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Information Literacy & Library Research: APA Style Examples

Information literacy is the ability to know when information is needed and to be able to identify, locate and evaluate, and then legally and responsibly use and share that information.

APA Style with Examples

Section Four B - Evaluate & Cite - Citing Your Sources - APA Style with Examples

APA style

APA style is used by psychology, education and the social sciences. The list of sources at the end of a paper in APA style is referred to as References. This is a list of the sources cited in the text of a research paper. The Reference list appears at the end of the paper, is double-spaced within and between sources, and is arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. Sources without authors are arranged alphabetically by title (omitting any A, An, The) within the same list. The first line of each source is flush with the left margin; second and succeeding lines are indented ½ inch (or five typewriter spaces) from the left margin.

The following examples follow the previous guide to APA style, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th Edition. (SUU call number: BF76.7 .P83 2010), and the APA Style Guide to Electronic References. (SUU call number: PN171.A63 2007). To view examples from the most recent 7th edition, please view the APA Style Guide.

  1. APA Print Sources
    Book: one author
    Book: multiple authors
    Government author
    Encyclopedia article
    Encyclopedia article with author
    Newspaper article
    Magazine article
    Journal article
  2. APA Electronic Sources
    Online book
    Encyclopedia article from a subscription service
    Newspaper article from a subscription service
    Magazine article from a subscription service
    Journal article from a subscription service
    Website
    Article on Website
  3. APA Social Media Sources
    Blog post
    Email
    Facebook post
    Tweet
    Youtube video
  4. APA In-text Citations

 

1. APA Print Sources

 

Book: one author

Barnes, F.R. (1998). The hand: How its use shapes the brain, language, and human culture. New York: Pantheon Press.

Book: multiple authors

Ford, D.Y., & Harris, J. (2003). Multicultural gifted education. New York: Teachers College.

Sloan, F. A., Stout, E. M., & Liang, L. (1993). Hysteria beyond Freud. Berkeley: U of California Press.

Government author

U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Encyclopedia article

Mandarin. (2000). In The Encyclopedia Americana. (Vol. 18, pp. 224-225). Danbury: Grolier.

Encyclopedia article with author

Mohanty, J.M. (2003). Indian philosophy. In The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. (Vol. 21, pp. 191-212). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britanica.

Newspaper article

Abbott, S., & Simpson, J. (2002, April 3). Now playing: babes in cyberspace. Christian Science Monitor, Extra ed., p. C1.

Marines charged in assault case. (2003, February 14). Houston Chronicle, p. 6A.

Magazine article

Armstrong, L., Yang, D.J., & Cuneo, A. (2008, February 28). The learning revolution. Business Week, pp. 80-88.

Franklin, C. (2008, July-August). The creative personality. Psychology Today, pp. 36-40.

Journal article

Hallin, D.C. (2003). Sound bite news: Television coverage of elections. Journal of Communication, 42(2), 5-24.

Lindahl, K.M., et. al. Observations of marital conflict and power: Relations with parenting in the triad. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 320-330.

2. APA Electronic Sources

  • Online articles and books sometimes include a DOI (digital object identifier). APA uses the DOI, when available, in place of a URL in reference list entries.
  • If there is no DOI, include the URL for the home page of the book or journal.

Online book

McDaniel, Aaron. (2012). The young professional's guide to the Working World. Retrieved from http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/book/-/9781601632425

MacGilchrist, B., Myers, K., & Reed, J. (2004). The intelligent school. (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781446216484

OR, if doi is not available:

MacGilchrist, B., Myers, K., & Reed, J. (2004). The intelligent school. (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Retrieved from http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/the-intelligent-school-2e/SAGE.xml

Encyclopedia article from a subscription service

Austen, Jane. In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.xreferplus.com/entry/ebconcise/austen_jane

Feminism. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism

Newspaper article from a subscription service

Seib, G. F. (2001, Apr 11). On green affairs, politics aren't all black and white. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/398774926/139D9F1752355B820DB/1?accountid=28757

Magazine article from a subscription service

Jost, K. (2009, June 5). Student rights. CQ Researcher, 19, 501-524. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

Kluger, J. (1996, February). Dr. Sigmund Doolittle. Discover, 17(2), 84. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com

Journal article from a subscription service

Davis, F. L., Wurth, A. H., & Jr. (2003). Voting Preferences and the Environment in the American Electorate:The Discussion Extended. Society & Natural Resources16(8), 729. doi:10.1080/0894 19203902 17636

Bæck, U. (2010). Parental involvement practices in formalized home–school cooperation. Scandinavian Journal Of Educational Research54(6), 549-563. doi:10.1080/00313831.2010.522845

Website

The Daily Utah Chronicle. (2006). University of Utah. Retrieved from http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com

Article on Website

Davidson, L. (2009, June 17). Bishop saves F-22 by one vote. Deseret News. Retrieved from http://www.deseretnews.com

Lubell, S. (2008, November 26). Of the sea and air and sky. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

3. APA Social Media Sources

Blog post

Lastname, Firstinitial. (Year, Month Date). Title of the Blog Post Entry. [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://thewebsite.com

Email

In text citation only

Facebook post

Username. (Year, Month Day). Enter Facebook post here. [Facebook update]. Retrieved from http://facebook.com

Tweet

Twitter handle. (Year, Month Day). Enter the tweet message here. [Twitter post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com

YouTube Video

Lastname, Firstinitial. (Year, Month Date). Title of the Blog Post Entry. [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://thewebsite.com

4. APA In-text Citations

APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have no page numbers, use a paragraph number.

Within the text of your paper, include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your Reference list.

For more detailed examples of in-text citation see the Research and Documentation Online guide or the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).

References: