APA referencing style is an author-date referencing system published by the American Psychological Association. This form of writing research papers is used mainly in the social sciences, like psychology, anthropology, sociology, as well as education and other fields.
There are two components in the APA referencing style: in-text citations and their corresponding reference list entries. With anything that you have read, used and referred to in your academic writing, you must:
This guide has been modified to reflect updates to the APA referencing style published in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020).
There are both significant and minor changes in the new edition.
See all examples for details on how to construct references for specific resources such as books, journals and web pages.
Material Type | In Text Citation | Reference List Entry |
DVD | (Moore, 2003) | Moore, M. (Writer/Director). (2003). Bowling for Columbine [DVD]. AV Channel. |
Radio Programme | (Browning, 2006) | Browning, D. (Presenter). (2006, June 9). Black soccer heroes. Message Stick [Radio programme]. Guest speaker Dr. John Maynard. ABC Radio. |
Sound Recording | (Javanese Voice & Amin, 1999) | Javanese Voice (Performers), & Amin, Z. (Director). (1999). Music for simple life [Album]. Javanese Studies, University of Life. |
Television Series Episode | (Masters, 2006) | Masters, C. (Presenter). (2006, March 27). Big fish, little fish. Four Corners [Television series episode]. ABC Television. |
Video Recording | (Russell & Wiseman, 1995) | Russell, G. (Writer, Producer and Narrator), & Wiseman, P. (Producer). (1995). Tackling bullies: An Australian perspective [Video recording]. Video Classroom. |
YouTube/Vimeo Video | (NRK, 2007) | NRK. (2007, February 26). Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles. [Video]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ |
Material Type | In Text Citation | Reference List Entry |
Book: Including Page Numbers |
(Wells, 2009, pp. 225-226) |
Wells, A. (2009). Metacognitive therapy for anxiety and depression in psychology. Guilford Press.
|
Book: Single Author |
(Matthews, 1999) |
Matthews, J. (1999). The art of childhood and adolescence: The construction of meaning. Falmer Press. |
Book: Two Authors |
(Colcough & Colcough, 1999) |
Colclough, B., & Colclough, J. (1999). A challenge to change. Thorsons.
|
Book: 3-20 Authors |
(Dwee et al., 2012) |
Dwee, D., Dion, H. B., & Brown, I. S. (2012). Information behaviour concept: A basic introduction. University of Life Press. |
Book: More than 20 Authors |
(Author et al., Year) |
Include the first nineteen authors' names, then insert three ellipses and follow with the final author's name. |
Book: Different Works by Same Author in Same Year |
Kubler-Ross, 1993a)
(Kubler-Ross, 1993b) |
Kubler-Ross, E. (1993a). AIDS: The ultimate challenge. Collier Books.
Kubler-Ross, E. (1993b). Questions and answers on death and dying. Collier Books. |
Book: Organisation as Author |
(American Educational Research Association, 1985) |
American Educational Research Association. (1985). Standards for educational and psychological testing. American Psychological Association. |
Material Type | In Text Citation | Reference List Entry |
Paper Presentation from the Internet |
(Balakrishnan, 2006) |
Balakrishnan, R. (2006, March 25-26). Why aren't we using 3d user interfaces, and will we ever? [Paper presentation]. IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces, Alexandria, VA. https://doi.org/10.1109/VR.2006.148. |
Unpublished Paper Presentation |
(Brown & Caste, 2004) |
Brown, S., & Caste, V. (2004, May). Integrated obstacle detection framework [Paper presentation]. IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, Detroit, MI.. |
Paper Presentation in Print Proceedings |
(Rowling, 1993) |
Rowling, L. (1993, September). Schools and grief: How does Australia compare to the United States [Paper presentation]. In Wandarna coowar: Hidden grief. 8th National Conference of the National Association for Loss and Grief (Australia), Yeppoon, Queensland (pp. 196-201). National Association for Loss and Grief. |
Material Type | In Text Citation | Reference List Entry |
Dataset |
(Ryff et al., 2019) |
Ryff, C., Almeida, D., Ayanian, J., Binkley, N., Carr, D. S., Coe, C., Davidson, R., Grzywacz, J., Karlamangla, A., Krueger, R., Lachman, M., Love, G., Mailick, M., Mroczek, D., Radler, B., Seeman, T., Sloan, R., Thomas, D., Weinstein, M., Williams, D. (2019). Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 3), 2013-2014 (ICPSR 36346) [Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36346.v7 |
Dataset Repository |
(University of Life, Centre of Animals, 2011) |
University of Life, Centre of Animals. (2011). Concept of animal behaviour. https://www.concept/NYTRW
|
Dataset Deposit Record |
(Theure & Gentaz, 2018) |
Theure, A., & Gentaz, E. (2018). Data from: The regulation of emotions in adolescents: age differences and emotion-specific patterns [Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n230404. Referenced in https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195501 |
Dataset Description Article |
(Lemaignan et al., 2018) |
Lemaignan, S., Edmunds, C.E.R., Senft, E., & Belpaeme, T. (2018). The PInSoRo dataset: Supporting the data-driven study of child-child and child-robot social dynamics. PLoS ONE, 13(10), Article e0205999+. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205999 |
Material Type | In Text Citation | Reference List Entry |
Journal Article with a DOI |
(Vogels et al., 2009) |
Vogels, A. G. C., Crone, M. R., Hoekstra, F., & Reijneveld, S. A. (2009). Comparing three short questionnaires to detect psychosocial dysfunction among primary school children: a randomized method. BMC Public Health, 9, 489. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-489 |
Journal Article with a DOI: More Than 20 Authors and Including Page Number |
(Wiskunde et al., 2019, p. 1936) |
Wiskunde, B., Arslan, M., Fischer, P., Nowak, L., Van den Berg, O., Coetzee, L., Juárez, U., Riyaziyyat, E., Wang, C., Zhang, I., Li, P., Yang, R., Kumar, B., Xu, A., Martinez, R., McIntosh, V., Ibáñez, L. M., Mäkinen, G., Virtanen, E., . . . Kovács, A. (2019). Indie pop rocks mathematics: Twenty One Pilots, Nicolas Bourbaki, and the empty set. Journal of Improbable Mathematics, 27(1), 1935–1968. https://doi.org/10.0000/3mp7y-537 |
Journal Article with a URL |
(Ahmann, 2018) |
Ahmann, E., Tuttle, L. J., Saviet, M., & Wright, S. D. (2018). A descriptive review of ADHD coaching research: Implications for college students. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 31(1): 24-58. https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped/archived-jped/jped-volume-31 |
Journal Article with an Article Number |
(March & Springer, 2019) |
March, E., & Springer, J. (2019). Belief in conspiracy theories: The predictive role of schizotypy, Machiavellianism, and primary psychopathy. PLoS One, 14(12): Article e0225964. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225964 |
Journal Article from a URL and Including Paragraph Number |
(Munro, 1999, para. 12) |
Munro, C. (1999). Facing grief. Synergy, 3(3). http://about.ugm.ac.id/synergy/0303/grie |
Journal Article in Print |
(Kyratsis, 2004) |
Kyratsis, A. (2014). Talk and interaction among children and the co-construction of peer groups and peer culture. Annual Review of Anthropology, 33(4), 231-247. |
Journal Article in Print Including Page Number |
(Parker & Roy, 2001, p. 574) |
Parker, G., & Roy, K. (2011). Adolescent depression: A review. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 572-580. |
Journal Article in Print with 3-20 Authors |
(Zhang et al., 2016) |
Zhang, B., Cohen, J., Ferrence, R., & Rehm, J. (2016). The impact of tobacco tax cuts on smoking initiation among Canadian young adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(6), 474-479. |
Material Type | In Text Citation | Reference List Entry |
Blog Post |
(Flower, 2015) |
Flower, R. (2015, June 1). How a simple formula for resolving problems and conflict can change your reality. Pick The Brain. http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-a-simple-formula-for-resolving-problems-and-conflict-can-change-your-reality/ |
Blog Comment |
(Stephen, 2017) |
Stephen. (2017, February 21). Re: Why you should let your passion die [Comment]. PsychCentral. https://psychcentral.com/blog/discuss/102347/ |
Facebook Post |
(University of Life Office, 2010) |
University of Life Office. (2010, December 20). Psychology of learners [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/41764892 |
Facebook Comment |
(Toto, 2011) |
Toto, H. (2011, September 1). Re: Psychology of learners [Comment]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/qu4qwyierqw |
Tweet |
(Kruszelnicki, 2017) |
Kruszelnicki, K. [@DoctorKarl]. (2017, February 19). Fact-checker scientist @bengoldacre, evidence-based medicine, dead cat #Shirtloadsofscience: http://apple.co/2kXmeCd: http://bit.ly/2faxmw5 [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/DoctorKarl? ref_src=twsrc^google| twcamp^serp|twgr^author |
YouTube/Vimeo/Ted Talk video |
(Setrakian, 2017) |
Setrakian, L. (2017, January). Lara Setrakian: 3 ways to fix a broken news industry. [Video]. https://www.ted.com/talks/lara_setrakian_3_ways_to_fix_a_ broken_news_industry#t-521404 |
YouTube Comment |
(Kirk, 2017) |
Kirk, J. (2017, February). Re: Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles. [Comment]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ |
Instagram Post |
(University of Life Library, 2019) |
University of Life Library. (2019, May 22). An artwork showing history of animals {Photographs]. https://www.instagram.com/73q64723648913 |
Instagram Comment |
(Black, 2011) |
Black. (2011, May 23). Re: An artwork showing history of animals {Comment]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/3649238y |
App |
(StudentVIP, 2017) |
StudentVIP. (2017). Lost on Campus (Version 4.1.3) [Mobile app]. Apple App Store. https://www.apple.com/au/ios/app-store/ |
Game |
(Persson & Bergensten, 2011) |
Persson, M., & Bergensten, J. (2011). Minecraft [Game]. Mojang Synergies AB. https://minecraft.net/en-us/ |