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Plagiarism & Citations: APA Format, 7th Edition

Learn how to avoid plagiarism and how to cite correctly using a variety of citation styles.

Introduction

When you reference another’s work in your own papers or essays, you need to cite that author’s work.  APA Citation Style is typically used to cite work in social sciences and education fields.


When creating a citation, you will need two things:

  • In-text or parenthetical citations – located within the body of your paper
  • Works Cited or Bibliography – reference list that appears at the end of your paper.

APA Citation Reference List

Here are some of the changes in the latest version of APA Style:

  • APA now has different title page requirements for student papers. This title page does not require a running head and has a different set of information to include. See APA Style: Student Title Page Guide.
  • Titles of papers are now bolded, with a blank line before the author's name.
  • There is no font requirement as long as the font is legible and consistent.
  • The heading for the References list is now bolded.
  • APA has simplified in-text citations in regards to multiple authors.  For three or more authors, list only the first author's name and then et al.
  • In the opposite direction, APA now requires listing up to 20 authors for a source in the references list. This is a change from 8 in the 6th edition. For works with more than 20 authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipsis point, and then list the last author's name.
  • For books, no longer list the publication location.
  • eBooks should be cited exactly as print books. Do not include a database.
  • If an article has an article number, use that in place of the page numbers.
  • Include a URL if it will take the reader to the full text without logging in. The article title is formatted regularly and the newspaper or magazine title is italicized.
  • Omit the words 'Retrieved from' before the URL. Include the name of the website unless it is the same as the author. Italicize the name of the webpage.

Articles 

Article found in a database or in print, with one author:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages.

Pajares, F. (2001). Toward a positive psychology of academic motivation. Journal of Educational Research, 95(1), 27-35.

In-Text Citation

(Last name, Year) OR (Last name, Year, p. #)

(Pajares, 2001) OR (Pajares, 2001, p. 28)

Article found on the open web, with one author:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume if available (issue if available), pages if available. doi: OR

Retrieved from URL

Cohen, P. (2009, October 9). Author's personal forecast: Not always sunny, but pleasantly skeptical. The New York Times.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/books/10ehrenreich.html?_r=1

In-Text Citation

(Last name, Year) OR (Last name, Year, paragraph/page #)

(Cohen, 2009) OR (Cohen, 2009, para. 7)

Article (from the open web) with two authors:

Lastname, F. M., & Surname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages. doi: OR Retrieved from

URL 

Norem, J. K., & Chang, E. C. (2002). The positive psychology of negative thinking. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(9),

993-1001. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10094

In-Text Citation

 (Last names, Year) OR (Last names, Year, paragraph/page #)

 (Norem & Chang, 2002) OR (Norem & Chang, 2002, p. 997)

Article with three to six authors:

Lastname, F. M., Surname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages.    

Jutras, S., Vinay, M. C., & Castonguay, G. (2002). Inner-city children's perceptions about well-being. Canadian Journal of

Community Mental Health, 21(1), 47-65.

In-Text Citation

(First last name et al., Year) OR (Last name, Year, p. #)

(Jutras et al., 2002) AND (Jutras et al., 2002, p. 48)

More than 20 authors? List the first 19 authors and the last author.

Authorone, F. M., Authortwo, F. M., Authorthree, F. M., Authorfour, F. M., Authorfive, F. M., Authorsix, F.M.  . . . 

Finalauthor, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages.  

Books

Book with one author:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Publisher

Bok, S. (2010). Exploring happiness: From Aristotle to brain science. Yale

In-Text Citation

(Last name, Year) OR (Last name, Year, p. #)

(Bok, 2010) OR (Bok, 2010, p. 10)

Books with multiple authors:

The format follows the author format as listed under articles.

An edited book:

Editor, F. M. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Publisher.

Snyder, C.R. & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2009). The Oxford handbook of positive psychology. Oxford

University Press.

In-Text Citation

(Editor, Year) OR (Editor, Year, p. #)

(Snyder & Lopez, 2009) OR (Snyder & Lopez, 2009, p. 78)

Web Sites

Web site with one author:

Lastname, F. M. (Date published). Title of page. URL

Lopez, S. J. (2000). The emergence of Positive Psychology: The building of a field of dreams.

http://www.apa.org/apags/profdev/pospsyc.html

In-Text Citation

(Last name, DateOR (Last name, Date, para. #) 

(Lopez, 2000OR (Lopez, 2000, para. 5) 

Web site with a corporate or organizational author:

Organization name. (Date published). Title of page. URL

Positive Psychology Center. (2007). Attributional style research (Adults). http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu

/asq.htm

In-Text Citation

(Organization name, DateOR (Organization name, Date, para. #) 

(Positive Psychology Center, 2007OR (Positive Psychology Center, 2007, para. 3) 

Images

Image from an online source with a creator listed:

Creator, F. M. (Date created). Title of image [Description of image]. Retrieved [date] from URL

Swanbrow, D. (2008, July 23). A happiness ranking of 97 nations [table]. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from

http://www.ur.umich.edu/0708/Jul14_08/23.php

In-Text Citation 

(Last name, Year)

(Swanbrow, 2008)

Image from an online source with no creator listed:

Title of image [Description of image]. (Date created). Retrieved [date] from URL

In-Text Citation

(Title of image, Year)

Image from a print source with a creator listed:

Creator, F. M. (Date created). Title of image. [Continue with title of book or article as appropriate.]

(Last Name, Year)

Sources

The information on this page was borrowed from URI LibGuides.

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