The following are tips for formatting/styling citation elements (e.g., authors' names) in your reference list or in text.
Note: In order to help illustrate the citation rules, some of the examples on this page refer to hypothetical sources.
| Reference List | In-text | |
|---|---|---|
| One author |
List the author's last name and the initial(s) of their first name
|
List the author's last name, publication year, and location of cited information (when quoting or requested by your instructor).
|
| Two authors |
List the authors' last names and the initial(s) of their first names in the order that they appear on the source. Separate the names with a comma and ampersand (&).
|
List the authors' last names, publication year, and location of cited information (when quoting or requested by your instructor).
|
| Three to twenty authors |
Include all of the authors' last names and initials of first name(s). List the authors in the order that they appear on the source. Separate each name by a comma and add an ampersand (&) before the last author's name.
|
List the first author's last name followed by "et al." and the year. Include the location of cited information when quoting or requested by your instructor.
|
| Twenty-one or more authors |
When the work has 21 or more authors, include only the first 19 names, an ellipsis, and the final name.
|
List the first author's last name followed by "et al." and the year. Include the location of cited information when quoting or requested by your instructor.
|
| Author's name in lowercase/uppercase |
Sometimes, the source may style all or part of the author's name in uppercase or lowercase. If this is the case, the first and last names of authors should begin with a capital letter and all other letters should be lowercase. Example:
Note that some authors prefer to style their names in uppercase or lowercase (e.g., bell hooks). If this is case, follow the author's preferred styling. Example: hooks, b. |
Examples Parenthetical Style: (hooks, 2004, p. 35) Narrative Style: According to hooks (2004)... |
| Group names and abbreviations |
Spell out the full name of the group author in the reference list. Example: Instead of the abbreviation APA, use the group's full name American Psychological Association in the reference list citation. |
Provide the full name of the group when first mentioning it in your text, followed by the abbreviation. After this, you may use the abbreviation of the group's name.
Parenthetical Style Example: Narrative Style Example: |
| Authors of the source have the same last name |
If you're using a source where the authors have the same last names, cite them normally in your reference list.
Example: Chen, Y., & Chen, Z. W. (2021). The impact of social media on adolescent mental health: A meta-analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68, 45-52. |
If you're using a source where the authors have the same last names, cite them normally in your in-text citations.
Parenthetical Style Example:
|
| Authors of different sources have the same last name |
If the authors of different sources have the same last name, follow the standard reference list citation format for the type of source.
Example: Lee, D. (2021). The rising tides: Climate change and coastal urban resilience. Environment Journal, 35(5), 234-256. Lee, S. (2020). Climate change. Routledge. |
If the authors of different sources have the same last name but different initials, include the authors' initials in the in-text citation to avoid confusion.
Parenthetical Style Example:
|
| Sources with the same author and year |
When you are citing two different sources that share the same author and year of publication, assign lowercase letters after the year of publication (a, b, c, etc.). Assign these letters according to which title comes first alphabetically. Use these letters in both in-text citations and the Reference list.
Example: Daristotle, J. (2015a). Name of book used as first source. Toronto, ON: Fancy Publisher. Daristotle, J. (2015b). Title of book used as second source. Toronto, ON: Very Fancy Publisher. Lin, A. (n.d.-a). Name of first blog post. Name of Blog. http://blogpostURL Lin, A. (n.d.-b). Title of second blog post. Name of Blog. http://blogpostURL |
List the author's last name and year as listed in the reference list. Examples: Paraphrasing content from the first source by this author (Daristotle, 2015a). "I am quoting from the second source by the same author" (Daristotle, 2015b, p. 50). In this sentence, I am paraphrasing from two sources by the same author (Daristotle, 2015a, 2015b). Now, I am "quoting one of two sources with no date by the same author" (Lin, n.d.-a, para. 3). |
The date of publication in the reference list citation usually takes one of the following formats. For APA, spell out the full name of the month. See the Citation Examples for information on what parts of the date are included when citing your source.
| Format | Examples |
|---|---|
| Year | (2024). |
| Year, Month Day | (2023, December 14). |
| Year, Month | (2024, February). |
| Year, Season | (2022, Fall). |
| Range of dates, or approximation of date | Use circa date "ca." when the date is approximate, such as (ca. 1875). |
| Reference List | Within Text | |
|---|---|---|
| General Format |
Generally, you will capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns (e.g., names of people). Titles and subtitles are separated by a colon. For more information on how to format titles in your References List citations, see the Citation Examples. |
When mentioning titles of stand-alone sources (such as books, journals, videos, etc.) in your text, you should italicize, write in title case, and not use quotation marks:
When mentioning titles of sources that are part of a greater whole (such as articles, chapters, encyclopedia entries, etc.) in your text, you should use quotation marks, write in title case, and not italicize:
|
| Titles & subtitles that end in a punctuation |
Omit the period that is normally added after the title. Similarly, omit the semicolon that appears before the subtitle.
Bolles, R. N. (2022). What color is your parachute? Your guide to a lifetime of meaningful work and career success. Ten Speed Press. Pratchett, T. (2012). Guards! Guards! Corgi. |
Follow the rules for general format listed above. When mentioning the title in your text, omit the period if the title appears at the end of a sentence. |
APA recommends copying and pasting the URL or DOI directly from your browser into your reference list. Do not manually split the URL when adding it to your citation. However, it is acceptable if your word processing app automatically moves part of your URL into a new line.
When a URL or DOI is extremely long or complex, you may also use shortDOIs or shortened URLs (e.g., bit.ly).
According to APA, those who are creating online-only materials can use descriptive links in their text and reference list.
Example of original citation:
Lane, J. D., & Williams, R. B. (1987). Cardiovascular effects of caffeine and stress in regular coffee drinkers. Psychophysiology, 24(2), 157-164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1987.tb00271.x
Example of citation with descriptive link:
Lane, J. D., & Williams, R. B. (1987). Cardiovascular effects of caffeine and stress in regular coffee drinkers. Psychophysiology, 24(2), 157-164.
In APA style, the publisher refers to the organization or company responsible for making a work available.
| General Format | When citing publishers, include the full name of the publisher, omitting any business-related terms (e.g., Co., Inc., Corporation). |
|---|---|
| Published by an imprint | If the work is published by an imprint, use this as the publisher of the source. For example, if the book says "published by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House," use Ballantine Books as the publisher. |
| Author is the same as the publisher | When the author is the same as the publisher, as in the case with many websites, omit the publisher element of the citation. |
| Source has two or more publishers | If the copyright page shows two or more publishers, include them in the citation separated by semicolons. For example, Guilford Press; Basic Books. |
Generally, citations are arranged in alphabetical order by the authors' last names or name of the group author. If your citations include citations that begin with the title or description of the source, alphabetize them by the first letter of the first word, ignoring the articles a, an, and the. If there are numbers in the title, treat the numbers like they were spelled out. Ignore symbols (e.g., @ or hashtag) when alphabetizing names and titles.
Example:
American Psychological Association. (2024). Ethical guidelines for social media research. https://URL
Johnson, D. B. (2022). The role of social media in political discourse. Journal of Social Media and Politics, 12(3), 123-145. https://doiURL
Nguyen, J. A. (2022a). The psychology of social media addiction. HarperCollins.
Nguyen, J. A. (2022b). Social media and relationships. Routledge.
@SocialMediaFacts. (2023). The impact of social media on mental health. https://URL
21st Century Learning. (2022). Social media and education. Penguin.
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