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APA Citation Style (Old)

This guide will help you with formatting your citations according to the APA guidelines.

Citing Articles

 

Articles are found in journals, magazines, and newspapers. However, it can be confusing to find articles because journals and magazines are also called periodicals.  During your studies you will be accessing electronic and print articles. The most difficult task when citing articles is establishing what type and format you are using.

  • Do you have an online journal article? 
  • Is it an article from a print journal?
  • Is your article from a magazine or newspaper?
  • Is it an article found in a database licensed by your library?

Journals are generally scholarly (often referred to as academic or peer-reviewed), and magazines are commonly more for general use.

DOIs and Article References (p. 299)

 

If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is listed on either a print or an electronic source, it must be included in the reference list. A DOI is a unique alphanumeric code that identifies a certain source. It may be presented as a number with decimals and slashes or it may be presented as a URL.

Example: 

          87.1678/16076320414622005

          https://doi.org/10.1177/02109395241298359

The DOI is commonly found on the first page of an article. For more information on DOIs and where to locate a DOI on a source, see pages 298 of the APA Manual.

The DOI flow chart created by APA  staff is very useful. To learn more about DOIs see the tutorial video created by APA.

 

Journal Article with Two to Twenty Authors

 

When a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is listed on the journal article or in the database record, include it in your reference.  If no DOI, use the Free DOI Lookup  from CrossRef.org to find the article's DOI.

If you have accessed a journal article on the Internet, and if there is no DOI, then give the URL of the journal's website.

NOTE: Although the first in-text citation for a work with three to five authors/editors includes all of the names of the authors/editors, subsequent citations include only the first author's/editor's surname

GENERAL FORMAT 

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): 
 
      (Author Surname, Author Surname, & Author Surname, Year) 
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
 
       (Author Surname, Author Surname, & Author Surname, Year, page number)
References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., Author Surname, First Initial.
            Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article title:
           
            Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/xx.xxxxxxxxxx OR
            
            Retrieved from URL of journal home page [if available]
Example 1    
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): 
 
(Westhues, Lafrance, & Schmidt, 2001)

In-Text Citation (Quotation): 
(Westhues, Lafrance, & Schmidt, 2001, p. 40)

References:
Westhues, A., Lafrance, J., & Schmidt, G. (2001). A SWOT analysis of social work
           
             education in Canada. Social Work Education, 20(1), 35-56.
            
             https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470020028364

 

Example 2:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
 
(Black et al., 2008)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
 
(Black et al., 2008, p. 140)
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): 
 
(Brinkworth, Noakes, Buckley, Keogh, & Clifton, 2009)
NOTE: A subsequent citation would appear as (Brinkworth et al., 2009)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
 
(Brinkworth, Noakes, Buckley, Keogh, & Clifton, 2009, p. 27)
References:
Brinkworth, G. D., Noakes, M., Buckley, J. D., Keogh, J. B., & Clifton, P. M. (2009).
           
          Long-term effects of a very-low-carbohydrate weight loss diet compared with an
          
          isocaloric low-fat diet after 12 mo. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 90(1),
         
          23-32. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2008.27326
 

Article with Multiple Authors

 

For articles with multiplle authors see the APA Manual for details. (p. 317)

For example, if an article has more than 21 authors, list the names of the first 19 authors followed by ... and then the last author's name in the reference entry (p. 286).

Learn More

 

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University offers an online resource which can be used in some cases.  However, it does not include everything required for citing sources in one place.

The APA citation style does not cover Canadian government sources, and has only a limited section on American government resources.

Please refer to the staff at the Library Reference Desk for clarification when citing Canadian government sources.