Citing Sources: APA Style

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Quoting and Paraphrasing

General rules for using sources

• When you copy a few words or more from a source, use quotation marks around the copied material AND cite the source using the rules for in-text citations below. See Punctuating Quotations for examples of punctuation.
• For quotes longer than about three lines, don't use quotation marks. Instead, start a new line and make the left margin wider by one inch (ten spaces) so your quote is in a block. After the quote, cite the source using the rules for in-text citations below. Then, go to a new line and set the margin back to normal.
• When you get information from a source and state it in your own words, you are paraphrasing. You still need to cite the source using an in-text citation.

In-text Citations

Whenever you use a source, you need to mention the author or authors and publication date. If no author is identified, you can use the title instead. To cite, you can use a signal phrase including the author's last name (or authors' last names) followed by the date in parentheses. Or, put the name(s) with the date at the end of the referenced material. If you quote, provide the page number. If your citation is at the end of a sentence, put the period ending the sentence AFTER the parentheses. Here are some examples:

Signal phrases

• Quote Harvard economics professor Henry T. Johnson (1995) writes, "Employees who have worked under tight deadlines and stressful conditions for extended periods produce less and produce work of lower quality" (p. 24).
• Paraphrase Harvard economics professor Henry T. Johnson (1995) argues that when employees are under a great deal of stress, they are less productive.

Citation at the end

• Author not named in signal phrase "There are no absolute rules for what should and should not go online" (Horton, 1994, p. 4).
• One to five authors: identify them all One study revealed that up to 68% of drivers feel sleepy at the wheel at least once a month (Frasier, Wharton, & Chen, 1995).
• Six or more authors Some dinosaurs may have had brightly-colored skin (Woods et al., 1998).
• Unknown author: use shortened title Soon, nearly 2.4 billion people will use English during their business transactions ("One World," 1996).
• Organization as author: first citation for that source "A fraction of the AIDS patients studied responded well to the first treatment" (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 1992, p. 18).
• Organization as author: all citations after the first The second set of trials had slightly better results (CDC, 1992).

References (Works Cited)

Start the reference list on a new page titled References. List each of your references in alphabetical order. If no author is identified, alphebetize by the first word of the title other than "a," "an," or "the." Do not indent the first line of the entry, but do indent any additional lines one-half inch (five spaces). This is called a hanging indent.

When listing authors, use the last name and initial(s). Here are some examples of how to list single and multiple authors. Single author: Anderson, P. V. Two authors: Reed, L. H., & Jones, S. T. Three to six authors: Wu, M. L., Stevens, L. L., & McDonald, I. If there are more than six authors, list the first six, followed by "et al."

Following are some examples that match APA style as described in Diana Hacker's 2002 Third Edition of Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age. Before each is the type of publication or situation. Note: This Web page uses underlined text for document titles, but you can use italics instead. Choose one style and be consistent.

Journal, magazine and newspaper articles
Books, pamphlets and other printed publications
Internet sources,videotapes, and broadcasts

Journal, magazine and newspaper articles

Journal article, one author
Alvio, A. (1975). Perceptual comparisons through the mind's eye. Memory & Cognition,
3, 635-647.

Journal article, two or more authors
For more than two, use the same style, with names separated by commas.
Houser, R., & DeLoach, S. (1998). Learning from games: Seven principles of effective
design. Technical Communication, 44(3), 319-329.

Magazine article
Turner, J. P. (1994, January 16). Can the world handle the World Wide Web? Time, 8-9.

Newspaper article
Use p. for page or pp. for pages only for newspaper articles or works in anthologies.
Gross, T. Acupuncture gains respect, popularity. (1993, April 16). The New York Times,
pp. C1, C14.

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Books, pamphlets, and other printed publications

Book
If it is not the first edition, the edition goes after the title.
Firestein, T. M. (1985). The careful eater: A modern guide to food preparation (2nd
ed.). New York: Athenaeum.

Work in an anthology
Put the editor's name (initials then last name) before the anthology title. Use p. for page or pp. for pages.
Selfe, C. L. (1991). Style and software documentation: A central concern. In T. T.
Baker, (Ed.), Perspectives on Software Documentation: Inquiries and Innovations
(pp. 45-59). Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company.

Organization or corporation's publication
In this example the author is also the publisher.
Allied Health Corporation. (1992). Insurance and You. Silver Spring, MD: Author.

Government publication
National Institutes of Health. (1993). Clinical training in pediatrics (DHHS Publication
No. ADM 92-1721). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Pamphlet
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company. (1996). Getting enough calcium. Chicago: Medical
Publishers, Inc.

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Internet Sources,Videotapes, and Broadcasts

Web page/Web document (not from a journal or other periodical)
Include the author, publication date or (n.d.) if the date is unknown, title of the page, date you accessed the site, and URL.
Pritzker, T. J. (n.d.). An early fragment from central Nepal. Retrieved July 8,
2001, from http://www.ingress.com/~astanart/pritzker/pritzker.html

Online journal article
Follow the guidelines for printed articles. If the article also appears in a printed journal, you don't have to include the URL, but indicate [Electronic version].
Bloom, J. C. (1999). Comprehension skills of two- and three-year-olds [Electronic version].
Language Sciences, 16(2), 119-130.

If the article does not appear in print version, include the date of access and URL.
Petersen, K. W. (1994, June). A new perspective on democracy. Journal of American
Politics, 7. Retrieved March 28, 2002, from http://www.jampol.org/jun1994/
~Petersen/Democracy_Perspec.html

Material from a database
Include the author, date, title, and publication information of the article, the date you accessed it, the database, and the document number, if applicable.
Ivanoff, I. P. (1997). The training of young athletes. International Education Journal,
8(2), 52-59. Retrieved April 18, 2002, from Expanded Academic ASAP database
(A42831825).

Email
You don't need to include references to emails because they are personal communications.

Online posting (from a bulletin board or chat)
If an online posting can't be accessed because it isn't archived or a password is required, cite it in the text but don't include it in the references. If it's archived, give as much identifying information as you can.
Chu, L. (2002, March 18). Aversion therapy. [Msg. 3]. Message posted to
news://sci.psychology.psychotherapy.moderated

Movie (film, video, or DVD)
In place of an author, list the producer and director. Include the date and title, specify [Motion picture] and also list the distributor's location and the distributor.
Gilby, A. (Producer), & Schlesinger, J. (Director). (1995). Cold Comfort Farm
[Motion picture]. Universal City, CA: MCA Universal Home Video.

Television or radio program
Specify in brackets whether it is a radio or television program. List the location and the local station where you saw or heard the program.
Keillor, G. (Producer), & Smith, L. (Director). (1997, June 20). A Prairie
Home Companion [Radio Program]. Denver, CO: KCFR.

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