This guide is a quick introduction to APA style and common citations. Be sure to consult the Publication Manual of the APA and APA 6th Edition Style Blog Archive for detailed standards and procedures.
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Basic Format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Source, Volume (Issue), page range. Retrieved from [URL web address].
I'm citing a...
Ashing‐Giwa, K. T., Padilla, G., Tejero, J., Kraemer, J., Wright, K., Coscarelli, A., Clayton, S., ... & Hills, D. (2004). Understanding the breast cancer experience of women: A qualitative study of African American, Asian American, Latina and Caucasian cancer survivors. Psycho‐Oncology: Journal of the Psychological, Social and Behavioral Dimensions of Cancer, 13(6), 408-428. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.750
Kennedy, M. (2018, October 15). To prevent wildfires, PG&E pre-emptively cuts power to thousands in California. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/10/15/657468903/to-prevent-wildfires-pg-e-preemptively-cuts-power-to-thousands-in-california
Print Book
Silbert-Flagg, J., & Pillitteri, A. (2018). Maternal & child health nursing : Care of the childbearing & childrearing family (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.eBook
Lavretsky, H. (2014). Resilience and aging: Research and practice. Retrieved from https://www.press.jhu.edu
McFarland, J. (2017). On privilege, authority, and abuses of professorial power. In E. Knox (Ed.), Trigger warnings: History, theory, context (pp. 165-178). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield..
Electronic Frontier Foundation. (n.d.). Net neutrality. Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/issues/net-neutrality
San Francisco Department of Public Health. (2019). Sexually transmitted disease annual summary, 2017 Retrieved from https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/reports/StudiesData/STD/SFSTDAnnlSum2017.pdf
Basic Format:
(Last Name, Year).
I'm using...
If you're quoting the exact words of someone else, introduce the quote with an in-text citation in parentheses. Any sentence punctuation goes after the closing parenthesis.
If you're directly quoting more than 40 words...
Use a blockquote. Block quotes don't need quotation marks, but are indented 1/2" as a visual cue of a citation. The in-text citation in parentheses goes after the punctuation of the quotation.
Shavers (2007) study found the following:
While research studies have established that socioeconomic status influences disease incidence, severity and access to healthcare, there has been relatively less study of the specific manner in which low SES influences receipt of quality care and consequent morbidity and mortality among patients with similar disease characteristics, particularly among those who have gained access to the healthcare system. (p. 1021)
Pro Tip: Use direct quotes sparingly! Research cited in an APA paper is focused more on the synthesis of findings from a variety of research studies, and less about the exact phrasing or argument of an individual.
Paraphrasing or summarizing the main findings or takeaways from a research article is the preferred method of citing sources in an APA paper. Always include the last name of the author(s) and the year of the article, so your reader can find the full citation in the reference list.
According to Shavers (2007), limitations of studying socioeconomic status in research on health disparities include difficulties in collecting data on socioeconomic status and the complications of classifying women, children, and employment status, among others (p. 1016).
I'm citing...
You only need the author's last name and the year.
(Abrams, 2018)
Connect both authors' last names with & (ampersand), and include the year.
(Wegener & Petty, 1994)
If there are 3-5 authors...
In the first in-text citation:
(Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993)
In subsequent in-text citations:
(Kernis et al., 1993)
If there are 6+ authors...
You only need the first author's name, followed by et al., and the year.
(Harris et al., 2018)
If the work has no author, use a shortened form of the title in parentheses. Note that titles are capitalized in in-text citations.
Book with no author: (Interpersonal Skills, 2019)
Article with no author: ("Understanding Sensory Memory," 2018)
In this section:
1. Highlight the citaiton with your cursor.
2. Right click.
3. Select Paragraph.
4. Under Indentation, select Special and Hanging.
1. Double click the header on the second page.
2. Select Page Numbers and top right.
3. Right click the page number.
4. Select Format Page Numbers.
5. Change Start at from 1 to 0.
Note: Make sure the header is set to Different First Page for the running head.
This guide is adapted from a guide created by Tessa Withorn and Maggie Clarke and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.