APA citations are widely used in psychology, education, engineering, ness, and the

social sciences. Like MLA citations, they are in-text. use notes only for analysis and
commentary, not to cite references. U MLA, however, APA emphasizes the year of
publication, which come mediately after the authors name. Thats probably because as
schola cumulates in the sciences and empirical social sciences (where APA is u it is
important to know whether the research was conducted recently whether it came
before or after other research. At least thats the ratio
Detailed information on the APA system is available in
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5 ed. (Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association, 20
Like The Chicago Manual of Style and MLA style books, the manual should be
available in your librarys reference section. For details on engineering papers, you can
also consult an online g from the American Society of Civil Engineers, available at
http://
.pubs.asce.org/authors/index.html#manreq.
To get started, lets look at APA references for a journal article, a ch in an edited book,
and a book as they appear at the end of a paper. calls this a Reference List. (MLA
calls it Works Cited, and Chicago it a Bibliography.)
Lipson, C. (1991). Why are some international agreements inform
International Organization, 45, 495538.
Lipson, C. (1994). Is the future of collective security like the past? G. Downs (Ed.),
Collective security beyond the cold war (pp. 10 131). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press.
Lipson, C. (2003). Reliable partners: How democracies have made a separate peace.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

also capitalized. Proper nouns are capitalized, of course, just as sentences.

In these reference lists, single-author entries precede thos authors. So Pinker,
S. (as a sole author) would proceed Pinker, B. In the APA system, multiple
authors are joined by an amp rather than the word and. It is not clear why. Just
accept it as how many minutes are in a soccer game.
The authors first names are always reduced to initials. Pa not included for intext references, except for direct quotes pages are preceded by p. or pp.).
That makes it different fro systems, as does its frequent use of commas and
parentheses.
When works are cited in the text, the citation includes the aut for example
(Wilson, 2004d), unless the authors name has al mentioned in that sentence. If
the sentence includes the auth the citation omits it. For instance: Nye (2004)
presents consid to back up his claims.
The examples in this section focus on the social sciences, engineering, and
business, where APA citations are most w just as the MLA examples focus on
the humanities, where t common.
To make it easy to find the APA citations you need, Ive listed alphabetically,
along with the pages where they are described.

index of apa citations in this chapter

Abstract 82
multivolume work
Book
77
chapter in edited book
no author 77
78
one author 75
edited 77
online 77
multiple authors 76
reference book 83
multiple editions 76
reprint 78
Encyclopedia 82
article
Figure 86
no author 80
Film 85
online 80
Government document
with author 80
86
Paper, unpublished 81
Graph 86
Personal communication 85
Interview 84
Photograph 85

several by s
75
single volu
multivolu
78
translated
Chart 86
Television prog
Web
page 89
page, no au
site 88
Weblog comm
Weblog entr

apa: reference list and in-text citations

Book,
one author

Books,
several by
same author

Reference
list

Mandelbaum, M. (2002). The ideas t

conquered the world: Peace, democr
free markets in the twenty-first centu
York: Public Affairs.
Lundy, C. (2003). Social work and socia
structural approach to practice. Pete
ON: Broadview Press.
Canadian provinces are abbreviated w
letters.

In-text

(Mandelbaum, 2002)
(Lundy, 2003)

Reference
list

Elster, J. (1989a). The cement of society:

social order. Cambridge: Cambridge
Press.
Elster, J. (1989b). Nuts and bolts for the
sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge Un
Press.
Elster, J. (1989c). Solomonic judgemen
in the limitations of rationality. Camb
Cambridge University Press; Paris: E
la Maison des sciences de lhomm
title). Label them as a, b, and c.
item by Elster is not labeled d bec
authorship is different.
Coauthored books like Elster & Mo
writers single-author ones, in the al
order of the second authors name.

In-text

(Elster, 1989a, 1989b, 1989c; Elster &

1989)

Book,
multiple
authors

Book,
multiple
editions

Reference
list

Reiter, D., & Stam, A. C. (2002). Dem

war. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ
Name the first six authors, then add

In-text

(Reiter & Stam, 2002)

For two to five authors, name all au
first citation. Beginning with the sec
reference, name only the first autho
et al.
For six or more authors, name only
author, then add et al. for all citati
Use & within parenthetical refere
in the text itself.

Reference
list

Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). T

of style (4th ed.). New York: Longm
If it says revised edition rather tha
edition, use (Rev. ed.) in the same s

In-text

(Strunk & White, 2000)

To refer to a specific page for a quot
(Strunk & White, 2000, p. 12)

In-text

(National Partnership for Immunization

2003)
Subsequent references are (NPI, 20

(American Psychological Association [A

Subsequent references are (APA, 20
Book,
edited

Reference
list

Shweder, R. A., Minow, M., & Markus, H

(2002). Engaging cultural difference
multicultural challenge in liberal dem
New York: Russell Sage Foundation
Katznelson, I., & Shefter, M. (Eds.). (2

Shaped by war and trade: Interna

influences on American political dev
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University

Book,
online

Multivolume
work

earlier
edition

Translated
volume

In-text

(Shweder, Minow, & Markus, 2002)

(Katznelson & Shefter, 2002)

Reference
list

Reed, J. (1922). Ten days that shook the

Project Gutenberg. Etext 3076. Ret
January 12, 2004, from ftp://ibiblio
docs/books/gutenberg/etext02/10d
APA does not put a period after the UR
it different from most other reference

In-text

(Reed, 1922)

Reference
list

Pflanze, O. (19631990). Bismarck an

development of Germany (Vols. 13
NJ: Princeton University Press.

In-text

(Pflanze, 19631990)

list

causes of the wealth of nations. E. C

Chicago: University of Chicago Pres
work published 1776)

In-text

(Smith, 1776/1976)

Reference
list

Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant ethic

spirit of capitalism. T. Parsons (Tran
York: Charles Scribners Sons. (Orig
published 19041905)

In-text

(Weber, 19041905/1958)

Chapter in
edited book

Journal
article, one
author

Reference
list

Keohane, R. (1983). The demand for int

regimes. In S. Krasner (Ed.), Interna
regimes (pp. 5667). Ithaca, NY: Co
University Press.

In-text

(Keohane, 1983)

Reference
list

Lipson, C. (1991). Why are some intern

agreements informal? International
organization, 45, 495538.
Notice that article titles are not in qu
The journals volume number is italic
issue number and pages are not. The
volume (or vol.) is omitted.
Theres no need to name a specific iss
journal pages are numbered continuo
throughout the year. However, if each
with page 1, then the issues number
necessary to find the article: 45(2), 15

In-text

(Lipson, 1991)
Name up to six authors, then add et al.

In-text

Journal
article,
online

(Koremenos, Lipson, & Snidal, 2001) for firs

(Koremenos et al., 2001) for second referenc

Reference Conway, P. (2003). Truth and reconciliation: T

list
not taken in Namibia. Online Journal of Pe
Conflict Resolution, 5(1). Retrieved Decem
2003, from http://www.trinstitute.org/oj
5 1conway.htm
Mitchell, T. (2002). McJihad: Islam in the U.S
order. Social Text, 20(4), 118. Retriev
December 28, 2003, from JSTOR data

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/xsocial te
20.4mitchell.html
Your can omit the URL when citing well-k
databases, such as JSTOR or PsycARTIC
In-text

Journal
article,
foreign
language

(Conway, 2003)
(Mitchell, 2002)

Reference Maignan, I., & Swaen, V. (2004). La responsa

list
sociale dune organisation: Integration
perspectives marketing et manageriale. R
Franca ise du Marketing, 200, 5166
Or

Maignan, I., & Swaen, V. (2004). La responsa

sociale dune organisation: Integration
perspectives marketing et manageriale [T
responsibility of an organization: Integra
marketing and managerial perspectives].
Franca ise du Marketing, 200, 5166
In-text

(Maignan & Swaen, 2004)

In-text

(United States and the Americas, 2003

(Strong aftershocks, 2003)

Newspaper
or magazine
article,
with author

Reference
list

Bruni, F. (2003, December 26). Pope pl

end to terrorism and war. New York
[national ed.], p. A21.

In-text

(Bruni, 2003) or, if necessary, (Bruni, 2

December 26)

Newspaper
or magazine
article,

Reference
list

Vick, K. (2003, December 27). Quake in

at least 5,000: Temblor devastates
city; officials appeal for assistance.

online

Review

Washington Post [online], p. A01. R

January 2, 2004, from http://www
.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic
A31539-2003Dec26.html
Jehl, D. (2004, January 1). U.S. hunts te
in case of 2 brothers. New York Tim
[online], p. A10. Retrieved February
from ProQuest Newspapers databa
In-text

(Vick, 2003) or (Vick, 2003, December

( Jehl, 2004) or ( Jehl, 2004, January 1)

Reference
list

Orr, H. A. (2003, August 14). Whats no

genes. [Review of the book Nature v
nurture: Genes, experience, and wh
us human]. New York Review of Boo
3840.

In-text

(Orr, 2003)

Richards, J. A., Knight, D. C., Rao, S. M., et

(2003, June). Differential reinforcement of
stimulus dimensions during human Pavlov
fear conditioning. Poster session presente at
the 9th Annual Meeting of the Organizat for
Human Brain Mapping, New York, NY.
Reid, P. (1998). Beginning therapists and diffi

clients: An exploratory study. Unpublished

masters thesis, University of Massachuse
Amherst.
Gomez, C. (2003). Identifying early indicators
autism in self-regulatory difficulties.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Aubur
University, AL.

Preprint

In-text

(Tsygankov, 2004)
(Cheng et al., 2003)
(Reid, 1998)
(Gomez, 2003)

Reference
list

Williams, A., Leen, T. K., Roberts, P. D. (2003).

Random walks for spike-timing dependent
plasticity. Preprint. arXiv: q-bio.NC/03120
Retrieved December 26, 2003, from http:/
xxx.lanl.gov/PS cache/q-bio/pdf/0312/
0312038.pdf
arXiv is a collection facility for scientific
preprints. The q-bio number is its
identification number there. ID numbers an
URLs are valuable to readers who wish to fol
your citation to the database itself.

In-text

(Williams, Leen, & Roberts, 2003)

cooperation: Global public goods an
Review of International Studies, 29, 3

Abstract obtained from Peace Resear

Journal, 42, 2005, 6, Abstract No. 23
Abstract obtained from secondary sou
In-text

Microfilm,
microfiche

(Kremer & Zwane, 2005)

(Albin, 2003/2005)
If the secondary abstract source is pub
different year than the primary source,
dates, separated by a slash.

Reference U.S. House of Representatives. Records

list
Claims Commission. (18711880). Fir
(1871). Washington, DC: National Arc
Microfilm Publication, P2257, Frames
Conservative Party (UK). (1919). Annual
executive committee to central counc
11November 18, 1919. Archive of th
Conservative Party, Microfiche card 1
Woodbridge, CT: Gale/Primary Sourc
1998. (Original material located in C
Party Archive, Bodleian Library, Oxfo
You do not need to include the locatio
original material, but you are welcome
In-text

(U.S. House, 18711880)

(Conservative Party, 1919)

Encyclopedia, Reference Balkans: History. (1987). In Encyclopaed

hard copy
list
Britannica (15th ed., Vol. 14, pp. 570
and online
Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
In-text
(Balkans: History, 1987)
(Balkans, 2003)
(Graham, 2002)
Reference

Reference Pendergast, S., & Pendergast, T. (Eds.). (2003).

book, hard
copy and
online

Dictionary,
hard copy,
online, and
CD-ROM

list

Reference guide to world literature (3rd ed.,

2 vols.). Detroit: St. James Press/ ThomsonPendergast, S., & Pendergast, T. (Eds.). (2003).
Reference guide to world literature. E-Book.
(3rd ed.). Detroit: St. James Press.
Colman, A. M. (2001). A Dictionary of Psycholog
Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved M
16, 2004, from http://www.oxfordreference.
views/BOOK SEARCH.html?book=t87
Woods, T. (2003). The social contract (du contra
social), prose by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 17
Pendergast, S., & Pendergast, T. (Eds.), Refe
guide to world literature (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp.
1513). Detroit: St. James Press/ Thomson-Ga
Great Britain: Queens speech opens Parliamen
(2003, November 26). FirstSearch. Facts On
database. Accession no. 2003302680.

In-text

(Pendergast & Pendergast, 2003)

(Colman, 2001)
(Woods, 2003)
(Great Britain: Queens speech, 2003)

Reference Gerrymander. (2003). Merriam-Websters colleg

list
dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA:
Merriam-Webster.
search?q=class
Anxious. (2000). American heritage dictio
English language (4th ed.). CD-ROM. B
Houghton Mifflin.
In-text

Speech,

(Protest, 1971)

Reference Szelenyi, I. (2003, August 17). Presidential

academic
talk, or
course
lecture

Interview

list

American Sociological Association. An

convention. Atlanta, GA.
Woodward, A. (2004, April 14). Course lec
University of Chicago. Chicago, IL.

In-text

(Szelenyi, 2003)
(Woodward, 2004)

Reference Arroyo, Gloria Macapagal. (2003). A Time

list
Interview with Michael Schuman. Time
2003. Retrieved Jan. 13, 2004, from
http://www.time.com/time/nation/art
0,8599,471205,00.html
In-text

(Arroyo, 2003)
(E. O. Wilson, personal interview, Februar
The reference list includes printed interv
Arroyos, but not personal communicatio
private conversation, faxes, letters, or int
since they cannot be accessed by other in
Therefore, in-text citations for personal
communications (like the one for E. O.
should fully describe the item, including
date.
a fax, a phone call, a memo, or a smoke sig

Television
program

Reference Long, T. (Writer), & Moore, S. D. (Director).

list
(2002). Bart vs. Lisa vs. 3rd Grade [Telev
series episode]. In B. Oakley & J. Weinst
(Producers), The Simpsons. Episode: 140
F55079. Fox.
In-text

(Simpsons, 2002) or (Bart vs. Lisa, 2002)

Film

Reference Huston, J. (Director/Writer). (1941). The Malt

list
falcon [Motion picture]. Perf. Humphrey
Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney
Greenstreet, Elisha Cook Jr. Based on no
Dashiell Hammett. Warner Studios. U.S.:
Warner Home Video, DVD (2000).
Required: You must include the title, direct
studio, and year released.
Optional: the actors, producers, screenwrit
editors, cinematographers, and other
information. Include what you need for an
in your paper, in order of importance to yo
analysis. Their names appear between the t
and the distributor.
In-text

Photograph

(Maltese falcon, 1941) or (Maltese falcon, 20

Reference Adams, Ansel. (1927). Monolith, the face of

list
Dome, Yosemite National Park [photogra
Art Institute, Chicago.
In-text

(Adams, 1927)
power in the Persian Gulf War and the f
warfare, International Security 26 (Fall
Give a descriptive title to your maps,
graphs, and tables. With this descrip
reader should understand the item w
having to refer to the text.
Note: All figures are rounded to neare
percentile.
This is a general note explaining info
table.

p < .05 p < .01. Both are two-tailed

This is a probability note for a table

Reference
list

Electoral vote map (2000). Election 20

Retrieved August 30, 2004, from h
.usatoday.com/news/vote2000/
electfront.htm
Press, Daryl G. (2001). The myth of air
the Persian Gulf War and the future
International Security 26 (Fall): 54

In-text

(Electoral vote map [2000], 2004)

(Press, 2001)

Government Reference
document,
list
hard copy
and online

Software

A bill to promote the national security

for a national defense establishme
on S. 758 before the Committee on
Service, Senate. 80th Cong., 1 (194
80th Cong., 1 refers to page one (n
session). If the reference was to testi
specific individual, that would appea
date: (1947) (testimony of Gen. Geo
Marshall).
For documents printed by the Gover
Printing Office, give the full name ra
initials GPO.
of Charles Lucky Luciano. Part 1A. Retrieved
January 2, 2004, from http://foia.fbi.gov/luci
luciano1a.pdf

In-text

(Bill to Promote National Security, 1947)

(U.S. Census Bureau, 2006)
(U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 2002)
(FBI, 2001)

Reference
list

Dreamweaver MX 2004 [Computer software]. (20

San Francisco: Macromedia.
SPSS regression models (12.0 for Windows)

[Computer software]. (2003). Chicago: SPSS.

Database

Diagnostic
test

In-text

(Dreamweaver MX 2004, 2003)

(SPSS Regression Models, 2003)

Reference
list

Bedford, VA, city of. (2004). Property tax databas

Retrieved March 15, 2004, from http://www
.ci.bedford.va.us/proptax/lookup.shtml
Intellectual Property Treaties, InterAm Database.
(2004). Tucson, AZ: National Law Center for
Inter-American Free Trade. Retrieved March 1
2004, from http://www.natlaw.com/databas

In-text

(Bedford, 2004)
(Intellectual Property Treaties, 2004)

Reference
list

Tellegen, A., Ben-Porath, Y. S., McNulty, J. L., Arb

P. A., Graham, J. R., & Kaemmer, B. (2001). M
restructured clinical (RC) scales. Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Press and Pearson
Assessments.
Tellegen, A., Ben-Porath, Y. S., McNult
Arbisi, P. A. & Graham, J. R. (2003).
restructured clinical (RC) scales: D
validation, and interpretation. Min
University of Minnesota Press and
Assessments.
Interpretive manual for the test.
Microtest Q assessment system softw
MMPI-2. (2003). Version 5.07. Min
Pearson Assessments.
Scoring software for the test.

In-text

(MMPI-2 RC Scales, 2001)

(MMPI-2 RC Scales, 2003)

(Microtest Q, 2003)
Diagnostic
manual

Reference
list

American Psychiatric Association. (20

Diagnostic and statistical manual
disorders (4th ed. text revision [DS
Washington, DC: American Psychia
Association Press.

In-text

(American Psychiatric Association, Di

statistical manual of mental disorders
the first use only
(DSM-IV-TR ) for second use and later.
italicized.

Web site,
entire

Reference
list

Digital History Web site. (2004). S. Mi

Retrieved January 10, 2004, from h
.digitalhistory.uh.edu/index.cfm?
Internet Public Library (IPL) (2003, No
Retrieved January 5, 2004, from ht
.ipl.org/
(Internet Public Library, 2003) or (IPL, 2003)
(Yale History Department home page, 2003)

Web page,
with author

Reference
list

Lipson, C. (2004). Advice on getting a great

recommendation. Retrieved February 1, 2
from http://www.charleslipson.com/cour
Getting-a-good-recommendation.htm

In-text

(Lipson, 2004)

Reference
list

I Love Lucy: Series summary. (2004). Sitcom

Online. Retrieved May 4, 2005, from
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ilovelucy

In-text

(I Love Lucy: Series summary, 2004)

Web page,
no author

Weblog,
entry or
comment

E-mail or
electronic
newsgroup

Reference
list

Drezner, D. (2004, February 1). Entry post.

Retrieved February 2, 2004, from http://
.danieldrezner.com/blog/

In-text

(Drezner, 2004)

Reference
list

Personal e-mails and non-archived discussi

groups are not included in the reference list
because they cannot be retrieved by third p
You should include newsgroups, Listservs, a
archived discussions if they can be accessed
Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. (2005
27). Blending Islam and democracy: Sout
Asias unique experience [Msg]. e-Chroni
May 2005. Posted to Chicago Council on
Foreign Relations electronic mailing list,
archived at http://www.ccfr.org/publicat
pdf/may05.pdf

(Chicago Council on Foreign Relations

APA does not permit very many abbreviations in its

refe When it does, it sometimes wants them capitalized
and som Who knows why?
apa: common abbreviations in reference lists
chapter
edition
editor
number
page

chap.
ed.
Ed.
No.
p.

pages
part
revised edition
second edition

pp.
Pt.
Rev. ed.
2nd ed.

supplement
translated by
volume
volumes