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.  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition is used.

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. Citations are double-spaced.  For anonymous works, the citation is inserted into the alphabetical list using the first word(s) of the title:

Books--those found in print format are listed first.  See"Electronic Format" subcategory for those found full-text online: 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. 
  

• Electronic format--doi is used in sample below.  If doi is not available, identify url of publisher instead:
  
         Jones, S.P. (2008). Writing for the future. doi:109.876.5X43.21
  

  
  

Articles: (for multiple authors, see "Books" above) Following are examples for articles found in print resources.  When found online, see "Computerized Resources" below:

• 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 when DOI is indicated:  
  Author(s). (Year of publication). Article title. Journal title,
  
         Volume number (Issue number), Page numbers. DOI

  Jones, J.T. (2001). How writing influences our lives
  
         Style Writing Journal, 14(6), 112-135. doi:12.3X445.678.9101
  

• Online full-text journal article when DOI is not indicated (use home page URL for publication):

  Johnson, R.N. (2001). What writing style does for me.
  
         Style Writing Journal, 14(6), 92-101.
  
         Retrieved from http://www.stylewrjnl.com/index 
  

• 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 & Smith, 2004)

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

      (Doe, Richards, Jones, and Jones, 2001)
    

  • Subsequent cites:

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

• 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. (2007). APA Style Guide to Electronic

        References. Washington, D.C.:   American Psychological Association.

       (REF Z 253 .P835 2007) 

American Psychological Association (2009). APA Style Help.  Retrieved from 

        http://www.apastyle.org/apa-style-help.aspx.

        Check out the "Free Tutorial on the Basics of APA Style".

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the 

        American Psychological Association. 6th ed. Washington, D.C.:  
 
        American Psychological Association. (REF Z 253 .P83 2010) 

Neyhart, D. & Karper, E. (2009). APA Formatting and Style Guide.  Retrieved from 
  
        http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

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)

         This is based on the APA 5th edition.

Scribe, A. (2009). APA (Style) Lite for College Papers. Retrieved

         http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm. 

"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 October 1, 2009.