The American Psychological Association (APA) provides a method for source documentation that is used in

most social sciences courses. The social sciences place emphasis on the date a work was created, so most
APA citation involves recording the date of a particular work in the physical text. The date is usually placed
immediately after the author’s name in the “References” page at the end of an essay. The most recent
APA formatting can be found in the currrent edition of the APA manual.

Book citations in APA generally require author name,

Citing Books publication year, work title, publication city, and
publisher.
General book format Pollan, M. (2006). The omnivore’s dilemma. New York, NY:
Penguin Group.

Single author Pollan, M. (2006).

Two or three authors Bell, C., & Cohn A. (1968).
More than three authors Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T.,
& Bach, J. S. (1993).
More than seven authors Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T.,
& Bach, J. S. ….last Author’s Name (1993).
Corporate/Organization author American Psychiatric Association. (2005).
Unknown author Oxford essential world atlas. (2001).
Two or more works by the same author Slechty, P. C. (1997).
Slechty, P. C. (2001).
Two or more works by the same author in Slechty, P. C. (1997a).
the same year. Slechty, P. C. (1997b).
Author with an editor Poston, T. (2000). A draft of history K.A. Hauke, (Ed.).
Author with a translator Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities.
(F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.).
Editor with no author Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences
of growing up poor.
Work in an anthology Harris, Muriel. (2000). Talk to me: Engaging reluctant
writers. In Ben Rafoth (Ed.), A tutor’s guide: Helping
writers one to one (pp. 24-34). Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Edition other than first Helfer, M. S., Keme, R. S., & Drugman, R. D. (1997). The
battered child (5th ed.).
Multivolume work Wiener, P. (Ed.). (1973). Dictionary of the history of ideas
(Vols. 1-4).
Posner, R. (1987). Romance Languages. In The
Encyclopedia/Dictionary
encyclopedia Britannica: macropedia (15th ed.).
Foreword, introduction, preface or Duncan, H. D. Introduction. In K. Burke,
afterword Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose (xiii-xliv).
United States: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.

Dr. George Conley Jr.

Apollos University
 In APA periodical citation, authors are named by their
last name followed by initials; the publication year
goes between parentheses and is followed by a
period. The title of the article is written in sentence-
Articles in Periodicals
case, in which only the first word and proper nouns
are capitalized. The periodical title is written in title
case and is followed by the volume number, which,
with the title, is also italicized or underlined.
Magazine Poniewozik, J. (2000, November). TV makes a too-close call.
Time, 20, 70-71.
Journal paginated by issue Bagchi, A. (1996). Conflicting nationalisms: The voice of the
subaltern in Mahasweta Devi’s Bashai Tudu. Tulsa Studies
in Women’s Literature (15.1), 41-50.
Daily newspaper Krugman, A. (2007, May 21). Fear of eating. New York
Times, pp. A1.
Editorial in newspaper Of mines and men (2003, Oct 24). [Editorial] The Wall Street
Journal east, p. A14.
Letter to the editor Hamer, J. (2006/2007,
December/January). [Letter to the editor]. American
Journalism Review, 7.
Book or film review Seitz, M. Z. (2007, May 30). Life in the sprawling suburbs, if
you can really call it living [Review of the film Radiant City,
directed by Gary Burns and Jim Brown]. New York Times,
late ed.: E1.
In APA citation, online sources often include what are
known as DOIs, or digital object identifiers. If a DOI is
available, it is used in place of a URL. The DOI is a
serial number that identifies the source regardless of
Online Sources
URL changes, and it can often be found on the first
page of an online source. Beyond the DOI, APA
generally cites author, date, page title, site title,
available page numbers, and a URL or DOI.
General format Author. (Year [use n.d. if not given]). Article or page title.
Larger Publication Title, volume or issue number. Retrieved
from http://url address
Entire Website United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2004, July).
Drinking water standards. Retrieved from US EPA website
http://water.epa.gov/drink
Page from Website Shiva, V. (2006, February). Bioethics: A third world issue.
Nativeweb. Retrieved from
http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shiva.html
Page from Website with unknown author Media giants. (2001). Frontline: The Merchants of Cool .
Retrieved from PBS Online

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/giants/
Image from a Website Goya, F. (1800). The family of Charles IV. Museo National del
Prado. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd
/goya/hd_goya.htm

Dr. George Conley Jr.

Apollos University
Online book Milton, J. (1667). Paradise lost: Book I. Poetry Foundation.
Retrieved from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/arc
hive/poem.html?id=174002
Portion of an online book Adams, H. (1918). “Diplomacy.” The education of henry
adams. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Retrieved from
http://www.bartleby.com/159/8.html
Article in an online journal Bent, H. (1959). Professionalization of the Ph.D. degree. The
Journal of Higher Education, 30.3, 140‐145.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1978286.
Article in an online magazine/newspaper Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living web. A List
Apart: For People Who Make Websites. Retrieved from
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/wr iteliving
Entire Blog Mayer, C. (2007, January 10). The checkout. [Web log post].
Retrieved from http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thec
heckout/
Response in a blog Writer’s name. (Date of post). Subject of post. [Web log
comment]. Retrieved from: URL or DOI
CD-Rom Pimpernel. (2000). [CD-ROM].The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed.
E-mail Not included in references.
Electronic sources in APA format may include a digital
object identifier (DOI) number. When a DOI is
Multimedia Sources
evident, it may be used in place of a URL address. An
online source should include either a DOI or a URL.
Video or film Guggenheim, D. (Director), & Bender, L. (Producer). (2006).
An inconvenient truth [DVD]. United States: Paramount
Home Entertainment.
Podcast/ YouTube Murphy, B. (2008, September 19). Tips for a good profile
piece.” [YouTube]. Project: Report. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu A2VcdqB9k/
Lecture/Public address Teplin, L. A., McClelland, G. M., Abram, K. M., & Washburn,
J. J. (2005). Early violent death in delinquent youth: a
prospective longitudinal study. [Presentation]. Paper
presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Psychology-Law-Society. La Jolla, CA.
Other Sources
The Purdue OWL Brizee, A., & Tardiff, E. (2010, April 7). Four main
components for effective outlines. Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/res
ource/544/01/
Government Publication Continental Congress. (1774-1789). Journals of the
continental congress. Washington, DC. 1904-1937.
Dissertation Choi, M. (2008). Contesting imaginaries in death rituals
during the northern song dynasty (Doctoral dissertation).
Available from ProQuest database. (AAT 3300426).

Dr. George Conley Jr.

Apollos University
In-text Citations
APA adds to MLA style by including an author
name(s), page number(s), and date. The date is
generally provided parenthetically whenever the
author’s(s’) name(s) is(are) given while page
Citing Books numbers always appear at the end of the sentence.
The date is important in social science because it
helps demonstrate the relevance (newness) of the
work being cited.

Author named in a signal phrase Philosopher Stephen C. Pepper (1961) refers to this
phenomenon as a “cumulative collaboration of evidence” (p.
49).

Author not named in a signal phrase This phenomenon is best referred to as a “cumulative
collaboration of evidence” (Pepper, 1961, p. 49).

Unknown author This phenomenon is best referred to as a “cumulative

collaboration of evidence” (World Hypotheses, 1961, p. 49).

Unknown page number This phenomenon is best referred to as a “cumulative

collaboration of evidence” (Pepper, Evidence and
Corroboration section, para. 22).

More than one work by the same author Philosopher Stephen C. Pepper refers to this phenomenon as
a “cumulative collaboration of evidence” ( World Hypotheses,
1961, p. 49), which he hints toward in earlier work as well
(“Emergence”, 1926, p. 241).
Two or three authors Rose and Weiser (2010) note the importance of redefining
expectations for faculty work (p. 3).
Four or more authors In 1990, Anderson, Best, Black, Hurst, Miller, and Miller
produced a study that focused specifically on undergraduate
perspectives of academic writing, and they found a variety of
approaches in place (p. 11).
Corporate author This study demonstrated the significant role of prayer as a
coping mechanism for health (American Psychological
Association, 2011, p. 67).
Authors with the same last name Use the first initial to differentiate (A. Smith, 2009, p. 19).
Encyclopedia Romance languages have a curious history (Posner, 1987).
Multivolume work Use the page number and date; indicate the volume in the
reference section only.
Two or more works in the same Many 19th century American authors noted the importance of
parentheses religion in conceiving nature (Emerson 1836; Thoreau, 1862).
An entire work Thoreau’s “Walking” (1862) demonstrates a fascination with
sauntering.
Work in an anthology Cite the specific work only, not the anthology or its editor.
The life of poverty in the south is captured by Hurston’s
candid autobiography, “From Dust Tracks on a Road” (1942).

Dr. George Conley Jr.

Apollos University
Multimedia Sources

Video or film Cite as in-text document using release date.

The role of Irish folklore is depicted in contemporary films
such as John Sayles’s, The secret of Roan Inish (1993).
Podcast/YouTube Use video/podcast author name, if known, title, and posting
date.
The quirks of spending become obvious when listening to
productions such as David Kesetenbaum’s podcast, “A Big
Bridge in the Wrong Place,” on Planet Money (2011).
Lecture/Public address The problem of violent death among delinquent youths was
carefully documented by Teplin et al. in an address delivered
at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychology- Law-
Society (2005).

Other Sources

The Purdue OWL Karl Stolley and Allen Brizee (2011) write in the Online
Writing Lab at Purdue University, “Research-based writing in
American institutions, both educational and corporate, is
filled with rules that writers, particularly beginners, aren't
aware of or don't know how to follow.”

Government publication The Emerald Ash Borer invasion in Pennsylvania has led to
dozens of county quarantines in recent years (Pennsylvania
DCNR, 2011).

Dr. George Conley Jr.

Apollos University