APA style
The referencing guidance below is not exhaustive. For a more exhaustive guide to American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style, refer to Purdue Online Writing Lab comprehensive guide.
Guidance below is cited from: Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2016) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide, 10th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Important to note:
APA style requires that an indent measuring half an inch (known as a "hanging indent") is applied to the second and subsequent lines of a listed reference, but never the first line. Due to the formatting constraints of this website, this requirement is not reflected in the examples below; please bear this in mind when formatting your reference.
Click on the appropriate header below to expand the section and find information about how to cite a particular source in an APA style.
In-text citations
The APA style of referencing requires you to follow the author-date method of in-text citation.
Example:
Research into CBT (Kirwan, 2013) found that...
Use of &/and
Use 'and' if referring to more than one author in the text, but '&' if citing them within rounded brackets.
Example:
Brackbill, Stellman, Perlman, Walker and Farfel (2013)...
New research (Peterson, Slaughter, Moore & Wellman, 2016) has found...
Direct Quotations
If you have used a direct quotation, you also need to include the page number(s). You only need to use the author's forename initials if there is more than one author of the same name.
Example:
"quality adult support works in practice to create the conditions for children to flourish" (Hooper, 2012, p. 22)...
Works with more than one author
The number of authors there are for any given piece of work determines how the authors' names are formatted for in-text citations. The following rules apply:
1-2 authors: list both authors in every citation, for example:
Kirwan, N. and Power, C. (2013)...
2-5 authors: list all authors in the first citation, for example:
Brackbill, Stellman, Perlman, Walker and Farfel (2013)...
For every subsequent citation, use the name of the first author followed by et al. For example:
Brackbill et al., 2013...
6+ authors: If there are six or more authors, use the name of the first author that's listed followed by et al. for the in-text citation. Note that et al. is not italicized. For example:
underlying mechanisms (Reis et al., 2010)...
More than one reference by an author in the same year
If there is more than one reference by an author in the same year they are generally labelled in order of publication with a lower case letter.
Example:
...outlined by Smith (2009a, p.45) and developed further in his report (2009b, p.23)
Unknown Author(s)
If the author's name is unknown, you should give the title of the article, book or webpage.
Example:
...(British Psychological Association, 2012)
Referring to works quoted within other works
You may want to refer to a work that you haven't actually read, but which has been summarised or discussed in somebody else's work. Use: [author's surname], [year], cited in [author's surname], [year], [p. X]
Example:
...(Jones, 2014, cited in Roberts, 2015, p. 17)...
*Note: only include references where you read the original work in the list of references at the end of your work; you cannot include details about original studies if you have not read them.
Creating your bibliography/list of references
The bibliography is a list of all the sources that you have used.
Follow these rules when creating your bibliography:
arrange references in alphabetical order by author's surname.
apply an indent measuring a half an inch (known as a "hanging indent") to the second and subsequent lines of a listed reference, but never the first line. Please be aware that this instruction has not been reflected in the examples in this section, as this website does not allow for it.
use the reference title instead where there is no author or author is unknown.
use the URL instead for references with neither author nor title - such as web page references.
Follow these conventions:
place year of publication in round brackets followed by a full stop.
italicise titles of sources and volume numbers of journal articles, but not issue or page numbers.
do not enclose titles of articles within journals, or chapters within books, in quotation marks.
capitalise book titles, the first letter of the first word of a subtitle, and any proper nouns.
capitalise each major word of a journal title.
give the place of publication, followed by the publisher. If it is an American city, give the city name followed by the two-digit abbreviation of the state. If it is a non-US city, give the city name followed by the country name.
list page numbers for book chapters immediately after the title of the book in round brackets and before publication details.
indicate internet sources by Retrieved from URL, or doi. Note that APA style does not include a retrieval date for online sources.
APA also states that it is not necessary to include the name of the database when referencing online journals or ebook collections.
APA referencing style discourages the use of footnotes. However, you can use them to add additional information by using a superscript number for the footnote.
Books
Citation order and format
Author Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title. ( ed.) Place of publication: Publisher.
Example:
Lopez, S.J. & Snyder, C.R. (2011). Oxford handbook of positive psychology. (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Moneta, G.B. (2013). Positive psychology: A critical introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chapters / sections of edited books
Citation order and format
Author of the chapter/section- Surname, Initial. (Year of publication). Title of chapter/ section. In Name of editor of book (Ed.) Title of book (pp. X) Place of publication: Publisher.
Example:
Pike, G. & Brace, N. (2012). Recognition. In Braisby, N. & Gellatly, A. (Ed.) Cognitive psychology (pp. 100-133). Oxford University Press.
NB. In the example above, the publisher is a university, and the name of the place of publication is included in the name of the university - so you don't need to repeat the name as the location.
eBooks
Citation order and format
Author Surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title. (ed.) Retrieved from: URL or doi
Example:
Lindesmith, A.R., Strauss, A.L. & Denzin, N.K. (1999). Social psychology. (8th ed.) Retrieved from: http://suss.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1195922
Journal Articles
Printed journals
Citation order and format
Author Surname, Initial. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume number(Issue), page numbers
Example:
Chen, Z., Mo, L. & Honomichl, R. (2004). Having the memory of an elephant: Long-term retrieval and the use of analogues in problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 133(3), 415-433.
eJournals
Citation order and format
Author Surname, Initial. (Year of publication) Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume number (Issue), page numbers. Retrieved from URL or doi:
Example:
Knettel, B.A. (2016). Exploring diverse mental illness attributions in a multinational sample: A mixed-methods survey of scholars in international psychology. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 5(2), 128-140. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ipp0000048
Organisation or personal internet sites
Citation order and format
Author Surname, Initial. (Year the site was published/last updated). Title of internet site. DOI: or Retrieved from: url
Example:
British Psychological Society (2012). How can psychology help you. Retrieved from: http://www.bps.org.uk/psychology-public/how-can-psychology-help-you/how-can-psychology-help-you
Note: For web pages where no author can be identified, you should use the web page title. If there is no title either, use the URL.
Film
Film
Citation order and format
Director Surname, Initial. (Director), & Producers' Surnames, Initials. (Producers).(Year of distribution). Title of film [Medium]. Place of distribution: Distribution company.
Example:
Jackson, P. (Director), & Woodhouse, A. (Producers). (2015). The Stranger Calls [DVD]. London: HBO.
Television
Television
Citation order and format
Writer Surname, Initials. (Writer), Director Surname, Initials. (Director). (Year, Month Day of broadcast/copyright). Title of episode [Television series episode]. In Producer Initials. Surname (Producer). Series title. Place of broadcast: Broadcaster.
Example
Robert, G. & Woods, S. (Writers) & Murphy, E. (Director). (2017, September 20). The caretakers [Television series episode]. In N. Wilson (Producer). Doctor Who. London: BBC.
Government publications
Citation order and format
Name of government department. (Year of publication). Title (Report series and number). Retrieved from: URL
Example: Department for Engery & Climate Change. (2015). Community Energy Strategy (URN 3432d/10) Retreived from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-energystrategy
Reports (business and industry)
Citation order and format
Author Surname, Initial. (Year of publication). Title of report. Retrieved from: URL or doi
Example:
Windsor, L. (2010). The 4th annual report on climate change. Retrieved from: DOI:10.354365.340/sag
corporate author - Publisher. (Year of publication). Title of report. Place of publication: author.
Example:
International Labour Organization. (2014). Equality at work: Tackling new challenges. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
Newspaper articles
Articles from print newspapers
Citation order and format
Author - Surname, initials. (Year Month Day of publication) Title of article. Full title of newspaper, p. X.
Example:
Old, D. (2008, November 10) House price gloom. Evening Chronicle, 26 pp. 25-30.
Articles from online newspapers
Citation order and format
Author - Surname, initials. (Year Month Day of publication) Title of article. Title of website. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Young, D. (2009, November 4) House prices improving. Housing Huddle. Retrieved from https://www.housinghuddle.com/prices/improve
Podcast
Citation order and format
Producer surname, initials. (Producer). (Year of publication, date month). Title of podcast [Podcast]. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Verity, A. (Producer). (2016, 4 September). Retail sales figures [Podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/money
Tweet
Citation order and format
Author – Surname, Initials and/or [Screen name]. (Year, month day). Title of tweet [Tweet]. Retrieved from URL
Examples:
The British Library. [britishlibrary]. (2020, March 5). Isn't every day #WorldBookDay? Or is that just us...? [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/britishlibrary/status/1235492763724111873?s=20
Gaiman, N. [neilhimself]. (2020, March 25). You have my blanket permission for any of my stories Levar. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1242631908598611968?s=20
