Citing Correctly and Avoiding Plagiarism: APA Format, 6th Edition

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:

1. Did I find this article in print? If yes, no URL is needed.
2. Did I find this article in a database? If yes, no URL is needed.
3. Did I find this article on the open web? If yes, then include the doi (if given) or the full URL of the article.

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/files/doi-and-url-flowchart-8.pdf

 

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.   

doi:10.1002/jclp.10094

 

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.]