APA (American Psychological Association) Style:

This page shows examples of only a few types of resources.  For more detailed information, use the APA style manuals and web sites listed below.  Return to the Citing Sources page to access other bibliographic styles. This format is used principally by the social sciences fields.

All call numbers listed are those for the University of St. Thomas Libraries, St. Paul, MN.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES (Works Cited):

Here are examples of basic formats for sources (second and subsequent lines are
indented). Include as much information as you are able to locate from the
resource. In the bibliography, the first author's last name is listed first.  Resources are listed alphabetically by first author's last name  For anonymous works, the citation is inserted into the alphabetical list using the first word(s) of the title:

Books: Author(s). (Date). Title. Place of publication: Publisher.

• Single author:
  
  

       Doe, J. (1999). Writing styles.  New York:  
            Doe Publishers. 

• Two to six authors:

      Doe, J., Richards, R.S., & Smith, T.J.  (2001). Writing techniques. 
             New York:  Doe Publishers.

• More than six authors:

       Doe, J., Richards, R.S., Jones, J.A., Jones, J.D., Johnson, R.D.,
             Smith, T.J.,  et. al. (2002). The style and technique of
             writing.  New York: Doe Publishers.

• No author listed:

       Electronic reference formats in the community. (2002).  New
             York:  Doe Publishers.

• Book chapters:

       Smith, T.R. (2000).  How to write. In R.D. Jones,  &
              R.S. Richards (Eds.), Writing with style and technique 
              (pp. 96-101).  New York: Doe Publishers. 

Articles: (for multiple authors, see "Books" above):

• Continuous paging (if each issue in a volume continues the paging where the
  previous issue left off), do not include issue number:
  
  • Author(s). (Year of publication). Article title. Journal title, Volume #,
           Page numbers.
    
    Jones, J. (2003). Writing without style. Writing Journal, 22, 99-106.
    
    
• Paging repeated (if each issue in a volume starts numbering pages from page one), include the issue number:
  
  • Author(s). (Year of publication). Article title. Journal title, Volume #
           (Issue #), Page numbers.

Jones, J. (1999). Writing with style.  Style  
      Writing Journal, 12(6), 14-33.

Computerized resources: Include all information that is available in the computerized source.  For multiple authors, see "Books" above. For continuous paging, see "Articles" above.

• Online full-text journal article citation based on a print source:  
  Author(s). (Year of publication). Article title. [Format]. Journal title,
         Volume number (Issue number), Page numbers. 

  Jones, J.T. (2001). How writing influences our lives
         [Electronic version].  Style Writing Journal, 14(6),
         112-135.  

• Online full-text journal article from a database:

  Johnson, R.N. (2001). What writing style does for me.
         Style Writing Journal, 14(6), 92-101. Retrieved April
         30, 2002, from Academics Expanded database.

• Internet Example:  
  Author(s). (Year of publication). Web site title or title of
          section retrieved. Retrieved date, from Web site from
          which section is retrieved: Web address.   
          American Psychological Association (1999, June 1).
                  Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the 
                  American Psychological Association.  Retrieved April 30,
                  2002 from American Psychological Association Web site: 
                  http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

NOTES:

Here are examples of basic formats. APA Style cites references Within the Text. Although page number(s) are not required, for direct quotes you should include the page number(s) or chapter.  If no page number is listed, use the paragraph number, if available.  See assorted examples below:

• Basic format:
  (Author's last name, year, page number)
  
  
• One or two authors

  (Doe, 1999)

• Multiple (3 or more) authors
  
  
  • First time listed:

      (Doe, Richards, Jones, and Jones, 2001, p.212)
    

  • Subsequent cites:

     (Doe et. al., 2001, 5)  OR,
     (Doe et. al., 2001, para. 5)

• No authors: 
  (First few words of reference list entry which is usually the "title", year)

  ("Electronic reference formats", 2002)

APA Style Manuals:

American Psychological Association. (2005). Concise Rules of APA Style. Washington, 
        D.C.:  American Psychological Association.  (REF Z 253 .C66 2005)

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the 
        American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.:   
        American Psychological Association. (REF Z 253 .P83 2001) 

American Psychological Association (2001). Electronic
         Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological
         Association.  Retrieved May 8, 2001 from American Psychological
         Association Web site:  http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.

Dewey, R. (2003). APA Research Style Crib Sheet. Retrieved February 7, 2003
         from http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm. 

Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2002). Using American Psychological
         Association (APA) Format (Updated to 5th edition).  Retrieved May 7,
         2002 from Purdue University Online Writing Lab Web site: 
         http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html.

Schuzman, L. T. & Thomlison, B. (2004).  Writing with Style: APA Style for 
         Social Work. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. University 
         of Southern Mississippi Libraries.  (REF HM 586 .S98 2004)

University of Southern Mississippi Libraries. (2001)  APA Style Guide. 5th ed.
         Retrieved  7 May 2002 from the University of Southern Mississippi 
         Libraries User Guides Web site:
         http://www.lib.usm.edu/~instruct/guides/apa.html. 

Welch, J.M. (2002). Citing Electronic Business Sources--Based on APA Style.
         Charlotte, NC: University of North Caroline-Charlotte.  Retrieved 
         March 17, 2003 from University of North Carolina-Charlotte Web site:
         http://libweb.uncc.edu/ref-bus/citation.pdf .

"Refereed" or "Peer Reviewed" Journals 

"Peer review" is the process through which experts in a field of study examine and assess the quality of articles before they are published. Peer review insures that the research described in a journal's articles is sound and of high quality.

Sometimes the term "refereed" is used instead of peer reviewed.

Lists found in:

• Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.
  Available through the "Find Articles & More" page.  Click on the "Book & Publication Information" link under "General Sources". Search for the title of the journal.  Look for "Refereed" in the record.
  
• The Serials Directory
  Available through the "Find Articles & More" page.  Click on the "Book & Publication Information" link under "General Sources". Search for the title of the journal.  Look for "Peer Rev:  YES" in the record.
  
  USE BOTH PUBLICATIONS. Neither has a whole list, but  together they are nearly complete.
  

Return to Citing Sources page. 

Comments to Jan Orf, jmorf@stthomas.edu, Reference Librarian,
University of St. Thomas Libraries Updated March 26, 2008.