Disclaimer: This handout is only meant as a guide. If we tried to cover all citations you might make, we’d have a book—which is exactly what the American Psychological Association (APA) publishes every couple of years. You should check the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, if you have a question that this guide doesn’t answer. See the library for a copy (call number 029 Am4p2010 in the reference section).

Formatting your citations: In making your list of works cited, begin each entry flush with the left margin; if the entry runs more than a line long, the next lines should be indented five spaces, or one default TAB setting if you are using a word processor. On many word processors you can also accomplish this by paragraph formatting for a "hanging indent." (Whichever you choose, be consistent throughout.) Use double spacing for your entire list, both between and within entries.

If you will be publishing your own bibliography on a web page, it may be difficult to indent properly. To deal with this, it's common to use bullets in front of each citation instead of indenting.

Websites

• LastName, FirstInitial. (Date of publication). Title of web page: Subtitle of web page. Retrieved Month DD, YYYY, from Name of Publisher website: URL

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2009). University Laboratory High School: Student profile. Retrieved September 24, 2009, from http://www.uni.illinois.edu/about/profile/student_profile
• Miltonfest, J. (1998). Judy's home page. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.judymiltonfest.com
• Canadian Tourism Department. (2007). Visit Canada today. Retrieved from http://www.canadaisprettyawesome.com

 

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Blogs

• LastName, FirstInitial. (YYYY, Month, DD). Title of post [Web log message]. Retrieved from Title of Blog: URL

• franceylibrarian. (2009, September 14). Serious about manga [Web log message]. Retrieved from Gargoyles Loose in the Library: http://www.uni.illinois.edu//library/blog/2009/09/serious-about-manga.html

Article from an Online Reference Source

 

• Lastname, Firstinitial (if given). (YYYY). Article title. In Title of encyclopedia. Publisher. Retrieved Date, from URL.

• Clarke, M., & Clarke, D. (Eds.). (n.d.). Cubism. In The concise Oxford dictionary of art terms. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordartonline.com
• Magnetic mirror. (2009). World book. Retrieved September 24, 2009, from http://www.wobo.com/wb/article-9050025

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Articles from online databases (like Academic Search Premier or LexisNexis)

These are usually articles from journals, magazines, or newspapers that can be accessed over the Web using a database such as LexisNexis, Wilson Select Plus, or Academic Search Premier.

• Lastname, Firstinital. (Date). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume (number), page numbers [if available]. Retrieved from database URL [or doi].

• Kruesi, L. (2009, November). What do we really know about dark matter? Astronomy, 37(11), 28-33. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com
• Harper, J. (2008, February 22). 'Barack' poised to rise on list of baby names; Obama inspires some parents-to-be. The Washington Times, p. A04. Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com
• Han, Y.-Y., Kano, H., Davis, D. L., Niranjan, A., & Lunsford, L. D. (2009, September). Cell phone use and acoustic neuroma: The need for standardized questionnaires and access to industry data. Surgical Neurology, 72, 216-222. doi:10.1016/j.surneu.2009.01.010

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Articles from online magazines, journals, and newspapers

These are journals, magazines, and newspapers that are published directly on the web. Articles obtained directly from the web site of a magazine, journal, or newspaper are cited differently than articles you find in article databases like EBSCO and Lexis-Nexis (which include articles from many different publications).

• Lastname, Firstinitial. (Pub. Date).  Title of article.  Magazine Title, volume, pp-pp. Retrieved from URL

• Eyre, J. (2005). How to handle an insane mistress. Governess Journal, 2, 120-127. Retrieved from http://www.alleyreallthetime.com/mistresstips/insanity.htm
• Lennox, M. (2006). The social ramifications of gowing up with only an uncle. Children’s Literature Characters Study Themselves, 9, 15-18. Retrieved from http://study.org/children_lit/2000/lennox.html
• Harry, D. (2007). Movies I love. Movie Characters Speak. Retrieved from http://ejournal.com/2003/movie/harry_movies.html
• Grossman, L. (2007, September 8). The quest for cool. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030908/xopener.html
• Weintraub, E. (2006, August 22). Adding history to island’s Heritage Trail. Vineyard      Gazette. Retrieved from http://wwwmvgazette.com/features/index/php?story_20030829_isabel_powell
• Cooke, J. (2009, September 16). Almost quarter of Class of 2010 named National Merit Semifinalists. The Online Gargoyle. Retrieved from http://www.uni.illinois.edu/og/news/2009/09/almost-quarter-class-2010-named-natio

 

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Letters to the editor from online newspapers

If the name of the letter-writer is given, include it. If not, don't. These are letters written to newspapers by ordinary folks (and sometimes by famous ones) who want to make their opinion heard.

 

• Lastname, FirstInitial. (Date of publication). Title of Letter if available [Letter to the editor]. Periodical Title. Retrieved from URL

• Wiggins, E. (2006, September 19). Brotherly rule [Letter to the editor]. Intergalactic Times. Retrieved from http://www.intertimes.com/news/letters.htm
• Brotherly rule [Letter to the editor]. (2006, September 19). Intergalactic Times. Retrieved from http://www.intertimes.com/news/letters.htm

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Reviews

These can be reviews of books, movies, theater shows, and the like.

• Lastname, FirstInitial. (Date of Review). Title of Review if possible. [Review of the ItemType Item Title]. Review Publication's Title. Retrieved from URL

• Cantrell, J. (1999, April 2). Watch out for big, toothy dogs [Review of the book Cujo]. Horror Books Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.horrorbooksgazette.com