Examples of APA Citation Style

APA CITATION STYLE: EXAMPLES
based on the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,
5th edition, CSB & SJU Reference BF 76.7 .P83 2001

See also the library's Citing Sources and the APA's official site at www.apastyle.org.

*Follow these color codes:*
*Author(s) or Editor(s)*	*Date*	*Title of Book*	*Title of Article*	*Title of Periodical*
*Volume*	*Pages*	*Place of Publication*	*Publisher or Database*	*Other Information*

See also NOTES.

See APA Style Essentials for general document guidelines.

See also In-Text Citations

Contents:

Book
Book chapter, essay, or article - when the author is credited
Book chapter, essay, or article - when no author is credited (paper version)
Book chapter, essay, or article - when no author is credited (online version)
Article in a standard encyclopedia (paper copy)
Article in a standard encyclopedia (web site version)
Journal article (paper copy)
Journal article (from an online database)
Journal article (online, on a web site)
Magazine article (paper copy)
Magazine article (from an online database)
Newspaper article (paper copy)
Newspaper article (from an online database)
Pamphlet / Brochure
ERIC document
Dissertation
Dissertation (abstract only)
Website (NOT from an online database)
Interviews, emails, phone conversations, etc.
Presentations, speeches, poster sessions, etc.
Government documents
Legal materials

(In a real paper, the following citations would be double-spaced, in hanging indent format.)

BOOK

Geissler, E. M. (1998). Pocket guide to cultural assessment (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

You can also go to WorldCat.org, search the world's largest database of library books, and click on "Cite this item" for almost any book. Its APA citations are not 100% correct, though; beware of capitalization, state of publication, and punctuation errors (see NOTES).

de Paula, T. C. M., Lagana, K., & Gonzalez-Ramirez, L. (1996). Mexican Americans. In J. G. Lipson, S. L Dibble, & P. A. Minarik (Eds.), Culture and nursing care: A pocket guide (pp. 203-221). San Francisco: USCF Nursing Press.
BOOK CHAPTER, ESSAY, or ARTICLE when no author is credited (paper version): Russians. (1998). In T. L. Gall (Ed.), Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life (Vol. 4, pp. 332-339). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.
BOOK CHAPTER, ESSAY, or ARTICLE when no author is credited (online version): Russians. (1998). Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life. Retrieved January 9, 2003 from Discovering Collection database.
ARTICLE in a STANDARD ENCYCLOPEDIA (paper copy): Islam. (1992). In The new encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. 22, pp. 1-43). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
ARTICLE in a STANDARD ENCYCLOPEDIA (web site version): Islam. (1992). In Britannica.com. Retrieved February 9, 2002 from Britannica.com database.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (paper copy): Oguisso, T. (1999). Professional nursing in Brazil. International Nursing Review, 43, 81-94.

ERIC DOCUMENT: Fredrickson, M. (2000). Parent/child communication in migrant communities. Miami, FL: Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 377 236)
DISSERTATION: If you obtain an actual dissertation (not just its abstract), in print or on microform, check the Publication Manual of the APA for complete directions on citing it properly.
DISSERTATION (abstract only, obtained on CINAHL): Crow, G. K. (1988). Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: The Southeast Asian experience: A study of the Cambodians' use of traditional and cosmopolitan health systems. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Utah, 1988). Abstract retrieved March 19, 2001 from CINAHL database.
DISSERTATION (abstract only, obtained from DAI on FirstSearch): Crow, G. K. (1988). Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: The Southeast Asian experience: A study of the Cambodians' use of traditional and cosmopolitan health systems (Doctoral dissertation, University of Utah, 1988). Dissertation Abstracts International, 49(08B), 3101. Abstract retrieved March 19, 2001 from First Search/Dissertation Abstracts International database.
WEBSITE (NOT from an online database) (for more details, see the APA's official site): The Amish, the Mennonites, and the Plain People. (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2000 from Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Web site: http://www.800padutch.com/amish.shtml

INTERVIEWS, E-MAILS, PHONE CONVERSATIONS, etc.

"Because they do not provide recoverable data, personal communications are not included in the reference list. Cite personal communications in text only. Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible." (APA Manual, section 3.102) Example: I. M. Certain (personal communication, April 1, 2000).

PRESENTATIONS, SPEECHES, POSTER SESSIONS, etc.

Like the example above, if they do not provide "recoverable data," these would not be included in the reference list and would be cited in the text only. If, however, something tangible exists (e.g. handouts of PowerPoint slides, an abstract in a conference program, etc.), it might be citable. See the APA Manual, section 4.16 D and F. Here is an example of a poster session:

Worral, P. S. & Levin, R. (2004, June). Developing a statewide research agenda. Poster session presented at the biannual meeting of the American Nurses Association, Minneapolis, MN.

Since they ask, I have suggested to students who wish to cite a presentation unofficially, for an undergraduate paper, that they could cite it like this:

Twohy, K. (2004, January 15). Testimony given at Health, Human Services and Corrections Budget Division, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT See Citing Government Documents: American Psychological Association

LEGAL MATERIALS See Citing Legal Materials in APA Style

(Remember that, in a real paper, the above citations would all be in hanging indent format.)

NOTES - to clarify some of the trickier points!

Using italics, as in the examples above, is preferred, but underlining is still acceptable.

Italicize book and journal titles, but not article titles.

APA's capitalization rules for titles can be confusing! In the reference list, capitalize the first letter of every main word of a journal, magazine or newspaper title. For book and article titles, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title, the first word of its subtitle (if it has one), and any proper names. In the text of a paper, however, the rules are different, and every main word of a title gets capitalized.

Use only the initials of the authors'/editors' first (and middle) names, leave a space between initials (e.g. Rowling, J. K., not J.K.), and link multiple names with an ampersand (&).

If no author is given, start with the title and then the date.

Use "et al" in place of the additional authors when there are more than six authors.

Journal articles: If each issue of the periodical begins with page one, include the issue number after the volume number as shown in the examples. If the page numbering continues from issue to issue, do not include the issue number.

Websites: if the date the page was created (or updated) is not given, put "n.d." (no date) in the citation in place of the date. (This is not to be confused with the date you retrieved it.)

For articles retrieved in full text from a database (e.g. ProQuest Nursing Journals), you don't need the web address (URL), just the full name of the database.

These cities can be listed without a state abbreviation because they are well known for publishing: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. In addition, when the publisher is a university and the name of the state (or Canadian province) is included in its name, do not repeat the state (or province) in the publisher location.

When typing your Reference List, double space all lines.

Use hanging indents, that is, the first line of each item should be flush left, and the second and subsequent lines should be indented. (The above examples are not displayed this way because hanging indents cannot easily be rendered on web pages.)

For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed manual, in the reference collection at both libraries. Its call number is Reference BF 76.6 .P83 2001, or other APA websites listed on Citing Sources.

Peggy L. Roske
Public Services Librarian
Clemens Library
College of St. Benedict/St. John's University
37 College Ave. South
St. Joseph, MN 56374

Email: proske@csbsju.edu

Format based on APA Citation Style from the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library.

Official Disclaimer

URL: http://employees.csbsju.edu/proske/Nursing/APA.htm

Revised: 4 October 2012