APA Reference List & InText Citation Guide

The American Psychological Association (APA) style is widely used in the social sciences. This guide explains how to format a reference list and how to insert intext citations correctly. It follows the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.

1. General Principles

• Alphabetical order: Entries are arranged by the surname of the first author.
• Hanging indent: The first line of each reference is flush left; subsequent lines are indented 0.5in.
• Doublespacing: Both the reference list and the main text are doublespaced.
• Use of italics: Book titles, journal names, and volume numbers are italicized.

2. Reference List Formats

2.1 Books

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher.

Example:

Smith, J. L. (2020). Understanding human behavior. Routledge.

2.2 Edited Book Chapters

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xxxx). Publisher.

Example:

Brown, M. K. (2019). Social learning theory. In R. T. Green (Ed.), Advances in psychology (pp. 4568). Sage.

2.3 Journal Articles

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Example:

Garcia, L., & Patel, S. (2021). Cognitive bias in decision making. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57(2), 123136. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000287

2.4 Online Sources (Webpages)

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

Example:

National Institute of Mental Health. (2022, March 15). Anxiety disorders. NIHM. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders

2.5 Multiple Works by the Same Author

List the works chronologically, oldest to newest. If dates are identical, differentiate with a, b, c after the year.

Example:

Taylor, R. (2018a). Early childhood development. Springer.Taylor, R. (2018b). Adolescent mental health. Wiley.

3. InText Citations

3.1 Basic Formats

• Paraphrase: (Author, year) e.g., (Smith, 2020).
• Direct quote: (Author, year, p.page) e.g., (Garcia & Patel, 2021, p.128).

3.2 One Author

Use the authors last name and year.

Example: Research shows that (Brown, 2019).

3.3 Two Authors

Include both surnames every time.

Example: (Garcia & Patel, 2021).

3.4 Three or More Authors

First citation: list all authors (up to 20). Subsequent citations: use the first authors surname + et al.

Example first citation: (Taylor, Rogers, & Lee, 2022)

Later citations: (Taylor et al., 2022)

3.5 Group Authors

If the author is an organization, write the full name the first time, then use an abbreviation (if one is provided).

Example: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020) then (WHO, 2020).

3.6 No Author

Use the title (shortened if long) and year.

Example: (Stress Management, 2021).

3.7 Multiple Works in One Parenthesis

Separate with semicolons and order alphabetically.

Example: (Brown, 2019; Garcia & Patel, 2021; Smith, 2020).

4. Common Pitfalls

• For electronic journal articles, always include a DOI if available.
• Do not capitalize only the first word of a journal article title (unless a proper noun).
• Capitalize all major words in a book or journal title.
• Use p. for a single page and pp. for a range.
• If a source has no date, use n.d. (no date).

5. Quick Reference Tables

5.1 Book vs. Chapter vs. Article

5.2 InText Citation Summary

6. Further Resources

• APA Style Official Website
• Purdue OWL APA Formatting

By following these rules, your manuscript will meet APA standards for both reference lists and intext citations, ensuring clarity and consistency for readers.