Social Sciences
APA list of references
In APA style, the alphabetical list of works cited, which appears at the end of the paper, is titled “References.” For advice on preparing the reference list, click here. For a sample reference list, click here.
The guidelines presented here are consistent with advice given in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. (2010).
Alphabetize entries in the list of references by authors’ last names; if a work has no author, alphabetize it by its title. The first element of each entry is important because citations in the text of the paper refer to it and readers will be looking for it in the alphabetized list. The date of publication appears immediately after the first element of the citation.
In APA style, titles of books are italicized; titles of articles are neither italicized nor put in quotation marks. (For rules
on capitalization of titles, click here.)
Many Sources, both print and online, inclue a unique, permanent number called a digital object identifier (DOI) that allows users to access a source in a variety of ways. For a reference list entry for a print source, give all the print publication information and add the DOI, if the source has one, at the end of the entry (see item 7.). For an online source, give the DOI at the end of the entry in place of a URL (see item 30).
General guidelines for listing authors (print and online)
In APA style, all authors’ names are inverted (the last name comes first), and initials only are used for all first and middle names.
1. Single author
2. Multiple authors List up to seven authors by last names followed by initials. Use an ampersand (&) before the name of the last author. If there are more than seven authors, list the first six followed by three ellipsis dots and the last author’s name. (See item 3 for citing works with multiple authors in your paper.)
Mulvaney, S. A., Mudasiru, E., Schlundt, D. G., Baughman, C. L., Fleming, M., VanderWoude, A., . . . Rothman, R. (2008). Self-management in Type 2 diabetes: The adolescent perspective. The Diabetes Educator, 34, 118-127.
If the publisher is not the same as the author, give the publisher’s name as you would for any other source.
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5. Two or more works by the same author Use the author’s name for all entries. List the entries by year, the earliest first.
Barry, P. (2007, December 8). Putting tumors on pause. Science News, 172, 365.
6. Two or more works by the same author in the same year List the works alphabetically by title. In the parentheses, following the year add “a,” “b,” and so on. Use these same letters when giving the year in the in-text citation. (See also formatting guidelines.)Barry, P. (2008, August 2). Finding the golden genes. Science News, 174, 16-21.
Elkind, D. (2008a, Spring). Can we play? Greater Good, 4(4), 14-17.
Elkind, D. (2008b, June 27). The price of hurrying children [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blogs/psychologytoday.com/blog/digital-children
Articles in periodicals (print)
Periodicals include scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. For a journal or a magazine, give only the volume number if the publication is paginated continuously through each volume; give the volume and issue numbers if each issue of the volume begins on page 1. Italicize the volume number and put the issue number, not italicized, in parentheses.
For all periodicals, when an article appears on consecutive pages, provide the range of pages. When an article does not appear on consecutive pages, give all page numbers: A1, A17. (See also “Online sources” for online articles and articles accessed through a library’s database.)
 | Citation at a glance | Article in a periodical (APA) |
8. Article in a magazine Cite as a journal article, but give the year and the month for monthly magazines; add the day for weekly magazines.
McKibben, B. (2007, October). Carbon’s new math. National Geographic, 212(4), 32-37.
Give the year, month, and day for daily and weekly newspapers. Use “p.” or “pp.” before page numbers.
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Ungar, M., Brown, M., Liebenberg, L., Othman, R., Kwong, W. M., Armstrong, M., & Gilgun, J. (2007). Unique pathways to resilience across cultures. Adolescence, 42, 287-310.
Krippner, G., Granovetter, M., Block, F., Biggart, N., Beamish, T., Hsing, Y., . . . O’Riain, S. (2004). Polanyi Symposium: A conversation on embeddedness. Socio-Economic Review, 2, 109-135.
Lahm, K. (2008). Inmate-on-inmate assault: A multilevel examination of prison violence [Abstract]. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(1), 120-137.
Park, T. (2008, August). Defining the line [Letter to the editor]. Scientific American, 299(2), 10.
The global justice movement [Editorial]. (2005). Multinational Monitor, 26(7/8), 6.
Setting the stage for remembering. (2006, September). Mind, Mood, and Memory, 2(9), 4-5.
Applebaum, A. (2008, February 14). A movie that matters [Review of the motion picture Katyn, 2007]. The New York Review of Books, 55(2), 13-15.
Agents of change. (2008, February 2). [Review of the book The power of unreasonable people: How social entrepreneurs create markets that change the world, by J. Elkington & P. Hartigan]. The Economist, 386(8565), 94.
Items 17–29 apply to print books. For online books, see items 36 and 37.
Take the information about a book from its title page and copyright page. If more than one place of publication is listed, use only the first. Give the city and state (abbreviated) for all US cities or the city and the country (not abbreviated) for all non-US cities; also include the province (not abbreviated) for Canadian cities. Do not give a state if the publisher’s name includes it (as in many university presses, for example).
| Citation at a glance | Book (APA) |
18. Book with an editor
The abbreviation “Eds.” is for multiple editors. If the book has one editor, use “Ed.”
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The abbreviation “Eds.” is for multiple editors. If the book has one editor, use “Ed.”
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Steinberg, M. D. (2003). Voices of revolution, 1917 (M. Schwartz, Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. (Original work published 2001)
O’Brien, J. A. (Ed.). (2006). The production of reality: Essays and readings on social interaction (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
The abbreviation “Eds.” is for multiple editors. If the book has one editor, use “Ed.”
Luo, J. (Ed.). (2005). China today: An encyclopedia of life in the People’s Republic (Vols. 1-2). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Gore, A. (2000). Foreword. In B. Katz (Ed.), Reflections on regionalism (pp. ix-x). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Leong, F. T. L. (Ed.). (2008). Encyclopedia of counseling (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Konijn, E. A. (2008). Affects and media exposure. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of communication (Vol. 1, pp. 123-129). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Mailer, N. (2008). Miami and the siege of Chicago: An informal history of the Republican and Democratic conventions fo 1968. New York, NY: New York Review Books. (Original work published 1968)
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28. Book with a title in its title If the book title contains another book title or an article title, neither italicize the internal title nor place it in quotation marks.
Marcus, L. (Ed.). (1999). Sigmund Freud’s The interpretation of dreams: New interdisciplinary essays. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.
Marcus, L. (Ed.). (1999). Sigmund Freud’s The interpretation of dreams: New interdisciplinary essays. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.
When citing an online article, include publication information as for a print periodical (see items 7–16) and add information about the online version (see items 30–35).
Online articles and books sometimes include a DOI (digital object identifier). APA uses the DOI, when available, in place of a URL in reference list entries.
Use a retrieval date for an online source only if the content is likely to change. Most of the examples in this section do not show a retrieval date because the content of the sources is stable; if you are unsure about whether to use a retrieval date, include the date or consult your instructor.
If you must break a DOI or a URL at the end of a line, break it after a double slash or before any other mark of punctuation;
do not add a hyphen. Do not put a period at the end of the entry.
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If there is no DOI, include the URL for the journal’s home page.
Ashe, D. D., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2001). Shyness, loneliness, and attitude toward celebrities. Current Research in Social Psychology, 6, 124-133. Retrieved from http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.html
Rupley, S. (2010, February 26). The myth of the benign monopoly. Salon. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/
Watson, P. (2008, October 19). Biofuel boom endangers orangutan habitat. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/
Samuel, T. (2009, March 27). Mind the wage gap [Supplemental material]. The American Prospect. Retrieved from http://www.prospect.org/
| Citation at a glance | Article from a database (APA) |
If there is no DOI, include the URL for the home page of the journal.
Howard, K. R. (2007). Childhood overweight: Parental perceptions and readiness for change. The Journal of School Nursing, 23, 73-79. Retrieved from http://jsn.sagepub.com/
Brockerhoff, E. G., Jactel, H., Parrotta, J. A., Quine, C. P., & Sayer, J. (2008). Plantation forests and biodiversity: Oxymoron or opportunity? [Abstract]. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17, 925-951. doi:10.1007/s10531-008-9380-x
37. Chapter in an online bookAdams, B. (2004). The theory of social revolutions. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=44092 (Original work published 1913)
38. Online reference workClinton, S. J. (2004). What can be done to prevent childhood obesity? In Understanding childhood obesity (pp 81-98). Retrieved from http://www.questia.com
Swain, C. M. (2004). Sociology of affirmative action. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/referenceworks/9780080430768
Use a retrieval date only if the content of the work is likely to change.
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Archer, D. (n.d.). Exploring nonverbal communication. Retrieved from http://nonverbal.ucsc.edu
If a source has no author, begin with the title and follow it with the date in parentheses.
What causes Alzheimer’s disease? (2008). Retrieved from http://www.memorystudy.org/alzheimers_causes.htm
| Citation at a glance | Section in a Web document (APA) |
Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1997). Evolutionary psychology: A primer. Retrieved from University of California, Santa Barbara, Center for Evolutionary Psychology website: http://www.psych.ucsb.edu /research/cep/primer.html
In the face of extinction. (2008, May). NSF Current. Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsletter/may_08/index.jsp
Kellermann, M. (2007, May 23). Disclosing clinical trials [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.iq.harvard.edu/blog/sss/archives/2007/05/disclosing_clin.html
Chomsky, N. (n.d.). The new imperialism [Audio file]. Retrieved from http://www.rhapsody.com/noamchomsky
Zakaria, F. (Host), & McCullough, C. (Writer). (2007, March 6). In focus: American teens, Rwandan truths [Video file]. Retrieved from http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=1uTsQLH3vNQ&feature;=related
Ethnomethodology. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://en.stswiki.org/index.php/Ethnomethodology
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2009). Eating and health module (ATUS): 2007 data [Data set]. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ATUS/Data/2007/2007data.htm
Gallup. (2008, October 23). No increase in proportion of first-time voters [Graphs]. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/111331/No-Increase-Proportion-First-Time-Voters.aspx
Carmona, R. H. (2004, March 2). The growing epidemic of childhood obesity. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Competition, Foreign Commerce, and Infrastructure of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify /t040302.html
McKinney, J. (2006, December 19). Adult education-healthcare partnerships [Electronic mailing list message]. Retrieved from http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/healthliteracy/2006/000524.html
Other sources (including online versions)
51. Dissertation from a databaseHymel, K. M. (2009). Essays in urban economics (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (AAT 3355930)
Mitchell, R. D. (2007). The Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Relocating the conversation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, CA.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2008, August). U.S. international trade in goods and services (Report No. CB08-121, BEA08-37, FT-900). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/2008pr/06/ftdpress.pdf
Ford Foundation. (n.d.). Helping citizens to understand and influence state budgets. Retrieved from http://www.fordfoundation.org/pdfs/library /state_fiscal_initiative.pdf
Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950). Retrieved from Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute website: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0339_0629_ZS.html
Stahl, G. (Ed.). (2002). Proceedings of CSCL ’02: Computer support for collaborative learning. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Anderson, D. N. (2008, May). Cab-hailing and the micropolitics of gesture. Paper presented at the Arizona Linguistics and Anthropology Symposium, Tucson, AZ.
Wang, Z., & Keogh, T. (2008, June). A click away: Student response to clickers. Poster session presented at the annual conference of the American Library Association, Anaheim, CA.
Ukraine [Map]. (2008). Retrieved from the University of Texas at Austin Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection website: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia08/ukraine_sm_2008.gif
Xbox 360 [Advertisement]. (2007, February). Wired, 15(2), 71.
Murphy, C. (2007, June 22). As the Romans did [Interview by G. Hahn]. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/
Fox, V. (2008, March 5). Economic growth, poverty, and democracy in Latin America: A president’s perspective. Address at the Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Weber, J. (1992). Toward freedom [Outdoor mural]. Sherman Oaks, CA.
Newkirk, K. (2006). Gainer (part II). Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (n.d.). Professional boundaries [Brochure]. Retrieved from https://www.ncsbn.org/Professional_Boundaries_2007_Web.pdf
World Health Organization. (2007, October). Health of indigenous peoples (No. 326) [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs326/en/index.html
Boeninger, C. F. (2008, August). Web 2.0 tools for reference and instructional services [Presentation slides]. Retrieved from http://libraryvoice.com/archives/2008/08/04/opal-20-conference-presentation-slides/
Guggenheim, D. (Director), & Bender, L. (Producer). (2006). An inconvenient truth [DVD]. United States: Paramount Home Entertainment.
Spurlock, M. (Director). (2004). Super size me [Motion picture]. Available from IDP Films, 1133 Broadway, Suite 926, New York, NY 10010
Pratt, C. (Executive producer). (2008, October 5). Face the nation [Television broadcast]. Washington, DC: CBS News.
For a television series, use the year in which the series was produced, and follow the title with “Television series” in brackets. For an episode in a series, list the writer and director and the year. After the episode title, put “Television series episode” in brackets. Follow with information about the series.
Fanning, D. (Executive producer). (2008). Frontline [Television series]. Boston, MA: WGBH.
Smith, M. (Writer/producer). (2008). Heat [Television series episode]. In D. Fanning (Executive producer), Frontline. Boston, MA: WGBH.
Thomas, G. (1996). Breath. On Didgeridoo: Ancient sound of the future [CD]. Oxnard, CA: Aquarius International Music.
