APA requires two parts: In-text citations throughout your paper and a References page at the end. Always check with your professor for any specific citation requirements.
Jump to: References | In-text Citations
A References page at the end of your document has full citations in alphabetical order formatted with a hanging indent.
Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of book (# edition). Publisher.
Vaidhyanathan, S. (2018). Antisocial media: How Facebook disconnects us and undermines democracy. Oxford University Press.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (# ed., page range). Publisher.
Henson, B., & Ricketts, M. (2019). It’s complicated: Social media’s impact on the relationship between our personal and professional lives. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Internet and technology addiction: Breakthroughs in research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 473–487). Information Science Reference/IGI Global.
Author, A. A., Author, B. B, & Author, C.C. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number (issue number), page range. DOI if available
Mozafari, M., Farahbakhsh, R., & Crespi, N. (2020). Hate speech detection and racial bias mitigation in social media based on BERT model. PLoS ONE, 15(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237861
Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine/Newspaper, volume (issue), page-page.
Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time, 135(17), 20–21.
Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine/Newspaper, volume (issue), page-page. Stable URL or DOI if available
Lozano, J.A. & Oyekanmi, L. (2024, May 4). Hundreds rescued from Texas flooding as water continues rising in Houston and rural East Texas. Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-05-04/hundreds-rescued-from-flooding-in-texas-as-water-continue-rising-in-houston
Move the publishing organization to the author position.
CE Noticias Financieras, English ed. (2023, July 7). AI does not jeopardize the jobs of marketing specialists, not yet. http://proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/ai-does-not-jeopardize-jobs-marketing-specialists/docview/2834600190/se-2?accountid=6667
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Site name. http://webaddress.com
Mennis, G. (2022, May 25). Savings rate fills out picture of workers' retirement security. Pew. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2022/05/savings-rate-fills-out-picture-of-workers-retirement-security
If the page is written by a group or organization, use the group or organization name as the author. When contents of a page are designed to change over time, include a retrieval date in the reference.
U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). U.S. and world population clock. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www.census.gov/popclock/
Exclude the site name if it is the same as the author.
World Health Organization. (2018, May 24). The top 10 causes of death. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death
Creator, A. A. (Description of role). (Year, Month Day). Title of work [Description of work]. Site name. http://webaddress.com
The (Description of role) and [Description of work] can be anything that concisely describes the work -- for example, (Sculptor), (Photographer), or [Wood and metal sculpture], [Digital photograph], [Textile wall hanging], etc. If the item is untitled, include only the description of the work, in square brackets and non-italics.
Berryman, C.K. (Artist). (1918, January). Votes for women bandwagon [Cartoon drawing]. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016679510/
Creator, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of work [Description of format]. Host website if available. http://webaddress.com
The [Description of format] can be anything that concisely describes the work -- for example, [Podcast episode], [Song], [Video game], [Radio broadcast], [Infographic], etc. More detail.
TED-Ed. (2023, October 12). 3 tips on how to study more effectively [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/TjPFZaMe2yw?si=TYxrzMF0_qNzWLCw
Before using any generative AI tool, such as ChatGPT, for class assignments, review your syllabus and check with your professor for guidance. More detail.
Author. (Date). Name of generative AI tool (version) [Large language model]. http://webaddress.com
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar. 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Author/Producer. (Year, Month Day). Dataset title: chart title version [Data set]. Publisher Name. https://doi.org/xxxxx or URL
Energy Information Administration. (2021, March 7). Retail gasoline prices: All grades, 08/20/1990 - 03/01/2021 [Data set]. Data Planet. https://doi.org/10.6068/DP1781EB4CE0666
If the author and the publisher are the same, you can skip the publisher part of the citation.
World Bank. (2012). World Development Indicators: GNI per capita, Atlas method [Data set]. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD
Include the retrieval date only if the data is likely to change frequently.
Code Compliance Services Department, Consumer Health Division. (2023, April 15). Restaurant and food establishment inspections (Oct. 2016 to present) [Data set]. City of Dallas. Retrieved May 15, 2023 from https://www.dallasopendata.com/Services/Restaurant-and-Food-Establishment-Inspections-Octo/dri5-wcct
Every in-text citation must correspond with a full citation on the References page, and vice versa. You can't include a source in your references list if you don't also cite it in your paper.
Place at the end of a sentence, before the ending punctuation mark.
Narrative in-text citations incorporate citation elements into the text of the paper. The year can go in parentheses or also in the text.
If you are citing the same author in consecutive sentences, cite the source in the first sentence, and in the following sentences do not repeat the citation but instead make it clear in your writing that you are referring to the same source. In subsequent paragraphs, cite it again. More detail.
For short quotations of fewer than 40 words, add quotation marks around the words and incorporate the quote into your own text. Add the page number to the parenthetical citation.
You may also add a page number to make it easier for your reader to find the information, such as when citing within a book.
For longer quotations of more than 40 words, format the quote in its own paragraph, with the entire section indented 1/2". Do not use quotation marks around it, and include the standard citation information at the end.
For example, if you wished to quote the entire first paragraph of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, that would be formatted as a block quote:
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?' (Carroll 9)
Notice that the block quote has no punctuation mark after the parenthetical citation.
If you can't find some citation details, you can leave out things like:
However, be aware that a lot of missing information can raise questions about the credibility and reliability of a source, especially web sources. If you are reliant on a source that has very little citation information provided, see if you can find a more reputable source to provide similar information instead.
Individual named authors are most often missing on web-based content. In that case, you can either:
