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Social & Behavioral Sciences: APA Format, 7th Edition

A guide for conducting research in the social sciences and behavioral sciences

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 Style Resources

Still have questions? Click here.

APA Citation Reference List

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. doi: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

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

(Jutras, Vinay, & Castonguay, 2002) TO (Jutras et al., 2002) AND (Jutras et al., 2002, p. 48)

More than seven authors? List the first six 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. Publication City, ST: Publisher

Bok, S. (2010). Exploring happiness: From Aristotle to brain science. New Haven, CT: 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. Publication City, ST: Publisher.

Snyder, C.R. & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2009). The Oxford handbook of positive psychology. Oxford; New York, NY: 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. Retrieved from URL

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

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. Retrieved from URL

Positive Psychology Center. (2007). Attributional style research (Adults). Retrieved from 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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