APA Handbook

for Writers of
Research
Papers
HANDBOOK

- a concise ready reference source of

information for a particular field of
knowledge.

- sometimes referred to as a vade mecum

(Latin, “go with me”) or pocket reference
that is intended to be carried out at all
times.
 Why Cite?
 To give credit to others’ work and ideas.

 To show readers the materials on which

you base your analysis, your narrative, or
your conclusions.

 To guide readers to the materials you

have used so they can examine it for
themselves.
American Psychological
Association (APA)
 developed by social and behavioral scientists to
standardize scientific writing..

 widely used in psychology, education,

engineering, business, and the social sciences.

 uses the author-date citation system.

 emphasizes year of publication, which comes

immediately after the author’s name.
• Lesson 1: APA Citation • Lesson 6: APA Citation
Styles for Books Styles for
Television
• Lesson 2: APA Citation program, Film
Styles for Journal
articles • Lesson 7: APA Citation
Styles for
• Lesson 3: APA Citation Photograph
Styles for
Unpublished • Lesson 8: APA Citation
Papers Styles for Software,
Database, E-mail,
• Lesson 4: APA Citation Web site, Web
Styles for Microfilm, page
microfiche
• Lesson 9: APA Citation
• Lesson 5: APA Citation Styles for
Styles for Figures: Government
map, chart, graph, Document
table
 Lesson 1: APA Citation Styles for Books
Book, References Mandelbaum, M. (2002). The ideas
one author list that conquered the world:
Peace, democracy, and free
markets in the twenty-first
century. New York: Public
Affairs.

In-text (Mandelbaum, 2002)

Book, Reference Shweder, R. A., Minow, M., &

edited list Markus, H. (Eds.). (2002).
Engaging cultural differences:
The multicultural challenge in
liberal democracies. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation Press.

In-text (Shweder, Minow, & Markus, 2002)

 Lesson 1: APA Citation Styles for Books
Book, Reference Reiter, D., & Stam, A. C. (2002).
multiple list Democracies at war. Princeton,
authors NJ: Princeton University Press.
 Name the first six authors,
then add “et al.”
In-text (Reiter & Stam, 2002)
 For 2 to 5 authors, name all
authors in the first citation.
Beginning with the second
reference, name only the
first author, then add “et al.”
 For 6 or more authors, name
only the first author, then
add “et al.” for all citations.
 Use “&” within parenthetical
references but not in the text
itself.
 Lesson 1: APA Citation Styles for Books
Book, Reference
Reed, J. (1922). Ten days that shook
online list
the world. Project Gutenberg.
Etext 3076. Retrieved January 12,
2004, from
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gut
enberg/etext02/10daz10.txt
 APA does not put a period
after the URL.

In-text (Reed, 1992)

 Lesson 2: APA Citation Styles for Journal Articles

Journal Reference Lipson, C. (1991). Why are some

article, one list international agreements informal?
author International organization, 45, 495-
538.
 Notice that article titles are not
in quotes.
 The journal’s volume number is
italicized, but the issue number and
pages are not. The word
“volume” (or vol.) is omitted.
 There’s no need to name a specific
issue if the journal pages are
numbered continuously throughout
the year. However, if each issue
begins with page 1, then the
issue’s number or month is
necessary to find the article:
45(2), 15-30.
In-text (Lipson, 1991)
 Lesson 2: APA Citation Styles for Journal Articles

Journal Reference Koremenos, B., Lipson, C., & Snidal, D.

article, list (2001). The rational design of
multiple international institutions.
authors International Organization, 55, 761-
799.
Hansen, S. S., Munk-Jorgensen, P.,
Guldbaek, B., Solgard, T., Lauszus,
K. S., Albrechtsen, N., et al. (2000).
Psychoactive substance use
diagnoses among psychiatric in-
patients. Acta Psychiatrica
Scandinavica, 102, 432-438.
 Name up to 6 authors, then add
“et al.”

In-text (Koremenos, Lipson, & Snidal, 2001)

(Koremenos et al., 2001)
 Lesson 2: APA Citation Styles for Journal Articles
Journal Reference Mitchell, T. (2002). McJihad: Islam in the
article, online list U.S. global order. Social Text, 20
(4), 1-18. Retrieved December 26,
2003, from JSTOR database:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/xsocial
_text/v020/20.4mitchell.html
 You can omit the URL when
citing well-known databases,
such as JSTOR.
Newspaper Reference Strong aftershocks continue in
articles, no list California. (2003, December 26).
author New York Times [national ed.], p.
A23.
 Newspaper page numbers
include “p.” or “pp.”
 Lesson 3: APA Citation Styles for Unpublished
Papers
Unpublished Reference
Reid, P. (1998). Beginning therapists
paper, thesis list
and difficult clients: An exploratory
or dissertation
study. Unpublished master’s
thesis, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst.
Gomez, C. (2003). Identifying early
indicators for autism in self-
regulatory difficulties. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. Auburn
University, AL.

In-text (Reid, 1998)

(Gomez, 2003)
 Lesson 4: APA Citation Styles for Microfilm,
microfiche

Microfilm, Reference Conservative Party (UK). (1919). Annual

microfiche list report of the executive committee to
central council, March 11-November
18, 1919. Archive of the British
Conservative Party, Microfiche card
143. Woodbridge, CT: Gale/Primary
Source Microfilm, 1998. (Original
material located in Conservative
Party Archive, Bodleian Library,
Oxford, UK).
 You do not need to include the
location of the original material,
but you are welcome to.

In-text (Conservative Party, 1919)

 Lesson 5: APA Citation Styles for Figures:
map, chart, graph, or table

Figures: Reference
Electoral vote map (2000). Election
map, chart, list
2000. Retrieved August 30, 2004,
graph, or
from
table
http://www.usatoday.com/news/vot
e2000/elecfront.htm
 Give a descriptive title to your
maps, charts, graphs, and
tables. With this description, the
reader should understand the
item without having to refer to
the text.

In-text (Electoral vote map [2000], 2004)

Lesson 6: APA Citation Styles for Television program, Film

Television Reference
Long, T. (Writer), & Moore, S. D.
program list
(Director). (2002). Bart vs. Lisa vs.
3rd Grade [Television series
episode]. In B. Oakley & J.
Weinstein (Producers), The
Simpsons. Episode: 1403 F55079.
Fox.

In-text (Simpsons, 2002) or

(Bart vs. Lisa, 2002)
Lesson 6: APA Citation Styles for Television program, Film
Film Reference Huston, J. (Director/Writer). (1941).
list The Maltese falcon [Motion
picture]. Perf. Humphrey Bogart,
Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney
Greenstreet, Elisha Cook Jr.
Based on novel by Dashiell
Hammett. Warner Studios. U.S.:
Warner Home Video, DVD
(2000).
 Required: You must include
the title, director, studio, and
year released.
 Optional: the actors,
producers, screenwriters,
editors, cinematographers,
and other information.

In-text (Maltese falcon, 1941) or

(Maltese falcon, 2000)
 Lesson 7: APA Citation Styles for Photograph

Photograph Reference Adams, Ansel. (1927). Monolith, the

list face of Half Dome, Yosemite
National Park [photograph]. Art
Institute, Chicago.

In-text (Adams, 1927)

 Lesson 8: APA Citation Styles for
Software, Database, E-mail, Web site, Web page

Software Reference Dreamweaver MX 2004 [Computer

list software]. (2003). San Francisco:
Macromedia.

SPSS regression models (12.0 for

Windows) [Computer software].
(2003). Chicago: SPSS.

In-text (Dreamweaver MX 2004, 2003)

(SPSS Regression Models, 2003)
 Lesson 8: APA Citation Styles for
Software, Database, E-mail, Web site, Web page

Database Reference Intellectual Property Treaties, InterAm

list Database. (2004). Tucson, AZ:
National Law Center for Inter-
American Free Trade. Retrieved
March 15, 2004 from,
http://www.natlaw.com/database.ht
m

In-text (Intellectual Property Treaties, 2004)

 Lesson 8: APA Citation Styles for
Software, Database, E-mail, Web site, Web page

Web site, Reference

Digital History Web site. (2004). Mintz
entire list
(Ed.). Retrieved January 10, 2004,
from
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/inde
x.cfm
In-text (Digital History, 2004)

E-mail or Reference Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

electronic list (2005, April 27). Blending Islam and
newsgroup democracy: Southeast Asia’s
unique experience [Msg.] e-
Chronicle, May 2005. Posted to
Chicago Council on Foreign
Relations electronic mailing list,
archived at
http://www.ccfr.org/publications/pdf/
may05/pdf

In-text (Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, 2005)

 Lesson 8: APA Citation Styles for
Software, Database, E-mail, Web site, Web page

Web page, Reference

Lipson, C. (2004). Advice on getting a
with author list
great recommendation. Retrieved
February 1, 2004, from
http://www.charleslipson.com/cours
es/Getting-a-good-
recommendation.htm

In-text (Lipson, 2004)

Webpage, Reference I Love Lucy: Series summary. (2004).

no author list Sitcoms Online. Retrieved May 4,
2005, from
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ilovel
ucy.html

In-text (I Love Lucy: Series summary, 2004)

 Lesson 9: APA Citation Styles for
Government Document
Government Reference
A bill to promote the national security
document, list
by providing for a national defense
hardcopy
establishment: Hearings on S. 758
and online
before the Committee on Armed
Service, Senate. 80th Cong., 1
(1947).
 “80th Cong., 1” refers to page
one (not to the first session). If
the reference was to testimony
by a specific individual, that
would appear after the date:
**(1947) (testimony of Gen.
George Marshall).
 For documents printed by the
Government Printing Office,
give the full name rather than
the initials GPO.

In-text (Bill to Promote National Security, 1947)

 APA Common Abbreviations in
Reference Lists
chapter chap.
edition ed.
editor Ed.
number No.
page p.
pages pp.
part Pt.
revised edition rev. ed.
second edition 2nd ed.
supplement Suppl.
translated by Trans.
volume Vol.
volumes Vols.
 Punctuation Marks Used
. full stop
, comma
; semicolon
- hyphen
-- dash
/ diagonal slash
[] square brackets
() parentheses
... marks of omission (only 3 dots)
? question mark
= equals sign
+ plus sign
References:
Books
Andersen, E., Gosling, M., & Mortimer, M. (1999). Learn basic
library skills. Canberra: DocMatrix Pty Ltd.
Gosling, M. (1999). Learn reference work. Canberra:
DocMatrix Pty Ltd.
Lipson, C. (2006). Cite right: a quich guide to citation styles --
MLA, APA, Chicago, the sciences, professions, and more.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Mortimer, M. (1999). Learn descriptive cataloguing. 2nd ed.
Canberra: DocMatrix Pty Ltd.

Online Resources
Handbook. Retrieved April 26, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbook
Module. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/module