us how to credit the sources we use in our work using a combination of  in-text citations and a Reference  list. 

In APA, you must "cite" sources that you have paraphrased, quoted, or otherwise used to write your research paper. Cite a source in two places:

In the body of your paper where you add a brief in-text citation (sometimes called a parenthetical reference) for any ideas or data you’ve paraphrased (stated in your own words) or quoted directly using “quotation marks.”

In the Reference list at the end of your paper where you give more complete information for the source.

Commonly Used Terms

Citing : The process of acknowledging the sources of your information and ideas.

DOI (doi) : Some electronic content, such as online journal articles, is assigned a unique number called a Digital Object Identifier (DOI or doi). An item can be tracked down online using its doi.

In-Text Citation : A brief note in your paper or essay, provided at the point where you use information from a source, to indicate where the information came from. An in-text citation should always match more detailed information that is available in the Reference List.

Paraphrasing : Taking information that you have read and putting it into your own words.

Plagiarism : Taking the ideas or words of another person and presenting them as your own without a citation.

Quoting : Copying words of text originally published elsewhere. Direct quotations appear in quotation marks and are followed by a citation that includes the page number of the source from which you copied the words.

Reference : Details about a cited source.

Reference List : Contains complete details of ALL the sources cited in a text or essay. 

Retrieval Date : Used only for websites where content is likely to change over time (e.g., Wikis), the retrieval date refers to the date you last visited the website.

Source : Anything you use in your research and cite in your paper. There are many kinds of sources (all of which have their own citation formats), including entire books, individual book chapters, eBooks, periodicals (i.e., magazines, newspapers, journals), articles/essays, websites, films, poems, songs, Tweets, YouTube   videos, TED Talks, TV shows, advertisements, etc.

What's New in the 7th Edition of APA?

Below is a summary of the major changes in the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual .

Essay Format:

• Font - While you still can use Times New Roman 12, you are free to use other fonts. Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans 10, and Georgia 11 are all acceptable.
• Headers - No running headers are required for student papers.
• Tables and Figures - There is a standardized format for both tables and figures.

Style, Grammar, Usage:

• Singular "they" required in two situations: when used by a known person as their personal pronoun or when the gender of a singular person is not known.
• Use only one space after a sentence-ending period.

Citation Style:

• Developed the "Four Elements of a Reference" (Author, Date, Title, Source) to help writers to create references for source types not explicitly examined in the APA Publication Manual
• Three or more authors can be abbreviated to First author, et al. on the first citation
• Up to twenty authors are spelled out in the Reference list
• Publisher location is not required for books
• eBook platform, format, or device is not required for eBooks
• Library database names are generally not required
• No "doi:" prefix; simply include the doi
• All hyperlinks retain the https://
• Links can be "live" in blue with underline or black without underlining

Do You Need Citation Help?

Stop by the library and speak with a Librarian, or use the chat box below to chat live with a Librarian. 

This citation guide is based on the  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.). The contents are accurate to the best of our knowledge.

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This guide is used/adapted with the permission of Columbia College and Seneca College Libraries. For information please contact [email protected] or  [email protected] .

Note: When copying this guide, please retain this box.

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APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Tutorials

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Complete APA Tutorial

• APA 7 Tutorial: Complete This tutorial covers APA style for the 7th edition. It includes writing style, formatting, in-text citations, and references. It offers a certificate of completion at the end, which you may need if your instructor has assigned you to complete this for a class.

Individual Sections of APA Tutorial

These links go to individual sections of the complete APA 7 tutorial above. These allow you to jump directly to information about a specific aspect of APA style. If your instructor has assigned you to complete the APA 7 tutorial, be sure to clarify whether they meant the complete tutorial (linked above) or an individual section (linked below). 

• APA 7 Style Tutorial: Introduction to Tutorial
• APA 7 Style Tutorial: General Tone and Writing Style
• APA 7 Style Tutorial: Formatting
• APA 7 Style Tutorial: In-Text Citations
• APA 7 Style Tutorial: References

Set Up Microsoft Word for Your APA 7 Paper

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Get Help from the Social Sciences Librarian

This guide is a general overview of how to cite common types of sources using APA style. For more complex APA style questions, please consult the official APA formatting rules found in  The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7 th  ed.   

• Basic Guide to APA Style A printable two page guide that gives you example citations for common source types.
• APA Style & Grammar Guidelines Look here for answers to tricky questions like how to cite obscure source types and for explanations of APA rules. This is a good place to go if you have consulted the APA manual and still have questions.
• Excelsior OWL APA Guide Another handy online guide- includes example formatted bibliographies and research papers.
• Sample Paper in APA style OWL Purdue's APA 7 sample student paper. See formatting notes along the margins of the sample.

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