APA Style: Sample Bibliographic Entries (7th edition)

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The American Psychological Association (APA) documentation format uses in-text citations that briefly identify the
source, enabling the reader to locate full bibliographic information on each source in the list of “References” at the end of
the essay, article, or book. Numbers in brackets refer to sections of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (7th edition). Changes from the 6th edition include the fact that publisher location is no longer included in the
reference. The label “DOI:” is no longer necessary, but include the DOI for all items that have the number. The DOI
number is not followed by a period.

The majority of references are no longer preceded by “Retrieved from.” [9.16]. The 7th edition also recommends one space
after a period. [6.1]

APA In-Text Citations

The APA style uses the author-date method of citation. For direct quotations in print sources, a page number is given within
the parenthesis. If the source used is electronic and does not have page numbers, use the paragraph number. [8.27]

Type of Entry Example

One Work by One Author [Table 8.1] A modern scientist has a particular relationship with his own
dignity that is far from ideal (Lacan, 2008).

One Work by Multiple Authors Pellegrini and Bjorklund (1998) believe the study of
If the authors’ names are mentioned in a signal children more complex than previously recognized.
phrase, only the date is included in parenthesis

One Work by three or More Authors “There are particular gaps and inconsistencies in the
When there are twenty or more authors, cite only study of relations between martial conflict, ANS
the surname of the first author followed by et al. responding, and children’s externalizing problems”
and the year. Note: since this example is a direct (El-Sheikh et al., 2009, p. 2).
quote, the page number is also included in the
parenthesis.

Groups as Authors [8.21] First Citation: (American Psychological Association

If the author is a government agency or other [APA], 2009).
corporate organization with a long name, spell
out the name the first time it is used, followed Subsequent Citations: (APA, 2009).
by an abbreviation in brackets and the year.
In subsequent references, just use the
abbreviation and the year.

No Identified Author [8.14] According to Joint investigations of child abuse

Cite by title of the book or article either in a signal (1993), effective intervention requires trained
phrase (see example) or in the parenthetical personnel.
citations and include year of publication.

Personal Communication. [8.9] Day care providers in New Bedford, Massachusetts

Includes private letters, personal interviews, live face increasing difficulty in finding quality staff
speeches, emails, text messages, telephone conversations. (N.D. Cruz, personal communication, November 16,
Not included in References list. 2009).

1
 APA “References” List

The APA format calls the list of books, periodicals, print and non-print materials “References.”
Some Guidelines for preparing the “References” list:

• Use a separate page and type “References”, centered, at the top. Double-space all entries.
• For second and subsequent lines, use the Hanging Indent of 0.5 inches. [9.43]
• Include only sources that document your article and “provide recoverable data.” [9.37]
• Alphabetize by author’s (or editor’s) last name, or by the first significant word in the title if there is no author or
editor. [9.44]
• Invert all authors’ (or editors’) names, using surnames and initials only for up to and including twenty authors.
For twenty-one or more authors, include the first six, insert three ellipses, then add the last author’s name. [9.8]
• Use the ampersand (&) rather than “and” in the author (or editor) entry. [9.8]
• The date of publication (in parenthesis) follows the author’s (or editor’s) name or title if there is no author (or
editor). [9.14]
• Titles of books and names of periodicals are in italics. The first word of the title or subtitle of a book (if any) and
any proper nouns are capitalized. Use upper and lower case letters for periodicals [9.19]
• After the title of the journal or magazine, give the volume number in italics. [9.25]
• For electronic version based on a print source (PDF format), provide inclusive page number for the article. For
references from newspapers, use pp. before the page numbers.
• Additional information for book, such as editions or volumes, is in parenthesis immediately after the title of the
book. [10.2 323]
• Provide the DOI if one has been assigned. When there is a DOI, no further retrieval information is required (no
name of database, no date accessed). However, provide the URL of the journal, magazine, newspaper, or book.
[9.34]
• Only Cite original content from social media sites [10.15].

APA References Examples (see Chapter Ten)

Note: The following examples have been adjusted to save space. Please see the manual for proper format
(page setup, line spacing, margins).

Type of Entry Examples for References List

Book, one author (or editor) [10.2 (23] Harris, L. (2007). The suicide of reason: Radical Islam’s
threat to the enlightenment. Basic Books.

Book, two authors (or editors) Pellegrini, A. D., & Bjorklund, D. F. (1998). Applied Child
Note: the example also shows an edition other Study: A developmental approach (3rd ed.). Erlbaum.
than the first.

Essay or chapter in collection or Baker, S. L., Patterson, M. D., & Barlow, D. H. (2002).
anthology. [10.3 (46)] Panic disorder and agoraphobia. In A. M. Martin &
D. H. Barlow (Eds.), Handbook of assessment and
treatment planning for psychological disorders (pp. 67-
112). Guilford.

Book with no author or editor [10.3] Joint investigations of child abuse: Report of a
symposium (1993). National Institute of Justice.

2
 ELECTRONIC SOURCES

Journal article, with Talbot, L. S., Hairston, I. S., Eidelman, P., Gruber, J.
with issue number and DOI [10.1 (1)]. & Harvey, A. G. (2009). The effect of mood on
sleep onset latency and REM sleep in interepisode
bipolar disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,
118(3), 448-458. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016605.

Journal article, Manwaring, J. L., Bryson, S. W., Goldschmidt, A. B.,

Twenty-one or more authors and DOI Winzelberg, A. J., Luce, K. H., Cunning, D. Taylor,
C. B. Do adherence variables predict outcome in an
online program for the prevention of eating disorders?
Journal of Consulting Psychology, 76(2), 341-346.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.76.2.341.

Magazine article, no DOI [10.1] Toufexis, A. (1990, October 8). Living struggling for sanity.
Time, 136, 47-48. http://www.time.com/time/magazine

Daily newspaper article, no DOI Goldberg, C. (2009, January 19). An evolving view of
[10.1] depression. Boston Globe, pp. A11.
http://search.boston.com/local/Historic.do

Articles from CLDC database [10.1 (13)] Dunbar, R. (2020). I don't want an avocado for an uncle.
Children's Literature Comprehensive Database.
http://www.clcd.com.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/ #/bo
okdetail/1/10/OepSIhNoJnhqKolk/bdrtop

AUDIO VISUAL MEDIA

Film [10.12 (84)] Berman, B. (Producer) & Eastwood, C. (Director). (2003).

Mystic River. Warner Brothers.

ONLINE MEDIA

Blog post [10.1 (17)] Hayes-Bohanan, James. (2019, December 31). Vertical world.
https://www.environmentalgeography.net/2019/12/vertical-
world.html

Tweet [10.15 (103)] Doe, J. [@JaneBDoe]. (2020, January 20). This is an example
@Library [Tweet]. Twitter.
https://twitter.com/JaneBDoe/stats/1010101010101010111

DATA SET

Data set [10.9 (75]] Tolan, P., Gorman-Smith, D., Henry, D., & Schoeny, M.
(2016). Schools and families educating (SAFE) children
study [Chicago, IL]: 1997-2008. ICPSR.
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34368.v1

Revised 1/30/2020