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Citation Help and Plagiarism Awareness: APA Quick Guide

About the Quick Guide

APA 7th book coverThis page provides a quick introduction to citing sources in the APA 7th edition style, including an overview of the latest rules and examples of citations for commonly cited sources. 

If you need assistance with APA citations using the previous 6th edition, consult our APA 6th guide (PDF) or the Purdue Online Writing Lab APA 6th web pages.

APA 7th Citation Examples with Selected In-Text Citations

The following are some commonly cited information sources and their entry in a References area of a paper, some followed by their corresponding parenthetical In-Text Citation to illustrate different situations (multiple authors, no authors, no date, etc.). For more about In-Text Citations and many examples, please visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab In-Text Citation rules and author/authors guidance pages.

Journal Articles and Magazine Articles

Generic format for a journal article or magazine article without a DOI (In print or in database):

Author Last Name, First Initials. (Year OR Year, Month Day OR Year, Season). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), pages.
 

Journal article or magazine article with DOI (In print or in database), 3 or more authors

Armour, K. C., Bitz, C. M., & Roe, G. H. (2013, July 3). Time-varying climate sensitivity from regional feedbacks. Journal of Climate, 26(13), 4518-4534. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00544.1
In-Text Citation: (Armour et al., 2013)

 

Journal article or magazine article without DOI, with a non-database URL, two authors

Benzon, P., & Hauser, K. (2019, Fall). Visual literacy across the disciplines: From faculty engagement to general education and beyond. Peer Review, 21(4), 16-19. https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2019/fall/Skidmore
In-Text Citation: (Benzon & Hauser, 2019)

News Articles and News Websites

Generic format for a newspaper article in print or from database:

Author Last Name, First Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, page.

Newspaper article from the web, one author

Schuessler, J. (2017, December 11). Gabriel García Márquez’s archive freely available online. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/arts/gabriel-garcia-marquez-archive-online.html
In-Text Citation: (Schuessler, 2017)


Webpage on news website

Mayer, P. (2020, June 30). Rudolfo Anaya, a founding father of Chicano literature, dies at 82. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/30/885760327/rudolfo-anaya-afounding-father-of-chicano-literature-dies-at-82

Books

Generic format for a book without a DOI (In print or in database):

Author Last Name, First Initials. (Year). Title of book. Name of Publisher.

More than one author and second edition

Helms, J.L., & Rogers, D. T. (2015). Majoring in psychology: Achieving your educational and career goals (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.


Citing an article in an anthology

Daines, R. F. (2012). The flu vaccine should be mandatory for health care workers. In N. Merino (Ed.), Vaccines (pp. 42 – 60). Greenhaven.


Book with a DOI (In print or in database: this is the same formatting as above but with the DOI added at the end; this example is an edited book, denoted by the "Eds." after the authors)

Woo, S. E., Tay, L. & Proctor, R.W. (Eds.). (2020). Big data in psychological research. American Psychological Association. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0000193-001


EBook or audiobook without a DOI, with a non-database URL (for when to distinguish use of eBook or audiobook, review page 332 of APA 7th)

Baldwin, J. (2016). If Beale Street Could Talk (B. Turpin, Narr.). Blackstone Publishing. https://www.blackstonelibrary.com/if-beale-street-could-talk?sp=61409 (original work published 1974).

Web pages or Online Content and Media

Generic format for an article/page on a website: 

Author Last Name, First Initials (or organization). (Year, Month Day). Title of article/page. Site name. URL

Article without author or date on a website (Use retrieved date when content changes over time)

Processes: Simplification. (n.d.). Infogineering. Retrieved July 7, 2020 from http://www.infogineering.net/simplification.htm
In-Text Citation: ("Processes," n.d.)


TED Talks (The first example is from the TED website and the second is from YouTube)

McGhee. H.C. (2019, December). Racism has a cost for everyone [Video]. TEDWomen 2019. https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_c_mcghee_racism_has_a_cost_for_everyone
TED. (2020, July 6). Lucy Hone: 3 secrets of resilient people [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-5SMpg7Q0k


Podcast episode

Goldstein, J. & Smith, R. (Hosts). (2020, July 1). Inflation, Deflation [Audio podcast episode]. In Planet Money. NPR. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/886036317

General APA 7th Reference List Guidelines

  • References begin on a separate page at the end of the paper.
  • The heading (References) is centered at the top with no underlining, italicizing, bolding, or quotation marks.
  • Alphabetize sources by author’s last name; for works without an author, alphabetize by title.
  • Generally, italicize titles of books and journals; do not italicize the title of journal articles.
  • All lines after the first line of each source should be indented 0.5” (hanging indent).
  • References are double-spaced within and between entries. (Note that the examples on this page are not double-spaced due to formatting constraints; your References page should have entries double-spaced.)
  • All entries should use an accessible font (example: 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri).
  • For an example of a fully formatted APA student paper including a reference list, check out the Purdue O.W.L.'s APA 7th sample paper [PDF]

Changes/Additions from the 6th Edition

  • A new Student Paper format. For an example, please consult pages 61-67 of the APA 7th edition manual, or visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab for an APA 7 Sample Student Paper.
  • APA 7th does not distinguish between print or non-print versions of resources. Instead, there is a distinction between resources:
    • without a Document Object Identifier (DOI)
    • with a DOI
    • and electronic resources without a DOI but with a non-database Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
  • Materials in print, including books, may have a DOI associated, which should be provided when available.
  • When providing the DOI or URL, include the entire address and hyperlink.
  • When citing an article from an academic research database, generally do not reference the database. Consult the APA 7th, p.296, for more information.
  • For other APA format questions, copies of the APA 7th are available in the library. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (O.W.L.) is a thorough resource for students needing help with research papers and citation styles. Or, choose from among our library research help options.