Citation

Citations and Examples (APA)

Citations for Print Books
Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of book. Location of publisher:
Publisher.
Example:
Finney, J. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Looking for an APA formatter? Don’t forget that BibMe’s APA citation generator
creates citations quickly and easily.
Notes: When citing a book, keep in mind:

 Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any subtitles, as well as the first
letter of any proper nouns.
 The full title of the book, including any subtitles, should be stated and italicized.

Citing an E-book from an E-reader

E-book is short for “electronic book.” It is a digital version of a book that can be
read on a computer, e-reader (Kindle, Nook, etc.), or other electronic devices.
Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of work [E-reader version].
http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx or Retrieved from URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx is used when a source has a DOI number. If the
e-book you’re citing has a DOI number, use it in the citation. DOIs are preferred
over URLs.
Example:
Eggers, D. (2008). The circle [Kindle version]. Retrieved from www.amazon.com

Citing an E-book found in a Database and

Online
Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of work [E-reader version].
http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx OR Retrieved from URL
When citing an online book or e-book, keep in mind:
  A DOI (digital object identifier) is an assigned number that helps link content to its location
on the Internet. It is therefore important, if one is provided, to use it when creating a citation.
In place of the x’s in the doi format, place the 10 digit DOI number.
 Notice that for e-books, publication information is excluded from the citation.

Example:
Sayre, R. K., Devercelli, A. E., Neuman, M. J., & Wodon, Q. (2015). Investment in
early childhood development: Review of the world bank’s recent experience.
https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0403-8

Citations for Chapters in Edited Books

Chapter author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of chapter. In F. M. Last
name of Editor (Ed.), Title of book (p. x or pp. x-x). Location: Publisher.
http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx or Retrieved from URL
Example:
Longacre, W. A., & Ayres, J. E. (1968). Archeological lessons from an Apache
wickiup. In S. R. Binford & L. R. Binford (Eds.), Archeology in cultural
systems (pp. 151-160). Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?
id=vROM3JrrRa0C&lpg=PP1&dq=archeology&pg=PR9#v=onepage&q=archeolo
gy&f=false

Citations for Edited Books

Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (Year published). Title of edited book. Location: Publisher.
Example:
Gupta, R. (Ed.). (2003). Remote sensing geology. Germany: Springer-Verlag.

Citations for Websites

Citing a general website article with an author:
Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day published). Title of article or page.
Retrieved from URL
Example:
Simmons, B. (2015, January 9). The tale of two Flaccos. Retrieved from
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-tale-of-two-flaccos/
Citing a general website article without an author:
Article title. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Retrieved from URL
 Example:
Teen posed as doctor at West Palm Beach hospital: Police. (2015, January 16).
Retrieved from http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Teen-Posed-as-Doctor-at-
West-Palm-Beach-Hospital-Police-288810831.html

Citations for Journal Articles found in Print:

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Periodical Title,
Volume(Issue), pp.-pp.
Example:
Nevin, A. (1990). The changing of teacher education special education. Teacher
Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division
of the Council for Exceptional Children, 13(3-4), 147-148.

Citations for Journal Articles found Online

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume
number(issue number), page range. http://dx.doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx OR
Retrieved from URL
Example:
Spreer, P., & Rauschnabel, P. A. (2016). Selling with technology: Understanding the
resistance to mobile sales assistant use in retailing. Journal of Personal Selling &
Sales Management, 36(3), 240-263.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2016.1208100
Notes: When creating your online journal article citation, keep in mind:

 This citation style does NOT require you to include the date of access/retrieval date or
database information for electronic sources.
 You can use the URL of the journal homepage if there is no DOI assigned and the reference
was retrieved online.
 A DOI (digital object identifier) is an assigned number that helps link content to its location
on the Internet. It is therefore important, if one is provided, to use it when creating a citation.
All DOI numbers begin with a 10 and are separated by a slash. Don’t forget, BibMe’s free
APA generator, which is an APA citation maker, is simple to use!

Citations for a Newspaper Article in Print

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Article
title. Newspaper Title, pp. xx-xx.
Example:
Rosenberg, G. (1997, March 31). Electronic discovery proves an effective legal
weapon. The New York Times, p. D5.
Notes: When creating your newspaper citation, keep in mind:

 Begin page numbers with p. (for a single page) or pp. (for multiple pages).
 Even if the article appears on non-consecutive pages, include all page numbers, and use a
comma to separate them. Example: pp. C2, C5, C7-C9.

Citations for Newspapers found Online

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Title of article. Title of
Newspaper. Retrieved from URL of newspaper’s homepage
Example:
Rosenberg, G. (1997, March 31). Electronic discovery proves an effective legal
weapon. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Notes: When citing a newspaper, keep in mind:

 This style does NOT require you to include the date of access for electronic sources. If you
discovered a newspaper article via an online database, that information is NOT required for
the citation either.
 Multiple lines: If the URL runs onto a second line, only break URL before punctuation
(except for http://).

Citations for Magazines

Citing a magazine article in print:
Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month of publication). Article title. Magazine Title,
Volume(Issue), page range.
Example:
Tumulty, K. (2006, April). Should they stay or should they go? Time, 167(15), 3-40.
Notes: When citing a magazine, keep in mind:

 You can find the volume number with the other publication information of the magazine.
 You can typically find page numbers at the bottom corners of a magazine article.
 If you cannot locate an issue number, simply don’t include it in the citation.

Citing a magazine article found online:

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month of publication). Article title. Magazine Title,
Volume(Issue). Retrieved from URL
 Example:
Tumulty, K. (2006, April). Should they stay or should they go? Time, 167(15).
Retrieved from
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1179361,00.html
Notes: When creating an online magazine citation, keep in mind:
*The volume and issue number aren’t always on the same page as the article.
Check out the other parts of the website before leaving it out of the citation.

Citations for Films

Producer’s Last name, F. M. (Producer), & Director’s Last name, F. M. (Director).
(Release Year). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country of Origin:
Studio.
Example:
Bender, L. (Producer), & Tarantino, Q. (Director). (1994). Pulp fiction [Motion
picture]. United States: Miramax.

Citations for Films & Videos from YouTube

Person who posted the video’s Last name, F. M. [User name]. (Year, Month Day of
posting). Title of YouTube video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL
If the name of the individual who posted the YouTube video is not available,
begin the citation with the user name and do not place this information in brackets.
Smith, R. [Rick Smith] (2013, September 20). Favre to Moss! [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOP_L6hBjn8

Citations for Photographs

Citing a photograph found in a publication or museum:
Photographer’s Last name, F. M. (Photographer). (Year, Month Day of
Publication). Title of photograph[Photograph]. City, State of Publication or
Museum: Publisher/Museum.
Example:
Roege, W. J. (Photographer). (1938). St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue from 50th
St to 51st Street[Photograph]. New York, NY: New York Historical Society.
Citing a photograph retrieved online:
Photographer, A. (Photographer). (Year, Month Day of Publication). Title of
photograph [Digital image]. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Ferraro, A. (Photographer). (2014, April 28). Liberty enlightening the world [Digital
image]. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/afer92/14278571753/in/set-72157644617030616

Citations for TV/Radio Broadcasts

Writer, F. M. (Writer), & Director, F. M. (Director). (Year of Airing). Episode title
[Television series episode]. In F. M. Executive Producer’s Last name (Executive
Producer), TV series name. City, State of original channel: Channel.
Kand, K. (Writer), & Fryman, P. (Director). (2006). Slap bet [Television series
episode]. In C. Bays (Executive Producer), How I met your mother, Los Angeles,
CA: CBS.
TV/Radio Broadcasts found Online:
Writer, F. M. (Writer), & Director, F. M. (Director). (Year of Airing). Episode title
[Television series episode]. In F. M. Executive Producer’s Last name (Executive
Producer), TV series name. Retrieved from URL
Kand, K. (Writer), & Fryman, P. (Director). (2006). Slap bet [Television series
episode]. In C. Bays (Executive Producer), How I met your mother. Retrieved
from https://www.hulu.com/watch/1134858#i0,p30,d0
Note: When citing a TV show or episode, keep in mind:
*IMDB is a great resource for finding the information needed for your citation
(Director, Writer, Executive Producer, etc.) This information can also be found in
the opening and closing credits of the show.

Citations for Interviews:

A personal interview should NOT be included in a reference list. They are not
considered recoverable data (they cannot be found by a researcher). You should
reference personal interviews as in-text citations instead.
Example:
(J. Doe, personal communication, December 12, 2004)

Citations for Encyclopedia Entries

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Publication Year). Entry title. In F. M. Last name of
Editor (Ed.), Title of encyclopedia (pp. xx-xx). City, State abbreviation or
Country: Publisher.
Example:
Kammen, C., & Wilson, A. H. (2012). Monuments. Encyclopedia of local history.
(pp. 363-364). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

How to Reference a Lecture

This style of reference would be used if you were citing a set of notes from a
lecture (e.g. PowerPoint or Google slides provided by your instructor).
Citing online lecture notes or presentation slides:
Author’s Last name, F. M. (Publication year). Name or title of lecture [Lectures notes
or PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Saito, T. (2012). Technology and me: A personal timeline of educational
technology [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/Bclari25/educational-technology-ppt
Tip: If you want to cite information from your own personal notes from a lecture,
this is considered personal communication. It is considered personal
communication since the lecture notes may not be available online for others
outside of the class to access. Refer to it only in the body of your essay or project.
You can follow the style guide for personal communication available in the
Interview section.

In-Text and Parenthetical Citations

What is an In-Text Citation or Parenthetical
Citation?
The purpose of in-text and parenthetical citations is to give the reader a brief idea
as to where you found your information, while they’re in the middle of reading or
viewing your project. You may include direct quotes in the body of your project,
which are word-for-word quotes from another source. Or, you may include a piece
of information that you paraphrased in your own words. These are called
parenthetical citations. Both direct quotes and paraphrased information include an
in-text citation directly following it. You also need to include the full citation for
the source in the reference list, which is usually the last item in a project.

In-Text Citations for Direct Quotes

The in-text citation is found immediately following the direct quote. It should
include the page number or section information to help the reader locate the quote
themselves.
Example:
Buck needed to adjust rather quickly upon his arrival in Canada. He states, “no
lazy, sun-kissed life was this, with nothing to do but loaf and be bored. Here was
neither peace, nor rest, nor a moment’s safety” (London, 1903, p. 25).

In-Text Citations for Paraphrased Information:

When taking an idea from another source and placing it in your own words, it is
not necessary to include the page number, but you can add it if the source is large
and you want to direct readers right to the information.
Example:
At the time, papyrus was used to create paper, but it was only grown and available
in mass quantities in Egypt. This posed a problem for the Greeks and Romans, but
they managed to have it exported to their civilizations. Papyrus thus remained the
material of choice for paper creation (Casson, 2001).

How to Format In-Text and Parenthetical

Citations
After a direct quote or paraphrase, place in parentheses the last name of the author,
add a comma, and then the year the source was published. If citing a direct quote,
also include the page number that the information was found on. Close the
parentheses and add a period afterwards.
If the author’s name is included in the text of your project, omit their name from
the in-text citation and only include the other identifying pieces of information.
Example:
Smith states that, “the Museum Effect is concerned with how individuals look at a
work of art, but only in the context of looking at that work along with a number of
other works” (2014, p. 82).
If your source has two authors, always include both names in each in-text citation.
If your source has three, four, or five authors, include all names in the first in-text
citation along with the date. In the following in-text citations, only include the first
author’s name and follow it with et al.
Example:
1st in-text citation: (Gilley, Johnson, & Witchell, 2015)
2nd and any other subsequent citations: (Gilley, et al. 2015)
If your source has six or more authors, only include the first author’s name in the
first citation and follow it with et al. Include the year the source was published and
the page numbers (if it is a direct quote).
1st in-text citation: (Jasper, et al., 2017)
2nd and any other subsequent citations: (Jasper, et al., 2017)
If your source was written by a company, organization, government agency, or
other type of group, include the group’s name in full in the first in text citation. In
any in-text citations following it, it is acceptable to shorten the group name to
something that is simple and understandable.
Example:
1st citation: (American Eagle Outfitters, 2017)
2nd and subsequent citations: (American Eagle, 2017)
Check out this page to learn more about parenthetical citations. Also, BibMe
creates your parenthetical citations quickly and easily. Towards the end of creating
a full reference citation, you’ll see the option to create a parenthetical citation in
the APA format generator.

Your Reference List

The listing of all sources used in your project are found in the reference list, which
is usually the last page or part of a project. Included in this reference list are all of
the sources you used to gather research and other information.
It is not necessary to include personal communications in the reference list, such
as personal emails or letters. These specific sources only need in-text citations,
which are found in the body of your project.
All citations, or references, are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last
name.
If you have two sources by the same author, place them in order by the year of
publication.
 Example:
Thompson, H. S. (1971). Fear and loathing in Las Vegas: A savage journey to the
heart of the American dream. New York, NY: Random House.
Thompson, H. S. (1998). The rum diary. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
If there are multiple sources with the same author AND same publication date,
place them in alphabetical order by the title.
Example:
Dr. Seuss. (1958). The cat in the hat comes back. New York, NY: Random House.
Dr. Seuss. (1958). Yertle the turtle. New York, NY: Random House.
If a source does not have an author, place the source in alphabetical order by the
first main word of the title.
Need help creating the citations in your APA reference list? BibMe creates your
citations by entering a keyword, URL, title, or other identifying information.

How to Format Your Paper in APA:

Need to create APA format papers? Follow these guidelines:
In an APA style paper, the font used throughout your document should be in
Times New Roman, 12 point font size. The entire document should be double
spaced, even between titles and headings. Margins should be 1 inch around the
entire document and indent every new paragraph using the tab button on your
keyboard.
Place the pages in the following order:

1. Title page (An APA format title page should include a title, running head, author line,
institution line, and author’s note). (Page 1)
2. Abstract page (page 2)
3. Text or body of research paper (start on page 3)
4. Reference List
5. Page for tables (if necessary)
6. Page for figures (if necessary)
7. Appendices page (if necessary)

Page numbers: The title page counts as page 1. Number the pages afterwards
using Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, 4…).
What is a running head?
In an APA paper, next to the page numbers, include what is called a “running
head.” The running head is a simplified version of the title of your paper. Place the
running head in the top left corner of your project and place it in capital letters.
On the title page only, include the phrase: Running head
Title page example:

 Running head: QUALITY LIBRARY PROGRAMS

For the rest of the paper or project, do not use the term, Running head.
Example of subsequent pages:

 QUALITY LIBRARY PROGRAMS

Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and many other word processing programs allow
you to set up page numbers and a repeated running head. Use these tools to make
this addition easier for you!
If you’re looking for an APA sample paper, check out the other resources found
on BibMe.

Using BibMe to Create Citations for your

Reference List or Bibliography
Looking to cite your sources quickly and easily? BibMe can help you generate
your citations; simply enter a title, ISBN, URL, or other identifying information.
See more across the site here and if you’d like to cite your sources in MLA format,
check out BibMe’s MLA page. Other citation styles are available as well.

Background Information and History of

APA:
The American Psychological Association was founded in 1892 at Clark
University, in Worcester, Massachusetts. APA style format was developed in 1929
by scholars from a number of different scientific fields and backgrounds. Their
overall goal was to develop a standard way to document scientific writing and
research.
Since its inception, the Style Manual has been updated numerous times and it is
now in its 6th edition. The 6th edition was released in 2010. In 2012, APA
published an addition to their 6th edition manual, which was a guide for creating
citations for electronic resources.
Today, there are close to 118,000 members. There is an annual convention,
numerous databases, and journal publications. Some of their more popular
resources include the database, PsycINFO, and the publications, Journal of
Applied Psychology and Health Psychology.
*Disclaimer: The American Psychological Association was not involved in the
making of this guide.