All APA reference list entries contain four main components: author, date, title, and source. Those components are organized as follows:
Author. (Date). Title. Source.
If you are unable to locate components for a reference, the APA Style website has a page on Missing Reference Information.
There are two format patterns: italic title and italic source. APA has more information on this with A Tale of Two Reference Formats.
The first component in every APA reference is the author. Sometimes an author can be a corporation or group.
Author. (Date). Title. Source.
Sources: Publication Manual, 9.7-9.12; APA Style: Elements of Reference List Entries; APA Style: Missing Reference Information
List the full last name, a comma, and then the initials of the author, with a space between the initials. Do not list the full first or middle name of an author.
Do not use courtesy or academic titles in your citations. Do include suffixes such as Jr., Sr., III, etc.
Some authors use non-standard capitalization. Retain that capitalization.
Some names, such as those with religious or nobility titles, may need to be listed differently in the References page in order to preserve the meaning.
List authors in the order they appear on the source. A comma should separate each author's name, and an ampersand (&) should precede the last author's name. Spell out up to twenty authors' names in the reference list in this format:
Two Authors:
Smith, J., & Miller, W. C. (Date). Title. Source.
(Smith & Miller, 2009)
Three to Twenty Authors:
Smith, J., Jones, B. E., Brown, K. E., & Doe, J. (Date). Title. Source.
List all authors in the reference; however, in-text citations will include the first author's name only, followed by et al.
(Smith et al., 2009)
21+ Authors:
Include the first 19 authors in the reference, then three ellipsis points (. . .), and then the last author (there is no ampersand). In the in-text citation, only include the first author and add et al.
Smith, J., Jones, B. E., Brown, K. E., Doe, J., Chan, L., Garcia, S. M., White, C-G., Fernández, J., Ahmed, A. J., Zhào, L., Cohen, D., Watanabe, K., Kim, K., Del Rosario, J., Yilmaz, P. K., Nguyễn, T., Wilson, T. H., Wang, W., Kahale, A. ... Zhang, Z. Z. (Date). Title. Source.
(Smith et al., 2009)
Some resources may be attributed to a group or organization, instead of a specific person or persons. In this case, give the name of the group or organization, capitalized as needed. You may abbreviate the organization to a common abbreviation beginning with the second in-text citation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, October 3). Outbreak of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html
First In-Text Citation:
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2019)
Subsequent In-Text Citations:
(CDC, 2019)
For government authors that may have multiple departments as a hierarchy (for example,U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine), you should use the directly responsible agency.
National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). A brief history of the NLM. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/briefhistory.html
(National Library of Medicine, n.d.)
If the resource is published by that same organization, omit the publisher component.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
First In-Text Citation:
(American Psychological Association [APA], 2020)
Subsequent In-Text Citations:
(APA, 2020)
Book Editors
If a book is compiled by an editor (usually specified on the cover or title page), list the names as usual, but add (Ed.) or (Eds.) after the names, to signify editor or editors. This abbreviation is not included in the in-text citation.
Forrester, D. A. (Ed.). (2016). Nursing's greatest leaders: A history of activism. Springer.
Audiovisual "Authors"
Audiovisual materials may have different people for the author element. Common examples include director, host, executive producer, musical artist, composer, or a producer. Include a parenthetical clarification of the role.
Jacquet, L. (Director). (2005). March of the penguins [Film]. National Geographic Films; Bonne Pioche.
Wilson, T. V., & Frey, H. (Hosts). (2008–present). Stuff you missed in history class [Audio podcast]. Stuff Media. https://www.missedinhistory.com/
The Monkees. (1966). I'm a believer [Song]. On More of the Monkees. Colgems.
If you know both the real name of an author and the username, and the username is credited on the work, list both.
DeGeneres, E. [@TheEllenShow]. (2014, March 2). If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars [Image attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/theellenshow/status/440322224407314432
If you only have a username, use that for the author.
Motherboard. (2010, August 6). The effects of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUvM2uQR1cA
If there is no listed author or editor, start your reference with the title, place the date after the title, and continue the reference as normal. Remember that authors can be a company, organization, or group author, and that should be used as the author if provided.
Check very carefully to ensure that there is no organization that can be used as the author!
Template
Title. (Date). Source.
Examples
Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed.). (1989). Clarendon Press.
Appeal to authority. (n.d.). Logical Fallacies. https://www.logicalfallacies.org/appeal-to-authority.html
For in-text citations, use the title of the item, followed by the date. If the title is long, you may abbreviate it to the first few words. Book titles are italicized; journal or website articles are put in quotations.
(Oxford English Dictionary, 1989).
("Appeal to Authority," n.d.)
If the item is expressly attributed to "Anonymous," list that as the author:
Anonymous. (2006). Go ask Alice. Simon Pulse.
The second component in a reference is the date. Most citations only need the year in parentheses, followed by a period.
Author. (Date). Title. Source.
Source: Publication Manual, 9.13-9-17; APA Style: Elements of Reference List Entries; APA Style: Missing Reference Information
Most sources (such as books, journal articles, and films) only require the year. For magazines, newsletters, newspapers, social media, YouTube videos, blog posts, etc., provide the full date.
Valinsky, J. (2019, October 8). Instagram dark mode is here. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/08/tech/instagram-dark-mode-trnd/index.html
In-text citations, however, will only include the year.
If an item does not have a discernible date, you may use n.d. as the date (for no date); do not simply leave out the date. For webpages, do not use a general copyright date given for the website. Look for a specific created, updated, or modified date for the page or document you are using.
Santa Fe College. (n.d.). Fifty years to first. https://www.sfcollege.edu/about/50/
If you have two or more distinct works by the same author and published in the same year, differentiate them with letters. Organize these references by the title element.
Rowling, J. K. (1999a). Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. Arthur A. Levine.
Rowling, J. K. (1999b). Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. Arthur A. Levine.
For items that have a full date, such as blogs or newspaper articles, add the differentiating letter to the year, and keep the month and/or day. Recall that only years are included in an in-text citation. Organize them in the references list by date.
Flaherty, C. (2018a, March 14). Same course, different ratings. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/03/14/study-says-students-rate-men-more-highly-women-even-when-theyre-teaching-identical
Flaherty, C. (2018b, April 12). Diversifying a classic humanities course. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/12/responding-student-criticism-its-foundational-humanities-course-too-white-reed
If both items are using n.d. instead of a year, include a hyphen before the differentiating letter. Organize these references by the title element.
Santa Fe College. (n.d.-a). Honors student code of conduct. https://www.sfcollege.edu/honors/honors-student-code-of-conduct/index
Santa Fe College. (n.d.-b). Priority admissions dates. https://www.sfcollege.edu/admissions/priority-admissions-dates/index
If you are citing a classic work that has been reprinted or republished, you can include the original date at the end of the reference. Include both dates in the in-text citation.
Freud, S. (2005). Civilization and its discontents. Norton. (Original work published 1930)
(Freud, 1930/2005)
If the resources you are citing may change substantially before readers can access it, you may add a retrieval date prior to the URL. Examples include wikis, dictionary entries, Twitter profiles, webpages that update frequently, etc.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, October 3). Outbreak of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html
The third component is the title. Depending on what you are citing, your title will be formatted differently.
Author. (Date). Title OR Title. Source.
Sources: Publication Manual, 9.18-9.22; APA Style: Elements of Reference List Entries; APA Style: Missing Reference Information
APA requires you to only capitalize certain words in a title. You should capitalize the following:
Examples of Correct Capitalization:
APA requires you to italicize the titles of stand-alone works:
If you are citing something that is part of a bigger work, you do not italicize the titles:
Source: A Tale of Two Reference Formats [APA Style]
If a title ends with a non-period punctuation mark (such as a question mark or an exclamation mark), use that as the ending punctuation without adding a period.
Jacobs, J. B. (2002). Can gun control work? Oxford University Press.
If the title uses an em dash instead of colons for a subtitle distinction, preserve those.
Jain, S. K., Singh, B. P., & Singh, R. P. (2004). Indian homemade firearm—A technical review. Forensic Science International, 144(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.03.001
Format Clarification
If the information you are citing is not a routine format, use square brackets after the title to clarify. Common examples include:
CrashCourse. (2019, September 27). Natural language processing: Crash course AI #7 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi0JXuL19TA
Edition/Volume Clarification
For some books, you will need to add the edition or the volume used after the title, in parentheses.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
In very rare cases, you may be using a source without a specific title. This may be something like a social media post, untitled artwork, or a Google map. In the title component, include a description in brackets; try to include the medium in the description if possible.
Google. (n.d.). [Google Maps directions for driving from Gainesville, FL, to Miami, FL]. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://goo.gl/maps/jkV9HNbBw6nx9iLc8
The final component of a reference is the source, which is the retrieval information.
Author. (Date). Title. Source.
The components of a source may change depending on the format of the work you are citing.
Sources: Publication Manual, 9.23-9.37; APA Style: Elements of Reference List Entries; APA Style: Missing Reference Information
The source for a book is the publisher.
Hain, P. (2018). Mandela: His essential life. Rowman & Littlefield.
If you are using a portion of a book, such as a chapter in an edited book, the source also includes the information from the book being used.
Johnson, P. (2019). Efforts to ban Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. In R.C. Evans (Ed.), Censored & banned literature (pp. 169–186). Salem Press.
Article sources typically include the journal, volume, issue, page numbers, and DOI. Spell out the entire journal title; do not abbreviate it. The journal title and volume should be italicized.
Steckler, R. A., & Bartkowski, J. P. (2018). "God is my first aid kit": The negotiation of health and illness among Christian Scientists. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 57(3), 585–603. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12533
If you are missing any of this information, omit it. This example does not have an issue number or a DOI.
Tremblay, M. S., Inman, J. W., & Willms, J. D. (2000). The relationship between physical activity, self-esteem, and academic achievement in 12-year-old children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 12, 312–323.
If an article has an article number, include it.
Van Hedger, S. C., Heald, S. L. M., & Nusbaum, H. C. (2019). Absolute pitch can be learned by some adults. PLOS One, 14(9), Article e0223047. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223047
If an article is freely available online and does not have a DOI, you may choose to add the URL to the full-text.
Rosener, A., Frigo, E., Ponischil, S., Bélanger, A., Rander, J., & Salazer, E. (2019, September 18). Leading from the center: Reimagining feedback conversations at an academic library. In the Library with a Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2019/reimagining-feedback/
Database Information
Only include the name of a library database you used to retrieve information if the source you are using is exclusive to that database. Most journals, magazines, and newspapers would not fit this criteria. Several library databases, including A to Z the World, Cochrane Library, and some information in ERIC, Health and Wellness, and Opposing Viewpoints will fit into this category.
Denissen, S., Staring, W., Kunkel, D., Pickering, R. M., Lennon, S., Geurts, A. C. H., Weerdesteyn, V., & Verheyden, G. S. A. F. (2019). Interventions for preventing falls in people after stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008728.pub3
Locating DOIs
APA requires you to provide DOIs if available when citing a journal article. DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier. DOIs serve as a permanent link to electronic content. Because some databases generate dynamic links (i.e., links that change each time you access an article), it is impossible to use these links to direct someone to an article. If an article has a DOI, you can give that information and easily direct readers to your references. DOIs are commonly found in the database record, the journal's page for the article, or on the first page of the article itself. A DOI will be a string of numbers and slashes (possibly with letters) that begins with 10.
Once you have a DOI, you can use a DOI resolver to access the article. There are several resolvers, but the DOI.org is recommended. Input the entire DOI, and you will be directed to the main article page.
Internet sources typically include the website on which the source is located and the URL. If the author and the website title are identical, omit the website title. You may elect to add a retrieval date to the URL if the information is expected to change.
Leibsohn, D., & Mundy, B. E. (n.d.). Surveying the Pre-Columbian. Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1620. https://vistas.ace.fordham.edu/themes/pre-columbian-surveying/
Royal Collection Trust. (n.d.). Albert's life and times. https://albert.rct.uk/explore#/prince_alberts_life_and_times
Levine, E. (1936). Amateur contest for children Final eliminations, Sept. 24, 1936 [Image]. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/97502865/
Feldman, J. (2019, October 9). Dogs can help you live longer, as if you needed another reason to get one. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dogs-help-live-longer_l_5d9cceeee4b02c9da03fd45c
U.S. Department of State. (2019, April 9). Afghanistan travel advisory. Retrieved October 9, 2019 from https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/afghanistan-advisory.html
If a URL is excessively long, you may use a URL shortener.
American Library Association. (n.d.). Performance of or showing films in the classroom. http://bit.ly/2M2hc7g
Film and Television
The source for film and television is typically the production company. Multiple production companies are separated by semicolons. For online films/television, you may choose to add a URL.
Boyle, D. (Director). (2008). Slumdog millionaire [Film]. Celador Films; Film4.
Macdonald, K., Burk, B., Carpenter, B., King, S., & Abrams, J. J. (2016). 11.22.63 [TV series]. Carpenter B.; Bad Robot Productions; Warner Bros. Television. http://www.hulu.com/112263
Online Videos
Online videos follow the same guidelines for Internet sources. The source component consists of the website and the URL.
Karim, J. [jawed]. (2005, April 23). Me at the zoo [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw
Items with no source are considered personal communication and would be cited in the text only; there will be no references list entry. This also includes items that are not retrievable by the reader. Examples of personal communication include emails, personal interviews, live speeches, etc.
(J. Sasser, personal communication, October 9, 2019)