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Guide to APA Editorial Style for References

Scope note: This library guide summarizes the key components of citing research in the APA style of citation, commonly referred to as "Reference Citations in Text". The content does not cover all aspects or rules of the APA manuscript or citation style.

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The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) provides guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts or papers, particularly for publication in psychology journals. However, many of the social science-based disciplines require you to document your research by listing authors and sources using the APA citation and reference format. This style uses an author/date method of citation within the actual text of your paper, and an alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper. For additional information on the APA citation recommendations, please see:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. (Z253 .A55 2001 Reference.)

Additional information about the APA style can be found on the American Psychological Association style web site. APA-provided tips can be found at http://www.apastyle.org/previoustips.html and at http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html.

General | Reference Citations in Text | Reference List

General

APA manuscript preparation instructions indicate that your paper should be double-spaced, with 1" margins (top, bottom, and sides). Pages should be numbered, beginning with the title page. Page numbers should be placed in the upper right-hand corner of the page, immediately after the running header representing your manuscript title. Avoid demeaning or biased language and labels in your paper. Use the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary as the source for preferred spelling.

Reference Citations in Text

As mentioned above, APA editorial style uses an author/date citation format within the text of your paper. Some examples of reference citations in text appear below.

If there is only one author of the work you want to cite within the text of your paper, use the surname of the author and the publication year of the work:

• Maple (1998) described the flow chart for goal-focused interviewing as . . .

If the author's name is not in the text of your sentence, insert the last name and year of publication within parentheses:

• As compared to a classic interpretation of practitioner interviewing (Maple, 1998) . . .

• . . . outlined several strategies (Bertcher & Maple, 1996).

  Please note: If the author's name and the publication date have been mentioned in the body of your paper, do not repeat the name/date within parentheses.

If there are two authors of the work, always include both names every time you cite their work. Use the word "and" in your text to connect their names :

• Bertcher and Maple (1996) focus on group . . .

If the cited work has more than two authors, but fewer than six authors, indicate all the authors the first time the reference is listed; include the first author's last name followed by the phrase "et al." and the publication date in subsequent references.

• First reference: Allen-Meares, Washington, and Welsh (2000) presented several roles for school social workers . . .

• Following references: Allen-Meares et al. (2000) then demonstrated . . .

  Please note: If a work has six or more authors, indicate only the last name of the first author followed by the phrase "et al." and the year of publication.

If the work is authored by an organization, agency, group, corporation, etc., spell out the complete name of the group. If the group name is long and if the abbreviation of the name is familiar, you may abbreviate the group name in the second and subsequent references in your paper.

• First reference: . . . as described in a recent survey (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2000).

• Following references: . . . significant survey results (NIMH, 2000).

If your text includes citations to multiple works by different authors, list the works in the same parentheses in alphabetical order.

• Several sleep disorder studies have been published since then (Anders, 1994; Sadel & Anders, 1993; Mindell, 1993; Wolfson et al., 1992)

If your cited work does not indicate authorship (e.g. a web page), use words from the title in quotation marks in place of an author.

• The staff of the Office of Student Services recommend a certain format when developing a goal statement ("Sample Goal Statement," 1999).

If you cite federal or state statutes, give the popular name and the year of the act. You must use the official abbreviations prescribed by the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

• The PROTECT Act (2003) aims to prevent child abduction by . . .

  Please note: The Bluebook (17th edition) is available in the Social Work Library Reference Collection, at KF 245 .B581

When citing personal communications (letter, e-mail, telephone conversations, interviews, etc.), indicate the initials and last name of the communicator, and the exact date of contact.

• . . . as described by M. A. Keeler (personal communication, August 15, 2003).

  Please note: Do not include citations for personal communications in the reference list of your paper.

When citing a source cited in a secondary source (and you did not read the original work), name the original with a citation for the secondary work. Include the secondary source in the reference list.

• . . . in Feld's classic study (as cited in Fellin, 1996).
• Fellin, P. (1996). Mental health and mental illness: Policies, programs and services. Ithasca, IL: Peacock Publishers.

Include the complete source of quotations within parentheses. The quotation should be set off with double quotation marks, unless the quote is longer than forty words, in which case it is set off without quotation marks in an indented paragraph (double-spaced). Always indicate the beginning page number for quotations.

• Many social researchers propose the "application of [these] three methodological innovations lead directly to some form of time-series monitoring and analysis of client progress" (Nurius & Hudson, 1993, p. 175).

• NASW's policy statement on occupational social work states:
  

  Schools of social work can assume an active role in developing educational opportunities for students who are interested in the field of occupational social work, including the creation of appropriate sites for fieldwork and the development of specialized curricula that incorporate policies, programs, and approaches that are particularly suitable for effective practice in this field. (p. 233)

Reference List

The reference list at the end of your paper documents the sources that were used in your research and cited within your paper. References used in the text of the paper must appear in the reference list (with exceptions noted above). The purpose of the reference list is to enable others to find the exact sources identified in your research. Some general guidelines follow:

1. arrange the reference list entries in alphabetical order by author's last name
2. one-author entries precede multiple-author entries which begin with the same last name (Tropman, J. before Tropman, J. & Tropman, P.)
3. entries with the same authors in the same order are arranged by the publication date, with the earliest date first (Tropman, J. & Tropman, P. (1995) before Tropman, J. & Tropman, P. (1998))
4. entries with no author listed should be alphabetized using the title in place of the author
5. type the word References, centered, at the top of the page
6. double space the reference list
7. the first line of each entry should be flush with the margin. Subsequent lines should be indented 1/2" from the margin (hanging indentation).
8. italicize titles of books and journals

Examples of the reference list:

Single book author:

Maple, F. (1998). Goal-focused interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Multiple book authors:

Allen-Meares, P., Washington, R.O., & Welsh, B.L. (2000). Social work services in schools (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Organization as book author and publisher:

American Psychological Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Book chapter author or encyclopedia article author:

Frame, C. L. & Cooper, D. K. (1993). Major depression in children. In R. T. Ammerman (Ed.), Handbook of behavior therapy with children and adults: A developmental and longitudinal perspective (pp. 59-72). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Periodical article:

Drucker, P.F. (1990). Lessons for successful nonprofit governance.
Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 1 (1), 7-14.

Newspaper article, no author:

Count the clergy in: Proposed legislation adds religious leaders to those who must report child abuse. (2003, June 19). The Columbus Dispatch, p. 14A.

Cochrane Systematic Review:

Littell, J.H., Popa M., and Forsythe, B. (2006). Multisystemic Therapy for social, emotional, and behavior problems in youth age 10–17, Cochrane Database of  Systematic Reviews, 2006(4), Article CD004797. Retrieved January 2, 2007 from Cochrane Database of  Systematic Reviews.

If you do not have the ‘CD’ number for your review, look it up by author and/or title in the Cochrane Library or in PubMed.

 

Government report:

U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2002). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Second chance homes: Providing services for teenage parents and their children. Rockville, MD: Author.

Online version of U.S. government report:

U.S. General Accounting Office. (2001, March). Welfare reform: Moving hard-to-employ recipients into the workforce (Publication No. GAO-01-368). Retrieved September 25, 2002 from the General Accounting Office web site: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01368.pdf

Federal or state statute:

Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act, 117 Stat. 650 (2003)

Film:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Producer), & Suzuki, D. (Director). (1988). Face value [Videotape]. (Available from the Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016.)

Dissertation from Dissertations@UM :

Getis, V. L. (1994). A disciplined society: The juvenile court, reform, and the social sciences in Chicago, 1890-1930. Dissertation Abstracts International, 55 (01), 3296A. (UMI No. 9500928)

Web page, no author:

Social workers come out in support of marriage for same-sex couples. (2004). Retrieved February 20, 2005 from https://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2004/081704.asp

Online journal article, based on print counterpart:

Crawford, C. (2001). Bad kids: Race and the transformation of the juvenile court [Electronic version]. Contemporary Sociology, 30 (4), 403-404.

This database is restricted to validated U-M students, staff and faculty.

Document Custodian: Sally Haines

Content last updated on: 19 February 2007

Created by: Karen Reiman-Sendi;

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