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APA Citations: Full Citations

This guide will help with APA formatting citations

APA Basics

In APA, you must cite the sources that you have paraphrased, quoted, or otherwise used to write your research paper.  Cite your sources in two places:

  1. At the end of your paper, you will provide a full citation for each source in a reference list.
  2. Within the text of your paper, you will provide an abbreviated in-text citation whenever you use information taken from a source.

Online Journal Articles

Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, volume number(issue number), page numbers. DOI link.

TIP: The title of the article is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized.

Reference List Example:

Langhamer, C. (2007). Love and courtship in mid-twentieth century England. Historical Journal, 50(1), 173-196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X06005966.

In-Text Citation: 

(Langhamer, 2007).

Author's Last Name, Initials., & Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, volume number(issue number), page numbers. DOI link.

TIP: The title of the article is sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized.

Reference List Example:

Alonso, A., & Camargo, J. A. (2006). Toxicity of nitrite to three species of freshwater invertebrates. Environmental Toxicology, 21(1), 90-94. https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155.

In-Text Citation: 

(Alonso & Camargo, 2006).

Author's Last Name, Initials., Author's Last Name, Initials., & Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, volume number(issue number), page numbers. DOI link.

TIP: The title of the article is sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized.

Reference List Example:

Walters, B. K., Read, C. R., & Estes, A. R. (2018). The effects of resistance training, overtraining, and early specialization on youth athlete injury and development. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 58(9), 1339-1348. https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.17.07409-6.

In-Text Citation: 

(Walters et al., 2018).

Websites

Last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage. Title of Website. URL link.

 

Reference List Example:

Martin-Lillie, C. M. (2016, December 29). Be kind to yourself: How self-compassion can improve your resiliency. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/self-compassion-can-improve-your-resiliency/art-20267193

In-Text Citation: 

(Martin-Lillie, 2016).

Name of Group/Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage. URL link.

 

Reference List Example:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, January 23). People at high risk of developing flu-related complications. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/high_risk.htm

In-Text Citation: 

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).

 

Other Online Articles

Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. URL link (unless from a database)

TIP: If the source was found in a database and has no DOI, then a URL is unnecessary. For works without DOIs from websites (not including databases), provide a URL.

Reference List Example:

Guarino, B. (2017, December 4). How will humanity react to alien life? Psychologists have some predictions. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/12/04/how-will-humanity-react-to-alien-life-psychologists-have-some-predictions

In-Text Citation: 

(Guarino, 2017).

Last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Magazine Name, Volume(Issue), page numbers. URL link (unless from a database).

TIP: If the source was found in a database and has no DOI, then a URL is unnecessary.  For works without DOIs from websites (not including databases), provide a URL.

Reference List Example:

Goldin, K. (2021, August 20). Do you have what it takes to run your own business? Newsweek, 177(5), 10-13.

In-Text Citation: 

(Goldin, 2021).

Books

Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year Published). Title of book (edition if given). Publisher. 

 

Reference List Example:

Roberts, S. (2019). Behind the screen: Content moderation in the shadows of social media (2nd ed.). Yale University Press.

In-Text Citation:

(Roberts, 2019).

Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year Published). Title of chapter, article, essay or short story. In Editor's Initials. Last Name. (Ed.), Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition., pp. page numbers). Publisher Name.

 

Reference List Example:

Peterson, J. (2022). Narrating our wounds: Trauma, literature, and vocation. In S. Johnson & E. VanLaningham (Eds.), Cultivating vocation in literary studies (pp. 233-254). Edinburgh University Press.

In-Text Citation:

(Peterson, 2022).

Where Do I Find the DOI Link?

DOI Links

If your citation requires a link, try first to locate a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for your source.  A DOI may be listed as a link or as a string of numbers and letters (for example: 10.1007/s12021-021-09517-8).  If the DOI appears as a string of numbers and letters, convert it to a link by adding https://doi.org/ to the beginning.  A DOI link is the best type of link to use in your APA citations.

Example: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-021-09517-8