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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.

 

Newspaper Article (p. 320)

 

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Author Surname, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title: Subtitle.

         Newspaper Title, page range. Retrieved from URL [if viewed online]

Example 1

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Spencer, 2000)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

(Spencer, 2000, p. D4)

References:

Spencer, R. (2000, March 6). Urban or Urbane. The National Post, pp. D1, D4.

Example 2

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Peterson & Thompson, 2007)

In-Text Citation (Quotation:

( Peterson & Thompson, 2007)

References:

Peterson, M., & Thompson, P. (2007, June 13). Who’s keeping the farm?

       The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.globeandmail.com

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.