APA FORMATTING

AND
STYLE GUIDE

by
University of Malaya Library (UML)
Title Content Page
General Rules 1-2
Single Author
Two Authors
Three to Six Authors
More Than Six Authors
Author - Malay Names (without family names)
Author - Chinese Names
Author - Chinese Names with English Names
Author - Indian & Sikh Names (without family names)
Inherited Names
Conferred titles
Local Government Institution as Author
Foreign Government Institution as Author
Unique Corporate Body Names
Organization as Author
Conference Names with Numbers
Unknown Author

Reference List : Book 3

Basic Format for Books
Edited Book, No Author
Edited Book with an Author or Authors
A Translation
Edition Other Than the First
Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
Multivolume Work

Reference List : Articles in Periodicals 4

Basic Form
Article in Journal Paginated by Volume
Article in Journal Paginated by Issue
Article in a Magazine
Article in a Newspaper
Letter to the Editor
Review

Reference List : Other Print Sources 5-6

An Entry in an Encyclopedia
Work Discussed in a Secondary Source
Dissertation Abstract
Government Document
Report from a Private Organization
Conference Proceedings
Published Conference Paper
Unpublished Conference Paper
Academic Exercise / Thesis (Unpublished)

i
Title Content Page

Reference List : Electronic Sources 7-8

Article From an Online Periodical
Online Scholarly Journal Article
Online Scholarly Journal Article with Printed Version Available
Article From a Database
Nonperiodical Web Document, Web Page, or Report
Chapter or Section of a Web Document
Online Forum or Discussion Board Posting
Computer Software

Reference List : Other Non-Print Sources 9-10

Interview, Email, and Other Personal Communications
Motion Picture
A Motion Picture or Video Tape with International or National
Availability
A Motion Picture or Video Tape with Limited Availability
Television Broadcast or Series Episode
Single Episode of a Television Series
Television Broadcast
A Television Series
Music Recording

Suggested Reading Materials Appendix

ii
 General Rules

Single Author Last name first, followed by author Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social
initials. development. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 11, 7-10.

Two Authors List by their last names and initials. Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Mood
Use the ampersand (&) instead of management across affective states: The hedonic
"and." contingency hypothesis. Journal of Personality &
Social Psychology, 66, 1034-1048.

Three to Six List by last names and initials; Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., &
Authors commas separate author names, Harlow, T. (1993). There's more to self-esteem than
while the last author name is whether it is high or low: The importance of stability
preceded again by ampersand (&). of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.

More Than Six If there are more than six authors, Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro,
Authors list the first six as above and then R., Cruz, P., et al. (2001). Writing labs and the
"et al.," which stands for "and Hollywood connection. Journal of Film and Writing,
others." Remember not to place a 44(3), 213-245.
period after "et" in "et al."

Author - Malay Omit bin/binti Asmah Binti Omar

Names
Cite as
(without family
names) Asmah Omar. (1991). Kemahiran berbahasa. Kuala
Lumpur: Penerbitan Pustaka Antara.

Author - Chinese First name first, followed by author Chu Chin Ning
Names initials.
Cite as

Chu, C. N. (1995). Simulated counter-current adsorption

processes; A comparison of modeling strategies.
Chemical Engineering Journal, 56, 59-65.

Author - Chinese Family names followed by the Vincent Foo Hiap Khian
Names with initials of the English name and the
English Names author initials Cite as

Foo, V. H. K. (1983). Sarawak: Mini episodes of the

past. Petaling Jaya: Fajar Bakti.

1
Author-Indian & Omit d/o, s/o, a/l, a/p Narrayani a/p Jeganathan.
Sikh Names
Cite as
(without family
names) Narrayani Jeganathan. (2009).

Inherited Names Cite as it is Raja Ahmad Niza.

Cite as

Raja Ahmad Niza. (2009).

Conferred titles Omit title Tun Mahathir Mohamad

Cite as

Mahathir Mohamad

Local Cite under state and followed by Pahang, Jabatan Alam Sekitar. (2009).
Government the name of department in Malay
Institution as
Author

Foreign Cite under state or country and New Zealand, Department of External Affairs. (2009).
Government followed by the name of
Institution as department in English
Author

Unique If the name starts with Foundation Yayasan Sabah. (2009).

Corporate Body (Yayasan), Board (Lembaga), cite
Names as it is given

Organization as American Psychological Association. (2003).

Author

Conference Do not include the numbers Fifth Asia-Pacific Physics Conference

Names with
Numbers Cite as

Asia-Pacific Physics Conference

Unknown Author Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th

ed.).(1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

2
 Reference List : Books

Basic Format for Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to
Books Title of work: Capital letter also for preparing manuscripts for journal publication.
subtitle. Location: Publisher. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Note: For "Location," you should
always list the city, but you should
also include the state if the city is
unfamiliar or if the city could be
confused with one in another state.

Edited Book, No Duncan, G.J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997).

Author Consequences of growing up poor. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation.

Edited Book with Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals (K.V. Kukil,
an Author or Ed.). New York: Anchor.
Authors

A Translation Note: When you cite a republished Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on
work in your text, it should appear probabilities. (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.).
with both dates: Laplace New York: Dover. (Original work published 1814).
(1814/1951).

Edition Other . Helfer, M.E., Keme, R.S., & Drugman, R.D. (1997). The
Than the First battered child (5th ed.). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press

Article or Chapter Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year

in an Edited Book of publication). Title of chapter. In
A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of
book (pages of chapter). Location:
Publisher.

Note: When you list the pages of

the chapter or essay in
parentheses after the book title, Rogoff, B., & Mistry, J. (1985). Memory development in
use "pp." before the numbers: (pp. cultural context. In M. Pressley & C. J.Brainerd
1-21). This abbreviation, however, (Eds.), Cognitive learning and memory in children
does not appear before the page (pp. 117-142). New York: Springer-Verlag.
numbers in periodical references,
except for newspapers.

Multivolume Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New

Work Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.

3
 Reference List : Articles in Periodicals

Basic Form The APA style dictates that authors are named last name followed by initials; publication year
goes between parentheses, followed by a period. The title of the article is in sentence-case,
meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized. The periodical title is
run in title case, and is followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized or
underlined.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume
number(issue number), pages.

Article in Journal Journals that are paginated by Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing
Paginated by volume begin with page one in psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative
Volume issue one, and continue numbering and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.
in issue two where issue one
ended.

Article in Journal Journals paginated by issue begin Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New
Paginated by with page one in every issue. Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.
Issue Therefore, the issue number gets
indicated in parentheses after the
volume. The parentheses and
issue number are not italicized or
underlined.

Article in a Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in
Magazine today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

Article in a Unlike other periodicals, p. or pp. Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to
Newspaper precedes page numbers for a strengthen state energy policies. The Country
newspaper reference in APA style. Today, pp. 1A, 2A.
Single pages take p., e.g., p. B2;
multiple pages take pp., e.g., pp.
B2, B4 or pp. C1, C3-C4.

Letter to the Moller, G. (2002, August). Ripples versus rumbles

Editor [Letter to the editor]. Scientific American, 287(2), 12.

Review Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge

myth [Review of the book The self-knower: A hero
under control ]. Contemporary Psychology, 38, 466-
467.

4
 Reference List : Other Print Sources

An Entry in an Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new

Encyclopedia encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508).
Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Work Discussed List the source the work was In Seidenberg and McClelland's study (as cited in
in a Secondary discussed in: Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993), ...
Source
Coltheart, M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P.,
& Haller, M. (1993). Models of
reading aloud: Dual-route and
parallel-distributed-processing
approaches. Psychological
Review, 100, 589-608.

NOTE: Give the secondary source

in the references list. In the text,
name the original work, and give a
citation for the secondary source.
For example, if Seidenberg and
McClelland's work is cited in
Coltheart et al. and you did not
read the original work, list the
Coltheart et al. reference in the
References. In the text, use the
following citation:

Dissertation Yoshida, Y. (2001). Essays in urban transportation

Abstract (Doctoral dissertation, Boston College, 2001).
Dissertation Abstracts International, 62, 7741A.

Government National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical

Document training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication
No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.

Report from a American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Practice

Private guidelines for the treatment of patients with eating
Organization disorders (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Conference Schnase, J.L., & Cunnius, E.L. (Eds.). (1995).

Proceedings Proceedings from CSCL '95: The First International
Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative
Learning. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

5
Published Hasmah Zanuddin,& Azizah Hamzah. (2007).
Conference International trade agreement of intellectualproperty
Paper rights (TRIPS), copyright issues & burden to enforce
in Malaysia. In Choi K. Y. (Ed.), Korean studies in
Southeast Asia: Strategic cooperation and
development in research and education:
nd
Proceedings of the 2 International Conference of
the Korean studies Association of Southeast Asia
held on 29 January – 1 February 2007 at the
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (pp. 121-138).
KualaLumpur: University of Malaya.

Nadaraja Kannan. (2006, Nov). The economic

Unpublished depression of the 1930s : Its impact on race
Conference relations in the Federated Malay State. Paper
Paper presented at the International Association of
Historians of Asia Conference, Manila, Philippines.

Academic Santini, S. N. (2008). Research methods for business: A

Exercise / Thesis skill building approach. Unpublished master’s thesis,
(Unpublished) University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

6
 Reference List : Electronic Sources

Article From an Online articles follow the same Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A
Online Periodical / guidelines for printed articles. List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149.
Databases Include all information the online Retrieved 2 May 2006, from
host makes available, including http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cite living
an issue number in parentheses.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.

(Date of publication). Title of
article. Title of Online Periodical,
volume number(issue number if
available). Retrieved day, month,
year, from
http://www.someaddress.com/full
/url/

Online Scholarly Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature
Journal Article (Date of publication). Title of of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics,
article. Title of Journal, volume 8.Retrieved 20 February 2001, from
number. Retrieved month day, http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html
year, from
http://www.someaddress.com/full
/url/

Online Scholarly If the article appears as a printed Whitmeyer, J.M. (2000). Power through appointment
Journal Article with version as well, the URL is not [Electronic version]. Social Science Research, 29,
Printed Version required. Use "Electronic 535-555.
Available version" in brackets after the
article's title.

Article From a When referencing material Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A
Database obtained from an online study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal
database (such as a database in Eating, 8(3). Retrieved 20 February 2003, from
the library), provide appropriate PsycARTICLES database.
print citation information
(formatted just like a "normal"
print citation would be for that
type of work). Then add
information that gives the date of
retrieval and the proper name of
the database. This will allow
people to retrieve the print
version if they do not have
access to the database from
which you retrieved the article.

7
Nonperiodical Web List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt around to
Document, Web find the information. If there is a page such as http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and
Page, or Report somepage.htm does not carry the information you are looking for, move up the URL to
http://www.somesite.com/)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved day, month,
year, from http://Web address.

Title of document (Date of publication). Retrieved day, month, year, from http://Web address

NOTE: When an Internet document is more than one Web page, provide a URL that links to
the home page or entry page for the document. If the date is unavailable for the document use
(n.d.) for no date.

Chapter or Section Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. Engelshcall, R. S. (1997). Module mod_rewrite : URL
of a Web Document (Date of publication). Title of Rewriting Engine. In Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3
article. In Title of book or larger Documentation (Apache modules.) Retrieved March
document (chapter or section 10, 2006, from
number). Retrieved day, month, http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.
year, from html
http://www.someaddress.com/full
/url/.

NOTE: Use a chapter or section

identifier and provide a URL that
links directly to the chapter
section, not the home page of
the Web site.

Online Forum or For a message posted to an Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the
Discussion Board online newsgroup, forum, or cyberworld of toylandia [Msg 25]. Message posted to
Posting discussion group, include the http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.ht
title of the message, and the ml
URL of the newsgroup or
discussion board.

NOTE: If only the screen name

is available for the author, then
use the screen name. However,
if the author provides a real
name, use their real name
instead. Be sure to provide the
exact date of the posting. Follow
the date with the subject line, the
thread of the message (not in
italics). Provide any identifiers in
brackets after the title, as in
other types of references.

Computer Software Ludwig, T. (2002). PsychInquiry [computer software]. New

York: Worth.

8
 Reference List : Other Non-Print Sources

Interview, Email, No personal communication is (E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).
and Other Personal included in your reference list;
Communications instead, parenthetically cite the A. P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had
communicators name and the difficulties with APA style (personal communication,
date of the communication in November 3, 2002).
your main text only.

Motion Picture Basic reference list format:

Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D.D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion
picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.

Note: If a movie or video tape is unavailable in wide distribution, add the following to your
citation after the country of origin: (Available from Distributor name, full address and zip code).

A Motion Picture or Smith, J.D. (Producer), & Smithee, A.F. (Director). (2001).
Video Tape with Really big disaster movie [ Motion picture]. United
International or States: Paramount Pictures
National availability

A Motion Picture or Harris, M. (Producer), & Turley, M. J. (Director). (2002).

Video Tape with Writing labs: A history [Motion picture]. (Available from
Limited Availability Purdue University Pictures, 500 Oval Drive, West
Lafayette, IN 47907)

Television Producer, P. P. (Producer).

Broadcast or (Date of broadcast or copyright).
Series Episode Title of broadcast [ Television
broadcast or Television series ].
City of origin: Studio or
distributor.

Single Episode of a Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Wendy, S. W. (Writer), & Martian, I.R. (Director). (1986).
Television Series Director, D.D. (Director). (Date of The rising angel and the falling ape [Television series
publication). Title of episode episode]. In D. Dude (Producer), Creatures and
[Television series episode]. In P. monsters. Los Angeles: Belarus Studios.
Producer (Producer), Series title.
City of origin: Studio or
distributor.

Television Important, I. M. (Producer). (1990, November 1). The

Broadcast nightly news hour [Television broadcast]. New York:
Central Broadcasting Service.

9
A Television Series Bellisario, D.L. (Producer). (1992). Exciting action show
[Television series]. Hollywood: American Broadcasting
Company.

Music Recording Songwriter, W. W. (Date of Taupin, B. (1975). Someone saved my life tonight
copyright). Title of song [Recorded by Elton John]. On Captain fantastic and
[Recorded by artist if different the brown dirt cowboy [CD]. London: Big Pig Music
from song writer]. On Title of Limited.
album [Medium of recording].
Location: Label. (Recording date
if different from copyright date).

University of Malaya Library (UML)

Updated 25 June 2009/SB

10
Appendix

Suggested Reading Materials

nd
Allison, B. (2004). The student’s guide to preparing dissertations and theses (2 ed.). London;
Routledge Falmer.

Amato, C. J. (1998). The world’s easiest guide to using the APA: A user-friendly manual for
formatting research papers according to the American Psychological Association style guide
nd
(2 ed.). Westminster, CA: Stargazer Pub.

Azirah Hashim. (2005). How to write a thesis: The thesis writing journey from start to finish. Kuala
Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.

nd
Biagioli, M. (2003). Scientific authorship: Credit and intellectual property in science (2 ed.). New:
Routledge.

Creme, P. (2008). Writing at university: A guide for students. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Gibaldi, J. (2003). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (6th ed.). New York: Modern
Language Association of America.

th
Holloway, B. R. (2008). Technical writing basics: A guide to style and form (4 ed.). Upper Saddle
River: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Holtom, D. (1999). Enjoy writing your science thesis or dissertation: A step-by-step guide to planning
and writing dissertations and theses for undergraduate and graduate science students.
London: Imperial College Press.

Huckin, T. N. (1991). Technical writing and professional communication: For nonnative speakers of
English. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Jariah Mohd Jan. (2003). Guide to the preparation of research reports: Dissertations and theses.
Kuala Lumpur: IPS.

Kirkman, A. J. (2006). Punctuation matters: Advice on punctuation for scientific and technical writing
th
(4 ed.). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

Li, X., & Crane, N. B. (1996). Electronic styles: A handbook for citing electronic information. Medford,
N.J: Information Today.

Lindsay, D. (1993). Panduan penulisan saintifik: Manual untuk pelajar dan penyelidik. Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Lunenberg, F. C. (2008). Writing a successful theses or dissertation: Tips and strategies for students
in the social and behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

th
Locke, L. F. (2007). Proposals that work: A guide for planning dissertations and grant proposal (5
ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Pub.

Matthews, J. R. (2000). Successful scientific writing: A step-by-step guide for the biological and
nd
medical sciences ( 2 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mohd. Yusof Hj. Othman. (1996). Panduan penyelidikan sains dan penulisan saintifik. Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

O’Connor, M. (1991). Writing successfully in science. London: E & FN Spon.

nd
Rubens, P. (2001). Science and technical writing: A manual of style (2 ed.). New York: Routledge.

Rugg, G. (2004). The unwritten rules of PhD research. Maidenhead, England: Open University
Press.

Russey, W. E. (2006). How to write a successful science thesis: The concise guide for students.
Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.

Trimmer, J. (1998). The essentials of MLA style: A guide to documentation for writers of research
papers, with an Appendix on APA style. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin.

Turabian, K. L. (2007). A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago
th
style for students and researchers (7 ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

nd
Turk, C. (1989). Effective writing: Improving scientific, technical and business communication (2
ed.). London: E. & F.N. Spon.

Winkler, A. C. (1999). Writing the research paper: A handbook with both the MLA and APA
th
documentation styles (5 ed.). Forth Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Yang, J. T. (1995). An outline of scientific writing: For researchers with English as a foreign
language. Singapore: World Scientific.