APA Format for Various Print and Electronic Sources
This guide covers many of the types of resources that are used when writing a research paper. If you have questions that cannot be answered using the information below please ask a library staff member for assistance. You may also wish to consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition). Each MPTC library has at least one copy of this book.
In Text Citations
If you are referring to an idea from a source you simply include the author's or authors' name(s) and date of publication.
One work by one author
Example 1: Szegedy-Maszak (2001) also found this to be the case.
Example 2: At least one other person has found this to be the case (Szegedy-Maszak, 2001).
One work by two authors
Example 1: Prado and Taylor (1999) found
Example 2: Others have found the opposite to be true (Prado & Taylor, 1999).
Note: Cite both names each time the reference occurs in the text of your paper.
One work by three, four, or five authors
Example 1: Konishi, Davis, and Aiba (2002) found the opposite to be true.
Example 2: Others have found the opposite to be true (Konishi, Davis, & Aiba, 2002).
Note: Cite all the authors the first time the reference occurs but after that include only the last name of the first author
followed by et al (with a period after al) and the year if it is the first citation of the reference within a paragraph.
If the work you wish to cite has no named author you should use the first few words of the title to identify the work
In another study it was discovered that patients saw assisted suicide as the best way to deal with their pain ("Patients talk about").
References
General instructions for References
- All entries are double-spaced.
- All lines after the first line of each entry should be indented one-half inch from the left margin.
- Entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author for each of the sources listed.
- If no author is given for a particular source alphabetize it by using the title of the source.
- Author's names are listed last name first; give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work.
Article with no author and no pages
If the author of the work is not identified begin the reference with the title of the document.
Example: Patients talk about assisted suicide. (2001, April 19). The Worldly Times.
Book with one author
Johnston, B. P. (1998). Death as a salesman : What's wrong with assisted suicide?
Sacramento, CA: New Regency Publishing.
Book with two authors
Prado, C. G., & Taylor, S. J. (1999). Assisted suicide : Theory and practice in elective
death . Amherst, NY: Humanity Books.
Journal article
Konishi, E., Davis, A. J., & Aiba, T. (2002). The ethics of withdrawing artificial food and
fluid from terminally ill patients : an end- of-life dilemma for Japanese nurses and
families. Nursing Ethics, 9 , 7-19.
Magazine article
Szegedy-Maszak, M. (2001, June 25). A lesson before dying. U. S. News & World
Report, 130, 48-9.
Newspaper article
Ames, P. (2002, April 30). Court rejects appeal for assisted suicide. Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel , p. A12.
Article from a print encyclopedia
Kohl, M. (2001). Euthanasia. In Encyclopedia of ethics (Vol. 1, pp. 492-498). New
York: Routledge.
Electronic book
Weir, R. F. (1997). Physician-assisted suicide . Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press. Retrieved December 12, 2002, from Moraine Park Technical College,
netLibrary. Website: http://www.netlibray.com.
Journal article from an online database
Konishi, E., Davis, A. J., & Aiba, T. (2002). The ethics of withdrawing artificial food and
fluid from terminally ill patients : an end- of-life dilemma for Japanese nurses and
families. Nursing Ethics, 9 , 7-19. Retrieved January 20, 2004, from Academic
Search Elite database.
Article with DOI assigned
Perez-Verdin, G., Kim, Y., Hospodarsky, D., & Tecle, A. (2009). Factors driving deforestation in
common-pool resources in northern Mexico. Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 331-340.
doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.10.001
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique string of numbers and letters that provides a
persistent link to a document on the Internet. If an article contains a DOI you do not need to include
a URL or database name. Not all articles are assigned a DOI at this time.
Magazine article from an online database
Szegedy-Maszak, M. (2001, June 25). A lesson before dying. U. S. News & World Report,
130, 48-9. Retrieved May 2, 2002, from Academic Search Elite database.
Newspaper article
Richtel M. & Stone, B. (2009, January 5). Blu-ray format struggles with uncertain prospects.
The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com.
Newspaper article from an online database
Ames, P. (2002, April 30). Court rejects appeal for assisted suicide. Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel , p. A12. Retrieved May 2, 2002, from ProQuest Newspapers database.
When creating entries for information that you found in online reference materials such as
dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks please keep the following in mind.
- If no author is listed the title of the article goes in the author position.
- Include the retrieval date.
- Give the the URL for the home or index page for reference works.
Online dictionary
Deforestation. (2008). In Merriam-Webster's online dictionary.
Retrieved December 16, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/.
Online encyclopedia
Baltzly,D. (2008). Stoicism. In E.N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford
encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved December 16, 2008, from http://plato.stanford.edu/.
Online handbook
Giardiasis. (2005). In R. S. Porter, J. L. Kaplan, B. P. Homeier & M. H. Beers (Eds.), The Merck manual online.
Retrieved January 5, 2008, from http://www.merck.com/mmpe/index.html.
Motion picture or video tape with national or international availability
Schatz, A. (Producer), & Ganguzza, M. (Director). (2000). Before I die: Medical care
and personal choices [MotionPicture]. United States: Films for the Humanities &
Sciences.
Television feature viewed online
Gaviria, M. (Producer/Director). (2007). The medicated child. In D. Fanning (Executive Producer), Frontline.
Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/.
Lecture notes
Chen, C. (2007). Lecture 1: Overview: Themes, types of markets, economic measurement, economic analysis.
Retrieved from Massachusetts Institute of Technology OpenCourse Ware Web site: http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/
Economics/14-01Fall-2007/4A8B115E-1F48-4C16-AB12-B5B53455ED35/0/14_01_lec01.pdf.
Audio podcast
Cain, F. (Host). (2007, May 16). The skeptic's guide to the universe [Episode 95]. Astronomy Cast. Podcast retrieved from
http://www.astronomycast.com/.
Web document with named author
Gawler, E. (1999). Euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide and the withdrawal of
life-sustaining treatment. Retrieved May 2, 2002, from
http://www.cmfda.org.au/ethics/euthanasia_gawler.html.
Web document with no author listed
West Nile Virus. (2002, April 9). Retrieved May 4, 2002, from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm.
Weblog post
ddf. (2008, January 5). Re:Faith-based macroeconomics. Message posted to
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/faith-based-macroeconomics/#comments
Wiki
Division of labour. (n.d.) Retrieved January 5, 2009, from Economics: http://economics.wikia.com/wiki/Division_of_Labour.
