APA Quick Guide (Accessible View)
Cite Your Sources: The basics of using the APA citation style.
A Guide to Using APA Style Citations.
APA (American Psychological Association).
- Books: Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of Work : Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name.
- Journal Articles: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical. Volume Number (issue number), pages. http://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
- Websites: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. Retrieved (Month, Date Year) from URL
What if?
- I don't know which URL to use? If you're using a website that has multiple pages, always link to the homepage (or entry page) of the site.
- My website doesn't have an author? Check the bottom of the homepage of the website before you decide there isn't an author. If you can't find an author at all, then skip the author part of the citation or use the organization as the author.
- I don't know what a DOI is? A DOI is a letter and number sequence that is associated with the particular article. You can find the DOI at the bottom of the article summary (the same page where you see the abstract).
- There's no date listed anywhere! If there's no date listed, put "n.d." where the date would go!
- I still have unanswered questions! Don't worry! Just use our Ask a Librarian Service.
Example citations:
- Book: Williams, K. (2009). Keeping Kids Safe, Healthy, and Smart. Rowman & Littlefield Education.
- Journal Article: Melius, J. (2013). Overweight and Obesity in Minority Children and Implications for Family and Community Social Work. Social Work in Public Health, 28 (2), 119-128. http://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2011.560821
- Website (no author): (2014). Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities: Strategies. Retrieved November 16, 2019 from http://www.healthykidshealthycommunities.org/
Sources:
The Owl at Purdue. "Online Writing Lab: General APA Guidelines." 2014. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
