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ENVI 193 TW - Intro to Transboundary Water Sharing (Kamal-Heikman, Fall 2023): APA Style

APA Style Manual Updates

The latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) includes some noteworthy changes:

  • Optional use of first names for different authors with the same surname and the same initials
  • Inclusion of the state for all cities of publication
  • The use of an ellipsis in place of “et al” when citing an article with more than seven authors
  • The introduction of Digital Object Identifiers, or DOIs
  • A change to the rule on listing a URL when citing a webpage
  • The elimination of the need to include a retrieval date in a citation for a database, article or website

Books

BOOKS
GENERAL FORMAT AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstNameInitial. (YearPublished). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher.
One author Pinney, T. (2005). History of wine in America: From prohibition to the present. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Two to seven authors Bär, C., Ginoux, N., & Pfäffle, F. (2007). Wave equations on Lorentzian manifolds and quantization. Zürich, Switzerland: European Mathematical Society.
Corporate author Center for Professional Responsibility, American Bar Association. (2004). Model code of judicial conduct. Chicago, IL: Center for Professional Responsibility, ABA.
Editors Donohue, J. J., & Esposito, J. L. (Eds.). (2007). Islam in transition: Muslim perspectives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Electronic version of print book Verrill, A. H. (1916). Marooned in the forest: The story of a primitive fight for life [Hathi Trust Digital Library version]. Retrieved from http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001029608
Translated book Foucault, M. (1988). Madness and civilization: A history of insanity in the age of reason (R. Howard, Trans.). New York, NY: Vintage-Random House.  (Original work published 1965).
Multivolume work Ford, B. (Ed.). (1988-91). The Cambridge guide to the arts in Britain (Vols. 1-9). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Encyclopedia article

Escobar, E. (2004). Zoot suit. In The encyclopedia of Latino popular culture (Vol. 2, pp. 898-899). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Book chapter Konishi, S. (2011). Representing Aboriginal masculinity in Howard’s Australia. In R.L. Jackson II and M. Balaji (Eds.), Masculinities and Manhood (pp. 161-185). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Essay or chapter in an anthology or edited book Porter, K. A. (1995). The grave. In S. Mee (Ed.), Downhome: An anthology of Southern women writers (pp. 461-67). San Diego, CA: Harcourt, Brace.

Articles and Periodicals

ARTICLES and PERIODICALS

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIERS

A Digital Object Identifier, or DOI, is a unique, static number assigned to a particular article. Since the URLs assigned to online documents can potentially change, the designation of DOIs allows users to locate an article regardless of which database the article comes from. Many--but not all--publishers provide a DOI on the first page of an article.

  • When used as an acronym, DOI is written in all caps. When listed as a part of a citation, it is written in lowercase: doi.
  • Rules dictating the inclusion of the phrase [Electronic version] in citations have been dropped from the 6th edition of the Manual. As such, the phrase should not be used.
  • The 6th edition of the Manual includes one example (section 7.01, #17) of a citation of an article retrieved from a database in which, in the absence of a DOI, the name of the database is used. Beyond this one example, there is no real evidence that the APA still recognizes listing the name of the database as a legitimate form of citation. On the contrary, the APA seems to be operating on the theory that eventually every article listed in a database will have a DOI, thus removing the need to provide examples in which the name of the database is written out.

 

GENERAL FORMAT
(electronic)		 AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstNameInitial. (YearPublished). Title of Article. Title of Book/Journal, VolumeNumber(IssueNumber), PageNumbers. DOI or Retrieved from Nameofdatabase
Article from library database or electronic journal (when DOI is not available) Longaretti, L., & Wilson, J. (2006). The impact of perceptions on conflict management. Educational Research Quarterly, 29(4), 3-15. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com
Article from library database or electronic journal (when DOI is available) Morio, H., & Buchholz, C. (2008). How anonymous are you online? Examining online social behaviors from a cross-cultural perspective. AI & Society, 23(2), 297-307. doi:10.1007/s00146-007-0143-0
Article from newspaper, magazine or website Kristof, K. M. (2009, July 5). New student repayment plan is based on borrower’s income. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com 
  • When retrieving an article from a website rather than a database, list the website’s URL in place of the name of the database. This rule applies to online reference works as well (see section 7.02, #29).
  • When retrieving an article from a well-known website, such as The New York Times, only the site’s domain name is needed (in this case, http://www.nytimes.com).
  • When retrieving an article from a less well-known website, list the full URL.
  • See section 7.01, #s 8 and 10, and section 7.11 for additional guidance on when to list a domain name and when to list a full URL.
GENERAL FORMAT
(print)		 AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstNameInitial. (YearPublished). Title of Article. Title of Book/Journal, VolumeNumber(IssueNumber), PageNumbers.
Journal article Wood, S. N., & Quackenbush, K. (2001). The sorcerer's stone: A touchstone for readers of all ages. English Journal, 90(3), 97-103.
Newspaper article Curwen, T. (2011, August 9). Calligraphers still going against type. Los Angeles Times, pp. A1, A8.
Magazine article Yeoman, B. (September-October 2011). Facing the future. Audubon, 64-69, 86-87.
Book review Miner, V. (2004, December). Iowa meditations [Review of the book Gilead, 2004]. The Women's Review of Books, 22, 19.
Anonymous article Education in America and Britain: Learning lessons From private schools. (2009, July 2). Economist, 20-21.
Article with eight or more authors

Stamova, B. S., Apperson, M., Walker, W.L., Tian, Y., Xu, H., Adamczyk, P., . . . Sharp, F.R. (2009, Aug 5). Identification and validation of suitable endogenous reference genes for gene expression studies in human peripheral blood. BMC Medical Genomics, 2(1), 49.

  • Although the above is an example of how to list 8 or more authors for a print journal article citation, the same rule applies to any work that has eight or more authors.

Websites

WEBSITES

GENERAL FORMAT

 AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstNameInitial. (YearPublished). Title. Retrieved from URL
Blog post Zúniga, M. M. (2006, August 24). Bush's latest PR hoax [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/08/24/239699/-Bushs-latest-PR-hoax
Entire website Schroder, B. (2011). International Association for Environmental Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.environmentalphilosophy.org/

 

  • When retrieving an article from a website rather than a database, list the website’s URL in place of the name of the database. This rule applies to online reference works as well (see section 7.02, #29).
  • When retrieving an article from a well-known website, such as The New York Times, only the site’s domain name is needed (in this case, http://www.nytimes.com).
  • When retrieving an article from a less well-known website, list the full URL.
  • See section 7.01, #s 8 and 10, and section 7.11 for additional guidance on when to list a domain name and when to list a full URL.

Audio & Visual Materials

AUDIO and VISUAL MATERIALS
GENERAL FORMAT AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstNameInitial. (YearPublished). Title [Medium/Type]. PublicationPlace: Publisher.
LP/CD/Streaming media Jackson, M. (1993). Thriller. On Thriller [CD]. New York, NY: Epic Records.
Film/Motion picture Capra, F. (Director). (1946). It’s a wonderful life [Motion picture]. New York, NY: Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) Pictures.

Citation Style Manual

For more information on APA citation formats, consult the APA manual located at the Course Reserves, Services Desk:

American Psychological Association (2010). The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.    Course Reserves, Services Desk BF76.7 .P83 2010

More examples of APA style can be found online:

From OWL at Purdue University
From Northern Michigan University
From Ohio State University