American Psychology Association Citation Guide

A citation is a reference to a source used in your project and must include enough information for a reader to locate the source. Citations from some sources may require more information than others. List as much information about a source as possible (include more rather than too little). For example some articles may have an author and some may not. Citations should be formatted in specific ways:
• Punctuate, capitalize, and italicize exactly as shown below.
• Double space within and between all of the citations.
• Use a 5 space indention for all lines after the first line of an
entry.
• Enclose URLs in angle brackets. URLs may be split after slashes.
• Include state abbreviations, except for well know cities such as New
York, Boston, Chicago, etc.
• For publisher, omit words like Press, Inc., Co., House, etc

BOOKS

General Format:

Author (s). (Date of Publication). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher

EXAMPLES

One Author

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam.

Two to six authors

More than six authors

Hudson, J., et al. (1988). Justice and the young offender in Canada. Toronto: Wall & Thompson.

No author given

The Dorling Kindersley world reference atlas. (1994). London: Dorling Kindersley.

Book by an Editor(s)

David, J., & Lecker, R. (Eds.). (1982). Canadian Poetry: volume one. Toronto: General Publishing.

A part of a book, such as as essay in a collection

Anderson, D. (1975). Real women in fiction, where are you? In E. McCullough (Ed.), The role of women in Canadian literature (pp. 122-141). Toronto: MacMillan.

Print Encyclopedia article with author given

Likens, G. (2001). Acid rain. in World Book (Vol. 1 , pp 416-422). Chicago: World Book.

Print Encyclopedia article with no author given

Winnipeg. (1998), In The Canadian Encyclopedia (Vol. 3 , pp. 322-327). Toronto: McLelland and Stewart.

Government Publication

National council of Welfare. (1990). Women and poverty revisited. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada.

Pamphlet

Aids in the '90s: the new facts of life. (1990). [Pamphlet]. Health and Welfare Canada.

A novel or a play from a book that is a collection of several novels or plays

Serling, R. The twilight zone. (1988). In R. Smith, (ed.), Modern American plays (pp. 78-94). New York : Scribner's.

MAGAZINES and ENCYCLOPEDIAS

General Format:

EXAMPLES

Magazine article with author given

Morrow, L. (1991, February 4). The fog of war. Time , 137, 61-62.

Newspaper article with author given

Roseman, E. (1997, December 10). Retirement planning pays off. Toronto Star , B3.

Newspaper article with no author given

Protesters greet Chretien in Vancouver. (1998, January 12). Toronto Sun , A11.

Encyclopedia article on CD-ROM, with no author given

Aardvark. (1999) In World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. [CD-ROM]. 1999 Edition. Chicago: World Book.

Encyclopedia article on CD-ROM, with author given

Sentman, E. Aardvark. (1999). In Multimedia Encyclopedia. [CD-ROM]. 1999 Edition. New York: Grolier.

CD-ROM Periodical Database

Begley, S. Odds on the greenhouse effect. (1997, Dec. 1) Newsweek, 32-34. Sirs Researcher . [CD-ROM]. Spring 1998 edition. Boca Raton, FL: SIRS.

CD-ROM Newspaper Article Database

Mitchell, B. Peed sets up squad to deal with abuse. (1994, March 24). Toronto Star. Canadian News Disc. [CD-ROM] 1999 Edition. Toronto: Micromedia.

Online Magazine and Encyclopedia Articles

Format:

Author. (Date of print publication: year, month, day). Article Title. Title of original source of Article, Volume number (if available), page numbers. Retrieval date (month day, year), Subscription Provider.

EXAMPLES

An encyclopedia article in an online subscription database (no author)

Fresco. (2000, December 1). In Britannica Online . Retrieved June 12, 2001, from Britannica Online database.

An encyclopedia article in an online subscription database (with author)

Smith, G. (2001, January 1). Spiders. In World Book Online . Retrieved March 10, 2001, from World Book Online database.

A magazine article found in an online subscription database

Lanken, D. (1996, March-April) When the earth moves. Canadian Geographic , 73, 64-66. Retrieved November 10, 2000, from Sirs Researcher on the Web online database.

A newspaper article found in an online subscription database

Angier, N. (1994, April 13). Chemists learn why vegetables are good for you. Toronto Star, A4. Retrieved October 12, 2001 from Virtual News Library online database.

A reference source found in an online subscription database (no author)

Benjamin Franklin. (2001). Retrieved March 20, 2002, from Discovering World History online database.

Website Articles

Format:

Author(s). (Date of original posting or revision, if available - use "n.d." is there is no posting date). Name of Page . Retrieval date from Internet address, Internet address

EXAMPLES

A personal or professional website, no date of posting available

Lederman, L. (n.d.). Topics in modern physics-Lederman . Retrieved December 1, 2001, from http: www.ed.fnal.gov samplers hsphys people lederman.html

A personal or professional website with date of posting available

Schrock, K. (2001, November 10). Kathy Schrock's guide for educators. Retrieved January 6, 2002, from http: www.discoveryschool schrock.com

OTHER MEDIA

Format:

Title . Director. (if known) and Producer (if known). (Date). Title. [Format]. Distributor.

EXAMPLES

Video

Rogers, G. (Director). (1990). After the Montreal massacre [Videocassette]. National Film Board.

Video - CBC News in Review

Pohl, H. (Producer). (1998). Ice storm. CBC news in review, March 1998. [Videocassette]. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

DVD

Spielberg, S. (Producer and Director). (1999). Saving Private Ryan. [DVD]. DreamWorks Home Entertainment.

Audio Recording -- CD

Bach, J.S. (1985). Italian Concerto in F Major . [CD]. Deutsche Grammophon.

Television Programs

Format:

Episode Title. (Date). Name of Program. [Television Program]. Name of network. Local station, City.

EXAMPLES

Television Broadcast

Bali, masterpiece of the Gods. (2002, Feb. 5). National Geographic. [Television Program]. NBC. WPNT, Buffalo, N.Y.

Sources: Adapted from various sources.

Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries. (2006) MLA Style Sheet for Term Papers. http://www.santarosa.edu/library/guides/mla.pdf . Accessed July 2006.