APA Style Documentation

In-Text References

Sources used in your research are acknowledged in the text of your paper as well as in a reference list at the end of your paper. In APA style, material quoted directly from the original source should be incorporated into the text with quotation marks, and should specify author, year, and specific page citation in the text, as in this example:

She stated, "The 'placebo effect' . . . disappeared when behaviors were studies in this manner" (Miele, 1993, p. 276), but she did not clarify which behaviors were studied.

To document other reference in-text, supply the author's last name and year of the text you are referencing, in parentheses. For example:

The utilitarian perspective is typically associated with short term behavioral choices (Lobel, 1991, p. 154) and relies on basic hedonistic and approach/avoidance arguments.

For a single source written by multiple authors, the entry, cited initially in the paper, should appear as follows:

To our knowledge, this is the first time such an effect has been demonstrated empirically (Ancona & Chong, 1996).

Or

One possible implication of studying intact teams cross sectionally, or studying ad hoc teams in a single (laboratory) session, is what McGrath, Arrow, Gruenfeld, Hollinshead, and O'Connor (1993) refer to as Type I and Type II temporal errors.

Succeeding in-text references to articles with three or more authors should include the first author's surname, followed by "et al."

For example, McGrath el al. (1993) found that performance losses commonly ascribed to the use of computer-mediated versus face-to-face communication disappeared by a team's third or fourth week spent working together.

Two or more sources written by different authors should appear as follows:

The increased use of computers and the interconnectivity achieved through the World Wide Web (WWW) have led to a revolution in testing and assessment (Schmidt, 1997; Stanton, 1998).

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Reference List: Guidelines

A reference list should consist only of recoverable sources, or those that can be retrieved by others through databases, etc. Do not include in the reference list personal communications, such as emails, telephone conversations, and personal interviews.

The reference list of sources that were used in research should appear at the end of your paper, double-spaced, in alphabetical order, with hanging indention. For more information about citing and preparing a reference list, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. or these online aids:

Duke U. Citing Sources website:

http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/citing.htm

Purdue U. Online Writing Lab (OWL):

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/APA/index.html

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Reference List, Print Sources

Books with one author:

Sanderson, H. (1954). Basic concepts in vocational guidance. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Books with two or more authors:

Wood-Jones, F. & Porteus, S. D. (1928). The matrix of the mind. Oxford, England: University Press Association.

Books with no author:

Encyclopedia of Iowa History. (1995). Iowa City: University of Iowa.

Book with editor(s):

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (Eds.). (2002). Development of achievement motivation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Encyclopedia article:

Genesee, F. (1994). Bilingualism. In Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 1, pp. 383-394). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Article from scholarly journal paginated by volume: (continuous pagination)

Horowitz, L. K., Post, D. L., French, R. S., Wallis, K. D., & Siegelman, E. Y. (1981). The prototype as a construct in abnormal psychology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 575-585.

Article from a popular magazine:

Gardner, H. (1981, December). Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today, 14, 70-76.

Article in daily newspaper:

Angier, N. (2003, November 11). Is war our biological destiny? New York Times, p. D1.

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Works Cited, Electronic Sources

A typical entry for an electronic source consists of the following items:
Author. (Date of publication or update). Title of short work. Title of site. Date you accessed the site, URL

For more information about documenting online sources, the Bedford / St. Martin's Guides may be useful.

Web sites:

It is recommended that you print off a copy of any publicly-accessible web pages you use, in case they become inaccessible later on. University of Nebraska State Museum & Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from http://ashfall.unl.edu/weblinks.html

Full-text article from a library database:

These types of materials are cited similarly to their print counterparts, with some modifications identifying them as coming from an electronic, rather than print, source.

Magazine:

Girardet, E. (2002, December). A new day in Kabul. National Geographic, 202. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from Academic Search Premier database.

Journal:

Koestner, R., Zuckerman, M., & Koestner, J. (1987). Praise, involvement and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(2), 383-390. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from PsycARTICLES database.

Newspaper:

Harman, D. (2001, December 26). Rhino horns still lure poachers. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from Academic Search Premier database.

E-Book:

Cox, Danny. (2002). Seize the day. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from Buena Vista University Library, netLibrary Web site: http://www.netlibrary.com

Encyclopedia article (online):

Mesopotamian Religion. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online.