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APA Citation Examples

This guide will show you how to structure APA citations according to the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) and will show you example citations for different source types. For information on other APA topics—such as formatting your paper, creating a title page, etc.—check out the EasyBib APA format guide. It even has an example paper.

The Basics of APA Citations
References vs. Citations

Formatting Author Information

Formatting Titles and Dates

Citation Examples

Citing Books
Citing Journals and Articles
Citing Various Digital Sources
Citing Various Media Sources
Citing Additional Sources
APA Citation Template

Troubleshooting

The basics of apa.

We’re going to start from the beginning for all of you newbies out there, or for those of you looking for a refresher.

APA is an abbreviation which stands for American Psychological Association. This is a massive organization, responsible for creating and sharing psychology-related publications, research, and databases.

Basically, they keep psychologists and other similar roles in the loop with what’s happening in the world of psychology. With close to 120,000 members, this is THE leading world organization related to psychology.They are not officially associated with this guide, but the information here talks about their citing format and rules in depth.

Why were APA citations created and why did my teacher ask me to use this style?

Are you scratching your head, wondering what is APA style is and how this all relates to your research project? To make a long story short, the American Psychological Association did something really cool. Back in 1952, they created a way for ALL psychology researchers to structure their citations. This standard method did three things:

Psychology researchers were all able to display the sources they used in a systematic way.
Readers were able to easily understand the information shown in citations.
There was enough information displayed in the citations for readers to go out and find the exact sources on their own.

APA citations were such a hit, they were so good, that other science disciplines soon adopted the citation format as well. In fact, other disciplines outside of the science world use APA style today, too. So, whether you’re creating a psychology-related research project or not, there’s a good chance you were asked to create your citations in APA style.

Currently in its 7th edition, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is one of the most frequently used style guides for academic writing today!

With the 7th edition just coming onto the scene in 2020, the American Psychological Association does not expect to see widespread usage of the 7th edition until later in 2020. This is why you should always double-check with your teacher on whether they want you to use the 6th edition or the 7th edition for your projects.

Click here for more basics on this style.

Another widely used style is MLA format . Believe it or not, there are thousands of other styles, so perhaps your teacher or professor requested a completely different one. If you’re in that boat, head to EasyBib.com to check out more styles . While you’re at it, poke around and check out our APA reference generator. It may be just what you’re looking for.

References vs. Citations – What’s the difference?

References and citations are two terms that are thrown around a lot and quite often mean the same thing. A reference, or citation, shows the reader that a piece of information originated elsewhere. But, along came APA and decided to throw a curveball at us. In APA, the two terms have two different meanings.

A citation is found in the actual writing of an APA research paper.

In-text citation example:

“Lecture-rooms are numerous and large, but the number of young people who genuinely thirst after truth and justice is small” (Einstein, 2007, p. 5).

A reference is found on the reference page, which is the last page of a research paper.

Reference Page Example:

Einstein, A. (2007). The world as I see it. Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=aNKOo94tO6cC&source=gbs_navlinks_s (Original work published 1934)

The information included in an APA citation is just a snapshot of the information found in the full reference. For more information on when it’s appropriate to include a citation in your paper, head to section 8.1-8.10 of the Publication manual.

Now, what makes things even trickier is that most teachers and professors use the term “APA citations” when they’re actually talking about the full references. How many times have you heard your teacher say, “Make sure you have your citations on the last page!”

Eek! So, to stay on the same page as your teacher, this guide shows you how to make references for an APA reference page, but we’re calling the page “APA Citations.” Someone’s gotta give in, right? Looks like it’s us.

If you’re looking for a quick read on the citations found in the body of the paper, check out our APA Parenthetical Citation page. It’s just one of the many free APA citation guides available on EasyBib.com. Need an APA citation generator? You can find one at EasyBib.com as well!

If you’re looking for help with the writing or grammar in your paper, check out our research , pronoun , and determiner pages. We have tons of other free grammar pages too!

A rundown on references

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details on how to structure references for your APA paper, let’s get one more quick piece of information off the table.

References are added to research papers and projects only when a source is included in the writing itself.

We don’t add references to a reference page if we want to simply suggest other, similar titles. No! We create references when an actual piece of information from another source is added into the project.

Does your paper include a piece of data from a report? Great! You copied a line of text from a case study and put it in your project (with quotation marks around it)? Perfect! You included a bar graph you found in a brochure? Fantastic! Make sure you create an APA citation in the text of your paper and include the reference on the final page.

The only exception to the above rule is if you’re creating an “annotated bibliography.” For more on that, check out our APA annotated bibliography page.

In case you were wondering, the same goes for MLA in-text & parenthetical citations on the MLA works cited page.

Ready to get started? The next section of the guide is going to explain, step-by-step, how to structure every nook and cranny of your references.

But, if you’re dreaming of an APA citation maker to help make the pain go away from building your references from scratch, you’re in luck. EasyBib.com has an APA citation maker! In just a few clicks, our technology structures and styles each and every APA citation for you. If you don’t know much about it, head to the EasyBib homepage to learn more.

While you’re at it, try out our APA cover page maker, found on the main page as well!

Fundamentals of an APA citation

This entire section goes into detail on each component of a reference. If you’re looking to learn how to style the names of the authors, the title, publishing information, and other aspects related to the reference, this section is for you!

If you want to skip the small talk and see an APA style paper example, go to the “Citation Resources” menu on this page and select “APA Format Guide.” It includes a title page example, an APA paper example, and an APA reference page example.It’s all there for you and the best part about it is it’s free! Do yourself a favor and take a peek at it now!

Author information

The very first piece of information in most references is the author’s name(s). We say “most,” because some sources may not have an author (such as websites, the Bible…). If your source doesn’t have an author, do not include any information about an author in your reference.

Citing a Source with 1 Author

Apa structure:.

Last name of the Author, First initial. Middle initial.

APA Example:

To see some examples, scroll down to the bottom half of this page.

Citing a Source with 2 Authors

Does your source have two authors? Do not put the names in alphabetical order. They should be written in the order they’re displayed on the source.

Last name of the 1st listed Author, First Initial. Middle Initial., & Last name of the 2nd listed Author, First initial. Middle initial.

Doe, J. B. & Chen, W. I.

For an example of a reference with two authors according to the 7th edition of the Publication manual , scroll down to the “Journal Articles found in Print” section, or check out section 9.7-9.12 in the Publication manual.

Citing a Source with 3 to 20 Authors

Does your source have three to twenty authors? The American Psychological Association has made some updates on how to list multiple authors in your citations. If you have between three to twenty authors, list all the authors names (Last Name, Initials). Put them in the same order they’re listed in the source. Commas separate names, and put an ampersand right before the last name.

Bos, G., Hajek, S., Kogman-Appel, K., & Mensching, G. (2019). A Glossary of Latin and Italo-Romance Medico-Botanical Terms in Hebrew Characters on an Illustrated Manuscript Page (Ms. Oxford, Bodleian Opp. 688, fol. 177b). Aleph: Historical Studies in Science and Judaism 19 (2), 169-199. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/747571

Citing a Source with 21+ Authors

If your source has over twenty authors, list the last name and initials of the first 19 authors, placing a comma between each name. After the name of the 19th author, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining authors’ names. Then, list the final author’s name in front of it.

Here’s a formatting example for 21+ names using the U.S. presidents (this is NOT a reference example):

Washington, G., Adams, J., Jefferson, T., Madison, J., Monroe, J., Adams, J. Q., Jackson, A., Van Buren, M., Harrison, W. H., Tyler, J., Polk, J., Taylor, Z., Fillmore, M., Pierce, F., Buchanan, J., Lincoln, A., Johnson, A., Grant, U. S., Hayes, R. B., … Trump, D. J.

Citing an Author that is an organization or company

If your source is written by an organization or company:

Some sources are written and released by companies, not necessarily individual people. For example, most brochures at museums only display the institution’s name. Advertisements also only show the company’s name. If the source you’re attempting to cite only shows a group or organization’s name, place it in the reference in the place you’d normally include an individual person’s name.

Write out the name of the group in full; do not use abbreviations. For example, it may seem okay to use USDA, but APA writing style prefers you write out United States Department of Agriculture.

If you’re looking for information on how to style your own name in APA headings, find the example paper on EasyBib.com.

Formatting Titles & Dates

Formatting the date of publication.

The date the source was published is the next item shown in a reference. It’s directly after the author’s name.

For the majority of sources, include only the year in parentheses.

If you’re citing an article in a magazine, include the year and the month.

Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time, 135 (17), 20–21.

Check out the examples towards the bottom of the page, or head to sections 9.13-9.17 of the Publication manual to see how dates are displayed.

Title rules and capitalization

Titles are the next piece of information shown in a reference. Titles are often tricky for people to style. Students often wonder, “Should I type out the title as it’s shown on the source?” “Should the title be written in italics or underlined?” Here are the answers to (hopefully) all of your title-related questions:

Which letters are capitalized?

Most titles are written with a capital letter in these places:

At the beginning of the title
At the beginning of a proper noun
At the beginning of the subtitle

It may be tempting to write the title as you see it shown on the source, or with capital letters at the beginning of every important word, but that’s not how APA referencing does it.

Here are a few examples of proper lettering:

A star is born
Spider-Man: Into the spiderverse
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

The only source types that are written with a capital letter at the beginning of every important word are periodicals. Some examples include the titles of newspapers, journals, and magazines.

The New York Times
School Library Journal,

How should I style the title?

Anything that stands alone is written in italics. When we say “stands alone,” we mean it isn’t part of a larger collection. Most books are a single source, so they’re written in italics. Other examples include movies, brochures, dissertations, and music albums.
Sources that are part of a collection are written without italics. Website pages, journal articles, chapters in books, and individual songs (from an album) are written without italics.
Remember, the styling information above is for the APA reference page only! Citations in the text of the paper are styled differently. If you need to see a full APA sample paper, check out the other resources on EasyBib.com!

Check out some of the examples below to see how the titles are typed out and styled. You can also head to section 9.18-9.22 of the Publication Manual for more details

If it’s not the actual title, but an APA title page for your paper that you need help with, check out the Title Page APA creator on the homepage of EasyBib.com! Or, check out the main guide for this style, which includes an APA cover page template.

Additional information about a source

It can be difficult to understand a source type just by looking at an APA style citation. Sometimes it isn’t clear if you’re looking at a citation for a presentation, a blog post, lecture notes, or a completely different source type.

To clear up any confusion for your reader, you can include additional information directly after the title. This additional information about the source type is written in brackets with the first word having a capital letter.

Wilson, T. V. & Frey, H. (2019, May 13). Godzilla: The start of his story [Audio podcast]. iHeart Radio. https://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/godzilla-the-start-of-his-story.htm

Thanks to the information in the brackets, the reader can easily see that the source is an audio podcast.

Check out the various examples towards the bottom of this page.

Publication information

Publication information includes the name of the publisher. In most cases, the publication information is only included for print sources. Check out the book reference below to see the publication information in action.

Citing Books in APA

You’ll find plenty of source types below. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, try out our APA reference generator on EasyBib.com! Or, here’s a great informative site we like. If you’d like to see a full APA sample paper, take a glance at the main citation guide for this style on EasyBib.com.

Citing books in print in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of the book . Publisher.

Gaiman, N. (1996). Neverwhere . HarperCollins.

Looking for more examples? Check out our APA book citation page.

Citing a chapter in a print book in APA

A reference page APA citation for a chapter in a print book is styled the same way as the entire book. It is not necessary to showcase or display the individual chapter. However, in the text of the paper, the chapter is shown like this: (Author’s Last name, Year, Chapter #).

Citing a chapter in an edited book in print in APA

An edited book is one that was compiled by an author. Each individual chapter, or section, is written by someone else. Since you’re probably citing the specific chapter, rather than the whole entire book, place the name of the chapter’s author in the first position.

Chapter Author’s Last Name, F. M. (Year published). Chapter title. In F. M. Editor’s Last Name (Ed.), Title of book (Xrd ed., pp. x-x). Publisher.

Alexander, G. R. (2015). Multicultural education in nursing. In D. M. Billings, & J. A. Halstead (Eds.), Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (5th ed., pp. 263-281). Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=YxzmCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=edited+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwja47-0kL_iAhUV7XMBHXzQBxAQ6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q&f=false

Citing an e-book in APA

To cite an eBook, cite it the same way as you would a print book.

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of book . Publisher. URL

Alcott, L. M. (1905). Under the lilacs. Little, Brown, and Company. https://archive.org/stream/underlilacs00alco2?ref=ol#page/n9/mode/2up

If you’re using the EasyBib APA citation generator to cite your e-books, click on the “book” source type.

Gaiman, N. (2009). Coraline . HarperCollins. https://amzn.to/3cQqXAL

If you’re using EasyBib.com’s APA citation generator to cite your e-books, click on the “book” source type.

Wondering what to do if you’re using a book that was reprinted? Check out the example of Einstein’s book, found towards the top of this guide.

Citing The Bible in APA

Since the bible is considered a “classical work,” and widely known, it is not necessary to create a full reference. Only include a citation in the text of the paper.

Two items need to be included:

The title and version of the source, such as the New Living Bible
The names, verses, chapters, or any numbers associated with the section you’re referring to.

“Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it’s half the kingdom” (Esther 5:5 New Living Translation).

Citing Journals and Articles in APA

Citing journal articles found in print in apa.

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of journal article. Title of Journal, Volume (Issue), page range.

Reeve, A. H., Fjeldsa, J., & Borregaard, M. K. (2018). Ecologically flexible endemics dominate Indo-Pacific bird communities. Journal of Biogeography, 45 (8), 1980-1982.

Your APA style paper is easy to piece together with the tools and services on EasyBib.com. Try out our APA citation machine, which structures your references in just a few clicks. If you’re looking for the perfect APA cover page, give our APA title page maker a whirl.

Citing journal articles found online in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of journal article. Title of Journal, Volume (Issue), page range. //dx.doi.org/10xxxxxxx

Reeve, A. H., Fjeldsa, J., & Borregaard, M. K. (2018). Ecologically flexible endemics dominate Indo-Pacific bird communities. Journal of Biogeography, 45 (8), 1980-1982. //dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13384

For more on journals, take a peek at our APA journal page. Or, make your citations in just a few clicks with our APA citation generator.

Citing newspaper articles in print in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Article’s title. Title of Newspaper, pp. xx-xx.

Boutilier, A. (2019, May 29). Facebook won’t pull fake content for election: Official says it’s not company’s role to draw line as MPs blast Zuckerberg for not testifying. Toronto Star, p. 1.

Citing newspaper articles found on the Internet in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Article’s title. Title of Newspaper . URL

Boutilier, A. (2019, May 28). Facebook refuses to remove false content during Canadian election. The Star . https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/05/28/facebook-wont-remove-doctored-content-during-canadian-election.html

Kale, S. (2020, March 9). How to keep your hands clean – without getting dry skin. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2020/mar/09/how-to-keep-your- hands-clean-without-getting-dry-skin

Citing magazines read in print in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month or Season). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume (Issue), page range.

Freedman, A. (2019, June). How to choose a gaming laptop: You can play your game and take it with you. TechLife Australia, 90, 78-81.

Citing magazine articles read over the internet in APA

Author’s Last Name, F. M. (Year, Month). Title of magazine article. Title of Magazine, Volume (Issue), page range. URL

Savage, P. (2019, May). Double dragon: Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a return to form for the singular crime series. PC Gamer , 319, 80. https://www-pressreader-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/usa/pc-gamer-us/20190521

Citing a Source on the Internet in APA

Citing digital sources in this style is much easier than other styles. If you’re wondering why, it’s because a lot of information isn’t included in the reference.

For most digital sources, only five items are usually needed:

The name of the author
The date the source was published
The title of the source
The medium (blog post, audio file, pdf, etc.)
The website address

Here’s some more information related to web content:

Only include the medium if it’s unique or if it will help the reader understand the source type.
Include the website address at the end of the citation.
Do not place a period at the end of the website address.

Have a digital source? Need to cite APA? Check out some of the examples below.

Citing a blog in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of posting). Title of post. Blog or Website name. URL

Chockrek, E. (2019, May 29). 7 summer activities that help boost your college applications. EasyBib. https://www.easybib.com/guides/7-summer-activities-that-help-boost-your-college-applications/

See another example on our APA citation website page.

Citing social media in APA

Here’s the APA template for most social media platforms:

Last name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Day of posting). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Describe any attachment] [Tweet OR Facebook page OR Instagram photo OR Instagram post] . Site Name. URL

Lem, E. [@lemesther]. (2019, October 2). Spotted @Chegg promo celebration. Ladies who…”leopard.” Cheers to all the upcoming promos. #marketing #UEx. [Image attached [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/lemesther/status/1179549293289627650

If the name of the individual is unknown or unlisted on the profile (such as Lady Gaga), place the username first, without brackets

Ladygaga. (2019, May 20). I’m so proud of @momgerm for being asked to serve as Goodwill Ambassador for @WHO. The goal of @btwfoundation is [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/1130578727539052544

If there are emojis, try to recreate them or describe them in brackets.

Hawaii Volcanoes NPS [@Volcanoes_NPS]. (2020, February 26). Half the park is after dark! [flashlight emoji] In addition to dark night skies, evening in the park provides a great chance. [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/Volcanoes_NPS/status/1232776372801589248

For more about citing social media, head to section 10.15 of the Publication manual.

Citing online encyclopedias & dictionaries – Group author

If you conducted or watched a personal interview and the transcript or audio is not available for the reader, then there really isn’t any point to create a full reference. These types of sources are not recoverable and the reader would be unable to find the interview on their own. Instead, only create a citation in the text of the paper. Use the first initial, middle initial, and last name of the person being interviewed, along with “personal communication,” and the date of the interview.

Institution or organization name. (n.d.). Entry title. In Title of Website or reference . Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Doleful. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 1, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doleful

Citing online encyclopedias & dictionaries – Known author

If there is a known author, cite the source this way:

Last name, F. M. (Date published). Entry title. In F. M. Last name (ed.), In Title of Website or reference . Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Mann, M. E. & Selin, H. (n.d.). Global warming. In Encyclopaedia Britannica . Retrieved March 1, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/science/global-warming

Citing Wikipedia

Cite a Wikipedia page just like a normal webpage, but use an archived version. Go to the “View history” tab at the top of a Wikipedia page to find these archived versions, their publishing date, and their URL.

Article title. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia . URL

Kinetic energy (2019, December 27). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kinetic_energy&oldid=932724138

If you want to learn how to cite websites in MLA , click on the link.

An APA generator is available to you on EasyBib.com Take the stress out of building the references for your APA style paper and try it out!

While you’re at it, it may be helpful to take a glance at our APA paper template. It can be found on the EasyBib Writing Center page. You can use the APA paper example to help structure your own APA title page and paper.

Citing Media Sources in APA

Citing a song or music listened to online in apa.

Modern songs (e.g., that song you heard on the radio this morning) should list the name of the recording artist’s name. Classical music lists the song’s composer (e.g., think Mozart, Beethoven, etc.).

Note: include a URL in the reference if that location is the only means of retrieval (like if they only post their music to SoundCloud or on their own specific website). If the song is available across multiple platforms, no URL is needed.

APA Structure for a modern song:

Artist’s Last Name, F. M. (Year published). Song’s title [Song]. On Title of album . Publisher(s).

Grande, A. (2019). 7 rings [Song]. On thank u, next . Republic Records.

APA Structure for a classical song:

Artist’s Last Name, F. M. (Year published). Song’s title [Song recorded by Artist’s Name]. On Title of album . Publisher.

Bach, J. S. (1997). Toccata and Fugue in D minor [Song recorded by William McVicker]. On Great organ classics. Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.

Sheet music in APA

To cite APA sheet music, cite it exactly the same as a book. If it’s found online, cite it as a website.

Citing streamed videos in APA

Use this format if you’re citing a video found online (such as an APA citation for a YouTube video ).

Person who posted the video’s Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Day of posting or publishing). Video’s title [Video]. URL

Vliegenthart, S. [booksandquills]. (2018, December 3). Books from uni we didn’t hate [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G52GCgpEZg

If the name of the individual isn’t available, start with the username, and remove the brackets.

APA Examples:

Chegg. (2018, November 15). One common grammar error to avoid [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bfx50f853g

Maroon 5. (2018, May 30). Girls like you ft. Cardi B [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/aJOTlE1K90k

If you’re in need of an APA citation machine to do the work for you, check out the homepage on EasyBib.com! We even have a free Title Page APA creator on the main page as well!

Citing a film or movie in APA

Director’s Last Name. F. M. (Director). (Year published). Film’s title [Film]. Publisher(s) or URL

Gerwig, G. (Director). (2017). Lady bird [Video]. IAC Films; Scott Rudin Productions.

Citing Additional Sources in APA

Citing a published thesis or dissertation from a database in apa.

Author’s Last Name, F. M. (Year created). Thesis or Dissertation’s title [Master’s thesis OR Doctoral dissertation, Name of Institution]. Name of database or archive.

Schluckebier, M. E. (2013). Dreams worth pursuing: How college students develop and articulate their purpose in life [Doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa]. ERIC.

If you’re looking for an APA citation builder to do the work for you, check out EasyBib.com’s APA generator!

Citing a conference paper in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Days of Conference). Title of conference paper [Type of presentation]. Conference Name, Location. URL or DOI.

Fowle, M. (2018, September). The entrepreneurial dream: Happiness, depression, and freedom [Conference presentation]. European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreunership, Aviero, Portugal.

Citing an interview in APA

W. I. Ikemoto (personal communication, June 2, 2019)

If the interview is recoverable, include the full reference on the final page of the project. If the interview was found in a magazine, use the magazine structure. If the interview was read on a blog, use the blog structure. Look for the APA headings above that match your specific source type.

Don’t forget, our APA citation machine structures pretty much everything for you. Find it on EasyBib.com’s homepage and give our APA citation generator a try.

Didn’t find what you needed? Still a bit confused? Learn more here . You can also take the guesswork out of making your references with our handy APA citation generator, found at the top of this page.

Putting it All Together

You’ve structured your sources correctly, right? You have the periods, italics, and commas where they belong? Capital letters where they’re supposed to be? Great! You’re almost through! The last step is organizing your citations properly on the page. For easy to follow, in-depth instructions on structuring the last page in your project, check out our APA reference page . If you’d like to see a sample APA paper, check out the main guide for this style on EasyBib.com!

Before you hit submit, make sure you run your paper through our plagiarism checker . It checks for instances of accidental plagiarism and scans for spelling and grammatical errors. Even if you think you have every verb , adverb , or interjection where it belongs, you may be surprised with what our innovative technology suggests.

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Solution #1: How to cite a photo with no creator, date, or title in APA

Describe the photo and place brackets around it.
Add “n.d” with parentheses around it.
List where the reference was found without italics.
Follow with the URL information of where you found the photo if it was found online.

Example of a photo citation with no creator, date, or title

[Photograph of two hens in a barn]. (n.d). Theoretical Prints. http://Theoretical_Prints.org/two-hypothetical-hens/

Solution #2: How to cite a dictionary entry in APA

Dictionary entry in print

List the organization or the author’s name in last name, first name initial, and middle name initial (if there is one) with a period following.
Use n.d if the date is not listed.
List the name of the dictionary term. Capitalize the first letter and use a period after.
Write “In” followed by the name of the dictionary used. The dictionary name should be italicized.
In parentheses, write the volume abbreviated as “Vol.” followed by the volume number and page number. Add a period after it.

Examples for a printed dictionary entry citation

Hypothetical Association of Learning. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 3).

Johnson, C. K. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 3).

Dictionary entry from an online source

Use “n.d” if the date is not listed.
Write the name of the dictionary in italics and follow it with a period.
Write “Retrieved” then the date you accessed the entry online in this format: Month Day, Year. End it with a comma.
Write “from” and add the page URL.

Examples for an online dictionary entry citation

Hypothetical Association of Learning. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https;//dictionary.hypothetical.org/dictionary/English/cake

Johnson, C. K. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https;//dictionary.hypothetical.org/dictionary/English/cake

Solution #3: How to ensure that an auto-generated citation in APA style is correct

Ensure that the correct number of people are accredited by counting the names in the source and the website citation.
Ensure that all names are spelled correctly.
If 2-20 authors are used, ensure that an ampersand is used before the last name.
If more than twenty authors are used, ensure that an ellipsis is used before the final author.
Check to make sure that the date is correct and that the month or year do not need to be adjusted.
Generally, works cited as a whole, such as books, are written in italics, while shorter works that are part of a bigger work, such as a chapter in a book or articles from a periodical (e.g., journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.), are usually in regular font.
The title of webpages are italicized, while the title of the site they are on is in regular font.
Social media post citations use the written post content (up to 20 words) as the title. This “title” should be italicized.
If using a chapter, make sure that the editor is accredited.
If using an article, make sure that the journal number is italicized and that the volume number is in parentheses.
Make sure that your links are active and that they bring you to the correct location. You may need to rewrite the link.

Published August 2, 2019. Updated March 10, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau . Michele Kirschenbaum is a dedicated school library media specialist and one of the in-house EasyBib librarians. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

Annotated Bibliography
Block Quotes
et al Usage
In-text Citations
Multiple Authors
Paraphrasing
Page Numbers
Parenthetical Citations
Reference Page
Sample Paper
APA 7 Updates
View APA Guide
Book Chapter
Journal Article
Magazine Article
Newspaper Article
Website (no author)
View all APA Examples

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Go to www.easybib.com and follow the directions to create a citation. After you create a citation or citation list, you can choose APA as your citation style (default is MLA). APA is a premium style, so you will need a subscription or trial to EasyBib Plus in order to create citations in APA. Upgrade your account at https://www.easybib.com/upgrade .

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Scribbr APA Reference Generator

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APA 6th & 7th edition

Whether you’re still using APA 6 or you’ve already switched to APA 7 , we’ve got you covered!

Export to Bib(La)TeX

Easily export in BibTeX format and continue working in your favourite LaTeX editor.

Export to Word

Reference list finished? Export to Word with perfect indentation and spacing set up for you.

Sorting, grouping, and filtering

Organise the reference list the way you want: from A to Z, new to old, or grouped by source type.

Save multiple lists

Stay organised by creating a separate reference list for each of your assignments.

Choose between Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, and more options to match your style.

Industry-standard technology

Scribbr is built using the same citation software (CSL) as Mendeley and Zotero, but with an added layer for improved accuracy.

Annotations

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Explanatory tips help you get the details right to ensure accurate citations.

Citation guides

Getting to grips with citation is simple with the help of our highly rated APA reference guides and videos .

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Introduction
Parenthetical vs. narrative
Multiple authors

Missing information

Sources to include

Tools and resources

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APA referencing guidelines

APA Style is widely used by students, researchers, and professionals in the social and behavioral sciences. The Scribbr APA Reference Generator automatically generates accurate references and in-text citations for free.

This referencing guide outlines the most important referencing guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020). Scribbr also offers free guides for the older APA 6th edition , Vancouver Style , and Harvard Style .

APA in-text citations

In-text citations are brief references in the running text that direct readers to the full reference entry at the end of the paper. You include them every time you quote or paraphrase someone else’s ideas or words.

An APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and the year of publication (also known as the author-date system). If you’re citing a specific part of a source, you should also include a locator such as a page number or timestamp. For example: (Smith, 2020, p. 170) .

Parenthetical vs. narrative citation

The in-text citation can take two forms: parenthetical and narrative. Both types are generated automatically when citing a source with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator.

Parenthetical citation: According to new research … (Smith, 2020) .
Narrative citation: Smith (2020) notes that …

Multiple authors and corporate authors

The in-text citation changes slightly when a source has multiple authors or an organization as an author. Pay attention to punctuation and the use of the ampersand (&) symbol.

When the author, publication date or locator is unknown, take the steps outlined below.

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APA references

APA references generally include information about the author , publication date , title , and source . Depending on the type of source, you may have to include extra information that helps your reader locate the source.

Generate APA references for free

It is not uncommon for certain information to be unknown or missing, especially with sources found online. In these cases, the reference is slightly adjusted.

Formatting the APA reference page

On the first line of the page, write the word “References” (in bold and centered). On the second line, start listing your references in alphabetical order .

Apply these formatting guidelines to the APA reference page:

Double spacing (within and between references)
Hanging indent of ½ inch
Legible font (e.g. Times New Roman 12 or Arial 11)
Page number in the top right header

Which sources to include

On the reference page, you only include sources that you have cited in the text (with an in-text citation ). You should not include references to personal communications that your reader can’t access (e.g. emails, phone conversations or private online material).

In addition to the APA Reference Generator, Scribbr provides many more tools and resources that help millions of students and academics every month.

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AWELU information about APA

Second-hand use of sources, journal article, chapter in edited book.

Further APA-specific formatting
APA style online resources

In-text citations

Svensson (2003) proposed that ...

Previous studies suggest that .... (Svensson, 2003)

Words also differ in terms of the amount of semantic richness they possess (Di Vesta & Walls, 1970; Paivio, 1968; Paivio, Yuille, & Madigan, 1968). Concrete words (e.g., dog, foot), considered to be high in terms of their semantic richness, have "direct sensory referents and, typically, easily accessible images" (Schwanenflugel & Akin, 1994, p. 251).

(Nilson & Bourassa, 2008, p. 110)

Nonlinear systems are ubiquitous; as mathematician Stanislaw Ulam observed, to speak of "nonlinear science" is like calling zoology the study of "nonelephant animals" (quoted in Campbell et al. 1985, p. 374).

(Lansing, 2003, 183)

A number of researchers have attempted to empirically quantify how often animals appear in dreams. U.S. statistical norms of dream content were tabulated by Hall and Van de Castle and discussed in their 1966 book The Content Analysis of Dreams (as cited in Domhoff, 1996), in which they collected five dreams each from 100 adult men and 100 adult women.

(Lewis, 2008, 182)

Book by one author

Author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of Publication). Title of book . Place of publication: Publisher.

Only initials of author's first name(s) are provided
"Year of publication" refers to the edition that you have used
The book title is italicised. Except for names etc., only the first word of the title (and of any subtitle) is capitalised
"Place of publication": Being an American reference style, the APA Publication Manual recommends city + abbreviated name of state for US publications and city + country for non-US publications.
"Publisher" is the name of the publishing company

Book by two or more authors

First author's last name, Initial(s) & Second author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of Publication). Title of book . Place of publication: Publisher.

First author's last name, Initial(s), Second author's last name, Initial(s), Third author's last name, Initial(s) & Fourth author's last name, Initial(s). (Year of Publication). Title of book . Place of publication: Publisher.

Last name, Initial of first name(s). (Year of publication within parenthesis). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, inclusive page numbers. doi:

Except for proper nouns, only the first word of the article title (and of any subtitle) is capitalised
Journal titles and volume numbers are italicised
Journal titles are capitalised
Inclusive page numbers cover the whole article, not only the part of the article to which you refer.
A doi (digital object identifier) is used if accessible

Last name, Initial of first name(s). (Year of publication within parenthesis). Title of chapter. In [Name of editor] (Ed./Eds.), Title of book (page numbers of chapter within parenthesis). Place of publication: Publisher.

Authors's last name, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of webpage . Retrieved from [url here]

if there is no author, begin with the title, followed by date of publication
if there is no date of publication, write "n.d." (no date).
a date of access is only provided if the webpage content is likely to change (as in a wiki, for instance).

APA-specific formatting

Scientific objectivity in writing.

Gender-neutral language
Unbiased language in academic writing

Capitalisation of titles

The use of [ sic ].

How to edit quotations

APA Style online resources

APA Style homepage
Basics of APA Style tutorial
APA Style blog

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

In-Text Citations: The Basics

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here .

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 261-268 of the Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

Note: On pages 117-118, the Publication Manual suggests that authors of research papers should use the past tense or present perfect tense for signal phrases that occur in the literature review and procedure descriptions (for example, Jones (1998) found or Jones (1998) has found ...). Contexts other than traditionally-structured research writing may permit the simple present tense (for example, Jones (1998) finds ).

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source: Permanence and Change . Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Writing New Media , There Is Nothing Left to Lose .

( Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized: Writing new media .)

When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word: Natural-Born Cyborgs .
Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's Vertigo ."
If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text: The Closing of the American Mind ; The Wizard of Oz ; Friends .
If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

Short quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

This image shows how to format a long quotation in an APA seventh edition paper.

Formatting example for block quotations in APA 7 style.

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers. APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work.

Free Tools for Students
APA Citation Generator

Free APA Citation Generator

Generate citations in APA format quickly and automatically, with MyBib!

🤔 What is an APA Citation Generator?

An APA citation generator is a software tool that will automatically format academic citations in the American Psychological Association (APA) style.

It will usually request vital details about a source -- like the authors, title, and publish date -- and will output these details with the correct punctuation and layout required by the official APA style guide.

Formatted citations created by a generator can be copied into the bibliography of an academic paper as a way to give credit to the sources referenced in the main body of the paper.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an APA Citation Generator?

College-level and post-graduate students are most likely to use an APA citation generator, because APA style is the most favored style at these learning levels. Before college, in middle and high school, MLA style is more likely to be used. In other parts of the world styles such as Harvard (UK and Australia) and DIN 1505 (Europe) are used more often.

🙌 Why should I use a Citation Generator?

Like almost every other citation style, APA style can be cryptic and hard to understand when formatting citations. Citations can take an unreasonable amount of time to format manually, and it is easy to accidentally include errors. By using a citation generator to do this work you will:

Save a considerable amount of time
Ensure that your citations are consistent and formatted correctly
Be rewarded with a higher grade

In academia, bibliographies are graded on their accuracy against the official APA rulebook, so it is important for students to ensure their citations are formatted correctly. Special attention should also be given to ensure the entire document (including main body) is structured according to the APA guidelines. Our complete APA format guide has everything you need know to make sure you get it right (including examples and diagrams).

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's APA Citation Generator?

Our APA generator was built with a focus on simplicity and speed. To generate a formatted reference list or bibliography just follow these steps:

Start by searching for the source you want to cite in the search box at the top of the page.
MyBib will automatically locate all the required information. If any is missing you can add it yourself.
Your citation will be generated correctly with the information provided and added to your bibliography.
Repeat for each citation, then download the formatted list and append it to the end of your paper.

MyBib supports the following for APA style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Plagiarism and grammar
Citation guides

APA Citation Generator

Keep all of your citations in one safe place

Create an account to save all of your citations

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper

A comprehensive guide to apa citations and format, overview of this guide:.

This page provides you with an overview of APA format, 7th edition. Included is information about referencing, various citation formats with examples for each source type, and other helpful information.

If you’re looking for MLA format , check out the Citation Machine MLA Guide. Also, visit the Citation Machine homepage to use the APA formatter, which is an APA citation generator, and to see more styles .

Being responsible while researching

When you’re writing a research paper or creating a research project, you will probably use another individual’s work to help develop your own assignment. A good researcher or scholar uses another individual’s work in a responsible way. This involves indicating that the work of other individuals is included in your project (i.e., citing), which is one way to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism? What is it?

The word plagiarism is derived from the Latin word, plagiare , which means “to kidnap.” The term has evolved over the years to now mean the act of taking another individual’s work and using it as your own, without acknowledging the original author (American Psychological Association, 2020 p. 21). Plagiarism can be illegal and there can be serious ramifications for plagiarizing someone else’s work. Thankfully, plagiarism can be prevented. One way it can be prevented is by including citations and references in your research project. Want to make them quickly and easily? Try the Citation Machine citation generator, which is found on our homepage.

All about citations & references

Citations and references should be included anytime you use another individual’s work in your own assignment. When including a quote, paraphrased information, images, or any other piece of information from another’s work, you need to show where you found it by including a citation and a reference. This guide explains how to make them.

APA style citations are added in the body of a research paper or project and references are added to the last page.

Citations , which are called in-text citations, are included when you’re adding information from another individual’s work into your own project. When you add text word-for-word from another source into your project, or take information from another source and place it in your own words and writing style (known as paraphrasing), you create an in-text citation. These citations are short in length and are placed in the main part of your project, directly after the borrowed information.

References are found at the end of your research project, usually on the last page. Included on this reference list page is the full information for any in-text citations found in the body of the project. These references are listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

An APA in-text citation includes only three items: the last name(s) of the author(s), the year the source was published, and sometimes the page or location of the information. References include more information such as the name of the author(s), the year the source was published, the full title of the source, and the URL or page range.

Why is it important to include citations & references

Including APA citations and references in your research projects is a very important component of the research process. When you include citations, you’re being a responsible researcher. You’re showing readers that you were able to find valuable, high-quality information from other sources, place them into your project where appropriate, all while acknowledging the original authors and their work.

Common ways students and scholars accidentally plagiarize

Believe it or not, there are instances when you could attempt to include in-text and full references in the appropriate places, but still accidentally plagiarize. Here are some common mistakes to be aware of:

Mistake #1 - Misquoting sources: If you plan to use a direct quote, make sure you copy it exactly as is. Sure, you can use part of the full quote or sentence, but if you decide to put quotation marks around any words, those words should match exactly what was found in the original source. Here’s a line from The Little Prince , by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

Here’s an acceptable option:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Here’s a misquote:

“Grown-ups barely ever understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Notice the slight change in the words. The incorrect phrasing is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Mistake #2 - Problems with paraphrasing: When we paraphrase, we restate information using our own words and writing style. It’s not acceptable to substitute words from the original source with synonyms.

Let’s use the same sentence from The Little Prince .

A correct paraphrase could be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything. It’s too bad adults are unable to comprehend anything on their own (p. 3).

An incorrect paraphrase would be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares that adults never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for kids to be always and forever clarifying things to them (p.3).

Notice how close the incorrect paraphrase is from the original. This is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Make sure you quote and paraphrase properly in order to prevent accidental plagiarism.

If you’re having a difficult time paraphrasing properly, it is acceptable to paraphrase part of the text AND use a direct quote. Here’s an example:

de Saint-Exupery (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything, and “it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” (p. 3).

Information About APA

Who created it.

The American Psychological Association is an organization created for individuals in the psychology field. With close to 121,000 members, they provide educational opportunities, funding, guidance, and research information for everything psychology-related. They also have numerous high-quality databases, peer-reviewed journals, and books that revolve around mental health.

The American Psychological Association is also credited with creating their own specific citation and reference style. Today, this format is used by individuals not only in the psychology field, but many other subject areas as well. Education, economics, business, and social sciences also use APA style quite frequently. Click here for more information . This guide covers general information about the style, but is not affiliated with the American Psychological Association.

Why was this style created?

This format was first developed in 1929 to form a standardized way for researchers in science fields to document their sources. Prior to the inception of these standards and guidelines, individuals were recognizing the work of other authors by including bits and pieces of information in random order. There wasn’t a set way to format citations and references. You can probably imagine how difficult it was to understand the sources that were used for research projects!

Having a standard format for citing sources allows readers to glance at a citation or APA reference and easily locate the title, author, year published, and other critical pieces of information needed to understand a source.

The evolution of this style

The guide below is based on APA style 7th edition, which was released in 2020. In previous versions of APA format, researchers and scholars were required to include the publisher location for books and the date that an electronic resource was accessed. Both are no longer required to be included.

Details on the differences between the 6th and 7th editions is addressed later in this guide.

Citations & References

The appearance of citations & references.

The format for references varies, but most use this general format:

%%Author’s Last name, First initial. (Date published). Title . URL

Researchers and scholars must look up the proper format for the source that they’re attempting to cite. Books have a certain format, websites have a different format, periodicals have a different format, and so on. Scroll down to find the proper format for the source you’re citing or referencing.

If you would like help citing your sources, CitationMachine.com has a citation generator that will help make the APA citation process much easier for you. To start, simply click on the source type you're citing:

Journal articles

In-text citations

An APA in-text citation is included in research projects in three instances: When using a direct quote, paraphrasing information, or simply referring to a piece of information from another source.

Quite often, researchers and scholars use a small amount of text, word for word, from another source and include it in their own research projects. This is done for many reasons. Sometimes, another author’s words are so eloquently written that there isn’t a better way to rephrase it yourself. Other times, the author’s words can help prove a point or establish an understanding for something in your research project. When using another author’s exact words in your research project, include an APA in-text citation directly following it.

In addition to using the exact words from another source and placing them into your project, these citations are also added anytime you paraphrase information. Paraphrasing is when you take information from another source and rephrase it, in your own words.

When simply referring to another piece of information from another source, also include a citation directly following it.

Citations in the text are found near a direct quote, paraphrased information, or next to a mention of another source. To see examples of some narrative/ parenthetical citations in action, look at the image above, under “All About Citations & References.”

Note: *Only include the page or paragraph number when using a direct quote or paraphrase. Page numbers have a p. before the number, pp. before the page range, and para. before the paragraph number. This information is included to help the reader locate the exact portion of text themselves. It is unnecessary to include this information when you’re simply referring to another source.

Examples of APA in-text citations:

“Well, you’re about to enter the land of the free and the brave. And I don’t know how you got that stamp on your passport. The priest must know someone” (Tóibín, 2009, p. 52).

Student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers (Kent & Giles, 2017, p. 12).

If including the author’s name in the sentence, place the year in the parentheses directly next to his or her name. Add the page number at the end, unless it’s a source without any pages or paragraph numbers (See Section 8.10 of the Publication manual for more details).

In-text citation APA example:

According to a study done by Kent and Giles (2017), student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers.

The full references, or citations, for these sources can be found on the last part of a research project, titled the “References.”

Here’s how to create in-text citations for specific amounts of authors:

APA citation with no author

When the source lacks an author’s name, place the title, year, and page number (if available) in the text. The title should be in italics if it sits alone (such as a movie, brochure, or report). If the source is part of a whole (as many web pages and articles are), place the title in quotation marks without italics (See Section 8.14 of the Publication manual ).

Structure of an APA format citation in the text narratively, with the author's name missing:

Title of Source (Year) or “Title of Source” (Year)

Structure of an APA style format citation, in parentheses at the end of the sentence, with the author’s name missing: (Title of Source, Year) or (“Title of Source,” Year)

Structure for one author

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author (Year)...(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author, Year, page number).

Structure for two authors

Place the authors in the order they appear on the source. Only use the ampersand in the parenthetical citations (see Section 8.17 of the Publication manual ). Use ‘and’ to separate the author names if they’re in the text of the sentence.

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author 1 and Last name of Author 2 (Year)....(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author 1 & Last name of Author 2, Year, page number).

Structure for three or more authors

Only include the first listed author’s name in the first and any subsequent citations. Follow it with et al.

(Last name Author 1 et al., Year, page number)

(Agbayani et al., 2020, p. 99)

Last name of Author 1 et al. (Year)...(page).

Agbayani et al. (2020)...(p. 99)

One author, multiple works, same year

What do you do when you want to cite multiple works by an author, and the sources all written in the same year?

Include the letters ‘a’ ‘b’ ‘c’ and so on after the year in the citation.

(Jackson, 2013a)

Jackson (2013a)

Writers can even lump dates together.

Example: Jackson often studied mammals while in Africa (2013a, 2013b).

On the APA reference page, include the same letters in the full references.

Groups and organizations

Write out the full name of the group or organization in the first citation and place the abbreviation next to it in brackets. If the group or organization is cited again, only include the abbreviation. If it doesn’t have an abbreviation associated with it, write out the entire organization’s name each and every time (see Section 8.21 of the Publication manual ).

First APA citation for an organization with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], Year)

World Health Organization (WHO, Year)

Notice in the example directly above, the name of the organization is written out in full in the text of the sentence, and the abbreviation is placed in parentheses next to it.

Subsequent APA citations in the text for an organization with an abbreviation: (WHO, Year) OR WHO (Year)

All citations in the text for an organization without an abbreviation: (Citation Machine, Year) or Citation Machine (Year)

One in-text citation, multiple works

Sometimes you’ll need to cite more than one work within an in-text citation. Follow the same format (author, year) format but place semicolons between works (p. 263).

(Obama, 2016; Monroe et al., 1820; Hoover & Coolidge, 1928)

Reminder: There are many citation tools available on CitationMachine.com. Head to our homepage to learn more, check out our APA citation website, and cite your sources easily! The most useful resource on our website? Our APA citation generator, which doesn’t just create full references, it’s also an APA in-text citation website! It’ll do both for you!

Click here to learn more about crediting work .

Reference list citation components

References display the full information for all the citations found in the body of a research project.

Some things to keep in mind when it comes to the references:

All references sit together on their own page, which is usually the last page(s) of a paper.
Title the page ‘References’
Place ‘References’ in the center of the page and bold it. Keep the title in the same font and size as the references. Do not italicize, underline, place the title in quotation marks, or increase the font size.
The entire page is double spaced.
All references are listed in alphabetical order by the first word in the reference, which is usually the author’s last name. If the source lacks an author, alphabetize the source by the title (ignore A, An, or The)
All references have a hanging indent, meaning that the second line of text is indented in half an inch. See examples throughout this guide.
Remember, each and every citation in the text of the paper MUST have a full reference displayed in the reference list. The citations in the text provide the reader with a quick glimpse about the sources used, but the references in the reference list provide the reader with all the information needed to seek out the source themselves.

Learn more about each component of the reference citation and how to format it in the sections that follow. See an APA sample paper reference list at the end of this entire section.

Author’s names

The names of authors are written in reverse order. Include the initials for the first and middle names. End this information with a period (see Section 9.8 of the Publication manual ).

Format: Last name, F. M.

Angelou, M.
Doyle, A. C.

Two or more authors

When two or more authors work together on a source, write them in the order in which they appear on the source. You can name up to 20 authors in the reference. For sources with 2 to 20 authors, place an ampersand (&) before the final author. Use this format:

Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Kent, A. G., Giles, R. M., Thorpe, A., Lukes, R., Bever, D. J., & He, Y.

If there are 21 or more authors listed on a source, only include the first 19 authors, add three ellipses, and then add the last author’s name.

Roberts, A., Johnson, M. C., Klein, J., Cheng, E. V., Sherman, A., Levin, K. K. , ...Lopez, G. S.

If you plan on using a free APA citation tool, like the one at CitationMachine.com, the names of the authors will format properly for you.

###No authors

If the source lacks an author, place the title in the first position in the reference (Section 9.12 of the Publication manual ). When the source’s title begins with a number (Such as 101 Dalmatians ), place the reference alphabetically as if the number was spelled out. 101 Dalmatians would be placed in the spot where ‘One hundred’ would go, but keep the numbers in their place.

Additionally, if the title begins with the words ‘A’, ‘An,’ or ‘The,’ ignore these words and place the title alphabetically according to the next word.

See the “Titles” section below for more information on formatting the title of sources.

###Corporate/Organization authors

On an APA reference page, corporate authors are always written out in full. In the text of your paper, you may have some abbreviations (such as UN for United Nations), but in the full references, always include the full names of the corporation or organization (following Section 9.11 of the official Publication manual ).

%%United Nations. (2019). Libya: $202 million needed to bring life-saving aid to half a million people hit by humanitarian crisis. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1031981

Publication date & retrieval date

Directly after the author’s name is the date the source was published. Include the full date for newspapers and magazine articles, and only the year for journals and all other sources. If no date is found on the source, include the initials, n.d. for “no date.”

%% Narducci, M. (2017, May 19). City renames part of 11th Street Ed Snider Way to honor Flyers founder. The Philadelphia Inquirer . http://www.philly.com/

If using our APA Citation Machine, our citation generator will add the correct format for you automatically.

Giving a retrieval date is not needed unless the online content is likely to be frequently updated and changed (e.g., encyclopedia article, dictionary entry, Twitter profile, etc.).

%%Citation Machine [@CiteMachine]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://twitter.com/CiteMachine

When writing out titles for books, articles, chapters, or other non-periodical sources, only capitalize the first word of the title and the first word of the subtitle. Names of people, places, organizations, and other proper nouns also have the first letter capitalized. For books and reports, italicize the title in the APA citation.

Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Roots: The saga of an American family.

For articles and chapters in APA referencing, do not italicize the title.

Wake up the nation: Public libraries, policy making, and political discourse.

For newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, and other periodicals, capitalize the first letter in each word and italicize the title.

The Seattle Times.

A common question is whether to underline your title or place it in italics or quotation marks in the reference list. Here’s a good general rule: When a source sits alone and is not part of a larger whole, place the title in italics. If the source does not sit alone and is part of a larger whole, do not place it in italics.

Books, movies, journals, and television shows are placed in italics since they stand alone. Songs on an album, episodes of television shows, chapters in books, and articles in journals are not placed in italics since they are smaller pieces of larger wholes.

The Citation Machine citation generator will format the title in your citations automatically.

Additional information about the title

If you feel it would be helpful to include additional information about the source type, include a descriptive noun or two in brackets immediately following the title. Capitalize the first letter.

%%Kennedy, K., & Molen, G. R. (Producers), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Jurassic Park [Film]. USA: Universal.

Besides [Film], other common notations include:

[Audio podcast]
[Letter to the editor]
[Television series episode]
[Facebook page]
[Blog post]
[Lecture notes]
[PowerPoint presentation]
[Video file]

If you are using Citation Machine citing tools, additional information about the title is automatically added for you.

Publisher information

For books and reports, include the publisher name but not the location (see Section 9.29 of the Publication manual ). Older editions of the style required the city, state and/or country, but this hasn't been the case since the 7th edition was released.

It is not necessary to include the entire name of the publisher. It is acceptable to use a brief, intelligible form. However, if Books or Press are part of the publisher’s names, keep these words in the reference. Other common terms, such as Inc., Co., Publishers, and others can be omitted.

For newspapers, journals, magazines, and other periodicals, include the volume and issue number after the title. The volume number is listed first, by itself, in italics. The issue number is in parentheses immediately after it, not italicized. There is no space after the closing parenthesis and before the volume number.

%%Giannoukos, G., Besas, G., Hictour, V., & Georgas, T. (2016). A study on the role of computers in adult education. Educational Research and Reviews , 11 (9), 907-923. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2016.2688

After including the publisher information, end this section with a period.

Perseus Books.

Electronic source information:

For online sources, the URL or DOI (Direct Object Identifier) are included at the end of an APA citation.

DOI numbers are often created by publishers for journal articles and other periodical sources. They were created in response to the problem of broken or outdated links and URLs. When a journal article is assigned a DOI number, it is static and will never change. Because of its permanent characteristic, DOIs are the preferred type of electronic information to include in APA citations. When a DOI number is not available, include the source’s URL (see Section 9.34 in the Publication manual ).

For DOIs, include the number in this format:

http://doi.org/xxxx

For URLs, type them in this format:

http:// or https://

Other information about electronic sources:

If the URL is longer than a line, break it up before a punctuation mark.
Do not place a period at the end of the citation/URL.
It is unnecessary to include retrieval dates, unless the source changes often over time (like in a Wikipedia article).
It is not necessary to include the names of databases

If using the Citation Machine APA citation website autocite features, the online publication information will be automatically replaced by the DOI. The Citation Machine APA template will properly cite your online sources for you.

The image shows an example APA student page that is formatted using the guidelines described under the heading Paper Formatting.

Make sure you run your completed paper through the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader, which scans for grammar, spelling, and plagiarism. Whether it’s an adjective , verb , or pronoun out-of-place, our technology helps edits your paper for you!

Annotated bibliographies:

An APA annotated bibliography is a full bibliography that includes a small note for each reference citation. Each note should be short (1-2 paragraphs) and contain a summary or your evaluation about each source. When creating your citations on CitationMachine.net, there is a field at the bottom of each form to add your own annotations.

Follow the publication manual guidelines on paper format and writing style. Let your instructor guide other details about your annotations. Still confused? Read our guide on annotated bibliographies .

These types of projects look different depending on the style you’re using. Use the link at the top of the page to access resources related to the Modern Language Association’s style. Here’s information related to Chicago citation style .

Page formatting

Need help with the design and formatting of your paper? Look no further! This section provides the ins and outs of properly displaying the information in your APA essay.

Times New Roman, 12-point size.
Calibri, Arial, or Georgia, 11-point size
Lucida, Sans Unicode, or Computer Modern, 10-point size
Indents = Every paragraph should start with an indent.
Margins = 1 inch around the entire document
Spacing = Double space everything!

Arrange your pages in this order:

Page 1 - APA Title Page (see below for information on the title page)
Page 2 - Abstract (If your professor requests one)
Page 3 - First page of text
References begin on their own page. Include the list of references on the page after the text.
Tables and figures

Keep in mind that the order above is the recommendation for papers being submitted for peer review. If you’re writing an APA style paper for a class, your professor may be more lenient about the requirements. Also, if you’re submitting your paper for a specific journal, check the requirements on the journal’s website. Each journal has different rules and procedures.

Just a little nudge to remind you about the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader. Whether it’s a conjunction or interjection out of place, a misspelled word, or an out of place citation, we’ll offer suggestions for improvement! Don’t forget to check out our APA citation maker while you’re at it!

Running heads

In older editions of APA, running heads were required for all papers. Since the 7th edition, that’s changed.

Student paper: No running head
Professional paper: Include a running head

The running head displays the title of the paper and the page number on all pages of the paper. This header is found on every page of a professional paper (not a student paper), even on the title page (sometimes called an APA cover page) and reference list (taken from Section 2.8 of the Publication manual ).

It's displayed all in capital letters at the top of the page. Across from the running head, along the right margin, is the page number.

Use the header feature in your word processor. Both Google Docs and Word have these features available.
Use one for the recommended fonts mentioned under "Page formatting."

Title pages

A title page, sometimes called an APA cover page, graces the cover of an essay or paper. An APA title page should follow rules from Section 2.3 of the official Publication manual and include:

Page number, which is page 1
Use title case and bold font
The title should be under 12 words in length
The title should be a direct explanation of the focus of the paper. Do not include any unnecessary descriptors such as “An Analysis of…” or “A Study of…”
Exclude any labels such as Mr., Ms., Dr, PhD...
Name of the school or institution
Course number and/or class name
Name of your instructor, including their preferred honorifics (e.g., PhD, Dr., etc.)
Paper’s due date
If this is a professional paper, also include a running head. If this is a student paper, do not include one.

Follow the directions for the running head and page number in the section above. Below the running head, a few lines beneath, and centered in the middle of the page, should be the title. The next line below is the author’s name(s), followed by the name of the school or institution, the class or course name, your instructor’s name, and the paper’s due date.

All components on this page should be written in the same font and size as the rest of your paper. Double space the title, names, name of school or institution, and all other information on the page (except for the running head and page number).

Example - Student Title Page APA:

The image shows an example APA student title page that is formatted using the guidelines described above under the heading Title Pages.

Example - Professional Title Page APA:

The image shows an example APA professional title page that is formatted using the guidelines described above under the heading Title Pages.

If you’re submitting your paper to a journal for publication, check the journal’s website for exact requirements. Each journal is different and some may request a different type of APA format cover page.

Looking to create an APA format title page? Head to CitationMachine.com’s homepage and choose “Title Page” at the top of the screen.

An abstract briefly but thoroughly summarizes dissertation contents. It’s found in the beginning of a professional paper, right after the title page. Abstracts are meant to help readers determine whether to continue reading the entire document. With that in mind, try to craft the lead sentence to entice the reader to continue reading.

Here are a few tips:

Be factual and keep your opinions out. An abstract should accurately reflect the paper or dissertation and should not involve information or commentary not in the thesis.
Communicate your main thesis. What was the examined problem or hypothesis? A reader should know this from reading your abstract.
Keep it brief. Stick to the main points and don’t add unnecessary words or facts. It should not exceed 250 words.
Consider your paper’s purpose. It’s important to cater your abstract to your paper type and think about what information the target audience for that paper type would want. For example, an empirical article may mention methodology or participant description. A quantitative or qualitative meta-analysis would mention the different variables considered and how information was synthesized.
Use verbs over noun equivalents, and active voice. Example: “There was research into…” becomes “We researched…”

Formatting guidelines:

The abstract goes after the title page.
It should have the same font (size and type) as the rest of the paper.
It should stick to one page.
Double-space all page text.
Center and bold the word “Abstract” at the top of the paper.
Don’t indent the first line of the abstract body. The body should also be in plain text.
For the keywords, place it on the line after the abstract and indent the first line (but not subsequent lines). The word “Keywords:” is capitalized, italicized, and followed by a colon. The actual keywords are sentence case and in plan font.
List each keyword one after the other, and separate them by a comma.
After the last keyword, no ending punctuation is needed.

The image shows an example APA abstract page that is formatted using the guidelines described above under the heading Abstracts.

Tables & Figures

If your paper includes a lot of numerical information or data, you may want to consider placing it into a table or a figure, rather than typing it all out. A visual figure or simple, organized table filled with numerical data is often easier for readers to digest and comprehend than tons of paragraphs filled with numbers. Chapter 7 of the Publication manual outlines formatting for tables and figures. Let's cover the basics below.

If you’d like to include a table or figure in your paper, here are a few key pieces of information to keep in mind:

At the end of the paper after the APA reference page
In the text after it is first mentioned
The table first mentioned in the text should be titled ‘Table 1.’ The next table mentioned in the text is ‘Table 2,’ and so on. For figures, it would be 'Figure 1,' 'Figure 2,' and so forth.

The image shows that an APA paper with tables can be organized as follows – 1. Title page, 2. Text of paper, 3. References, 4. Table 1, 5. Table 2.

Even though every table and figure is numbered, also create a title for each that describes the information it contains. Capitalize all important words in the title.
For tables, do not use any vertical lines, only use horizontal to break up information and headings.
Single spacing is acceptable to use in tables and figures. If you prefer double spacing your information, that is okay too.
Do not include extra information or “fluff.” Keep it simple!
Do not include the same exact information in the paper. Only include the complete information in one area—the table or the text.
All tables and figures must be referenced in the text. It is unacceptable to throw a table or figure into the back of the paper without first providing a brief summary or explanation of its relevance.

Example of formatting a table in APA style.

Publication Manual 6th Edition vs 7th Edition

The 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was released in 2009. The current 7th edition came out in the fall of 2019 and was designed to be more student focused, provide more guidance on accessibility, and address changes that have developed over the last 10 years.

Below, we’ve listed what we feel are the most relevant changes related to APA format.

Journals and DOIs

DOI stands for “digital object identifier.” Many journal articles use and have a unique DOI that should be included in a full citation.

When including a DOI in a citation, format it as a URL. Do not label it “DOI.” Articles without DOIs from databases are treated as print works. For example:

6th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

7th edition:

Citing Books

There are few new guidelines when you are citing a book. First, the publisher location no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. Bloomington, IN: First Books Library.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. First Books Library.

Second, the format of an ebook (e.g., Kindle, etc.) no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic [Kindle].

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic .

Lastly, books from research databases without DOIs are treated the same as print works.

When using a URL in a citation, you no longer need to include the term “Retrieved from” before URLs (except with retrieval dates). The font should be blue and underlined, or black and not underlined.

6th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

7th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

Within a full APA citation, you may spell out up to 20 author names. For two to 20 authors, include an ampersand (&) before the name of the last author. For sources with 21 or more authors, structure it as follows:

Structure: First 19 authors’ names, . . . Last author’s name.

7th edition example: Washington, G., Adams, J., Jefferson, T., Madison, J., Monroe, J., Adams, J. Q., Jackson, A., Van Buren, M., Harrison, W. H., Tyler, J., Polk, J. K., Taylor, Z., Filmore, M., Pierce, F., Buchanan, J., Lincoln, A., Johnson, A., Grant, U. S., Hayes, R. B., Garfield, . . . Trump, D.

When creating an in-text citation for a source with 3 or more authors, use “et al.” after the first author’s name. This helps abbreviate the mention.

6th Edition: (Honda, Johnson, Prosser, Rossi, 2019)

7th Edition: (Honda et al., 2019)

Tables and Figures

Instead of having different formats for tables and figures, both use one standardized format. Now both tables and figures have a number, a title, name of the table/figure, and a note at the bottom.

If you’re still typing into Google “how to cite a website APA” among other related questions and keywords, click here for further reading on the style .

When you’re through with your writing, toss your entire paper into the Citation Machine Plus plagiarism checker , which will scan your paper for grammar edits and give you up to 5 suggestions cards for free! Worry less about a determiner , preposition , or adverb out of place and focus on your research!

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) (2020). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Updated March 3, 2020

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto. Michele Kirschenbaum has been an awesome school librarian since 2006 and is an expert in citing sources. Wendy Ikemoto has a master’s degree in library and information science and has been working for Citation Machine since 2012.

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Reference guide for APA 7

This guide gives you information on how to format references in APA style. The reference list should be placed in the end of the document and be arranged alphabetically by authors' last names. It should contain all necessary bibliographic information. The in text citations should contain the author(s) and the year of publication.

The guide is primarily intended for students at Karolinska Institutet. The references should be considered as recommendations based on APA 7 and in some cases with the support of Swedish cataloging rules for libraries.

When in doubt, double check with official manuals. You might also need to discuss with your supervisor or teacher at KI before submitting your thesis or assignment.

Book 1–2 authors

Surname, X. X. (Year). Title (edition). Publisher. DOI

Surname, X. X., & Surname, X. X. (Year). Title (edition). Publisher. DOI

Neumann, D. A. (2017). Kinesiology of the musculoskeletal system: foundations for rehabilitation (3rd ed.). Elsevier.

Strachan, T., & Read, A. P. (2019). Human molecular genetics (5th ed.). CRC Press.

Parenthetical form

(Neumann, 2017) (Strachan & Read, 2019)

When the author or authors gets mentioned in the text

Neumann (2017) describes … Strachan and Read (2019) develop …

More information

Please note that the authors should be arranged in the same order in the reference as in the source.
If no publication year is available, please use (n.d.), short for no date, instead.
Information about the edition shall be stated if you use any other edition than the first one. If there is no information about the edition of your source, you can assume that it is the first edition. Use the abbreviation “ed.”.
A Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet. Use the whole link starting with: https://doi.org/xxxxx.
The terms that are used in the references (for example editor, chapter, edition) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source.

Book 3–20 authors

Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., & Surname, X. X. (Year). Title (edition). Publisher. DOI

Coad, J., Pedley, K., & Dunstall, M. (2020). Anatomy and physiology for midwives (4th ed.). Elsevier.

Knopik, V. S., Neiderhiser, J. M., DeFries, J. C., & Plomin, R. (2017). Behavioral genetics (7th ed.). Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning.

(Coad et al., 2020) (Knopik et al., 2017)

When the authors are mentioned in the text

Coad et al. (2020) show that … According to Knopik et al. (2017) …

If there are 3 or more authors, cite only the first author's surname followed by et al.
Information about the edition shall be stated if you use any other edition than the first one. If there is no information about the edition of your source, you can assume that it is the first edition. Use the abbreviation “ed.".
A Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet. If DOI is available provide the entire link at the end of the reference as follows: https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Book with editor

Surname, X. X. (Ed.). (Year). Title (edition). Publisher. DOI

Alligood, M.R. (Ed.). (2017). Nursing theorists and their work. (9th ed.). Elsevier.

(Alligood, 2017)

When the author are mentioned in the text

Alligood (2017) show that …

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to books with several editors.
If no publication year is available, please use (n.d.), short for no date.
A Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet. If a DOI-number is available, add the entire link at the end of the reference: https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Chapter in edited book

Author of chapter’s Surname, X. X. (Year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor’s Surname (Ed.), Book Title (edition, pp. xx-xx). Publisher. DOI

Spatz, D. L. (2014). The use of human milk and breastfeeding in the neonatal intensive care unit. In K. Wamback & J. Riordan (Eds.), Breastfeeding and human lactation (5th ed., pp. 469-522). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Skoog, T. (2013). Adolescent and adult implications of girls' pubertal timing. In A-K. Andershed (Ed.), Girls at risk: Swedish longitudinal research on adjustment (pp. 9-34). Springer.

(Spatz, 2014) (Skoog, 2013)

Spatz (2014) explains that … Skoog (2013) argues that …

In text, refer to the author of the chapter.
Please see examples for books to find more information about how to refer to chapters with several authors.
Information about the edition shall be stated if you use any other edition than the first one. If there is no information about the edition of your source, you can assume that it is the first edition. Use the abbreviation “ed.
Both chapter and page references are stated in the text if chapters have separate pagination, example: (Polit & Beck, 2004, Part 2, p. 24)
A Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet. If the book has a DOI, it should be placed last in the reference as an link accordingly: https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Chapter in authored book

Krippendorff, K. (2019). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology (4. ed.). SAGE.

Steketee, G., & Frost R. O. (2014). Treatment for hoarding disorder . Therapist guide (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780199334940.001.0001

(Krippendorff, 2019, Chapter 10) (Steketee & Frost, 2014, Chapter 2)

Krippendorff (2019, kapitel 10) argues ... Steketee & Frost (2014, Chapter 2) describe ...

The reference is written in the same way as the reference to the entire book or report. For more information, see the reference alternatives for books and reports. No details about the chapter are stated.
In the citations in the text, insert information about the chapter after the author's surname and year. Use the same term and number as in the source.

Conference contribution

Author of conference contribution’s Surname, X. X. (Year). Title of conference contribution. In X. Editor’s Surname (Ed.), Title of conference proceedings. (start pagenumber-end pagenumber). Publisher. DOI/URL

Bärkås, A., Scandurra I., Hägglund, M. (2019). Analysis of voluntary user feedback of the Swedish National PAEHR service. In L. Ohno-Machado & B. Séroussi (Eds.), MEDINFO 2019: Health and Wellbeing e-Networks for All: Proceedings of the 17th World Congress of Medical and Health Informatics (1126-1130). IOS Press. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI264

(Bärkås, et al., 2019)

Bjärkås et al. (2019) describe that …

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to contributions with several authors.
A Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet. If a DOI-number is available, add the entire link accordingly: https://doi.org/xxxxx.
Conference contributions can also be published as articles in journals; in such cases, follow the template for journal articles.
The terms that are used in the references (for example editor, chapter, edition) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language the of the source.

Surname, X. X. (Year). Title (edition). DOI or URL

Zeitler, P. S., & Nadeau, K. J. (2020). Insulin Resistance. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25057-7

(Zeitler & Nadeau, 2020)

When the author is mentioned in the text

According to Zeitler and Nadeau (2020) …

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to e-books with several authors.
An e-book from an academic research database should be treated as an authored print book. Do not include a URL or database information for works from academic research databases.
DA Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet. If DOI-number is available this is placed as link at the end of the reference accordingly: https://doi.org/xxxxx.
If the e-book is freely available on the web and does not have a DOI, enter the URL address instead.
Information about the edition shall be stated if you use any other edition than the first one. If there is no information about the edition of your source, you can assume that it is the first edition. Use the abbreviation “ed.”

Translated book

Author’s surname, X. X. (Year). Title. (X. X. Translator’s surname, Trans. edition). Publisher. (Original work published)

Foucault, M. (2011). Madness: The invention of an idea. (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Harper Perennial Modern Thought. (Original work published 1954)

(Foucault, 2011)

Foucault (2011) argues that …

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to translated books with several authors.
Information regarding the title, edition, publisher, and place of publication should apply to the translation (not the original).
A Digital object identifier (DOI), is a unique, permanent identification number that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet.

Book in press

Surname, X. X. (in press). Title. Publisher.

Fleischman, A. R. (in press). Pediatric Ethics. Protecting the Interests of Children. Oxford University Press.

(Fleischman, in press)

Fleischman (in press) describes …

If the manuscript of a book has been accepted for publication by a publisher but is not yet published, use the phrase in press instead on the publication year.
Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to books with several authors or editors.

Journal article 1–2 authors

Surname, X. X. (Year). Title. Journal, volume (issue), beginning page-last page. DOI

Surname, X. X., & Surname, X. X. (Year). Title. Journal, volume (issue), beginning page-last page. DOI

Carlsson M. (2020). Self-reported competence in female and male nursing students in the light of theories of hegemonic masculinity and femininity. Journal of advanced nursing, 76 (1), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14220

Smith, D. L., & Claytor, R. P. (2018). An acute bout of aerobic exercise reduces movement time in a Fitts' task. PloS One, 13 (12), Article e0210195. https:/doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210195

(Carlsson, 2020) (Smith & Claytor, 2018)

According to Carlsson (2014) … Smith and Claytor (2018) describe ...

If information is missing, for example regarding issue or page numbers, this information is omitted from your reference.
Digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique number that identifies a specific source and provides a persistent link to it. If an electronic article does not have a DOI-number, and the article was accessed online from a non-database website, the URL is stated instead. If the article was accessed in print or retrieved from an academic database, no URL is included.

Journal article 3–20 authors

Fulk, G., Duncan, P., & Klingman, K. J. (2020). Sleep problems worsen health-related quality of life and participation during the first 12 months of stroke rehabilitation. Clinical rehabilitation, 34 (11), 1400–1408. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269215520935940

Ho, F. K. W. , Louie, L. H. T., Wong, W. H., Chang, K. L., Tiwari, A., Chow, C. B., Ho, W., Wong, W., Chan, M., Chen, E. Y. H., Cheung, Y. F., & Ip, P. (2017). A sports-based youth development program, teen mental health, and physical fitness: An RCT. Pediatrics, 140 (4), Article e20171543. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-1543

(Fulk et al., 2020) (Ho et al., 2017)

According to Fulk et al. (2020)… Ho et al. (2017) show that ...

In-text citations for works with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author and the abbreviation "et al".

Journal article 21 or more authors

Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., Surname, X. X., … Surname, X. X. (Year). Title . Journal, volume (issue), beginning page-last page. DOI

Perl A. E., Martinelli G., Cortes J. E., Neubauer, A., Berman, E., Paolini, S., Montesinos, P., Baer, M. R., Larson, R. A., Ustun, C., Fabbiano, F., Erba, H. P., Di Stasi, A., Stuart, R., Olin, R., Kasner, M., Ciceri, F., Chou, W.-C., ... Levis, M. J. (2019). Gilteritinib or chemotherapy for relapsed or refractory FLT3-mutated AML. New England Journal of Medicine. 381 (18), 1728–1740. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1902688

Ding, K. J., Cammann, V. L., Szawan, K. A., Stähli, B. E., Wischnewsky, M., Di Vece, D., Citro R., Jaguszewski M., Seifert B., Sarcon A., Knorr M., Heiner S., Gili S., D'Ascenzo F., Neuhaus M., Napp L. C., Franke J., Noutsias M., Burgdorf C., … Templin, C. (2020). Intraventricular thrombus formation and embolism in takotsubo syndrome: Insights from the international takotsubo registry. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 40 (1), 279–287. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.313491

(Perl et al., 2019)

(Ding et al., 2020)

According to Perl et al. (2019)…

Ding et al. (2020) describe...

Please note that the authors should be arranged in the same order in the reference as in the source
When there are 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis (but no ampersand), and then add the final author’s name.
In-text citations for works with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author and the abbreviation "et al."
If information is missing, for example regarding issue or page numbers, this information is omitted from your reference
The terms that are used in the references (for example editor, chapter, edition) are determined by the language of your text and not by the language of the source

Journal article in press

Surname, X. X. (in press). Title. Journal . DOI

Bennich, B. B., Munch, L., Overgaard, D., Konradsen, H., Knop, F. K., Røder, M., Vilsbøll, T. & Egerod, I. (in press). Experience of family function, family involvement, and self‐management in adult patients with type 2 diabetes: A thematic analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing .

Bennich et al. (in press)

Bennich et al. (in press) describe ...

If an article had been accepted for publication by a journal but is not yet published, use the phrase in press instead on the publication year.
Please see the examples for journal articles to find more information about how to refer to articles with several authors.
Digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique number that identifies a specific source and provides a persistent link to it. If an electronic article does not have a DOI-number, and the article was accessed online from a nondatabase website, the URL is stated instead. If the article was accessed in print or retrieved from an academic database, no URL is included.

Journal article, advance online publication

Surname, X. X. (date). Title. Article. Journal . Advance online publication. DOI

Ross, J. A., Vissers, J., Nanda, J., Stewart, G. D., Husi, H., Habib, F. K., Hammond, D.E., & Gethings, L. A. (2020). The influence of hypoxia on the prostate cancer proteome. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine , Förhandspublicering online. https:/doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2019-0626

Lee, J. E., Lee, J., Lee, H., Park, J. K., Park, Y., & Choi, W. S. (2020). End-of-life care needs for noncancer patients who want to die at home in South Korea. International Journal of Nursing Practice . Artikel e12808. Förhandspublicering online. https:/doi.org/10.1111/ijn.12808

Bennich, B. B., Munch, L., Overgaard, D., Konradsen, H., Knop, F. K., Røder, M., Vilsbøll, T., & Egerod, I. (under utgivning). Experience of family function, family involvement, and self‐management in adult patients with type 2 diabetes: A thematic analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing .

Rothstein, M. & Simoes-Costa, M. (under utgivning). Heterodimerization of TFAP2 pioneer factors drives epigenomic remodeling during neural crest specification. Genome Research . https:/doi.org/10.1101/gr.249680.119

(Ross et al., 2020) (Lee et al., 2020) (Bennich et al., in press) (Rothstein & Simoes-Costa, in press)

According to Ross et al. (2019) … Lee et al. (2020) discuss… Bennich et al. (in press) shows ... Rothstein and Simoes-Costa (in press) argues that ...

If an article has been published online ahead of the print version, you can use the year it was published online, and then add the phrase "Advance online publication" prior to the DOI.
If an article has been accepted for publication by a journal but is not yet published, use the phrase in press instead of the publication year.
Turn to the examples for journal articles to find how to cite articles with several authors..
Digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique number that identifies a specific source and provides a persistent link to it. If an electronic article does not have a DOI-number, and the article was accessed online from a non database website, the URL is stated instead. If the article was accessed in print or retrieved from an academic database, no URL is included.

Newspaper article

Surname. X. X. (Year, Date). Title of article. Title of newspaper . URL/ Section part

Grady, D. (2020, January 9). Vaping kills a 15-year-old in Texas. New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/health/teen-vaping-death.html

(Grady, 2020)

Grady (2020) describes …

Please see the examples for journal articles to find more information about how to refer to newspaper articles with several authors
Include URL for newspaper articles in electronic form and the section part for newspaper articles in printed form.

Supplement and appendix

See "More information" below.

Stirling J. D., & Elliott R. (2008). Introducing neuropsychology (2. ed.). Psychology Press.

Stoyanov, S. R., Hides, L., Kavanagh, D. J., Zelenko, O., Tjondronegoro, D., & Mani, M. (2015). Mobile app rating scale: A new tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps. JMIR mHealth and uHealth , 3(1).

Paranthetical form

(Stirling & Elliott, 2008, Appendix) (Stoyanov et al., 2015, Appendix 2)

Stirling och Elliott (2008, Appendix) describe... Stoyanov et al. (2015, Appendix 2) examine...

The reference is written in the same way as the reference to the entire reference. For more information, please see the type of source where the appendix is included, for example book or journal article. No details about the appendix are stated.
In the citations in the text, insert information about the appendix after the author's surname and year. Use the same term and number as in the source. If there is only one appendix, no number is needed.

Sound and images

Film, video and tv series, film or tv show.

Surname, X. X. (Director). (Year). Title [Film/DVD/TV show]. Production Company. URL

TV series episode or webisode

Surname, X. X. (Writer), & Surname, X. X. (Director). (Date). Title of episode (Season number, Episode number) [TV series episode]. In X. X. Surname (Executive producer), Title of TV series . Production Company. URL

Film or video in another language

Surname, X. X. (Director). (Year). Original title [Translated title] [Film/DVD/TV-show]. Production Company. URL

Film or TV-show

Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. Memfis Film AB.

Jackson, P. (Director). (2001). The Lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring [Film; four-disc special extended ed. On DVD]. WingNut Films & The Saul Zaentz Company.

Besson, L. (Director). (1988). Le grand bleu [The big blue] [Film]. Gaumont & Les Films du Loup.

OOakley, B. (Writer), Weinstein, J. (Writer), & Lynch, J. (Director), (1995, May 21). Who shot Mr. Burns? (Part One) (Season 6, Episode 25) [TV series episode] In D. Mirkin, J. L. Brooks, M. Groenig, & S. Simon (Executive Producers), The Simpsons . Gracie Films; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.

(Forman, 1975) (Jackson, 2001) (Besson, 1988) (Oakley et al., 1995)

When the director or writer is mentioned in the text

Forman (1975) describes … As Jackson (2001) begins… According to Besson (1988) … In Oakley at al. (1995) there is…

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to films/video/TV-programmes with several creators.
Describe the audiovisual work in square brackets – for example, ”[Film],” “[TV show],” and so forth in the title element of the reference.
The director should be credited as the author of a film. However, if the director is unknown, someone in a similar role can be credited instead to aid readers in retrieving the work.
When a URL is long or complex, you may use shortened URLs if desired, as long as you check the link to ensure that it takes you to the correct location.

Youtube video

Surname, X. X./Organization. (Date). Title [Video]. Production Company/Label. URL

Gapminder Foundation. (2014, December 14). The relation between ebola & extreme poverty goes both ways – Factpod #9 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7m1E5nIRqg

Karolinska Institutet Student Blogs. (2019, December 17). 73 Questions With a Karolinska Institutet Student – Flemingsberg Apartment [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PknVc_e5d8

Karolinska Institutet. (2019, September 5). Vad kan man få hjälp med på biblioteket? [Video] KI Play. https://play.ki.se/media/Vad+kan+man+f%C3%A5+hj%C3%A4lp+med+p%C3%A5+biblioteketF/0_1e8kcxjr

(Gapminder Foundation, 2014) (Karolinska Institutet Student Blogs, 2019)

When the originator is mentioned in the text

Gapminder Foundation (2014) states… According to Karolinska Institutet Student Blogs (2019)

The person or organisation who uploaded the video is credited as the author for retrievability, even if they did not create the work. Note the contributions of others who appear in the video in the text narrative if desired: Rosing speaks about poverty (Gapminder Foundation, 2014)…

Image, figure and table

Template directly below image/figure/table.

From/Adapted from Title [Type of media/Description], by Author, X. X./Organization, date, source. (URL). Licence

Template for list of references

Creator, X.X./Organization./User name. (Date). Title [Type of media/Description]. Source. URL

From X-ray of the heelbone with plantar fasciitis [Photography], by Monfils, L., 2008, Wikipedia. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Plantar_fasciitis#mediaviewer/File:Fasciitis.jpg). CC BY SA 3.0

From Eye [Photography], by Du Rietz, C.B., 2014, Flickr. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/cbdurietz/15687017165/) CC BY 2.0

Example in list of references

Monfils, L. (2008). X-ray of the heelbone with plantar fasciitis [Photography]. Wikipedia. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Plantar_fasciitis#mediaviewer/File:Fasciitis.jpg

CB Du Rietz. (2014). Eye [Photography]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cbdurietz/15687017165/

(Monfils, 2008) (CB Du Rietz, 2014)

Monfils (2008) shows… CB Du Rietz (2014) explains…

If the license associated with clip art or a stock image says that attribution is required, then provide a copyright attribution in the figure note and a reference list entry for the image in the reference list. Many (but not all) images with Creative Commons licenses require attribution.
To use the image as a figure in an APA Style paper, provide a figure number and title and then the image. Below the image, provide a copyright attribution in the figure note. In a presentation, the figure number and title are optional but the note containing the copyright attribution is required.
The copyright attribution is used instead of an in-text citation. The copyright attribution consists of the same elements as the reference list entry, but in a different order (title, author, date, site name, URL), followed by the name of the Creative Commons License.
Place the citation directly below the image/figure/table.
Also provide a reference list entry for the image. The reference list entry for the image consists of its author, year of publication, title, description in brackets, and source (usually the name of the website and the URL).
No URL is needed if the image isn’t available on the Internet.
For more about licenses, se https://creativecommons.org/about .
For AI-generated images, se the template for Software, AI-tools and Mobile apps. Remember that the reference should also be located next to the image, as above.

Podcast episode

Surname, X.X. (Host). (Date). Title (Episode no.) [Audio podcast episode]. In title . Production Company. URL

Andersson, A & Odlind, C. (Host). (2022, November 2). Vad är autism? (No. 106) [Audio podcast episode]. In Medicinvetarna . Karolinska Institutet. https://tinyurl.com/9yc4mwd2

Glass, I. (host). (2011, August 12). Amusement Park (No. 443) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American life . WBEZ Chicago. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/443/amusement-park

parenthetical form

(Andersson & Odlind, 2022) (Glass, 2011)

Andersson och Odlind (2022) states that… Even though Glass (2022) doesn’t agree…

More Information

• List the host of the podcast as the author and include their role in parentheses. • Provide the episode number after the title in parentheses. If the podcast does not number episodes, omit the number from the reference. • Specify the type of podcst (audio or video) in square brackets. • If the URL of the podcast is unknown (e.g. if accessed via an app), omit the URL.

Dissertations and degree projects

Doctoral and licentiate theses.

Surname, X. X. (Year). Title. [Doctoral thesis/Licentiate thesis, University]. Database Name/ Archive name. URL

Ahmed, S. (2020). Healthcare financing challenges and opportunities to achieving universal health coverage in the low- and middle-income country context. [Doctoral thesis, Karolinska Institutet]. Karolinska Institutet Open Archive. https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/handle/10616/46957

Marten, M. G. (2014). Aid withdrawal and health care sustainability: Shifting mandates in health institutions and HIV/AIDS programs in Tanzania. (Publication no. 3691350) [Docoral thesis, University of Florida]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

(Ahmed, 2020) (Marten, 2014)

Ahmed (2020) shows that … According to Marten (2014) ...

In many countries, theses can only be retrieved in subscription databases. In such cases, state the name of the database and order number or accession number.
For theses in printed form, omit the information about URL/database.

Degree projects, bachelor's and master's theses

Surname, X. X. (Year). Title. [Degree project/Bachelor's thesis/ Master's thesis, University]. Database name/ Archive name. URL

Garcia Sanchez, C. (2019). Investigation on Time Spent on Caries Prevention in Västerbotten Public Dental Service Clinics: A secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal caries study. [Examensarbete, Karolinska Institutet]. Karolinska Institutet Open Archive. http://hdl.handle.net/10616/45471

Garcia Sanchez, C. (2019). Investigation on Time Spent on Caries Prevention in Västerbotten Public Dental Service Clinics: A secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal caries study. [Master's thesis, Uppsala University]. DiVA. http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1345501/FULLTEXT01.pdf

(Garcia Sanchez, 2019)

Garcia Sanchez (2019) describes ...

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to books with several authors.
For theses in printed form, omit the information about URL.

Surname, X. X./Organization. (Date). Title . URL

Avramova, N. (2019, January 19). The Secret to a long, happy, healthy life? Think agepositive. . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/health/respect-toward-elderly-leads-to-long-life-intl/index.html

Bologna, C. (2018, June 27). What happens to your mind and body when you feel homesick? . HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-happens-min-body-omesick_us_5b201ebde4b09d7a3d77eee1

World Health Organization. (2018, March). Questions and answers on immunization and vaccine safety . http://www.who.int/features/qa/84/en/

(Avramova, 2019) (Bologna, 2018) (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018)

According to Avramova (2019) … Bologna (2018) indicates that... World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) describe...

Following citations

(Avramova, 2019) According to Avramova (2019) … (Bologna, 2018) Bologna (2018) indicates that... (WHO, 2018) According to WHO (2018) ...

Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to webpages and websites with several creators.
Include a retrieval date if the contents of the page are designed to change over time and the page itself is not archived. Set the date between website name and URL as follows: Retrieved Month date, year, from (Retrieved October 23, 2020, from http://...)
Dates are based on when the website was last updated. Specify date as precisely as possible. If only year is available, use only year. If no publication year is available, use (n.d.), short for no date, instead, in text and reference list.
If there is an established and well-known abbreviation for an authority, department or organization, you can use this together with the name in full the first time the reference is mentioned. After this, you only use the abbreviation. If the full name is short or if the abbreviation is unknown, it is better to write the full name each time.
If you use more than one webpage from the same website, create a reference for each page.
In addition to webpages, such as the one above, websites can host several different types of documents, for example reports, pdf-files or books. You refer to these in the same way as to the printed versions, but also add URL or DOI at the end.
If there is a reference to an entire website in the text, the website is not included in the reference list, only in the text, and the URL to the entire website must be stated. For example “We used Padlet (https://padlet.com) for our questionnaire”.

Facebook and other social media services

Author, X.X/Name of group. (Date). Title [ev. Description of audiovisuals] [Status update]. Site name. URL

Gaiman, N. (2018, March 22). Rohingya refugees could be at serious risk during Bangladesh’s monsoon season. My fellow UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett is [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. http://bit.ly/2JQxPAD

News From Science (26 juni 2018). These frogs walk instead of hop: https://scim.ag/2KIriwH [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNOW/videos/10155508587605108/

(Gaiman, 2018) (News From Science, 2018)

According to Gaiman (2018) ... News From Science (2018) shows ...

This format can be used for posts to other social media services, including Tumblr, LinkedIn and so forth.
The title of the social media post is made out of the first twenty words of the post..
If the social media post includes images (including animated gifs), videos, thumbnail link to outside sources, links to other tweets (as in a retweet with comment, or a poll, include that in square brackets.
Replicate emojis if possible. If you are not able to create the emoji, provide the emoji’s name in square brackets [face with tears of joy emoji]. When calculating the number of words for the title, count an emoji as one word.
Private Facebook pages that are not accessible to the public should be treated as personal communication and should only be cited in the text.
If an URL is long or complex, you may use shortened URLs (see Gaiman example above) if desired. Any shortened URL is acceptable in a reference as long as you check the link to ensure that it takes you to the correct location.

Surname, A. A. (Year, date). Title [Blog post]. Retrieved from URL

Besselink, A. (2011, October 3). Is non-evidence-based clinical practice an ethical dilemma? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.allanbesselink.com/blog/smart/854-is-non-evidence-based-clinical-practice-an-ethical-dilemma

(Besselink, 2011)

Besselink (2011) states that ...

The title of the blog post is not written in italics

X-post (Tweet)

Last name, X. X. [@username]. (Date). Title [Post]. Site name. URL

Last name, X. X. [@username]. (Date). Title [Tweet]. Site name. URL

Obama, B. [POTUS44]. (2015, June 25). Women can no longer be charged more for health coverage just for being women . [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/614111236620427265

APA Education [@APAEducation]. (2018, June 29). College students are forming mental-health clubs – and they’re making a difference @washingtonpost . [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/apaeducation/status/1012810490530140161

White, B. [@BettyMWhite]. (2018, June 21). I treasure every minute we spent together #koko . [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BettyMWhite/status/1009951892846227456

(Obama, 2015)

(APA Education, 2018)

(White, 2018)

Obama (2015) states...

In APA Education (2018) there is…

As White (2018) writes…

If the name of the author is known, use the author’s last name and surname initial(s). If a group or organization is behind the twitter identity, use the real name of the group. State the Twitter username within square brackets.
However, if the name of the author is unknown, use the Twitter username without square brackets.
The title of the tweet is made out of the first twenty words in the tweet.
If he tweet includes images (including animated gifs), videos, thumbnail link to outside sources, links to other tweets (as in a retweet with comment, or a poll, include that in square brackets.
Replicate emojis if possible. If you are not able to create the emoji, provide the emoji’s name in square brackets [face with tears of joy emoji]. When calculation the number of words for the title, count an emoji as one word.

Report by named author(s)

Surname, X. X. (Year). Title (Title of series Serial number). Publisher. URL

Grundy, J., Dakulala, P., Wai, K., Maalsen, A., & Whittaker, M. (2019). Independent state of Papua New Guinea health system review. (M. Whittaker & N. Smith Eds., Health Systems in Transition, Vol. 9 No. 1). World Health Organization, Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/280088

(Grundy et al., 2019)

According to Grundy et al. (2019) ...

If information is missing, for example regarding series or serial numbers, this information is omitted from your reference.
For reports in printed form, omit the information about URL.

Report by agencies, institutions and organisations

Organisation. (Year). Title (Title of series Serial number). Publisher. URL

World Health Organization. Department of Reproductive Health and Research. (2019). Respect women: Preventing violence against women (WHO/RHR/18.19). https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/preventing-vaw-framework-policymakers/en/

(World Health Organization. Department of Reproductive Health and Research [WHO/RHR], 2019)

According to World Health organization, Department of Reproductive Health and Research (WHO/RHR, 2019)...

(WHO/RHR, 2019) WHO/RHR (2019) describes …

When the author and publisher are the same, omit information about the publisher in the source element.

Other sources

Computer software, ai-tools and mobile apps.

Author, X.X./Organization (Date). Title of work/Name of Equipment (Version) [Computer software/Mobile app/Large language model]. Publisher/App Store. URL

Skyscape. (2020). Skyscape Medical Resources (Version 2.6.24) [Mobile app]. App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skyscape-medical-library/id818609413

Region Stockholm. (2023). Alltid öppet (Version 1.17.42) [Mobile app]. https://rcc.incanet.se/Login/?ReturnUrl=%2F

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT 3.5 (Version November 21, 2023) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/

Microsoft Bing. (2024). Copilot (Version January 2024) [Large language model]. https://www.bing.com/chat

You.com. (2024). YouImagine – AI Image Generator [text-to-image model]. https://you.com/search?q=ai&fromSearchBar=true&tbm=imagine&chatMode=default

(Skyscape, 2020) (Region Stockholm, 2023) (OpenAI, 2023) (Microsoft Bing, 2024) (You.com, 2024)

Skyscape (2020) ... Region Stockholm (2023) uses its app for... This is how OpenAI (2023) answered when… Microsoft Bing (2024) interpreted the phenomenon…

Common software and mobile apps mentioned in the text, but not paraphrased or quoted, do not need citations. “Common” is relative to your audience – exampes include Microsoft Office, social media apps (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), survey software, Adobe products, Java and statistical programs (e.g. SPSS).
The date of a computer software or mobile app reference is the year of publication of the version used.
The date of an AI-tool is the year of the version you used. You need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.
You should never use a text generated in an AI tool as your own, but AI generated material can be used as e.g. study material or basis for discussion. Whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content from a generative AI tool (whether text, image, data, or other) make sure you cite the tool you used to create it.
AI generated material is always unique, therefore it is a good idea to copy the material (prompt and generated material) as an attatchment to your work.

Author, X. X./Organization. (Date). Title . (Version) [Data set/Unpublished raw data]. Publisher/Source of unpublished data. DOI/URL

Palin, K., Pitkänen, E., Turunen, M., Sahu, B., Pihlajamaa, P., Kivioja, T., … Aaltonen, L. (2018). Contribution of allelic imbalance to colorectal cancer [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1222172

Andersen, L. M. (2017). Data for group analyses in the Frontiers Reseach Topic: From raw MEG/EEG to publication: How to perform MEG/EEG group analysis with free academic software [Data set]. Version 2. Zenodo. https://doi.org/zenodo.1134776

Socialstyrelsen. (n.d.). Statistical database, cause of death [Data set]. https://sdb.socialstyrelsen.se/if_dor/val_eng.aspx

World Health Organization. (2018). Adolescent birth rate. Data by country [Data set]. Global Health Observatory data repository. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.REPADO39?lang=en

(Palin et al., 2018) (Andersen, 2017) (Socialstyrelsen, n.d.) (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018)

Palin et al. (2018) claims that ... Andersen (2017) describe … According to Socialstyrelsen (n.d.) ... World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) develops...

(Palin et al., 2018) Palin et al. (2018) claims that ... (Andersen, 2017) Andersen (2017) describe… (Socialstyrelsen, n.d.) According to Socialstyrelsen (n.d.) ... (WHO, 2018) According to WHO (2018) ...

Please see the examples for articles to find more information about how to refer to data sets with several creators.
Information about the version shall be stated if you use any other version than the first one. If there is no information about the version of your source, you can assume that it is the first version.

University. (Year). Title of curriculum. Place: University, Department.

Karolinska Institutet. (2018). Utbildningsplan för sjuksköterskeprogrammet 1SJ13. Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet, Styrelsen för utbildning.

Electronic form

Karolinska Institutet. (2018). Utbildningsplan för sjuksköterskeprogrammet 1SJ13. Retrieved from http://www.ki.se/ua/utbildningsplan/1SJ13.pdf

(Karolinska Institutet, 2018)

According tot Karolinska Institutet (2018) …

If no publication year is available, please use (n.d.), short for no date, instead

Documents on closed (inaccessible) websites

Surname, X. X./Organization. (Date). Title . [ev. Description of audiovisuals]. Name of learning management system/company intranet. URL login page

Undervisning och Lärande, Karolinska Institutet. (2020) Introduction: Knowledge and learning . Canvas. https://utbildning.ki.se/logga-in-i-canvaslog-in-to-canvas

Mack, R., & Spake, G. (2018). Citing open source images and formatting references for presentations . [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@FNU. https://fnu.onelogin.com/login

(Undervisning och Lärande, Karolinska Institutet, 2020) (Mack & Spake, 2018)

According to Undervisning och Lärande at Karolinska Institutet (2020) … Mack and Spake (2020) shows that ....

If the information come from a classroom website, learning management system (e.g. Canvas), or company intranet and you are writing for an audience with access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its URL (use the login page URL for sites requiring login).
If the work is intended for a wider audience who will not have access to these sources, cite the sources as personal communication.

Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia

Organization (Date). Entry term. In Title. Retrieved date, from URL Author, X. X. (Date). Entry term. In Title. Publisher. Retrieved date, from URL

American Psychological Association. (n.d.) Positive transference. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved August 31, 2019, from https://dictionary.apa.org/positive-transference

National Library of Medicine. (n.d.) Rinitis, Allergic, Seasonal. In MeSH Database. Publisher. Retrieved November 20, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/?term=hayfever

Graham, G. (2019) Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. (Summer 2019 ed.). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/ sum2019/entries/behaviorism/

(American Psychological Association, n.d.) (National Library of Medicine, n.d.) (Graham, 2019)

American Psychological Association (n.d.) claims… National Library of Medicine (n.d.) seem to… According to Graham (2019)…

The Graham example is structured similarly to the reference for a chapter in an edited book because the entry has an individual author, the encyclopedia has an editor and the whole book has a publisher. Because this version of the entry is archived, a retrieval date is not needed.
When an online reference work is continuously updated and versions are not archived, use “n.d.” as the year of publication and include a retrieval date.
If you have two or more “no date” references with the same authors in the same order, you should use lowercase letters – a, b, c, and so forth – after the publication date and alphabetize the references by their titles (for example: National Library of Medicine (n.d.-a) use the term…). For more information see FAQ.

Laws and legislation

Title (SFS Year:Number). Publisher. URL

Title (HSLF-FS Year:Number). Publisher. URL

Title (SOFS Year:Number). Publisher. URL

Hälso- och sjukvårdslag (SFS 2017:30). Socialdepartementet. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/halso--och-sjukvardslag_sfs-2017-30

Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om villkor för avgiftsfri screening (HSLF-FS 2019:14). Socialstyrelsen. https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/globalassets/sharepoint-dokument/artikelkatalog/foreskrifter-och-allmanna-rad/2019-6-10.pdf

Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter om basal hygien i vård och omsorg (SOFS 2015:10). Socialstyrelsen. https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/globalassets/sharepoint-dokument/artikelkatalog/foreskrifter-och-allmanna-rad/2015-5-10.pdf

(Hälso- och sjukvårdslag [HSL], 2017) (Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om villkor för avgiftsfri screening, 2019) (Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter om basal hygien i vård och omsorg, 2015)

If law or legislation is mentioned in text

According to Hälso- och sjukvårdslagen (HSL, 2017) ... According to Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om villkor för avgiftsfri screening (2019) ... Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter om basal hygien i vård och omsorg (2015) recommends that ...

(HSL, 2017) In HSL (2017) also states ...

(Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om villkor för avgiftsfri screening, 2019) In Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om villkor för avgiftsfri screening (2019) it is noted that ...

There are no specific rules in APA on how to refer to laws and legislation outside the United States. The recommendation is to format the references according to guidelines in each country. The references in this guide are adapted to the Swedish cataloguing rules. If you refer to laws and legislation from other countries you may need to adapt to the guidelines of that country.
Most Swedish laws and regulations are now available electronically on the Internet. Laws and regulations may be changed and updated, and you should check the latest edition.
It is possible to state chapter and paragraph in the text.
If there is an established and well-known abbreviation for the law, you can use this together with the name in full the first time the reference is mentioned. After this, you only use the abbreviation. If the full name is short or if the abbreviation is unknown, it is better to write the full name each time.

Pamphlet and brochure

Author, X. X. (Year). Title [Pamphlet]. Publisher. DOI/URL

American Heart Association & American Stroke Association. (2015). Let’s talk about life time changes to prevent stroke [Broschure]. American Heart Association. https://www.stroke.org/-/media/stroke-files/lets-talk-about-stroke/prevention/lets-talk-about-lifestyle-changes-to-prevent-stroke-ucm_309712.pdf?la=en

(American Heart Association & American Stroke Association, 2015)

American Heart Association and American Stroke Association (2015) states that…

Digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique number that identifies a specific source and provides a persistent link to it. If an digital pamphlet does not have a DOI-number, and the pamphlet was accessed online from a nondatabase website, the URL is stated instead.

Inventor, X. X. (Year patent issued). Title of patent (Patent no.. xxxxxxx). Patent office. URL

Hiremath, S. C., Kumar, S., Lu, F., & Salehi, A. (2016) Using metaphors to present concepts across different intellectual domains (U.S. Patent No. 9,367,592). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=9367592

Boiten H. (2015). Prosthetic Knee Joint (Patent EP 3089711). European Patent Office. https://data.epo.org/gpi/EP3089711B1-PROSTHETIC-KNEE-JOINT

(Boiten, 2015) (Hiremath et al., 2016)

Boiten (2015) developed… Hiremath et al. (2016) made sure…

The patent number is a unique identifying code given to every patent. The year refers to the year the patent was issued, not the year the patent was applied for.
Use the name of the inventor(s) as creator(s). Please see the examples for books to find more information about how to refer to patents with several inventors.
Use the same template if you want to refer to a patent application. Use the phrase Patent application followed by the number of the patent application.
The URL of the patent is optional but may be included in the reference list entry if available.

Personal communication

(A. Domeij, personal communication, May 5, 2020)

When the conversation is mentioned in the text

According to Anna Domeij (personal communication, May 5, 2020), there is...

Works that cannot be recovered by readers are cited in text as personal communication.
Personal communication should only be cited in the text, and is not included in the reference list. State initials of the person's given name, family name, personal communication, and date.
Personal communication includes emails, text messages, online chats, personal interviews, telephone conversations, live speeches, unrecorded classroom lectures, memos, letters and so on.
Prefer other sources than personal communication, and check with teachers/supervisors if personal communication is an acceptable source.

PowerPoint slides

Surname, X. X. (Date). Title [PowerPoint presentation]. Organization: URL

Housand, B. (2016). Game on! Integrating games and simulations in the classroom [PowerPoint presentation]. Slideshare https://www.slideshare.net/brianhousand/game-on-iagc-2016/

Bramer, W. M. (2015 December). EA unique method for fast, high-quality systematic searching [PowerPoint presentation]. Slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/rocheam/systematic-searching-in-embase-webinar-march-25-2015

(Housand, 2016) (Bramer, 2015

Housand (2016) applies… Bramer (2015) recommends …

If the slides come from a classroom website, learning management system (e.g. Canvas), or company intranet and you are writing for an audience with access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its URL (use the login page URL for sites requiring login)
Please see reference examples for books to find more information about how to refer to PowerPoint presentations with several authors.

Secondary source

When citing a secondary source, only provide a reference list entry for the secondary source that you used. In text, identify the primary source and then write “as cited in” the secondary source that you used.

(Glaser & Strauss, 1992, as cited in Polit & Beck, 2004) (Retzius, 1843, as cited in Bahlo, 2001)

According to Glaser and Strauss (1992) the Grounded theory method is used ... (Polit & Beck, 2004). Retzius (1843) classified humans in several ways (Bahlo, 2001).

List of references

Bahlo, C. (2001). From universal homogeneity to essential heterogeneity: on the visual construction of "the Lappish race", Acta Borealia , 18(2) 23-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/08003830108580524

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2004). Nursing research : principles and methods (7 ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

A secondary source refers to content first reported in another source.
void secondary sources if possible. Use it when the original work is out of print, unavailable or available in a language that you don’t understand. If possible, as a matter of good scholary practice, find the original source, read it and cite the original source rather than citing a secondary source.
The primary source is not listed in the reference list, only in the text.. In the reference list, only the sources that you’ve actually read is listed, in this case, the secondary source.
If no publication year for the original source is available, please use (n.d.), short for no date, instead
For information how to cite the secondary source in the reference list, see the template for the source in question.

Swedish Government Official Reports - Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU)

Organization. (Date). Title (SOU Year:Number). Pubisher. URL

KAM-utredningen (2019). Komplementär och alternativ medicin och vård – säkerhet, kunskap, dialog. Delbetänkande (SOU 2019:15). Norstedts Juridik. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/statens-offentliga-utredningar/komplementar-och-alternativ-medicin-och-vard--_H7B315

(KAM-utredningen, 2019)

KAM-utredningen (2019) describe...

SOU is treated as a rapport with an organization as author.
The organizations often appoint committees or investigation groups who become the actual authors and who are to be listed as authors.
If the names of these authors cannot act independently (or if it is difficult to determine the name format) they shall be subservient to their respective administrative units. For example, authorities and departments or geographic units such as countries or cities.

More than one citation in the same parentheses

(Surname, Year; Surname, Year)

(Gaudreault et al., 2011; Killi, 2014; Müllersdorf & Ivarsson, 2012) (Killi, 2011, 2014)

You can include more than one citation in the same parentheses. Separate them with a semicolon. Give the citations in alphabetical order within the parentheses.
If you use more than one citation by the same author, you don't need to repeat the name of the author.

Order of multiple works by the same author

Lund, A. (2011)

Lund, A. (Ed.) (2013)

Lund, A. (2015a)

Lund, A. (2015b)

Lund, A., & Yan, R. (2014)

Lund, A., Yan, R., & Johansson, P. (2013)

Lund, A., & Östman, A. (2010)

Lund, A., & Östman, A. (2014)

Lund, V. (2015)

Lunds universitet. (2010)

Lundström, S. (2011)

Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author followed by the initials of the author’s given name(s).
The same rules apply to books with editors and when an organization is author. References without author and editor are sorted alphabetically based on title.
One-author entries precedes multiple-author entries beginning with the same first author, even if the multiple-author work was published earlier. Multiple-author entries with the same first author and different subsequent authors should be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the second author, or if the second author is the same, the surname of the third author, and so forth.
To differentiate references with the same author and the same year, put a lowercase letter after the year in both the in-text citation and the reference list entry. If the references are in press or have no date, add a hyphen before the letter (n.d. –a) (n.d. –b).

More than one reference by the same author with the same date

(Koriat, 2008a) (Koriat, 2008b)

According to Koriat (2008a) ...

More than one author

(Protudjer, Jansson, Heibert Arnlind, et al., 2015) (Protudjer, Jansson, Östblom, et al., 2015)

(Polit & Beck, 2012a) (Polit & Beck, 2012b)

Multiple-author entries with the same first author and different subsequent authors should be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the second author, or if the second author is the same, the surname of the third author, and so forth.
If there are more authors than mentioned in the citation, et al. is added. Please note that et al. means "and others" and can't replace one single author. If only one author remains you should therefore state the name of this author as well.

Different authors with the same surname

(X. X. Surname, Year)

According to X. X. Surname (Year) ...

(M. Andersson, 2014) (Y. Andersson, 2012)

According to M. Andersson (2014) ... Y. Andersson (2012) describes ...

Citations by different authors with the same surname are distinguished by including first name initials in the text.

Location of the citations

In summary, no significant differences between the groups were found (Andersson, 2016).

The citation is always located before the period.

Citing the same source several times

Studies indicate that lung cancer may grow more slowly in women. Lindell et al. (2015) showed that 85% of the lung tumours that took more than 400 days to double in volume were found in women. This result is a reflection of the higher incidence among women of forms of cancer with a slower disease progression such as alveolar cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, but Lindell et al. found that the time it took for the volume to double was greater in women, regardless of the histological type of lung cancer.

Lindell et al. (2015) studied four different histological types of lung cancer.

If a citation recurs in the same paragraph, you may omit the parentheses with the year if the author is mentioned in the text. If you don't mention the author in the text you should always include both author and year in the parentheses.
If the citation recurs in a new paragraph, you should always state both author and year.

Cite a database

It is not necessary to provide database information in references. The purpose of a reference list is to provide the reader with enough details to be able to find and read the individual reference. Most references are available through a variety of databases or platforms as well as in print.

Double names

Surname-Surmane, X. X. Surname, X.-X..

Rodriguez-Vieitez, E. Hulting, A.-L. de Beauvoir, S.

(Rodriguez-Vietez, 2017) (Hulting, 2018)

Rodriguez-Vietez (2017) indicates ... According to Hulting (2018) ...

Keep the hyphen in hyphenated double surnames.
Shorten hyphenated double first names to initials. Keep the hyphen. No space should be added between the period and the hyphen.
Please note that many databases omit hyphens in double first names. In these cases you can choose between the forms with and without hyphen.

DOI or URL shorteners

When a DOI or URL is long or complex, you may use shortDOIs or shortened URLs.
To shorten a DOI, use the shortDOI Service http://shortdoi.org/ .
According to APA, abbreviated URLs are allowed in the reference list as long as you make sure that the address leads to the correct source. To shorten lengthy URLs, various online services exist.

"..." (Surname, Year, p. ).

More than 40 words

... (Surname, Year, p.)

"Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients" (Sackett, 1996, p. 71).

The Phurnacite factory in Abercwmboi killed all the trees for two miles around. We’d measured it on the mileometer. It looked like something from the depths of hell, black and looming with chimneys of flame, reflected in a dark pool that killed any bird or animal that drank from it. The smell was beyond description. (Walton, 2010, p. 11)

No pagination in the source

(Mattson, 2012, para. 3)

(Boussard, 2010, Chapter 1)

If you use quotations in your text, you should give information about page number(s) after the year in the in-text- citation, followed by the abbreviation p.
If the source lacks pagination, indicate where in the text the quotation is found in another way. You can for example state the name or number of the chapter, or count paragraphs and state the paragraph number. Use the abbreviation para. for paragraph.
Put quotation marks around quotations that are up to 40 words long.
Formate a quotation longer than 40 words as block quotations, as a separate paragraph with a left margin indent. Do not use quotation marks.
You may state pages in the in-text citations even if you don't quotate. This might for example be relevant if you discuss or comment a specific part of the text.
Ibid. is not used in the APA style.
In APA style, you should always use author and year in the in-text citations, also when the same citation recurs. In some cases you may omit the year, see Citing the same source several times.
Ibid. is an abbreviation for the Latin word ibidem, meaning "in the same place".

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How to cite a website in APA Style

How to Cite a Website in APA Style | Format & Examples

Published on November 5, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.

APA website citations usually include the author, the publication date, the title of the page or article, the website name, and the URL. If there is no author, start the citation with the title of the article. If the page is likely to change over time, add a retrieval date.

If you are citing an online version of a print publication (e.g. a newspaper , magazine , or dictionary ), use the same format as you would for print, with a URL added at the end. Formats differ for online videos (e.g. TED Talks ), images , and dissertations .

Use the buttons below to explore the format, or use our free APA Citation Generator to automatically create citations.

Cite a website in APA Style now:

Table of contents, citing an entire website, how to cite online articles, websites with no author, websites with no date, how to cite from social media, frequently asked questions about apa style citations.

When you refer to a website in your text without quoting or paraphrasing from a specific part of it, you don’t need a formal citation. Instead, you can just include the URL in parentheses after the name of the site:

One of the most popular social media sites, Instagram (http://instagram.com), allows users to share images and videos.

For this kind of citation, you don’t need to include the website on the reference page . However, if you’re citing a specific page or article from a website, you will need a formal in-text citation and reference list entry.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Various kinds of articles appear online, and how you cite them depends on where the article appears.

Online articles from newspapers, magazines, and blogs

Articles appearing in online versions of print publications (e.g. newspapers and magazines) are cited like their print versions, but with an added URL.

The same format is used for blog posts. Just include the blog name where you would usually put the name of the magazine or newspaper.

Articles from online-only news sites

For articles from news sites without print equivalents (e.g. BBC News, Reuters), italicize the name of the article and not the name of the site.

When a web page does not list an individual author, it can usually be attributed to an organization or government . If this results in the author name being identical to the site name, omit the site name, as in the example below.

If you can’t identify any author at all, replace the author name with the title of the page or article.

In the in-text citation , put the title in quotation marks if it is in plain text in the reference list, or in italics if it is in italics in the reference list. Note that title case is used for the title here, unlike in the reference list. Shorten the title to the first few words if necessary.

When a web page or article does not list a publication or revision date, replace the date with “n.d.” (“no date”) in all citations.

If an online source is likely to change over time, it is recommended to include the date on which you accessed it.

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As social media posts are usually untitled, use the first 20 words of the post, in italics, as a title. Also include any relevant information about the type of post and any multimedia aspects (e.g. videos, images, sound, links) in square brackets.

On some social media sites (such as Twitter ), users go by usernames instead of or in addition to their real names. Where the author’s real name is known, include it, along with their username in square brackets:

In some cases, you’ll want to cite a whole social media profile instead of a specific post. In these cases, include an access date, because a profile will obviously change over time:

When citing a webpage or online article , the APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication. For example: (Worland & Williams, 2015). Note that the author can also be an organization. For example: (American Psychological Association, 2019).

If you’re quoting you should also include a locator. Since web pages don’t have page numbers, you can use one of the following options:

Paragraph number: (Smith, 2018, para. 15).
Heading or section name: ( CDC, 2020, Flu Season section)
Abbreviated heading: ( CDC, 2020, “Key Facts” section)

When you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a source, you need to indicate the location of the passage in your APA in-text citation . If there are no page numbers (e.g. when citing a website ) but the text is long, you can instead use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two:

(Caulfield, 2019, Linking section, para. 1).

Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations , as they are unreliable.

If you are referring to the source as a whole, it’s not necessary to include a page number or other marker.

When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g., a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and APA in-text citations .

When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.

APA Style usually does not require an access date. You never need to include one when citing journal articles , e-books , or other stable online sources.

However, if you are citing a website or online article that’s designed to change over time, it’s a good idea to include an access date. In this case, write it in the following format at the end of the reference: Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/about-the-university/about-the-university.html

Instead of the author’s name, include the first few words of the work’s title in the in-text citation. Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, and reports.

No publication date

If the publication date is unknown , use “n.d.” (no date) instead. For example: (Johnson, n.d.).

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Website in APA Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-examples/website/

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APA Formatting and Citation (7th Ed.)
Throughout your paper, you need to apply the following APA format guidelines: Set page margins to 1 inch on all sides. Double-space all text, including headings. Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches. Use an accessible font (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.).
APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)
Reference List. Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats. Basic Rules Basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper Author/Authors Rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors that apply to all APA-style references in your reference list ...
References
References provide the information necessary for readers to identify and retrieve each work cited in the text. Check each reference carefully against the original publication to ensure information is accurate and complete. Accurately prepared references help establish your credibility as a careful researcher and writer. Consistency in reference ...
Free APA Citation Generator
APA Style is widely used by students, researchers, and professionals in the social and behavioral sciences. Scribbr's free citation generator automatically generates accurate references and in-text citations. This citation guide outlines the most important citation guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020).
PDF 7th edition Common Reference Examples Guide
This guide contains examples of common types of APA Style references. Section numbers indicate where to find the examples in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). More information on references and reference examples are in Chapters 9 and 10 of the Publication Manual as well as the Concise Guide to APA ...
Reference List: Basic Rules
Reference List: Basic Rules. This resourse, revised according to the 7 th edition APA Publication Manual, offers basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper. Most sources follow fairly straightforward rules. However, because sources obtained from academic journals carry special weight in research writing, these sources are subject to special ...
APA Citation Examples & Citation Generator
A citation is found in the actual writing of an APA research paper. In-text citation example: "Lecture-rooms are numerous and large, but the number of young people who genuinely thirst after truth and justice is small" (Einstein, 2007, p. 5).
Reference examples
More than 100 reference examples and their corresponding in-text citations are presented in the seventh edition Publication Manual.Examples of the most common works that writers cite are provided on this page; additional examples are available in the Publication Manual.. To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g., periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of ...
APA Referencing (7th Ed.) Quick Guide
APA Style is widely used by students, researchers, and professionals in the social and behavioural sciences. The Scribbr APA Reference Generator automatically generates accurate references and in-text citations for free. This citation guide outlines the most important citation guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020).
How to Cite Sources in APA Citation Format
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 ...
APA Style
APA Style is described in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is a reference book that contains comprehensive guidelines on how to set up a scholarly paper; format a title page, tables, figures, and other paper elements; create references and in-text citations; and write without bias ...
APA Reference Generator (Free)
APA Style is widely used by students, researchers, and professionals in the social and behavioral sciences. The Scribbr APA Reference Generator automatically generates accurate references and in-text citations for free. This referencing guide outlines the most important referencing guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020).
APA
The APA reference style (named after the American Psychological Association) goes back to the late 1920s, when a group of scholars from the fields of Psychology, Anthropology and Business Management met in order to set up a system for giving references. Today, APA is used within the Social Sciences, as well as within other academic fields. The ...
In-Text Citations: The Basics
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
Free APA Citation Generator [Updated for 2024]
An APA citation generator is a software tool that will automatically format academic citations in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. It will usually request vital details about a source -- like the authors, title, and publish date -- and will output these details with the correct punctuation and layout required by the official ...
Citation Machine®: APA Format & APA Citation Generator
If using our APA Citation Machine, our citation generator will add the correct format for you automatically. Giving a retrieval date is not needed unless the online content is likely to be frequently updated and changed (e.g., encyclopedia article, dictionary entry, Twitter profile, etc.).
APA Style
The Mastering APA Style Student Workbook is an online and interactive workbook for teaching and learning seventh edition APA Style. Explore the workbook to learn more, register for a webinar, watch a demo video, try a sample workbook, and purchase your copy. Adopt the workbook for your course or workshop to use it to teach APA Style and ...
Reference guide for APA 7
Reference guide for APA 7. This guide gives you information on how to format references in APA style. The reference list should be placed in the end of the document and be arranged alphabetically by authors' last names. It should contain all necessary bibliographic information. The in text citations should contain the author (s) and the year of ...
PDF Quick Guide to Citations in APA Style (nn)
Microsoft Word - apa-guide.doc. Quick Guide to Citations in APA Style (nn) I. In-Text Citation Capitalization, Quotes, and Italics/Underlining. Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones. If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within ...
Book/ebook references
Book/Ebook References. Use the same formats for both print books and ebooks. For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g., Kindle) is not included in the reference. This page contains reference examples for books, including the following: Whole authored book. Whole edited book. Republished book, with editor.
Investigating the interrelationship among academic ...
Objective: This study aims to fill in the gap by exploring the interrelationship among academic emotions, classroom engagement and self-efficacy in EFL learning among Chinese non-English majors in smart classrooms. Methods: A total of 409 non-English majors in their first year from a Chinese university completed the revised version of the academic emotions scale, classroom engagement scale and ...
How to Cite a Website in APA Style
Revised on January 17, 2024. APA website citations usually include the author, the publication date, the title of the page or article, the website name, and the URL. If there is no author, start the citation with the title of the article. If the page is likely to change over time, add a retrieval date. If you are citing an online version of a ...

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