Below you should find examples of citations of common resource types formatted in APA's 7th Edition. Please note that all of the information presented here is specific to the 7th edition, and may not be correct for earlier editions. Your instructor should specify which edition to use for your citations.

Have a question about APA's 7th Edition that you can't find an answer to in this guide? The URI Libraries have several copies of the official APA style manual available, including one at the Information & Research Help Desk.

Basic Author Formatting

In APA Style, authors' names are cited with the surname first, followed by a comma and the author's first and middle initial (if indicated): Author, A.A. The author's surname should be written exactly as it appears in the published work. 

Examples

More than One Author, but Less than Twenty-One Authors

If there are multiple authors, they should be listed in the order they're credited in the work. The name of the final listed author should be preceded by an ampersand (&). If there are more than two authors, there should be a comma after every name except the last.

Jaarsma, A. S., Kinaschuk, K., & Xing, L. (2016). Kierkegaard, despair and the possibility of education: Teaching
      existentialism existentially. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 35(5), 445-461.
      https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-015-9488-x

 

Twenty-One or More Authors

If there are more than twenty authors, the first nineteen authors' names should be listed normally, followed by an ellipsis (...). The final listed author's name should follow the ellipsis, without an ampersand.

Iuso, A., Wiersma, M., Schüller, H.-J., Pode-Shakked, B., Marek-Yagel, D., Grigat, M., Schwarzmayr, T.,
     Berutti, R., Alhaddad, B., Kanon, B., Grzeschik, N. A., Okun, J. G., Perles, Z., Salem, Y., Barel, O.,
     Vardi, A., Rubinshtein, M., Tirosh, T., Dubnov-Raz, G, ... Anikster, Y. (2018). Mutations in PPCS, encoding
     phosphopantothenoylcysteine synthetase, cause autosomal-recessive dilated cardiomyopathy. American
     Journal of Human Genetics, 102(6), 1018-1030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.03.022

Group as Author

If there is no credited author, but the work is published by a recognizable entity such as a corporation or governmental organization, the entity's name should be listed as the author.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association:
     The official guide to APA style. (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.

 

Unknown Author

If there is no credited or recognizable author, the citation should begin with the work's title followed by the date of publication. The rest of the citation should continue as normal.

About. (n.d.). The University of Rhode Island Libraries. https://web.uri.edu/library/about/
 

Formatting for Electronic Resources

Article from a Scholarly Journal

The title of the scholarly journal should be listed with all capitalization and punctuation intact, and both the title and the volume number should be italicized. Normal capitalization rules apply for the rest of the citation. A DOI should be included if one is available, regardless of how the article was accessed. The DOI should be presented as a hyperlink, beginning with http://.  If a DOI is not available and the article was accessed digitally through most academic research databases, a stable URL (commonly known as a 'permalink') is not needed.  For sources from databases that provide access to works in limit circulation (e.g. ERIC) OR that provide access to proprietary material (e.g. UpToDate), include the name of the database and the stable URL when there is no DOI.

Last Name, F.M. (Year). Title of work: And subtitle if present. Journal Name, Volume(Issue),
     page range. DOI or URL beginning with http://

Example:

Bebchuk, L. A., Cohen, A., & Hirst, S. (2017). The agency problems of institutional investors. The Journal of
     Economic Perspectives, 31(3), 89-112. http://dx.doi.org.uri.idm.oclc.org/10.1257/jep.31.3.89

Article from a Newspaper or Other Print Periodical

The title of the newspaper/periodical should be listed with all capitalization and punctuation intact, and should be italicized. Normal capitalization rules apply for the rest of the citation. If the article was accessed electronically, a stable URL should be included.

Last Name, F.M. (Pub. Year, Month Day). Headline of article. Newspaper or Periodical Title. URL if accessed online

Examples:

Baker, P. (2020, March 12). U.S. to suspend most travel from Europe as world scrambles to fight pandemic.
     The New York Times, A1.

Perry, J. (2020, July 2). R.I., U.S. officers seize 8 illegally caught striped bass, cite 4 fishermen. The Providence
     Journal. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2020/07/02/ri-us-officers-seize-8-illegally-caught-
     striped-bass-cite-4-fishermen/42531467/

Article from a Website or News Site (Not an Online Newspaper)

A URL should be included at the end of the citation. The date listed should be when the article was published, not when it was accessed.

Last Name, F.M. (Pub. Year, Month Day). Article title. Website name. URL

Example:

Bergman, J. (2020, March 17). Tom Brady finalizes agreement to join Buccaneers. NFL.com.
     https://www.nfl.com/news/tom-brady-finalizes-agreement-to-join-buccaneers-0ap3000001106744

Hart, K., & Romm, T. (2010, October 7). Top tech firms ramp up D.C. lobbying. Politico.
      https://www.politico.com/story/2010/10/top-tech-firms-ramp-up-dc-lobbying-043221

Formatting for Books

Book

Only the first letter of the title of the book (and, if applicable, the first letter of the book's subtitle) should be capitalized, and the entire title should be italicized. A DOI should be included if one is available and the book was accessed electronically.  If no DOI is available and the book was accessed electronically through an academic research database, no URL is needed.  If no DOI is available and the book was accessed online with a nondatabase URL, then the URL should be included. 

Last Name, F.M. (Pub. Year). Book title. Publisher. DOI or URL if applicable

Examples:

Tatum, B. D. (1997). "Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?": And other conversations
     about race. BasicBooks.

Hareven, T. (2003). The silk weavers of Kyoto: Family and work in a changing traditional industry.
      Berkeley: University of California Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/25481

Chapter from an Edited Book

The author and title of the chapter should be listed first, cited normally. The name of the book's editor, with their name and surname in reverse order, should follow, with the designation "(Ed.)" (or "(Eds.)" if there is more than one editor). The title of the book should come next, with a parenthetical indication of the pages on which the chapter appears. If the book was accessed electronically, a DOI or stable URL should be included.

Last Name, F.M. (Pub. Year). Chapter title. In F.M. Editor Last Name (Ed. or Eds.), Book title (Edition, page numbers). Publisher. DOI or URL if applicable

Example:

Walters, W. S. (2016). Lonely in America. In J. Ward (Ed.), The fire this time: A new generation speaks about
     race (pp. 33-58). Scribner.

Formatting for Audiovisual Resources

Film

The director's name should be followed by "(Director)" in regular parentheses, while the film's title should be followed by "[Film]" in brackets. Only the first letter of the film's title (and, if applicable, subtitle) should be capitalized. If the film's original title is in a foreign language and you used the translated title in your paper, include the translation in brackets after the title.

Last Name, F.M. (Director). (Release Year). Title [Film]. Production Company.

Examples:

Lucas, G. (Director). (1977). Star wars [Film]. 20th Century Fox.

Godard, J-L. (Director). (1960). À bout de souffle [Breathless] [Film]. Les Films Impéria; Les Productions
     Georges de Beauregard; Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC).

TV Series

The executive producer's name should be followed by "(Executive Producer)" in regular parentheses, while the series' title should be followed by "[TV series]" in brackets. If applicable, the date of release should be presented as a range (i.e., "1990-1995"). Only the first letter of the series' title (and, if applicable, subtitle) should be capitalized. The proper name of the production company should have its capitalization and punctuation written intact. If multiple production companies were involved, list them in alphabetical order, separated by a semicolon.

Last Name, F.M. (Executive Producer). (Release year). Title [TV series]. Production Company.

Example:

Malone, A. (Executive Producer). (1980). Cosmos: A personal voyage [TV series]. Public Broadcasting Service.

YouTube or Streaming Video

The user or group that uploaded the video should be credited as the author. The upload date should be written: (Year, Month Day).

Last Name, F.M. (Upload Date). Title [Video]. Website. URL

Examples:

Ramsay, G. (2020, August 23). Gordon Ramsay's quick grilled crab rolls recipe [Video]. YouTube.
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ReoCdkizk

Small World Adventures. (2013, January 14). Ecuador kayaking highlights [Video]. Vimeo.
     https://vimeo.com/57371451

Song

Only the first letter of the the title of the song should be capitalized, and it should not be italicized. If the song was released as part of an album, only the first letter of the the title of album title should be capitalized, and the entire title should be italicized. Brackets should be used around the words "Song" and, if applicable, "Album."

Artist. (Year). Song title [Song]. On Album Title [Album]. Production Company.

Example:

Prince. (1984). Purple rain [Song]. On Purple Rain [Album]. Warner Bros. Records.

Podcast

If known, the podcast's executive producer should be listed first in the citation, followed by the designation (Executive Producer). If the executive producer is not known, the host may be substituted. If applicable, the publication dates should be presented as a range (i.e., "2010-2019"). Only the first letter of the podcast's title should be capitalized, and the entire title should be italicized. If the podcast was accessed via an online source, the source's URL should follow the name of the production company.

Host, F. (Host). (Years). Podcast title [Audio/Video podcast]. Production Company.

Example:

McElroy, J., McElroy, T., & McElroy, G. (Hosts). (2010-present). My brother, my brother
     and me [Audio podcast]. Maximum Fun. https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/my-brother-my-brother-and-me

Want to see the latest updates to APA style, straight from the source? Check out the APA Style Blog through the links below!

Tessa Mediano 12/20

Updated by Alicia G. Vaandering, 10/21