In scholarly writing, acknowledging the sources you used to enrich your work is integral to maintaining academic integrity. Your reference page becomes a vital element, meticulously detailing each source to provide your readers with a roadmap to explore them further. You should create a citation for each source referenced in your essay.
While different types of sources may require different formats, a general APA reference entry often adheres to the following structure:
Author's last name, first initial. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page number(s). URL address or DOI number.
This guide covers some common examples below. Always refer to MLA Style Central or the MLA Handbook for the most accurate citation guidelines.
Example:
Roby, J.L., Rotabi, K., & Bunkers, K.M. (2013). Social justice and intercountry adoptions: The role of the U.S. social work community. Social Work, 58(4), 295-303. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swt033
Citations for books in APA Style generally use variations of the same format:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. (year). Title of book. Publisher. URL permalink, if available.
Pay close attention to the capitalization of book titles in the examples. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word. For two-part titles, capitalize the first word of the second part of the title, as well. You should also capitalize any proper nouns.
See below examples of different scenarios.
Last Name, Initials. (year). Title of book. Publisher
Last Name, First Initials, & Last Name, First Initials. (year). Title of book. Publisher.
Citations for works with 3–20 authors should include all authors in the Last Name, First Initials format. Each author's last name should be separated by a comma, with an ampersand (&) before the last author represented.
Last Name1, First Initials1, Last Name2, First Initials2, Last Name3, First Initials3, & Last Name4, First Initials4. (year). Title of book. Publisher.
Citations for works with 21 or more authors should include the first 19 authors in the Last Name, First Initials format. After the first 19 names, use an ellipsis (...) in place of the remaining author names. After the ellipsis, include the very last author's Last Name, First Initials. Do not use an ampersand.
Last Name, First Initials. (year). Title of Book. (First Initial Last Name, Ed.). Publisher.
Last Name, First Initials. (Ed.) (year). Title of Book. Publisher.
Last Name, First Initials. (year). Title of Book Series. (Vol. #). Publisher.
Author Last Name, First Initial. (year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor Last Name (Ed.), Title of work. (pp. pages of chapter or article). Publisher. DOI (if available)
It is not necessary to distinguish the use of an eBook unless there are multiple differences between the print and digital books. You should distinguish between eBook and audiobook formats.
Last Name, Initials. (year). Title of book. Publisher. URL.
Last Name, Initials. (year). Title of book. [eBook edition]. Publisher. URL.
Last Name, Initials. (year). Title of book. (Narrator First Initial and Last Name, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Publisher. URL (if applicable).
Citations for articles in periodicals in APA Style generally use this format:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. (year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. DOI
See below examples of different scenarios.
For articles with multiple authors, see special instructions below.
Last Name, First Initials, & Last Name, First Initials. (rest of citation)
Citations for works with 3–20 authors should include all authors in the Last Name, First Initials format. Each author's last name should be separated by a comma, with an ampersand (&) before the last author represented.
Last Name1, First Initials1, Last Name2, First Initials2, Last Name3, First Initials3, & Last Name4, First Initials4. (rest of citation)
Citations for works with 21 or more authors should include the first 19 authors in the Last Name, First Initials format. After the first 19 names, use an ellipsis (...) in place of the remaining author names. After the ellipsis, include the very last author's Last Name, First Initials. Do not use an ampersand.
Last Name, First Initial. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume#(issue#), page range. DOI.
Last Name, First Initial. (year). Title of article. UpToDate. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from Permalink.
Person or group who uploaded the video. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL
For YouTube videos, use the name of the account that uploaded the video as the author. However, if the uploader is not the person or group that created the video, note this in the citation if you cannot find an original link back to the creator.
Include the description "[Video]" after the title.
Last Name, First Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL
If a date is not available, use "(n.d.)."