APA Referencing Guide

APA Referencing Overview

• Books
• Articles
• Online sources
• Images/visual mediums
• Other source types

Points to focus

The new edition of APA citation technique comprises in-text citations and reference list, along with rules regarding formatting. In APA, in-text citations should be rendered similar to Harvard references, except the following:

For sources with multiple authors, all of the names should be on the first in-text citation. Et al. can be used next.

First citation: Adjoin, Tim and Richmond (1993)

Subsequent citations: Adjoin et al. (1993)

In the body of the text, author’s name should be connected using the word 'and'. However, within parenthesis, an ampersand (&) should be used:

Main body: Adjoin, Tim and Richmond (1993) state that fish is a great source of protein.

When directly quoting a text, you should include the page number in the citations. Writing page numbers in all other styles is not required. However, it is best to do so while referring a piece of work (e.g. a paragraph or chapter in a book). When referring to an entire content that covers only one topic (e.g. a journal article), it isn’t required.

Have a look at the following examples for various reference sources:

1. Books

Citations for book with single author

For APA referencing of books with one author, follow the following format:

Last name, first initial. (Year). Title. Edition (if it isn’t the first edition). City of publication: Publisher.

Citations of chapter in edited book:

While citing a single chapter in a book, make sure to add the page the chapter length. When citing an individual chapter, you must always include the edition of the book.

Last name, first initial. (Year). Chapter title. In: Book Title. Edition. City of publication: Publisher.

Citations for multiple books by the same author

An author’s works can usually be differentiated by year. They must be listed in a chronological sequence. If you are citing multiple books by same author which were published in the same year, then you must label them as 'a', 'b', 'c' and so on, followed by the year.

Last name, first initial. (Year). Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher.

Tools for creating APA Book references:

• Reference a Book
• Reference a Book Chapter

2. Articles

Citation for Printed Journals:

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Journal name, Volume (Issue), Page/s.

Citation of Journal Article accessed on a website or database

In APA referencing, if possible, you should always try to mention the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source. If there is no DOI, then you should cite the URL.

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Journal name, Volume (Issue), Page/s. DOI: DOI link

Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Journal name, Volume (Issue), Page/s. Retrieved from: URL.

Citations of Newspaper and Magazine Articles – Print or Online:

Newspaper and magazine citations are quite similar to journal articles but they are just found online; same goes with formatting. Take a look at the examples listed below.

Print: Last name, first initial. (Year). Article title. Newspaper name, Page/s.

Online: Last name, First initial. (Year). Article Title. Newspaper name, Page/s. Retrieved from: