APA Citation Examples

The samples on this page reflect the rules found in the latest APA Manual. Consult the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for more complete information. The APA provides its own advise and examples on the APAStyle.org Web site. For items that do not quite fit any one rule, combine rules. CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY! The examples provided have not been approved or sanctioned by the American Psychological Association. They are non-authorized best guesses.

NOTE: APA format uses a hanging indentation format for citations. This Web page was designed so that the hanging indentations would appear correctly. Although the page has been checked using both Netscape and Internet Explorer on both Mac and windows computers, it is possible, depending on several other factors, that the hanging indent format may not translate accurately on your machine.

Books

See pages 248-255

Book with a Single Author

Tuleja, T. (1988). Beyond the bottom line: How business leaders are turning principles
     into profits. New York: Rosen.

Book with Two Authors

Baxandall, R., & Gordon, L. (2000). Dear sisters: Dispatches from the women's liberation
     movement. New York: Basic Books.

Edited Book

Parens, E. (Ed.) (2000). Enhancing human traits: Ethical and social implications.
     Georgetown, VA: Georgetown University Press.

Book with Two Editors

Clark, R. P. & Campbell, C. C. (Eds.) (2002). The values and craft of American journalism: 
     Essays from the Poynter Institute. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

Book with a Corporate Author


American Physical Therapy Association. (1997). Self-assessment tools for physical  
     therapists. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Book Translated into English

Bizarro Ujpán, I. (2001). Joseño: Another Mayan voice speaks from Guatemala (James D.
     Sexton, Trans.) Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Later Edition

Esposito, J. L. (1995). The Islamic threat: Myth or reality?  (2nd ed.). New York:
     Oxford University Press.

Periodicals

See pages 239-247 and the APA Web page How to Cite Information From the Internet and the World Wide Web.

A Magazine Article

Fuentes, A. (2000 June).  Won't you be my neighbor? American Demographics, 
     22, 60-62.

A Journal Article with Continuous Pagination

Iso-Ahola, S. E., & Weissinger, E. (1990). Perceptions of boredom in 
     leisure: Conceptualization, reliability and validity of the leisure 
     boredom scale. Journal of Leisure Research, 22, 17-25.

A Journal Issue Paginated by Issue

Riley-Eddins, E. A. (2001). Workforce diversity: Its value to healthcare. 
     Journal of Multicultural Nursing & Health, 7(2), 6-7.

A Journal Article Retrieved from an Online Database

Resnicow, K., Soler, R. E., Braithwaite, R. L., Selassie, M. B., & Smith, M.
     (1999). Development of a racial and ethnic identity scale for African 
     American adolescents: The survey of Black life. Journal of Black
     Psychology, 25, 171(18 pp.). Retrieved November 18, 2003 from
     InfoTrac OneFile database.
 
[Note: the last citation is an example in which the article is retrieved from an aggregated  
database that only supplies the first page followed in parenthesis with the number of pages. 
Assistance with the example was provided by the APAStyle.org's Ask the Expert.]

An Unsigned Newspaper Article

New work may provide stem cells while taking baby from equation. (2001, 
     November 6). New York Times, p. F3.

A Signed Newspaper Article

Kaufman, M. (2000, August 23). McDonald's tells farmers to treat chickens 
     better; Ethical and public health reasons noted. Washington Post, 
     p. A1.

A Signed Newspaper Article Retrieved from an Online Database

Branigin, W. (2000, November 30). Low-tech, high impact; Medical volunteers 
     answer the call in Honduras. Washington Post, p. V1. Retrieved 
     November 18, 2003 from ProQuest Newspapers database.

Non-Periodical Internet Documents

See pages 268-281 and the APA Web page How to Cite Information From the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Henderson, J. R. (2003, November 11) ICYouSee: T is for thinking: A guide 
     to critical thinking about what you see on the web. Ithaca, NY: 
     Ithaca College Library. Retrieved November 18, 2003, from
     http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/ICYouSee.html.
 

Dissertations and Theses

See pages 260-262. The APA Manual only provides an example from a dissertation available through Dissertion Abstracts International. The following example is a citation to a dissertation available from the International Institute of Sport and Human Performance. 

Sforzo, G. A. (1983). Muscle soreness after exercise: The effects of 
     early training with concentric contractions. (Master's Thesis, Purdue 
     University,1980). Microform Publications, International Institute for 
     Sport and Human Performance, University of Oregon.

 

Government Documents

For court decisions, statutes, and legislative and administrative materials, the APA defers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (17th edition, 2000; introduction available online). In the APA Manual, see pages 397-410

Hearing

Tobacco advertising: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and 
     the Environment of the Committee on Energy and Health and the 
     Environment, House of Representatives, 100th Cong., 1 (1987).