How to Cite Sources in APA Format  Tags: apa citations style_guides how_to  

The following information and examples about citing electronic sources are taken from the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2010. If you don't find the information and/or examples you need here, consult the publication manual (copies are available in all APU libraries).

Because electronic media are changing rapidly, the APA’s web site is the most up-to-date source of information on how to correctly cite electronic sources.

Research Tip: As you proceed with your research, print the first page of any web page you will be citing in your paper. This printed copy will usually include the URL (web address), which you will need for your Reference List.

In the text of your paper, you must document the source from which you are paraphrasing or quoting. When paraphrasing, cite the author and date of the work. For quotations, cite the author, date and page number (use paragraph number and the abbreviation "para." if paragraph numbers are visible in the electronic text). If paragraph numbers are not provided, cite the heading title and the number of the paragraph to help the reader locate the original information. Note that if a work has no author, you must use the title for the in-text citation. There are two basic methods for in-text citations:

Integrating the Authors' Names into the Sentence:

“as Parker and McKinney (1999) demonstrated in their study . . .”

Including the Authors' Names in a Parenthetical Citation:

“The current system of managed care and the current approach to defining empirically supported treatments are shortsighted” (Beutler, 2000, Conclusion section, para. 1).

Start the Reference List on a new page. Type the word References (Reference, if there is only one) in uppercase and lowercase letters, centered at the top of the page. Double-space all reference entries. Entries that are more than one line long should have a hanging indent. Do not include a period at the end of URLs or DOIs.

Note: Not all title words are capitalized; see examples below. Generally, only the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle, acronyms, and proper nouns are capitalized.

Citing an electronic journal article with a DOI (Digital Object Indentifier), found in an online library database:

Note: Use this format whenever a DOI is provided (you may have to look closely at the database record to find the DOI). The DOI is the most stable way to ensure that readers of your paper will be able to retrieve the original source.

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year of Publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page numbers. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx

Example:

Atkins, D. C., & Kessel, D. E. (2008). Religiousness and infidelity: Attendance, but not faith and prayer, predict marital fidelity. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(2), 407-418. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00490.x

Citing an electronic journal article without a DOI, found in an online library database:

Note: Database information is no longer required for article citations found in library databases. Cite an article without a DOI article the same way you would cite a print article.

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year of Publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page numbers.

Example (found in the Education Full Text database):

Glanzer, P. L. (2008). Rethinking the boundaries and burdens of parental authority over education: A response to Rob Reich's case study of homeschooling. Educational Theory, 58(1), 1-16.

Citing an electronic version of a newspaper or magazine article:

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day if provided). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx (use the URL for the main home page of the newspaper or magazine)

Example:

Goodstein, L., & Kirkpatrick, D. D. (2005, May 22). On a Christian mission to the top. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/

Yousafzi, S., & Moreau, R. (2009, September 26). The Taliban in their own words. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/

Moreland, J. P. (2004, December 16). Why happiness isn't a feeling. Boundless Webzine. Retrieved from http://www.boundless.org/

Citing an eBook:

Note: If the text has been converted to HTML, include the version (e.g., NetLibrary, eBrary, Kindle, DX Reader). If it has been scanned in its original format, omit the version information but include the publication information and the URL. If a DOI is given, use the DOI instead of the URL.

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of book [version]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

Example:

Spurgeon, C. H. (1874). The claims of God [NetLibrary version]. Retrieved from http://www.netlibrary.com/

Bunyan, J. (1918). The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come (W. D. Howe, Ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books

Citing a U.S. government report available on government agency Web site, no publication date indicated:

Format:

Government Agency. (Year of publication). Title of report (Report No. xxx, if given). Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

Example:

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). America's children and the environment (ACE). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children/

Citing a report from a private organization, available on organization Web site:

Format:

Organization Name. (Year, month day of publication). Title of online publication. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

Example

Barna Group, Ltd. (2005, May 17). What is a purpose-driven life to Americans? Retrieved from http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=188

Citing a non-government ERIC document:

Note: See the "Citing Dissertations and Government Documents" tab for information on citing government documents found in ERIC.

Format:

Author's last name, Initials. (Publication year). Title of ERIC document. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ERIC document number).

Example

Kubota, K. (2007). "Soaking" model for learning: Analyzing Japanese learning/teaching process from a socio-historical perspective. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED498566).

Citing an online video:

Format:

Author's last name, Initials [or organization name; this can also be a user name. If no author is identified, begin with the title]. (Year, month day of publication). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

Example

GoogleDevelopers. (2008, April 1). Using the JavaScript client library with Google Calendar [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS2S3WQYE18

Citing a podcast:

Format:

Author's last name, Initials [or organization name]. (Producer). (Year, month day of publication). Title of podcast episode [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

Example

Focus on the Family. (Producer). (2010, January 20). 105: The Boundless podcast [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://boundless.typepad.com/podcast/

Citing a blog post:

Format:

Author's last name, Initials [or organization name; this can also be a user name. If no author is identified, begin with the title]. (Year, month day of publication). Title of blog post [Web log post] . Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

Example

Black, S. (2009, December 16). On the job: Design vs. content (ding, ding!) [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.apu.edu/blog/?p=496