citation example in research apa

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In-Text Citations: The Basics

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 261-268 of the Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

Note:  On pages 117-118, the Publication Manual suggests that authors of research papers should use the past tense or present perfect tense for signal phrases that occur in the literature review and procedure descriptions (for example, Jones (1998)  found  or Jones (1998)  has found ...). Contexts other than traditionally-structured research writing may permit the simple present tense (for example, Jones (1998)  finds ).

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but  NOT  directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source:  Permanence and Change . Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs:  Writing New Media ,  There Is Nothing Left to Lose .

( Note:  in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized:  Writing new media .)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word:  Natural-Born Cyborgs .
• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's  Vertigo ."
• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text:  The Closing of the American Mind ;  The Wizard of Oz ;  Friends .
• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

Short quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

Formatting example for block quotations in APA 7 style.

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers. APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work. 

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Citation Examples

APA Citation Examples

This guide will show you how to structure APA citations according to the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) and will show you example citations for different source types. For information on other APA topics—such as formatting your paper, creating a title page, etc.—check out the EasyBib APA format guide.  It even has an example paper.

Table of Contents

• The Basics of APA Citations
• References vs. Citations

Formatting Author Information

• Formatting Titles and Dates

Citation Examples

• Citing Books
• Citing Journals and Articles
• Citing Various Digital Sources
• Citing Various Media Sources
• Citing Additional Sources
• APA Citation Template

Troubleshooting

The basics of apa.

We’re going to start from the beginning for all of you newbies out there, or for those of you looking for a refresher.

APA is an abbreviation which stands for American Psychological Association. This is a massive organization, responsible for creating and sharing psychology-related publications, research, and databases.

Basically, they keep psychologists and other similar roles in the loop with what’s happening in the world of psychology. With close to 120,000 members, this is THE leading world organization related to psychology.They are not officially associated with this guide, but the information here talks about their citing format and rules in depth.

Why were APA citations created and why did my teacher ask me to use this style?

Are you scratching your head, wondering what is APA style is and how this all relates to your research project? To make a long story short, the American Psychological Association did something really cool. Back in 1952, they created a way for ALL psychology researchers to structure their citations. This standard method did three things:

• Psychology researchers were all able to display the sources they used in a systematic way.
• Readers were able to easily understand the information shown in citations.
• There was enough information displayed in the citations for readers to go out and find the exact sources on their own.

APA citations were such a hit, they were so good, that other science disciplines soon adopted the citation format as well. In fact, other disciplines outside of the science world use APA style today, too. So, whether you’re creating a psychology-related research project or not, there’s a good chance you were asked to create your citations in APA style.

Currently in its 7th edition, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is one of the most frequently used style guides for academic writing today!

With the 7th edition just coming onto the scene in 2020, the American Psychological Association does not expect to see widespread usage of the 7th edition until later in 2020. This is why you should always double-check with your teacher on whether they want you to use the 6th edition or the 7th edition for your projects.

Click here for more basics on this style.

Another widely used style is MLA format . Believe it or not, there are thousands of other styles, so perhaps your teacher or professor requested a completely different one. If you’re in that boat, head to EasyBib.com to check out more styles . While you’re at it, poke around and check out our APA reference generator. It may be just what you’re looking for.

References vs. Citations – What’s the difference?

References and citations are two terms that are thrown around a lot and quite often mean the same thing. A reference, or citation, shows the reader that a piece of information originated elsewhere. But, along came APA and decided to throw a curveball at us. In APA, the two terms have two different meanings.

A citation is found in the actual writing of an APA research paper.

In-text citation example:

“Lecture-rooms are numerous and large, but the number of young people who genuinely thirst after truth and justice is small” (Einstein, 2007, p. 5).

A reference is found on the reference page, which is the last page of a research paper. 

Reference Page Example:

Einstein, A. (2007). The world as I see it. Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=aNKOo94tO6cC&source=gbs_navlinks_s (Original work published 1934)

The information included in an APA citation is just a snapshot of the information found in the full reference. For more information on when it’s appropriate to include a citation in your paper, head to section 8.1-8.10 of the Publication manual.

Now, what makes things even trickier is that most teachers and professors use the term “APA citations” when they’re actually talking about the full references. How many times have you heard your teacher say, “Make sure you have your citations on the last page!”

Eek! So, to stay on the same page as your teacher, this guide shows you how to make references for an APA reference page, but we’re calling the page “APA Citations.” Someone’s gotta give in, right? Looks like it’s us.

If you’re looking for a quick read on the citations found in the body of the paper, check out our APA Parenthetical Citation page. It’s just one of the many free APA citation guides available on EasyBib.com. Need an APA citation generator? You can find one at EasyBib.com as well!

If you’re looking for help with the writing or grammar in your paper, check out our research , pronoun , and determiner pages. We have tons of other free grammar pages too!

A rundown on references

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details on how to structure references for your APA paper, let’s get one more quick piece of information off the table.

References are added to research papers and projects only when a source is included in the writing itself.

We don’t add references to a reference page if we want to simply suggest other, similar titles. No! We create references when an actual piece of information from another source is added into the project.

Does your paper include a piece of data from a report? Great! You copied a line of text from a case study and put it in your project (with quotation marks around it)? Perfect! You included a bar graph you found in a brochure? Fantastic! Make sure you create an APA citation in the text of your paper and include the reference on the final page.

The only exception to the above rule is if you’re creating an “annotated bibliography.” For more on that, check out our APA annotated bibliography page.

In case you were wondering, the same goes for MLA in-text & parenthetical citations on the MLA works cited page.

Ready to get started? The next section of the guide is going to explain, step-by-step, how to structure every nook and cranny of your references.

But, if you’re dreaming of an APA citation maker to help make the pain go away from building your references from scratch, you’re in luck. EasyBib.com has an APA citation maker! In just a few clicks, our technology structures and styles each and every APA citation for you. If you don’t know much about it, head to the EasyBib homepage to learn more.

While you’re at it, try out our APA cover page maker, found on the main page as well!

Fundamentals of an APA citation

This entire section goes into detail on each component of a reference. If you’re looking to learn how to style the names of the authors, the title, publishing information, and other aspects related to the reference, this section is for you!

If you want to skip the small talk and see an APA style paper example, go to the “Citation Resources” menu on this page and select “APA Format Guide.” It includes a title page example, an APA paper example, and an APA reference page example.It’s all there for you and the best part about it is it’s free! Do yourself a favor and take a peek at it now!

Author information

The very first piece of information in most references is the author’s name(s). We say “most,” because some sources may not have an author (such as websites, the Bible…). If your source doesn’t have an author, do not include any information about an author in your reference.

Citing a Source with 1 Author

Apa structure:.

Last name of the Author, First initial. Middle initial.

APA Example:

To see some examples, scroll down to the bottom half of this page.

Citing a Source with 2 Authors

Does your source have two authors? Do not put the names in alphabetical order. They should be written in the order they’re displayed on the source.

Last name of the 1st listed Author, First Initial. Middle Initial., & Last name of the 2nd listed Author, First initial. Middle initial.

Doe, J. B. & Chen, W. I.

For an example of a reference with two authors according to the 7th edition of the Publication manual , scroll down to the “Journal Articles found in Print” section, or check out section 9.7-9.12 in the Publication manual.

Citing a Source with 3 to 20 Authors

Does your source have three to twenty authors? The American Psychological Association has made some updates on how to list multiple authors in your citations. If you have between three to twenty authors, list all the authors names (Last Name, Initials). Put them in the same order they’re listed in the source. Commas separate names, and put an ampersand right before the last name.

Bos, G., Hajek, S., Kogman-Appel, K., & Mensching, G. (2019). A Glossary of Latin and Italo-Romance Medico-Botanical Terms in Hebrew Characters on an Illustrated Manuscript Page (Ms. Oxford, Bodleian Opp. 688, fol. 177b). Aleph: Historical Studies in Science and Judaism 19 (2), 169-199. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/747571

Citing a Source with 21+ Authors

If your source has over twenty authors, list the last name and initials of the first 19 authors, placing a comma between each name. After the name of the 19th author, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining authors’ names. Then, list the final author’s name in front of it.

Here’s a formatting example for 21+ names using the U.S. presidents (this is NOT a reference example):

Washington, G., Adams, J., Jefferson, T., Madison, J., Monroe, J., Adams, J. Q., Jackson, A., Van Buren, M., Harrison, W. H., Tyler, J., Polk, J., Taylor, Z., Fillmore, M., Pierce, F., Buchanan, J., Lincoln, A., Johnson, A., Grant, U. S., Hayes, R. B., … Trump, D. J.

Citing an Author that is an organization or company

If your source is written by an organization or company:

Some sources are written and released by companies, not necessarily individual people. For example, most brochures at museums only display the institution’s name. Advertisements also only show the company’s name. If the source you’re attempting to cite only shows a group or organization’s name, place it in the reference in the place you’d normally include an individual person’s name.

Write out the name of the group in full; do not use abbreviations. For example, it may seem okay to use USDA, but APA writing style prefers you write out United States Department of Agriculture.

If you’re looking for information on how to style your own name in APA headings, find the example paper on EasyBib.com.

Formatting Titles & Dates

Formatting the date of publication.

The date the source was published is the next item shown in a reference. It’s directly after the author’s name.

For the majority of sources, include only the year in parentheses.

If you’re citing an article in a magazine, include the year and the month.

Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time, 135 (17), 20–21.

Check out the examples towards the bottom of the page, or head to sections 9.13-9.17 of the Publication manual to see how dates are displayed.

Title rules and capitalization

Titles are the next piece of information shown in a reference. Titles are often tricky for people to style. Students often wonder, “Should I type out the title as it’s shown on the source?” “Should the title be written in italics or underlined?” Here are the answers to (hopefully) all of your title-related questions:

Which letters are capitalized?

Most titles are written with a capital letter in these places:

• At the beginning of the title
• At the beginning of a proper noun
• At the beginning of the subtitle

It may be tempting to write the title as you see it shown on the source, or with capital letters at the beginning of every important word, but that’s not how APA referencing does it.

Here are a few examples of proper lettering:

• A star is born
• Spider-Man: Into the spiderverse
• Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

The only source types that are written with a capital letter at the beginning of every important word are periodicals. Some examples include the titles of newspapers, journals, and magazines.

• The New York Times
• School Library Journal,

How should I style the title?

• Anything that stands alone is written in italics. When we say “stands alone,” we mean it isn’t part of a larger collection. Most books are a single source, so they’re written in italics. Other examples include movies, brochures, dissertations, and music albums.
• Sources that are part of a collection are written without italics. Website pages, journal articles, chapters in books, and individual songs (from an album) are written without italics.
• Remember, the styling information above is for the APA reference page only! Citations in the text of the paper are styled differently. If you need to see a full APA sample paper, check out the other resources on EasyBib.com!

Check out some of the examples below to see how the titles are typed out and styled. You can also head to section 9.18-9.22 of the Publication Manual for more details

If it’s not the actual title, but an APA title page for your paper that you need help with, check out the Title Page APA creator on the homepage of EasyBib.com! Or, check out the main guide for this style, which includes an APA cover page template.

Additional information about a source

It can be difficult to understand a source type just by looking at an APA style citation. Sometimes it isn’t clear if you’re looking at a citation for a presentation, a blog post, lecture notes, or a completely different source type.

To clear up any confusion for your reader, you can include additional information directly after the title. This additional information about the source type is written in brackets with the first word having a capital letter.

Wilson, T. V. & Frey, H. (2019, May 13). Godzilla: The start of his story [Audio podcast]. iHeart Radio. https://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/godzilla-the-start-of-his-story.htm

Thanks to the information in the brackets, the reader can easily see that the source is an audio podcast.

Check out the various examples towards the bottom of this page.

Publication information

Publication information includes the name of the publisher. In most cases, the publication information is only included for print sources. Check out the book reference below to see the publication information in action.

Citing Books in APA

You’ll find plenty of source types below. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, try out our APA reference generator on EasyBib.com! Or, here’s a great informative site we like. If you’d like to see a full APA sample paper, take a glance at the main citation guide for this style on EasyBib.com.

Citing books in print in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of the book . Publisher.

Gaiman, N. (1996). Neverwhere . HarperCollins.

Looking for more examples? Check out our APA book citation page.

Citing a chapter in a print book in APA

A reference page APA citation for a chapter in a print book is styled the same way as the entire book. It is not necessary to showcase or display the individual chapter. However, in the text of the paper, the chapter is shown like this: (Author’s Last name, Year, Chapter #).

Citing a chapter in an edited book in print in APA

An edited book is one that was compiled by an author. Each individual chapter, or section, is written by someone else. Since you’re probably citing the specific chapter, rather than the whole entire book, place the name of the chapter’s author in the first position.

Chapter Author’s Last Name, F. M. (Year published). Chapter title. In F. M. Editor’s Last Name (Ed.), Title of book (Xrd ed., pp. x-x). Publisher.

Alexander, G. R. (2015). Multicultural education in nursing. In D. M. Billings, & J. A. Halstead (Eds.), Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (5th ed., pp. 263-281). Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=YxzmCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=edited+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwja47-0kL_iAhUV7XMBHXzQBxAQ6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q&f=false

Citing an e-book in APA

To cite an eBook, cite it the same way as you would a print book.

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of book . Publisher. URL

Alcott, L. M. (1905). Under the lilacs. Little, Brown, and Company. https://archive.org/stream/underlilacs00alco2?ref=ol#page/n9/mode/2up

If you’re using the EasyBib APA citation generator to cite your e-books, click on the “book” source type.

Gaiman, N. (2009). Coraline . HarperCollins. https://amzn.to/3cQqXAL

If you’re using EasyBib.com’s APA citation generator to cite your e-books, click on the “book” source type.

Wondering what to do if you’re using a book that was reprinted? Check out the example of Einstein’s book, found towards the top of this guide.

Citing The Bible in APA

Since the bible is considered a “classical work,” and widely known, it is not necessary to create a full reference. Only include a citation in the text of the paper.

Two items need to be included:

• The title and version of the source, such as the New Living Bible
• The names, verses, chapters, or any numbers associated with the section you’re referring to.

“Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it’s half the kingdom” (Esther 5:5 New Living Translation).

Citing Journals and Articles in APA

Citing journal articles found in print in apa.

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of journal article. Title of Journal, Volume (Issue), page range.

Reeve, A. H., Fjeldsa, J., & Borregaard, M. K. (2018). Ecologically flexible endemics dominate Indo-Pacific bird communities. Journal of Biogeography, 45 (8), 1980-1982.

Your APA style paper is easy to piece together with the tools and services on EasyBib.com. Try out our APA citation machine, which structures your references in just a few clicks. If you’re looking for the perfect APA cover page, give our APA title page maker a whirl.

Citing journal articles found online in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year published). Title of journal article. Title of Journal, Volume (Issue), page range. //dx.doi.org/10xxxxxxx

Reeve, A. H., Fjeldsa, J., & Borregaard, M. K. (2018). Ecologically flexible endemics dominate Indo-Pacific bird communities. Journal of Biogeography, 45 (8), 1980-1982. //dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13384

For more on journals, take a peek at our APA journal page. Or, make your citations in just a few clicks with our APA citation generator.

Citing newspaper articles in print in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Article’s title. Title of Newspaper, pp. xx-xx.

Boutilier, A. (2019, May 29). Facebook won’t pull fake content for election: Official says it’s not company’s role to draw line as MPs blast Zuckerberg for not testifying. Toronto Star, p. 1.

Citing newspaper articles found on the Internet in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Article’s title. Title of Newspaper . URL

Boutilier, A. (2019, May 28). Facebook refuses to remove false content during Canadian election. The Star . https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/05/28/facebook-wont-remove-doctored-content-during-canadian-election.html

Kale, S. (2020, March 9). How to keep your hands clean – without getting dry skin. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2020/mar/09/how-to-keep-your- hands-clean-without-getting-dry-skin

Citing magazines read in print in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month or Season). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume (Issue), page range.

Freedman, A. (2019, June). How to choose a gaming laptop: You can play your game and take it with you. TechLife Australia, 90, 78-81.

Citing magazine articles read over the internet in APA

Author’s Last Name, F. M. (Year, Month). Title of magazine article. Title of Magazine, Volume (Issue), page range. URL

Savage, P. (2019, May). Double dragon: Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a return to form for the singular crime series. PC Gamer , 319, 80. https://www-pressreader-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/usa/pc-gamer-us/20190521

Citing a Source on the Internet in APA

Citing digital sources in this style is much easier than other styles. If you’re wondering why, it’s because a lot of information isn’t included in the reference.

For most digital sources, only five items are usually needed:

• The name of the author
• The date the source was published
• The title of the source
• The medium (blog post, audio file, pdf, etc.)
• The website address

Here’s some more information related to web content:

• Only include the medium if it’s unique or if it will help the reader understand the source type.
• Include the website address at the end of the citation.
• Do not place a period at the end of the website address.

Have a digital source? Need to cite APA? Check out some of the examples below.

Citing a blog in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of posting). Title of post. Blog or Website name. URL

Chockrek, E. (2019, May 29). 7 summer activities that help boost your college applications.  EasyBib. https://www.easybib.com/guides/7-summer-activities-that-help-boost-your-college-applications/

See another example on our APA citation website page.

Citing social media in APA

Here’s the APA template for most social media platforms:

Last name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Day of posting). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Describe any attachment] [Tweet OR Facebook page OR Instagram photo OR Instagram post] . Site Name. URL

Lem, E. [@lemesther]. (2019, October 2). Spotted @Chegg promo celebration. Ladies who…”leopard.” Cheers to all the upcoming promos. #marketing #UEx. [Image attached [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/lemesther/status/1179549293289627650

If the name of the individual is unknown or unlisted on the profile (such as Lady Gaga), place the username first, without brackets

Ladygaga. (2019, May 20). I’m so proud of @momgerm for being asked to serve as Goodwill Ambassador for @WHO. The goal of @btwfoundation is [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/1130578727539052544

If there are emojis, try to recreate them or describe them in brackets.

Hawaii Volcanoes NPS [@Volcanoes_NPS]. (2020, February 26). Half the park is after dark! [flashlight emoji] In addition to dark night skies, evening in the park provides a great chance. [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/Volcanoes_NPS/status/1232776372801589248

For more about citing social media, head to section 10.15 of the Publication manual. 

Citing online encyclopedias & dictionaries – Group author

If you conducted or watched a personal interview and the transcript or audio is not available for the reader, then there really isn’t any point to create a full reference. These types of sources are not recoverable and the reader would be unable to find the interview on their own. Instead, only create a citation in the text of the paper. Use the first initial, middle initial, and last name of the person being interviewed, along with “personal communication,” and the date of the interview.

Institution or organization name. (n.d.). Entry title. In Title of Website or reference . Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Doleful. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 1, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doleful

Citing online encyclopedias & dictionaries – Known author

If there is a known author, cite the source this way:

Last name, F. M. (Date published). Entry title. In F. M. Last name (ed.), In Title of Website or reference . Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Mann, M. E. & Selin, H. (n.d.). Global warming. In Encyclopaedia Britannica . Retrieved March 1, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/science/global-warming

Citing Wikipedia

Cite a Wikipedia page just like a normal webpage, but use an archived version. Go to the “View history” tab at the top of a Wikipedia page to find these archived versions, their publishing date, and their URL.

Article title. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia . URL

Kinetic energy (2019, December 27). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kinetic_energy&oldid=932724138

If you want to learn how to cite websites in MLA , click on the link.

An APA generator is available to you on EasyBib.com Take the stress out of building the references for your APA style paper and try it out!

While you’re at it, it may be helpful to take a glance at our APA paper template. It can be found on the EasyBib Writing Center page. You can use the APA paper example to help structure your own APA title page and paper.

Citing Media Sources in APA

Citing a song or music listened to online in apa.

Modern songs (e.g., that song you heard on the radio this morning) should list the name of the recording artist’s name. Classical music lists the song’s composer (e.g., think Mozart, Beethoven, etc.).

Note: include a URL in the reference if that location is the only means of retrieval (like if they only post their music to SoundCloud or on their own specific website). If the song is available across multiple platforms, no URL is needed.

APA Structure for a modern song:

Artist’s Last Name, F. M. (Year published). Song’s title [Song].  On Title of album . Publisher(s).

Grande, A. (2019). 7 rings [Song]. On thank u, next . Republic Records.

APA Structure for a classical song:

Artist’s Last Name, F. M. (Year published). Song’s title [Song recorded by Artist’s Name]. On Title of album . Publisher.

Bach, J. S. (1997). Toccata and Fugue in D minor [Song recorded by William McVicker]. On Great organ classics. Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.

Sheet music in APA

To cite APA sheet music, cite it exactly the same as a book. If it’s found online, cite it as a website.

Citing streamed videos in APA

Use this format if you’re citing a video found online (such as an APA citation for a YouTube video ).

Person who posted the video’s Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Day of posting or publishing). Video’s title [Video]. URL

Vliegenthart, S. [booksandquills]. (2018, December 3). Books from uni we didn’t hate [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G52GCgpEZg

If the name of the individual isn’t available, start with the username, and remove the brackets.

APA Examples:

Chegg. (2018, November 15). One common grammar error to avoid [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bfx50f853g

Maroon 5. (2018, May 30). Girls like you ft. Cardi B [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/aJOTlE1K90k

If you’re in need of an APA citation machine to do the work for you, check out the homepage on EasyBib.com! We even have a free Title Page APA creator on the main page as well!

Citing a film or movie in APA

Director’s Last Name. F. M. (Director). (Year published). Film’s title [Film]. Publisher(s) or URL

Gerwig, G. (Director). (2017). Lady bird [Video]. IAC Films; Scott Rudin Productions.

Citing Additional Sources in APA

Citing a published thesis or dissertation from a database in apa.

Author’s Last Name, F. M. (Year created). Thesis or Dissertation’s title [Master’s thesis OR Doctoral dissertation, Name of Institution]. Name of database or archive.

Schluckebier, M. E. (2013). Dreams worth pursuing: How college students develop and articulate their purpose in life [Doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa]. ERIC.

If you’re looking for an APA citation builder to do the work for you, check out EasyBib.com’s APA generator!

Citing a conference paper in APA

Author’s Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Days of Conference). Title of conference paper [Type of presentation]. Conference Name, Location. URL or DOI.

Fowle, M. (2018, September). The entrepreneurial dream: Happiness, depression, and freedom [Conference presentation]. European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreunership, Aviero, Portugal.

Citing an interview in APA

W. I. Ikemoto (personal communication, June 2, 2019)

If the interview is recoverable, include the full reference on the final page of the project. If the interview was found in a magazine, use the magazine structure. If the interview was read on a blog, use the blog structure. Look for the APA headings above that match your specific source type.

Don’t forget, our APA citation machine structures pretty much everything for you. Find it on EasyBib.com’s homepage and give our APA citation generator a try.

Didn’t find what you needed? Still a bit confused? Learn more here . You can also take the guesswork out of making your references with our handy APA citation generator, found at the top of this page.

Putting it All Together

You’ve structured your sources correctly, right? You have the periods, italics, and commas where they belong? Capital letters where they’re supposed to be? Great! You’re almost through! The last step is organizing your citations properly on the page. For easy to follow, in-depth instructions on structuring the last page in your project, check out our APA reference page . If you’d like to see a sample APA paper, check out the main guide for this style on EasyBib.com!

Before you hit submit, make sure you run your paper through our plagiarism checker . It checks for instances of accidental plagiarism and scans for spelling and grammatical errors. Even if you think you have every verb , adverb , or interjection where it belongs, you may be surprised with what our innovative technology suggests.

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Solution #1: How to cite a photo with no creator, date, or title in APA

• Describe the photo and place brackets around it.
• Add “n.d” with parentheses around it.
• List where the reference was found without italics.
• Follow with the URL information of where you found the photo if it was found online.

Example of a photo citation with no creator, date, or title

[Photograph of two hens in a barn]. (n.d). Theoretical Prints. http://Theoretical_Prints.org/two-hypothetical-hens/

Solution #2: How to cite a dictionary entry in APA

Dictionary entry in print

• List the organization or the author’s name in last name, first name initial, and middle name initial (if there is one) with a period following.
• Use n.d if the date is not listed.
• List the name of the dictionary term. Capitalize the first letter and use a period after.
• Write “In” followed by the name of the dictionary used. The dictionary name should be italicized.
• In parentheses, write the volume abbreviated as “Vol.” followed by the volume number and page number. Add a period after it.

Examples for a printed dictionary entry citation

Hypothetical Association of Learning. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 3).

Johnson, C. K. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 3).

Dictionary entry from an online source

• Use “n.d” if the date is not listed.
• Write the name of the dictionary in italics and follow it with a period.
• Write “Retrieved” then the date you accessed the entry online in this format: Month Day, Year. End it with a comma.
• Write “from” and add the page URL.

Examples for an online dictionary entry citation

Hypothetical Association of Learning. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary.   Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https;//dictionary.hypothetical.org/dictionary/English/cake

Johnson, C. K. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https;//dictionary.hypothetical.org/dictionary/English/cake

Solution #3: How to ensure that an auto-generated citation in APA style is correct

• Ensure that the correct number of people are accredited by counting the names in the source and the website citation.
• Ensure that all names are spelled correctly.
• If 2-20 authors are used, ensure that an ampersand is used before the last name.
• If more than twenty authors are used, ensure that an ellipsis is used before the final author.
• Check to make sure that the date is correct and that the month or year do not need to be adjusted.
• Generally, works cited as a whole, such as books, are written in italics, while shorter works that are part of a bigger work, such as a chapter in a book or articles from a periodical (e.g., journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.), are usually in regular font.
• The title of webpages are italicized, while the title of the site they are on is in regular font.
• Social media post citations use the written post content (up to 20 words) as the title. This “title” should be italicized.
• If using a chapter, make sure that the editor is accredited.
• If using an article, make sure that the journal number is italicized and that the volume number is in parentheses.
• Make sure that your links are active and that they bring you to the correct location. You may need to rewrite the link.

Published August 2, 2019. Updated March 10, 2020. 

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau . Michele Kirschenbaum is a dedicated school library media specialist and one of the in-house EasyBib librarians. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide
• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

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APA Citation Examples | Books, Articles, Webpages, Reports

APA provides different reference formats for more than 100 source types. Therefore, it’s essential to first determine what kind of source you’re dealing with. In some cases, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Sources can take the form of a webpage or PDF file, but this is just the medium. When digging deeper, you may find that this webpage is actually a newspaper article, blog article, or press release. The PDF file could be a government report, journal article, or brochure.

Choose the most appropriate source type from the list below. Can’t find a suitable one? Check out the official APA Style website for even more reference examples. Or try our free APA Citation Generator to create citations automatically.

Periodicals

• Journal article
• Newspaper article

Reports and gray literature

• Press release
• Dissertation or thesis
• Conference paper

Books and reference works

• Dictionary entry
• Encyclopedia entry

Audiovisual works

• Movie or documentary
• YouTube video

Online media

• Personal communication
• Tables and figures

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• No Author, Date, or Title in APA Style | Formats & Examples

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APA (American Psychological Association) style is most frequently used within the social sciences, in order to cite various sources. This APA Citation Guide provides the general format for in-text citations and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed.

In APA style, two citations are used to cite a source:

• A short citation used in the text (called the in-text citation ).
• A full citation (called the reference ) in the reference list at the end of a paper.

The in-text citation is a short citation that is placed next to the text being cited. The in-text citation lets the reader know that the information came from the cited source. The reference list entry provides complete details of a source and is shown at the end of a document.

In order to properly cite a source in APA style, you must have both citation types in your paper. Every in-text citation has a reference list entry. Every reference list entry has at least one (maybe more) corresponding in-text citation.

In-text citations

The basic elements needed for an in-text citation are the author’s surname and the publication year . Sometimes, page numbers are also included, especially when quotes are mentioned in the text. In-text citations are mentioned in the text in two ways: as a narrative citation or a parenthetical citation.

Narrative citations are incorporated into the text and act as a part of the sentence. Usually, narrative citations use the author’s name in the text and the publication year is enclosed in parenthesis after the name. An example of a narrative citation for one author is given below:

Barbarin (2013) examined socioemotional learning in African boys.

Parenthetical

Parenthetical citations add the author’s name and the publication year at the end of the sentence in parenthesis. An example of a parenthetical citation is given below:

Inhibition and working memory in young children were studied extensively (Aase, 2014).

When are page numbers are included?

Page numbers are referred to within in-text citations when quotes are used. Examples of both narrative citations and parenthetical citations are given below.

Ahmed (2004, p. 44)

Ahmed (2004, pp. 53–56)

Parenthetical:

(Ahmed, 2004, p. 44)

(Ahmed, 2004, pp. 53–56)

Examples of in-text citations

Here are a few examples of in-text citations for a different number of authors:

Use the surname of the author in in-text citations. Use a comma before the publication year in parenthetical citations.

Narrative: 

Bucher (2018)

Parenthetical: 

(Bucher, 2018)

Two authors

Separate the author surnames with an “and” in narrative citations. Use an ampersand symbol (&) in parenthetical citations.

Popescu and Pennacchiotti (2010)

(Popescu & Pennacchiotti, 2010)

Three or more authors

Use the first author surname name followed by et al.

van Dijck et al. (2018)

(van Dijck et al., 2018)

Group author

Treat the group author similar to how you would treat author names.

Auger Collaboration (2003)

(Auger Collaboration, 2018)

If there is no author for the source, use the source title in place of the author’s name. In general, sources with no author appear as parenthetical citations.

When you add such in-text citations, you will either italicize the text or place it in quotations. If the source title is italicized in the reference list entry, italicize the title in the in-text citation. If the title is not italicized, place it in quotation marks.

Parenthetical, book:

( Nothing here , 1997)

Parenthetical, journal article:

(“Examination of parrotfish impact on coral reefs,” 2018)

Reference list entries

Reference list entries are also called full citations. There are four main details that most reference list entries have:

• The author field.
• The publication year.
• The title of the work ( italicized or in “quotation marks”).
• The source from where the reference can be obtained (e.g., URL, DOI, etc.).

Depending on the source type, you will also need additional details like volume number, publication title, contributors, medium, etc.

Examples of reference list entries

Below are a few examples of different types of reference entries along with their templates. The examples given are for one author. Note that “F” and “M” in the templates denote the first and the middle initials of an author’s name.

The title of the book is set in italics and sentence case.

Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the book . Publisher.

Ahmed, S. (2014). The cultural politics of emotion . Edinburgh University Press.

Journal article

The title of the article is in sentence case. The first word of a subtitle is capitalized. The journal title and the volume number are set in italics. If an article has a DOI it should always be included. Use “https://doi.org/” before the DOI. If there is no DOI for an online journal, include the URL instead. Do not use a period after the DOI or URL.

Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range. URL or DOI

Collins, R. (2004). Rituals of solidarity and security in the wake of terrorist attack. Sociological Theory, 22 (1), 53–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2004.00204.x

Newspaper or magazine article

Newspaper and magazine articles take the same style. The title of the article is in plain text and sentence case; the title of the newspaper or the magazine is set in italics. Follow the format given in the template and example for setting the date, month, and year.

Surname, F. M. (Date of publication). Title of the article. Title of the Newspaper or Magazine . URL

TNN. (2021, July 18). Parents have a habit of comparing kids to others but you don’t need to. The Times of India . https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//home/sunday-times/parents-have-a-habit-of-comparing-kids-to-others-but-you-dont-need-to/articleshow/84507857.cms

The webpage title is in plain text, while the Website name is set in italics. Follow the format given in the template and example for setting the date, month, year, and URL.

Author or Organization Name. (Year, Month Day of Publication ). Webpage title. Title of the Website. URL

Lamberth, H. (2021, August 12). Binge drinking is problem drinking: How to get back in control. PSYCOM . https://www.psycom.net/binge-drinking-problem-drinking

YouTube video

The video title is set in sentence case and italicized. The first word after a colon is capitalized. The word “Video” is enclosed in brackets after the video title. This is followed followed by the word “YouTube.” Finally, the link is given. Note that a period is not given after the URL.

Uploader’s name, F. (Year, Month Day Published). Video title [Video]. YouTube. URL

Ananta, P. (2021, February 21). APJ Abdul Kalam inspirational quotes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjfL51RFL2k

Reference entries for different number of authors

The number of authors in the source decides how the author name(s) will be set in the references list. Here, you will see many journal references with different numbers of authors.

List the author name followed by the publication year.

Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range.

Spitka, T. (2017). Mediating among mediators: Building a consensus in multilateral interventions. International Negotiation, 23 , 1–30.

Separate the author names by an ampersand. Use a comma between the first author’s initial and the ampersand symbol.

Author Surname, F. M., & Author Surname, F. (Publication Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range. DOI or URL

Bernstein, B., & Solomon, J. (1999). Pedagogy, identity and the construction of a theory of symbolic control: Basil Bernstein questioned by Joseph Solomon. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20 (2), 265–279. https://doi:10.1080/01425699995443

When you add two organizations in the author field, do not use a comma before the ampersand.

Organization 1 & Organization 2. (Publication Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range. DOI or URL

American Psychological Association & American Psychological Society. (2020). Psychology of children. Journal of Child Psychology, 34 (23), 1–12.

3–20 authors

List all author names. Do not forget to insert an “ampersand” before the last author. The example given below is for three authors.

Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., & Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range. DOI or URL

Pyysiäinen, J., Halpin, D., & Guilfoyle, A. (2017). Neoliberal governance and ‘responsibilization’ of agents: Reassessing the mechanisms of responsibility-shift in neoliberal discursive environments. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 18 (2), 215–235. https://doi:10.1080/1600910X.2017.1331858

More than 20 authors

List the names of the first 19 authors followed by an ellipsis. Add the final author name after the ellipsis but without the ampersand symbol before the last author name.

Author Surname1, F. M., Author Surname2, F. M., Author Surname3, F. M., Author Surname4, F. M., Author Surname5, F. M., Author Surname6, F. M., Author Surname7, F. M., Author Surname8, F. M., Author Surname9, F. M., Author Surname10, F. M., Author Surname11, F. M., Author Surname12, F. M., Author Surname13, F. M., Author Surname14, F. M., Author Surname15, F. M., Author Surname16, F. M., Author Surname17, F. M., Author Surname18, F. M.,  Author Surname19, F. M,¼ Last Author name, F. M. (Publication Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range. DOI or URL

Fox, J., Harper, D., Bird, A., Kindler, F. A., Feng, H.-G., Seng, A. L., Sevel, K., Ed, E., Nell, A., Ten, T., Elin, K. J., Thomas, A., Thendy, S., Fall, W., Fint, E., Gurdy, A. K., Dondy, D., Egert, E., Nanda, A. L., ¼ Long, G.  (2015). Pedagogising knowledge: Bernstein’s theory of the pedagogic device. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 23 (4), 571–582.

For additional information on APA format, select from one of the source types below. For help creating APA citations, check out the BibMe APA citation generator.

Source Types:

• How to cite a Book in APA
• How to cite a Magazine in APA
• How to cite a Newspaper in APA
• How to cite a Website in APA
• How to cite a Journal Article in APA
• How to cite a Film in APA
• How to cite an Interview in APA
• How to cite a Lecture in APA
• How to cite a TV Show / Radio Broadcast in APA
• How to cite an Encyclopedia in APA
• How to cite a Photograph in APA
• APA 7 Updates

APA Format:

• In-Text Citation Basics
• Reference Page

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As per Section 8.17 from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , for any work that has three or more authors, the name of the first author and “et al.” should be used as in-text citation. The Latin phrase “et al” means “and others” and is used to reduce the citation length.

Example In-Text Citation Entry:

No stretch of reason can categorize cultural appropriation as imaginary (Rahim et al., 2020).

Sometimes, the same set of initial authors and the same publication year appear in a paper. In such rare circumstances, as per Section 8.18 of the APA manual, write out as many names as needed to differentiate between these similar references.

Example In-Text Citation Entries:

Miller, John, Reighstag et al. (2018)

Miller, John, Amudsen, et al. (2018)

As per Section 8.21 and Table 8.1 of the APA Publication Manual , a citation for a group author may be abbreviated in in-text citations. It is not compulsory to do so; however, if the group author is well known or if it appears at least thrice in the paper, then the name of the group may be abbreviated.

Parenthetical in-text citation template and example:

(Full Name of the Group [Abbreviation], year)

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2018)

Whether it is a narrative or parenthetical in-text citation, the full name of the group should be mentioned in the first instance, along with the abbreviation.

Narrative in-text citation examples:

The American Psychological Association (APA, 2017) argues that… (first instance)

As per the APA (2017), it is standard practice that… (subsequent instances)

In-Text Citations

In scholarly writing, it is essential to acknowledge how others contributed to your work. By following the principles of proper citation, writers ensure that readers understand their contribution in the context of the existing literature—how they are building on, critically examining, or otherwise engaging the work that has come before.

APA Style provides guidelines to help writers determine the appropriate level of citation and how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

We also provide specific guidance for in-text citation, including formats for interviews, classroom and intranet sources, and personal communications; in-text citations in general; and paraphrases and direct quotations.

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Instructional Aids

Guides, checklists, webinars, tutorials, and sample papers for anyone looking to improve their knowledge of APA Style

APA 7th Edition Citation Examples

• Volume and Issue Numbers
• Page Numbers
• Undated Sources
• Citing a Source Within a Source

Citing a Source within a Source

• In-Text Citations
• Academic Journals
• Encyclopedia Articles
• Book, Film, and Product Reviews
• Online Classroom Materials
• Conference Papers
• Technical + Research Reports
• Court Decisions
• Treaties and Other International Agreements
• Federal Regulations: I. The Code of Federal Regulations
• Federal Regulations: II. The Federal Register
• Executive Orders
• Charter of the United Nations
• Federal Statutes
• Dissertations and Theses
• Interviews, E-mail Messages + Other Personal Communications
• Social Media
• Business Sources
• PowerPoints
• AI: ChatGPT, etc.

Scenario: You read a 2007 article by Linhares and Brum that cites an earlier article, by Klein. You want to cite Klein's article, but you have not read Klein's article itself.

Reference list citation

Linhares, A., & Brum, P. (2007). Understanding our understanding of strategic scenarios: What role do chunks play? Cognitive Science , 31 (6), 989-1007. https://doi.org/10.1080/03640210701703725

Your Reference list will contain the article you read, by Linhares and Brum. Your Reference list will NOT contain a citation for Klein's article.

In-text citation

Klein's study (as cited in Linhares & Brum, 2007) found that...

Your in-text citation gives credit to Klein and shows the source in which you found Klein's ideas.

See  Publication Manual , p. 258.

• << Previous: Undated Sources
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• Last Updated: Mar 18, 2024 12:55 PM
• URL: https://libguides.umgc.edu/apa-examples

APA Style (7th ed.): Citation Guide

• Getting Started with APA
• Formatting a Paper in APA
• Citing Sources in APA
• What are you citing?

Books & Ebooks

Journal articles, magazines & newspapers, web sources, images & art, music & audio, government sources, generative ai & chatbots, personal communication.

• Other APA Resources
• Citation Guides Homepage

Ask A Librarian

What type of information do you need to cite?

Use the links below or scroll to find the type of information.

• Book (print)
• Edited Chapter in a Book
• Article in a Reference Book

Book with DOI

Author Last Name, F. (Year).  Book Title . Publisher. https://doi.org/xxx

(O'Connor & Weatherall, 2019)

O'Connor, C., & Weatherall, J. O. (2019).  The misinformation age: How false beliefs spread . Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv8jp0hk.11

Book without DOI

Author Last Name, F. (Year).  Book Title . Publisher.

(Ogden, 2021)

Ogden, D. (2021).  The werewolf in the ancient world . Oxford University Press.

Book with a Corporate Author

Company name. (Date).  Book Title, Edition, Publisher.

(American Heart Association, 2010)

American Heart Association. (2010).  The New American Heart Association Cookbook (8th ed.). Clarkson Potter.

Edited Chapter in a Book (anthology or collection)

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of essay or chapter. In Editor Name (Ed.),  Book title  (pages). Publisher.

(Russ, 2017).

Russ, J. (2017).The image of women in science fiction. In R. Latham (Ed.),  Science fiction criticism: An anthology of essential writings (pp. 200-210).    Bloomsbury.

Reference Book (Encyclopedia or Dictionary) with no author

Entry name.   (Date) . In Editor Name (Ed.),  Book Title (version) .  Publisher.

("Detecting werewolves," 2011)

Detecting werewolves. (2011). In B. Steiger,  The werewolf book: The encyclopedia of shape-shifting beings  (2nd ed.). Visible Ink Press.

Ebook with no DOI (from Library Database)

(Cite exactly like a print book. Don't include the database name.)

Author Last Name, F. (Date).  Book Title . Publisher. 

(Groom, 2018)

Groom, N. (2018).  The vampire: A new history . Yale University Press.

Ebook with no DOI (Online)

Author Last Name, F. (Date).  Book Title . Publisher. URL

(Cervantes)

Cervantes Saavedra, M. (n.d.).  The history of Don Quixote (J. Ormsby, Trans.). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/996

• Journal Article with DOI
• Journal Article without DOI

Journal Article with a DOI 

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of article.  Title of Journal,   vol (no), pages. https://doi.org/xxx

(Klopov et al.,  2023)

Klopov, I., Shapurov, O., Voronkova, V., Nikitenko, V., Oleksenko, R., Khavina, I., & Chebakova, Y. (2023, November). Digital transformation of education based on artificial intelligence.  TEM Journal,  12( 4), 2635-2644. https://doi.org/10.18421/TEM124-74

Journal Article without DOI (print or online)

NOTE: Cite online journals articles without a DOI as you would a print journal. You do not need to name the database.

If the article is open access online (not in a database), you can choose to add a link to the article.

Author Last Name, F. (Date), Title of article.  Title of Journal,   vol (no), pages.

(Jawer, 2023)

Jawer, M. (2023, Spring). Emotion: The connective tissue of atmospheres and haunts.  Journal of Scientific Exploration,  37 (1), 88-105.

• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article

Magazine Article in Print 

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of article.  Title of Magazine, vol (no), pages.

(Bhargava, 2023)

Bhargava, R. (2023, Winter). Can you read culture?  Inc.,   45( 6), 24.

Magazine Article from Library Database (no DOI)

Cite same as a print magazine.

(Fink, 2023)

Fink, T. J. (2023, December 31). AI content detector: How to spot AI creations.  Laptop.

Magazine Article from Website

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of article.  Title of Magazine, vol (no), pages. URL

(Pang, 2024)

Pang, A. (2024, January 25). Rest takes hard work.  Time. https://time.com/6566763/rest-takes-hard-work-essay/

Newspaper Article - Print

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of article.  Title of Newspaper , pages.

(Smith, 2023)

Smith, D. G. (2023, January 8). Here to help: How to overcome task paralysis.  The  New York Times , A3+.

Newspaper Article - Online 

In APA 7th ed., articles published in online news sources (ex- BBC News, Bloomberg, CNN, Reuters) will have the title of the article italicized but not the name of the source.

Sources that have both an online and print presence (ex-  Washington Post  or  New York Times )

Available Online Only

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of article . Source. URL

(Bloom, 2024)

Bloom, J. (2024, February 1). Could AI "trading bots" transform the world of investing? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68092814

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of article.  Title of Source . URL

(Mizan, 2024)

Mizan, N. (2024, January 26). Girl Scout cookies price hike: What's the price per box and where is the money going?  Houston Chronicle.  https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/retail/article/girl-scouts-cookies-price-increase-18628206.php

• Social Media

Webpage without an author

Title of webpage. (Date). Source. URL

("Shrinking Moon," 2024).

Shrinking moon causing moonquakes and faults near lunar south pole. (2024, January 25).  NASA.  https://www.nasa.gov/earth/moon/shrinking-moon-causing-moonquakes-and-faults-near-lunar-south-pole/

Social Media Post

Cite only original content from social media platforms. (For example, if an article is shared, cite the article instead.)

If there are audiovisuals like photos or videos, indicate them in square brackets after the text of the post.

Don't alter the spelling or capitalization of the post, retain hashtags and links, replicate emojis if possible or put the name of the emoji in brackets.

(Emoji names can be found at https://unicode.org/emoji/charts/index.html )

Author, A. [@username]. (Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Description of audiovisuals]. Site name. URL

Example (Twitter / X):

(Lone Star College, 2019).

Lone Star College [@lonestarcollege]. (2019, December 11). [partying face] We received approval to offer bachelor’s degrees, including Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Bachelor of Applied Technology in Cybersecurity; and Bachelor of Applied Science in Energy, Manufacturing & Trades Management. [clapping hands] [star-struck] [woman student] [man student] chron.com/neighborhood/m...via @houstonchron [Image attached]. X. https://twitter.com/lonestarcollege/status/1204842366357651456

Example (Instagram):

(Lone Star College, 2024).

Lone Star College [@lonestarcollege]. (2024, January 12). The Houston Business Journal named Mario K. Castillo, J.D., LSC chancellor among the Top 100 Texans who have made an impact in 2023. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C2BElOfMWpc/

Author, F. or username. Title of Post.  Title of Blog.  URL

(McAdoo, 2023).

McAdoo, T. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT.  APA Style . https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

Online Video

NOTE: the author is who uploaded the video, not necessarily the video's creator.

Author, F. [username]. (Date).  Title of video  [Video]. Platform title. URL

Example (YouTube):

(Pocket Gamer, 2015)

Pocket Gamer. (2015, August 28). What is 8-bit?  | What are 8-bit graphics, anyway? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/QaIoW1aL9GE?si=k5qbVyciaWhf8Y37

Example (TED Talk):

(Shaw, 2015)

Shaw, G. (2015, February). Why people believe they can't draw [Video]. TEDx. https://www.ted.com/talks/graham_shaw_why_people_believe_they_can_t_draw

Movie / Film

The Director is usually used as the author, but if unknown, another similar role may be used. 

You don't need to specify how you watched a film (e.g. DVD, in theater, streaming online), but you can give identifying version information inside the brackets following Film.

If streaming online, you can add the URL.

Last Name, F. (Director). (Date). Title of work [Film]. Production Company. 

(Coogler, 2018).

Coogler, R. (Director). (2018).  Black panther  [Film]. Marvel Studios.

(Parker, 1995)

Parker, O. (Director). (1995).  Othello  [Film]. Columbia Pictures. https://digitalcampus.swankmp.net/lsconline395001/play/5b248cf117888f54?referrer=direct

Episode of a TV Series

Include writer(s) and the director for the episode and include their contribution in parentheses.

You don't need to specify how you watched it.

Last name, F. (Writer), & Last name, F. (Director). (Date). Title of episode (Season no., Episode no.) [TV Series episode]. In P. P. Producer (Executive Producer),  Title of TV Series.  Production company.

(van Munster & Doganieri, 2001)

van Munster, B. (Writer & Director), & Doganieri, E. (Writer). (2001, November 21). To the physical and mental limit (Season 1, Episode 10) [TV Series Episode]. In E. Doganieri & B. van Munster (Executive Producers),  The Amazing Race. Earthview; Jerry Bruckheimer Television; CBS Productions .

Include producers and include their contribution in parentheses.

For the date, include the series run. If still ongoing, use start date - present.

Last name, F., & Last name, F. (Producers). (Date).  Title of TV Series.  Production company.

(Fogelman, 2016-2022)

Fogelman, D. (Executive Producer). (2016-2022).  This is us  [TV Series]. Rhode Island Ave. Productions; Zaftig Films; 20th Century Fox Television.

• Image (online)

Clip Art or Stock Image

Online image with a title.

Artist's Last Name, F. (Date). Title of image  [Medium]. Source .  URL

(Beaton, n.d.)

Beaton, K. (n.d.). Tesla, Marconi, Edison [Comic].  Hark! A Vagrant.  http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=256

Artwork Viewed Online

Artist's Last Name, F. (Date). Title of image  [Medium]. Source . URL

(O'Keefe, 1938)

O'Keefe, Georgia. (1938). Red Hill and White Shell [Painting]. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/17860/red-hill-and-white-shell?ctx=c469d6c7436b6ddfaeba46e287e6d599ebbed0c0&idx=0

Instructions are for citing but not reproducing clip art or stock images. To reproduce, you may also need permission and/or a copyright admission in addition to the citation. See the APA Style guide for Clip Art or Stock References .

You don't need to cite images from Microsoft Office.

Author, A. (Date). Title of image  [Medium]. Source .  URL

(liftarn, 2024)

liftarn. (2024, February 7). Cartoon raccoon holding a blank sign [Clip art]. Openclipart. https://openclipart.org/detail/346730/cartoon-raccoon-holding-blank-sign

Single Song or Track

Artist, A. (Date). Title of song [Song]. On Title of album. Recording   Label.

(Lipa, 2023).

Lipa, D. (2023). Dance the Night [Song]. On  Barbie the album.  Atlantic.

Music Album

Artist, A. (Date). Title of album  [Album]. Recording Label.

(Bowie, 1972).

Bowie, D.  The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars  [Album]. RCA Records.

Audiobook without a DOI

Author Last name, F. (Date). Title (F. Lastname, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Publisher. URL

(Cline, 2011).

Cline, E. (2011).  Ready Player One  (W. Wheaton, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Random House Audio. https://www.audible.com/pd/Ready-Player-One-Audiobook/B005FRGT44

Podcast Episode

Host Last name, F. (Host). (Date). Title of episode (No.) [Audio podcast episode]. In  Title of podcast.  Production Company. URL 

(Gonzalez & Malone, 2023).

Gonzalez, S. & Kenny Malone (Hosts). (2023, December 13). Why '90s ads are unforgettable [Audio podcast episode]. In  Planet Money.  NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1197956022/got-milk-soap-operas-advertising

Host Last name, F. (Host). (Date range). Title of podcast [Audio podcast]. Production Company. URL

(Fishel et al., 2022-present).

Fishel, D., Strong, R., & Friedle, W. (Hosts). (2022-present).  Pod Meets World.  iHeart Radio. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-pod-meets-world-98589488/

• Laws and Court Cases
• Government Agency Publications

Legal References

In APA Style, most legal references are cited using the standard legal citation style, even though this differs from most APA Style rules.

Name v. Name, Volume Reporter Abbreviation Page (Year). URL

( Brown v. Board of Education , 1954).

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483

Statutes ( Laws and Acts)

Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL

(Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Fair Use, 1992).

Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use, 17 U.S. Code § 107. (1992). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

Government Webpage

Author Last Name, F. (Date). Title of webpage . Site name. URL.

Without an individual author:

Organization Name. (Date). Title of webpage.  Site name. URL.

(United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023).

United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023, September 6). Librarians and media specialists.  Occupational Outlook Handbook.  https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/librarians.htm

Author Last Name, F. (Date).  Title of Report  (Report No.). Publisher. URL

(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2023).

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2023, December 14). 2023 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (Report no. 23(24)-0091-EF).  Department of Health and Human Services. https://govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CMR-HE20_6500-00184279/pdf/CMR-HE20_6500-00184279.pdf

Generative AI & Chatbots

APA has provided some new and developing guidance on how to cite AI generated content in your paper.

Best Practices for AI Content

• cite generative AI whenever paraphrasing, quoting, or incorporating AI generated work into your work
• acknowledge within your paper in a note or other means any functional ways that you used AI in your work (ex- editing your writing, translating words)
• be sure to check all secondary sources that the AI might cite (VERY IMPORTANT!)
• Within the text of your paper, describe the prompt given to the AI and the result. If needed, you can add the full-text of the output generated in an Appendix and reference the Appendix in your paper.

Author: 

APA recommends using the creator of the AI as the author element. 

For example, the author of ChatGPT content would be OpenAI. 

Title: 

Use the name of the chatbot used. Include in parentheses information about the version.

Date: 

Date the content was generated.

Location: 

URL for the tool

AI Publisher Name. (Year).  Title of AI Service  (Version) [Model description]. URL

When prompted with "describe the history of werewolves," the ChatGPT-generated text indicated....

OpenAI. (2024).  ChatGPT (3.5) [Large Language Model]. https://chat.openai.com

• How to cite ChatGPT APA Style blog post about citing generative AI in APA style

Any information sources that are not recoverable by the reader are considered personal communication. This includes things like personal interviews, emails, text messages, online chats, telephone conversations, live speeches, unrecorded classroom lectures, and memos.  

You should only cite personal communication when no recoverable source is available.

Since the information is not retrievable, they are not included in the References list, just within the text of the paper itself.

Personal Interview

(Initial and Last Name of Communicator, personal communication, Date)

(D. Smith, personal interview, January 15, 2024)

(M. Hopwood, personal email communication, February 15, 2023)

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• Last Updated: Aug 12, 2024 9:01 AM
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