APA (6 Edition) Referencing Style: Citation

APA (6th edition) Referencing Style
This referencing style sheet is to be used in conjunction with the Library’s general Guide to Citing & Referencing. The
information is based on the following manual from the American Psychological Association (APA):
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
(6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
For help with referencing items not covered in this guide:

You might like to refer to either the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
(6th ed.) or the more compact version, Concise rules of APA style (6th ed.). Both manuals are available in the Library, on
Level 3, at shelf mark 808.06615 AME. You can also access the following ebook via the Library Catalogue:
The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism - this includes examples for APA and other styles.
Citation
The APA uses an author-date style of referencing with details entered in round brackets, for example:
The traditional approach to human cognition is over-simplified in assuming that processing is typically serial
(Eysenck & Keane, 2010).
Treatment of multiple authors: when a work has two authors, cite both authors every time. When a work has three, four
or five authors, cite all authors the first time a reference occurs. In subsequent citations, include only the surname of the
first author followed by et al. See:
Kisangau, Lyaruu, Hosea, and Joseph (2007) found that … [first time cited]
Kisangua et al. (2007) found that … [subsequent citations]
When a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. and the year of
publication for the first and subsequent citations.
Reference list
The reference list should contain full details of all the sources mentioned in your text, arranged alphabetically by
surname of first author.
Reference examples
Below are some examples of the more common types of document you might want to reference. Each gives the APA 6th
ed. format for the reference, followed by an example. Treatment of multiple authors within reference list: when
authors number eight or more, include the first six authors’ names then insert three ellipses and add the last author’s
name. For example:
Kisangau, A., Lyaruu, B., Hosea, C., Joseph, D., Rogers, T., Tylee, C., . . . Humphreys, L. J. (2007).
Psychology. Birmingham: ABC Press.
Book
Author’s surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title (xx ed. if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.
Cowen, R. (2005). History of life (4th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Book with two authors / editors

Authors’ names. (Year of publication). Title(xx ed. if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.
Fahy, J., & Jobber, D. (2012). Foundations of marketing (4th ed.). London: McGraw-Hill.
Book with editor(s) instead of author(s)

Editor’s surname, Initials. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title (xx ed. if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.
Morgan, W. J. (Ed.). (2007). Ethics in sport (2nd ed.). Leeds: Human Kinetics.
Book with corporate author
Corporate author. (Year of publication). Title (xx ed. if not the first). Place of publication: Author.
The Open University. (2007). Understanding cardiovascular diseases. Milton Keynes: Author.
NB When the author and publisher are the same, use the word Author as the name of the publisher.
Book usually known by its title

Title. (Year of publication). (xx ed. if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher.
Collins English dictionary. (2005). (7th ed.). Glasgow: HarperCollins.
One chapter / paper from a collection in a book

Author of chapter’s surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In: Initials of first editor, Surname of first editor
& Initials of second editor, Surname of second editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xx-xx). Place of publication: Publisher.
Worobec, C. D. (2012). Russian peasant women’s culture : Three voices. In W. Rosslyn & A. Tosi (Eds.),
Women in nineteenth-century Russia: Lives and culture (pp. 41-62). Cambridge: Open Book.
Newspaper article
Author’s surname, Initials. (Year of publication, Month of publication Day of publication). Title of article. Title of
newspaper, pp. xx-xx.
Gentleman, A. (2012, March 31). The rules for mums and dads. The Guardian, pp. 48-49.
Thesis / dissertation – from a university outside the US

APA uses American terminology so please refer to Publication Manual for detailed guidance.
The example below is for a doctoral thesis found on a Swedish institutional repository:
Author surname, Initials. (Year of award). Title of thesis (Level of award, Awarding institution). Retrieved from URL
Calborm, P.(2000). Carbody and passengers in rail vehicle dynamics (Doctoral thesis, Royal Institute of
Technology, Stockholm, Sweden). Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-3029
Government publication
Corporate author. (Date of publication). Title of report. Place of publication: Author.
Drinking Water Inspectorate. (2011). Drinking water 2010: Private water supplies in England. London: Author.
Television broadcast
Writer’s surname, Initials. (Writer), & Director’s surname, Initials. (Director). (Year of broadcast). Title of episode
[Television series episode]. In Executive Producer’s Initial. Executive Producer’s surname (Executive producer), Title of
TV series. Country of origin (or US State): Broadcasting company.
Egan, D. (Writer), & Alexander, J. (Director). (2005). Failure to communicate [Television series episode]. In D.
Shore (Executive producer), House. New York, NY: Fox Broadcasting.
Electronic version of a print book

Author surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Title. Retrieved from URL
Hopkins, D. (2008). A teacher's guide to classroom research. Retrieved from

http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=195309
Electronic version of a republished book

Author surname, Initials. (Year of release in electronic format). Title. Retrieved from URL (Original year work was
published).
Hooke, R. (2005). Micrographia. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15491/15491-h/15491-h.htm

(Original work published 1664).
Journal article
Author surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal Title, Volume number(part), page numbers.
McFall, L. (2011). A ‘good, average man’: Calculation and the limits of statistics in enrolling insurance
customers. Sociological Review, 59(4), 661-684.
Electronic journal article without DOI

Author surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal Title, Volume number(part), page numbers. Retrieved
from URL
Rojas, J. C., & Gonzales-Lima, F. (2011). Low-level light therapy of the eye and brain. Eye and Brain, 3(1), 49-
67. Retrieved from http://www.dovepress.com/low-level-light-therapy-of-the-eye-and-brain-peer-reviewed-
article-EB
Electronic journal article with DOI

Author’s surname, Initials. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal Title, Volume number(part), page numbers xx-xx. doi:
McFall, L. (2011). A ‘good, average man’: Calculation and the limits of statistics in enrolling insurance
customers. Sociological Review, 59(4), 661-684. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2011.02033.x
Web pages
Author's surname, Initials. (Year site/document was published online). Title. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from web
address.
Note: if there is no individual author you can use an organisation or corporate body name. If neither is available, use the
title for author. If there is no publication date available, use no date instead i.e. (n.d.).
US ISBN Agency. (2004). The digital world and the ongoing development of ISBN. Retrieved February 20, 2010,
from http://isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/digitalworld.asp.
This guide offers a basic template for APA referencing. For help with referencing items that are not included in
the above examples, please refer to page 1 of this guide.
DS/PB/JH December 2015

APA (6 Edition) Referencing Style: Citation

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

APA (6 Edition) Referencing Style: Citation

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

APA (6 Edition) Referencing Style: Citation

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

APA (6th edition) Referencing Style

For help with referencing items not covered in this guide:

Kisangua et al. (2007) found that … [subsequent citations]

Cowen, R. (2005). History of life (4th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.

Book with two authors / editors

Book with editor(s) instead of author(s)

Book with corporate author

Book usually known by its title

Collins English dictionary. (2005). (7th ed.). Glasgow: HarperCollins.

One chapter / paper from a collection in a book

Thesis / dissertation – from a university outside the US

Electronic version of a print book

Hopkins, D. (2008). A teacher's guide to classroom research. Retrieved from

Electronic version of a republished book

Hooke, R. (2005). Micrographia. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15491/15491-h/15491-h.htm

Electronic journal article without DOI

Electronic journal article with DOI

You might also like