Core Components of an APA Reference:

1. APA Referencing Basics: Reference List

- a reference list is a complete list of references used in a piece of writing
including the author name, date of publication, title and more. An APA reference list
must:
 Be on a new page at the end of the document
 Be centered
 Be alphabetically by name of first author (or title if the author isn’t known, in this
case a, an and the should be ignored)
 If there are multiple works by the same author these are ordered by date, if the
works are in the same year they are ordered alphabetically by the title and are
allocated a letter (a,b,c etc) after the date
 Contain full references for all in-text references used
2. APA Referencing Basics: In-Text Citation
- In-text citations are citations within the main body of the text and refer to a
direct quote or paraphrase. They correspond to a reference in the main reference list.
These citations include the surname of the author and date of publication only.
 Direct Quote: The citation must follow the quote directly and contain a page
number after the date, for example (Mitchell, 2017, p.104). This rule holds for all
of the variations listed.
Ex. (Single Author) Based on research, she found that “Students often had
difficulty using APA style especially when it was their first time” (Jones, 1998,
p.199).
or
According to Jones (1998), “Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time” (p.199).

Ex. (Two Authors) The surname of both authors is stated with either ‘and’ or an
ampersand between.
According to Smith and Hart (2013), “A trademark is a recognizable sign or
expression which identifies a product or service” (p. 12).
or
“A trademark is a recognizable sign or expression which identifies a product
or service” (Smith & Hart, 2013, p. 12)

 Parenthetical or Paraphrase: The page number is not needed.

Ex. (Single Author) APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners
(Jones, 1998).
or
According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time
learners.

(Two Authors) According to Pitt and Jolie (2005), Mr. And Mrs. Smith is a
really good movie that everybody can enjoy.
or
Mr. And Mrs. Smith is a really good movie that everybody can enjoy (Pitt &
Jolie, 2005)
Three, Four or Five Authors:
For the first cite, all names should be listed:
Mitchell, Smith, and Thomson (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell, Smith, &
Thomson, 2017).
Further cites can be shorted to the first author’s name followed by et al:
Mitchell et al (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell et al, 2017).

Six or More Authors:

Only the first author’s surname should be stated followed by et al.
Mitchell et al (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell et al, 2017).

No Authors:
If the author is unknown, the first few words of the reference should be used.
This is usually the title of the source.
If this is the title of a book, periodical, brochure or report, is should be italicised.
For example: (A guide to citation, 2017).
If this is the title of an article, chapter or web page, it should be in quotation
marks. For example: (“APA Citation”, 2017).

Citing Authors With Multiple Works From One Year:

Works should be cited with a, b, c etc following the date. These letters are
assigned within the reference list, which is sorted alphabetically by the surname
of the first author. For example: (Mitchell, 2017a) Or (Mitchell, 2017b).

Citing Multiple Works in One Parentheses:

If these works are by the same author, the surname is stated once followed by
the dates in order chronologically. For instance: Mitchell (2007, 2013, 2017) Or
(Mitchell, 2007, 2013, 2017)

If these works are by multiple authors then the references are ordered
alphabetically by the first author separated by a semicolon as follows: (Mitchell &
Smith 2017; Thomson, Coyne, & Davis, 2015).
Citing a Group or Organization:
For the first cite, the full name of the group must be used. Subsequently this can
be shortened. For example:
First cite: (International Citation Association, 2015)
Further Cites: (Citation Association, 2015)

Citing a Secondary Source:

In this situation the original author and date should be stated first followed by ‘as
cited in’ followed by the author and date of the secondary source. For example:
Lorde (1980) as cited in Mitchell (2017) Or (Lorde, 1980, as cited in Mitchell,
2017)

3. How to Cite Different Source Types

 In-text citation doesn’t vary depending on source type, unless the author is
unknown.
 Reference list citations are highly variable depending on the source.

How to Cite a Book (Title, not chapter) in APA Format

Book referencing is the most basic style; it matches the template above, minus
the URL section. So the basic format of a book reference is as follows:
Book referencing examples:
Mitchell, J.A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide to citation. London,
England: My Publisher
Jones, A.F & Wang, L. (2011). Spectacular creatures: The Amazon rainforest
(2nd ed.). San Jose, Costa Rica: My Publisher

How to Cite an Edited Book in APA Format

This reference format is very similar to the book format apart from one extra
inclusion: (Ed(s)). The basic format is as follows:

Edited book example:

Williams, S.T. (Ed.). (2015). Referencing: A guide to citation rules (3rd ed.). New
York, NY: My Publisher

How to Cite a Chapter in an Edited Book in APA Format

Edited books are collations of chapters written by different authors. To reference
a single chapter, a different format is needed. The basic structure is as follows:
Edited book chapter example:
In the following example, B.N. Troy is the author of the chapter and S.T. Williams
is the editor.
Troy, B.N. (2015). APA citation rules. In S.T, Williams (Ed.). A guide to
citation rules (2nd ed., pp. 50-95). New York, NY: Publishers.

How to Cite an E-Book in APA Format

An E-Book reference is the same as a book reference except the publisher is
swapped for a URL. The basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s) (Ed(s).*). (Year). Title (ed.*). Retrieved from
URL

*optional.

E-Book example:
Mitchell, J.A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide to citation. Retrieved
from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager

How to Cite an E-Book Chapter in APA Format

This follows the same structure as an edited book chapter reference except the
publisher is exchanged for a URL. The structure is as follows:
Last name of the chapter author, initial(s). (Year). Chapter title. In editor
initial(s), surname (Ed.). Title (ed., pp.chapter page range).
Retrieved from URL

E-Book chapter example:

Troy, B.N. (2015). APA citation rules. In S.T, Williams (Ed.). A guide to citation
rules (2nd ed., pp. 50-95). Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-
management/reference-manager
How to Cite a Journal Article in Print or Online in APA Format
Articles differ from book citations in that the publisher and publisher location are
not included. For journal articles, these are replaced with the journal title, volume
number, issue number and page number. The basic structure is:

Journal Article Examples:

Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important. Mendeley Journal, 67(2),
81-95
Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important. Mendeley Journal, 67(2),
81-95. Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/reference
management/reference-manager

How to Cite a Newspaper Articles in Print or Online in APA Format

The basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s). (Year, Month Day). Title. Title of Newspaper,
column/section, p. or pp. Retrieved from URL*

**Only include if the article is online.

Note: the date includes the year, month and date.

Newspaper Articles Example:

Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Changes to citation formats shake the research world. The
Mendeley Telegraph, Research News, pp.9. Retrieved from
https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager

How to Cite Magazine Articles in Print or Online in APA Format

The basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s). (Year, month day). Title. Title of the Magazine, pp.
Magazine Article Example:
Mitchell, J.A. (2017). How citation changed the research world. The Mendeley,
pp. 26-28

4. How to Cite Non-Print Material in APA Format

How to Cite an Image in APA Format

The basic format to cite an image is:

Image Example:
Millais, J.E. (1851-1852). Ophelia [painting]. Retrieved from
www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506

How to Cite a Film in APA Format

The basic format of a film citation is:
Producer surname, initial (Producer), & Director surname, initial (Director). (Year
of Release). Title of film [Motion Picture]. Country of Origin: Studio.

Film Example:
Hitchcock, A. (Producer), & Hitchcock, A. (1954) Rear window. United States of
America: Paramount Pictures.

How to Cite a TV Programme in APA Format

The basic format is as follows:
Writer surname, initial(s) (Writer), & Director surname, initial(s) (Director). (Year
of Release). Episode title [Television series episode]. In Executive producer
surname, initial(s) (Executive Producer), TV series name. City, State of original
channel: Network, Studio or Distributor

TV Programme Example:
Catlin, M., and Walley-Beckett, Moire (Writers), & Johnson, R (Director). (2010).
Fly [Television series episode]. In Schnauz, T. (Executive Producer). Breaking
bad. Culver City, CA: Sony Pictures Television
How to Cite a Song in APA Format
The basic format to cite a song in APA format is as follows:

Song Example:
Beyonce, Diplo, MNEK, Koenig, E., Haynie, E., Tillman, J., and Rhoden, S.M.
(2016) Hold up [Recorded by Beyonce]. On Lemonade [visual album]. New York,
NY: Parkwood Records (August 16)

How to Cite a Website in APA Format

When citing a website, the basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s). (Year, month day). Title. Retrieved from URL

Website example:
Mitchell, J.A. (2017, May 21). How and when to reference. Retrieved from
https://www.howandwhentoreference.com.