PAF 101 - APA Guide

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Index

 

Reference List Entries

Example Reference Page

For an example reference page, using the entires below, click here. (.PDF file)

 

Book

Author’s name. (Year of publication). Title of book. City of publication: Publisher.

Example

Carnegie, D. (1981). How to win friends & influence people. New York: Pocket Books.

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Article from a database (e.g. ProQuest, CQ Researcher)

With an author

Author’s name. (Date of publication). Title. Name of publication, page #. Retrieved <date>, from <database>.

Example

Morial, M. (2006, December 28). Cycle of shame. The Tennessee Tribune, p. C3. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from ProQuest database.


Without an author

Title. (Date of publication). Name of publication, page #. Retrieved <date>, from <database>.

Example

Poverty in America affects millions. (2007, January 23). Voice of America News, p. 1. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from LexisNexis database.

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Article from a Newspaper/Magazine

In Print

Author’s name. (Date of publication). Title. Name of publication, volume # (IF AVAILABLE), page #.

Example

Winston, J. (2002, June). The meaning of dreams. Scientific American, 12, pp. 54-61.

*If "The" is in the title of a newspaper, include it (for example: The New York Times, The Post-Standard, The Washington Post). Check the newspaper's masthead or newspaper website's copyright footer.


Online

Author’s name. (Date of publication). Title. Name of publication. Retrieved <date>, from <website>

Example

McGrath, C. (2002, June 15). Healthcare costs are rising. The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2006, from http://nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html

*Do not put a period at the end of a website.

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Government Report

In Print

Name of Government Organization. (Year of publication). Title of report (publication #). City of publication: Publisher.

Example

National Institute of Mental Health. (1994). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (NIH Publication No. 96-3572). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Online

Name of Government Organization. (Year of publication). Title of report. City of publication: Publisher. Retrieved <date>, from <website>

Example

U.S. Public Health Service. (2000). Report of the surgeon general’s conference on children’s mental health: A national section agenda. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved August 25, 2007, from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/chilreport.htm

*Do not put a period at the end of a website.

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Electronic Source/Website

Author’s name. (Date of publication). Title. Name of source/journal.
Retrieved <date>, from <website>

Example

Dunbar, C. (2004, November 29). Aging in place gracefully. Nursing Spectrum. Retrieved December 2, 2004, from http://community.nursingspectrum.com/MagazineArticles/article.cfm?AID=13219

*Do not put a period at the end of a website.

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LexisNexis Statistical Table

“Title of table,” page #. Title of report. Available from: Source of table. City of publication: Publisher.

Example

“Immigrants admitted, by class of admission: 1980 to 1994,” p. 11. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996. Available from: LexisNexis Statistical. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service.

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Works with no Author (in general)

If no author is provided, follow the original reference entry format, but instead
of placing the title after the publication date, put it before the date in place of
the author’s name. For example:

An Online Newspaper/Magazine without an Author

Title. (Date of publication). Name of newspaper. Retrieved <date>, from
<website>

Example

House passes children’s health bill. (2007, September 26). The Washington Post. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092501474.html?hpid=topnews

*Do not put a period at the end of a website.

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Works without a Date

When the date is unknown, use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date" and follow all citations the same way.

Example

Cohen, R. (n.d.).  New York State's dual crises: Low graduation rates and rising      

      school taxes.  The Public Policy and Education Fund, Inc. Retrieved October

      19, 2008,    from http://www.aqueny.org/cms_files/File/pdf/The%20Dual%

      20Crises%20Report %202006.pdf

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Parenthetical Citations

Work with an Author

(Author’s last name, year of publication, page or paragraph #)

Example

(Williams, 1998, p. 5)

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Work with Multiple Authors

(First author’s last name, second author’s last name, & third author’s last name, year of publication, page or paragraph #)

Example

(Johnson, Cale, & Tupper, 2004, p. 7)

*If there are 6 or more authors, only include the first author’s last name + “et al.”
Example (Smith et al., 2003, para. 22)

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Work without an Author

(“First 1-3 words in title,” year of publication, page or paragraph #)

Example

(“Education Studies,” 2006, para. 3)

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Works without a Date

(Author's last name, "n.d.", page or paragraph #)

Example

(Cohen, n.d., p. 5)

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Personal Communication

(Name of source, personal communication, date)

Example

(J.K. Jurgensen, personal communication, May 4, 2003)

*No reference on the references page is needed for personal communication.

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Using an Organization as an Author

If the author is a government agency or other organization, name the organization in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source.

If the organization has a familiar abbreviation, you may include it in brackets the first time you cite the source and use the abbreviation alone in later citations.

Example

First Citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2001, p. 42)

Subsequent Citations: (NIMH, 2001, p. 53)

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Coplin’s Books

How You Can Help

Reference List

Coplin, W.D. (2000). How you can help: An easy guide to doing good deeds in your everyday life. New York: Routledge.

Parenthetical Citation

(Coplin, 2000, p. 33)

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The Maxwell Manual for Good Citizenship

Reference List

Coplin, B. (2007). The Maxwell manual for good citizenship. Croton-on-Hudson, NY: Policy Studies Associates.

Parenthetical Citation

(Coplin, 2007, pp. 11-12)

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Tips to Remember

  • Double space the entire page and use a hanging indent format.
  • Always title the reference list “References” and center it. Ex:

References

Not all titles will end in a period. If a title of a book or a newspaper article ends with a question mark, do not add a period after the question mark. For example:

Trachtenberg, S. (2009, September 10). What is a college education for? The                

     Washington Post. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://voices.washingtonpost

     .com/answer-sheet/stephen-joel-trachtenberg/trachtenberg-what-is-a-college.html 

  • For titles, only capitalize the first word, proper nouns and the first word following a colon.
  • Do not put a period at the end of a website.
  • Do not underline websites.
  • The Associated Press is NOT an author.
  • The Daily Orange does not count as a newspaper for your modules.
  • When a page number is required for a citation, include “p.” for one page or “pp.” for multiple pages.
  • If a page number is unavailable, include the paragraph number(s) and place “para.” before them.
  • Only list up to six (6) authors per source. If there are more than six, list the first six and put “et al” at the end..
  • List the city AND state of publication. EXCEPTIONS: put only the city the following:
    • Baltimore
    • Boston
    • Chicago
    • Los Angeles
    • New York
    • Philadelphia
    • San Francisco
  • For the state, use the two-letter postal abbreviation, without periods (for example: NY, CA, FL). Only use periods for D.C.
  • If "The" is in the title of a newspaper, include it (for example: The New York Times, The Post-Standard, The Washington Post). Check the newspaper's masthead or newspaper website's copyright footer.
  • Alphabetize your references page by author’s last name. When citing multiple sources by the same author, alphabetize by the title of the source.
  • The first letter any word following a colon, semicolon, or hyphen should be caps. However, watch out for the hyphens – it should only be caps after a separate thought  ex: No caps- Time course of attentional bias for threat information in non-clinical anxiety. Caps- Wechsler Memory Scale — Revised.
  • If there are multiple sources with the same author and year of publication, differentiate between them with a lowercase letter (beginning with a) after the year.

    Example of references page

    Johnson, C. (2003a, January 16). Healthcare bill passed. The New York Times, p. A3

    Johnson, C. (2003b, April 24). Insurance costs rise. The Washington Post, p. C11

    Example of parenthetical citation

    (Johnson, 2003b, p. C11)

  • The correct placement of a parenthetical citation after a quote is:

    "Recognize that citing sources is not merely a required, mechanical exercise" (Coplin, 2007, p. 15).

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APA and Research Enhancer

If you find any ambiguities or inconsistences in the guide, please contact the PAF 101 APA and Research Enhancer. Do not send questions that can be answered by reading the guide.

Fall 2009 - Vicky Mei - vmei@syr.edu

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