Citation and research tips and tricks from the APA Style Blog.
Below are examples of common APA citation formats. For the most authoritative guide to APA format, please consult the style manual. There is a copy at the Info & Research Help Desk.
Please note that this is the 6th edition. Your professor may specify which edition you should use for your citations.
A note about online sources: The APA 6th edition does not require URLs or database information for articles from a database. If you find an article on the "open web" (that is, you found it using a search engine such as Google), you need the URL of the article. If you have a doi (digital object identifier), include it at the end instead of the source URL.
To create correct citations, ask yourself:
Still need help figuring out whether you need a URL or doi? The APA has published this flowchart on their blog: http://blog.apastyle.org/
Articles
Article found in a database or in print, with one author:
Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages.
Pajares, F. (2001). Toward a positive psychology of academic motivation.
Journal of Educational Research, 95(1), 27-35.
Article found on the open web, with one author:
Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume if available
(issue if available), pages if available. doi: OR Retrieved from URL
Cohen, P. (2009, October 9). Author's personal forecast: Not always sunny, but
pleasantly skeptical. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/books/10ehrenreich.html?_r=1
Article (from the open web) with two authors:
Lastname, F. M., & Surname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal,
volume (issue), pages. doi: OR Retrieved from URL
Norem, J. K., & Chang, E. C. (2002). The positive psychology of negative
thinking. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(9), 993-1001.
Article with three to six authors:
Lastname, F. M., Surname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of
article. Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages.
Jutras, S., Vinay, M. C., & Castonguay, G. (2002). Inner-city children's
perceptions about well-being. Canadian Journal of Community
Mental Health, 21(1), 47-65.
More than seven authors? List the first six authors and the last author.
Authorone, F. M., Authortwo, F. M., Authorthree, F. M., Authorfour, F. M.,
Authorfive, F. M., Authorsix, F. M. . . . Finalauthor, F. M. (Year). Title of article.
Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages.
Books
Book with one author:
Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Publication City, ST:
Publisher.
Bok, S. (2010). Exploring happiness: From Aristotle to brain science. New Haven, CT: Yale.
Books with multiple authors:
The format follows the author format as listed under articles.
An edited book:
Editor, F. M. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Publication City, ST:
Publisher.
Snyder, C.R. & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2009). The Oxford handbook of positive
psychology. Oxford; New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Web Sites
Web site with one author:
Lastname, F. M. (Date published). Title of page. Retrieved from URL
Lopez, S. J. (2000). The emergence of Positive Psychology: The building
of a field of dreams. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/apags/profdev/pospsyc.html
Web site with a corporate or organizational author:
Organization name. (Date published). Title of page. Retrieved from URL
Positive Psychology Center. (2007). Attributional style research (Adults).
Retrieved from http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/asq.htm
Images
Image from an online source with a creator listed:
Creator, F. M. (Date created). Title of image [Description of image]. Retrieved
[date] from URL
Swanbrow, D. (2008, July 23). A happiness ranking of 97 nations [table]. Retrieved
January 21, 2010 from http://www.ur.umich.edu/0708/Jul14_08/23.php
Image from an online source with no creator listed:
Title of image [Description of image]. (Date created). Retrieved [date] from URL
Image from a print source with a creator listed:
Creator, F. M. (Date created). Title of image. [Continue with title of book or article as appropriate.]
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