APA Basic Style Guide

Official APA Style Guide apastyle.org

Citation Guides for APA, MLA, and Chicago owl.english.purdue.edu

Overview
The American Psychological Association style is referred to as APA. It is
commonly used in nursing, social work, geography, sociology, and psychology.

APA style consists of in-text citations and a reference list. In-text citations are
brief identifiers in your paper that tell the reader where all the ideas, information,
facts, figures, data, and direct quotations came from. These identifiers are either
integrated into your sentences or provided in parentheses directly after the
information is used. In-text citations typically consist of the author’s last name
and the date of publication. When a direct quotation is used, the page number is
also provided, unless the quotation comes from a source with no page numbers,
such as a website. For sources in which no author is identified, a shortened
version of the title is used in place of the author’s name.

The reference list is the full bibliographic information of every source you cited,
and is located at the end of your paper. APA obscures the gender of the author
by only listing the author’s last name followed by their first and middle initials on
the reference list. This guide provides examples of how to properly format in-text
citations and references using APA style.

APA General Formatting

• Use standard letter paper (8.5” x 11”) with margins set at 1” on all sides
• Use 12 pt., double-spaced, Times New Roman font
• Include the page number in the top right corner of EVERY page, beginning
with ‘1’ on your title page
• At the top of your title page, include the following header: ‘Running head:
TITLE OF PAPER’. The capitalized title is a shortened version of your
paper title
• On ALL SUBSEQUENT pages of your paper include the following header:
‘TITLE OF PAPER’
• On your title page include your full paper title, name, institution name,
course information, and the due date in plain, centred, double-spaced text

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In-Text Parenthetical Citations
There are three ways to integrate sources: quoting, paraphrasing, and
summarizing. For each of these, a citation is required.
Quote
Use the source word for word. The author's last name, the year of publication,
and the page number must be given:
As Singh (2002) elucidates, the men who were surveyed “tended to prefer
apples” (p. 66).
Paraphrase
A part of the author’s idea is put into your own words. The author’s last name and
year of publication must be given:
Singh (2002) noted that unlike women, men enjoyed apples.
Summarize
The author’s larger argument or idea is put into your own words:
The survey revealed that men enjoyed apples over pears (Singh, 2002).
Additional Citation Information
When including a source with two or more authors in a parenthetical citation or
on your reference list, use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name. For
example: (Grant, Fern, & Miller, 2008). When referring to the authors within your
sentence, spell out the word “and” before the last author’s name. For example:
Grant, Fern, and Miller (2008). In subsequent citations of sources with 3-5
authors, only include the last name of the first author followed by the abbreviation
“et al.” For example: (Grant et al., 2008). When using sources with 6 or more
authors only the last name of the first author is ever listed, followed by “et al.”

All of the citation information must appear only once per sentence; there is no
need to mention the author’s last name in the sentence, and then again in
parentheses. If you include the author’s name in a sentence, the year of
publication must appear immediately after in parentheses. Do not simply drop
research into your paper. Instead, lead into the information to create flow.

Emphasize the idea by placing the citation information at the end of the
sentence:

The colour of classroom walls has a strong effect on students’ emotions

(Lee, 2013).
Emphasize the author by placing their name first:

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 Lee (2013) argued for a correlation between student emotion and
classroom colour.
Emphasize the year by placing it first:

In 2013, Lee elucidated the relationship between colour and emotion in

the classroom.

Block Quote
If a quotation is longer than 40 words, then it is written out in a block quotation. A
block quotation is started on a new line that is indented on the left side ½ inch
(one tab). The entire quotation should be double-spaced. Unlike in short
quotations, the period comes before the parenthetical citation.

Writing centres, according to Grimm (1999), are

uniquely situated to invite undergraduates into intellectual work that makes

a difference. As sites of articulating practice, they can be institutional
catalysts in the effort to rethink literary education in ways that no longer
reproduce social divisions and that redefine what counts as literacy in
postmodern times. (p. 98)

Reference List
The reference list will contain EVERY source that you cited in your essay. There
is only one exception to this rule: personal communication between yourself and
an individual is not recorded in the references (it is only cited in-text). The
reference list should be given its own new page. This page will be final page of
your paper. The title ‘References’ should appear in plain, un-bolded, centred text.

To format your references, do the following:

• Order all entries alphabetically using the author’s last name
• Double space all entries
• The first line of each bibliographic reference is flush left. All subsequent
lines have a hanging indent, meaning the row of text is indented on the left
side an additional ½ inch from the margin (one tab)
• Use a DOI in place of a URL when possible
• When a publication date is not given, use ‘n.d.’ meaning no date
• If the author's name is not known, list the organization as author. If there is
no organizational author, use the title of the work
• If using two or more texts by the same author, list the works in
chronological order. If the author has two publications from one year, add

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 a lowercase letter (a, b, c, etc.) after the year to differentiate between
publications. For your in-text citations, use these letters as well. For
example: Smith (2015a) argues…

Sample References
Entire Book
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.
Location: Publisher.
Foucault, M. (1969). The archeology of knowledge. New York, NY: Routledge.
Grimm, N. M. (1999). Good intentions: Writing center work for postmodern times.
Portsmouth, NH: Boynton Cook Publishers.

A Chapter in an Edited Book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor
& B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location:
Publisher.
Draper, D. (2009). Advertising spoofs. In A. Roger (Ed.), Manhattan advertising
(pp. 34-56). New York, NY: Price Press.

Article in Scholarly Journal (Accessed Online)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of
Periodical, volume number (issue number if available), pages.
doi:0000/0000 or http://dx.vv.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy
Mello, A. (2010). The world of puppet theatre. PAJ: A Journal of Performance
and Art, 32(2), 62-67. doi:10.1162/pajj.2010.32.2.62

Online Newspaper Article

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved
from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Whyte, M. (2016, October 26). Art Toronto finds a way to redefine itself. Toronto
Star. Retrieved from

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 https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2016/10/26/art-toronto-
finds-a-way-to-redefine-itself.html

Webpage
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Retrieved from URL
Bigham, B. (2016, November 15). Defibrillator-equipped drones could be 1st on
scene in cardiac arrest. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/using-drones-for-defibrillator-1.3848349

Webpage with an Organization as Author

Name of Organization. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Retrieved
from URL
Health Canada. (2016, May 30). Cell phone towers. Retrieved from
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/radiation/cons/stations/index-eng.php

Webpage without an Author

Article title. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Retrieved from URL
Rare molecule on Venus may help explain planet’s weather. (2016, November
9). Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/rare-molecule-
venus-weather-1.3843428

E-Book (Only available in e-book form)

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book [E-reader version, if applicable]. Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Cochrane, K. (2013). All the rebel women: The rise of the fourth wave of
feminism [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.ca/All-
Rebel-Women-feminism-Guardian-ebook/dp/B00H7G1DMY

Film or DVD
Producer, A.A. (Producer), & Director, B.B. (Director). (Year). Title of motion
picture [Motion picture/DVD]. Country of Origin: Studio.
Rollins. J. (Producer), & Woody, A. (Director). Midnight in Paris [DVD].
United States: United Artists.

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Online Video
Producer, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from
URL
Ryerson University. (2012, February 9). Ryerson University: Make your mark
[Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdHe94uYKVA

Podcast
Producer, A. A. (Producer). (Year, Month Day). Title of podcast [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/podcasts/
Smiley, F. (2010, October 17). After the Jump [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from
http://www.heritageradio.com

Blog Post
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of blog post [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/blogpost/
Ali, A. (2004, February 14). Terrible days in Toronto [Blog post]. Retrieved
from http://www.theangrychicken.com/2004/days

Headings
Level of
Format
heading
1 Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase
2 Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
3 Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with
a period. Continue with body text after period.
4 Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading
ending with a period. Continue with body text after period.
5 Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a
period. Continue with body text after period.

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Last updated: November 16, 2016