APA CITATION STYLE:

EXAMPLES
based on the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,
 5th edition, CSB & SJU Reference BF 76.7 .P83 2001
See also the library's Citing Sources and the APA's official site at www.apastyle.org.

Follow these color codes:

Author(s) or
Date Title of Book Title of Article Title of Periodical
Editor(s)
Place of Publisher or Other
Volume Pages
Publication Database Information

See also NOTES.  And consider having do the work for you!

See APA Style Essentials for general document guidelines.

See also In-Text Citations

Contents:
Book
Book chapter, essay, or article - when the author is credited
Book chapter, essay, or article - when no author is credited (paper version)
Book chapter, essay, or article - when no author is credited (online version)
Article in a standard encyclopedia (paper copy)
Article in a standard encyclopedia (web site version)
Journal article (paper copy)
Journal article (from an online database) 
Journal article (online, on a web site)
Magazine article (paper copy)
Magazine article (from an online database)
Newspaper article (paper copy)
Newspaper article (from an online database)
Pamphlet / Brochure
ERIC document
Dissertation
Dissertation (abstract only)
Website (NOT from an online database)
Interviews, emails, phone conversations, etc.
Presentations, speeches, poster sessions, etc.
Government documents
Legal materials

(In a real paper, the following citations would be double-spaced, in hanging indent
format.)

BOOK

Geissler, E. M.  (1998). Pocket guide to cultural assessment (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO:
Mosby.

You can also go to WorldCat.org, search the world's largest database of library books, and click
on "Cite this item" for almost any book.  Its APA citations are not 100% correct, though; beware
of capitalization, state of publication, and punctuation errors (see NOTES).

BOOK CHAPTER, ESSAY, or ARTICLE when author is credited

de Paula, T. C. M., Lagana, K., & Gonzalez-Ramirez, L. (1996). Mexican

Americans. In J. G. Lipson, S. L Dibble, & P. A. Minarik (Eds.), Culture and
nursing care: A pocket guide (pp. 203-221). San Francisco: USCF Nursing
Press.

BOOK CHAPTER, ESSAY, or ARTICLE when no author is credited (paper

version)

Russians. (1998). In T. L. Gall (Ed.), Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and

daily life (Vol. 4, pp. 332-339). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.

BOOK CHAPTER, ESSAY, or ARTICLE when no author is credited (online

version)

Russians. (1998). Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life. Retrieved

January 9, 2003 from Discovering Collection database.

ARTICLE in a STANDARD ENCYCLOPEDIA (paper copy)

Islam. (1992). In The new encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. 22, pp. 1-43).
Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

ARTICLE in a STANDARD ENCYCLOPEDIA (web site version)

 Islam. (1992). In Britannica.com. Retrieved February 9, 2002 from
Britannica.com database.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (paper copy)

Oguisso, T. (1999). Professional nursing in Brazil. International Nursing

Review, 43, 81-94.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (from an online database)   (for more details, see the APA's
official site)

Kavanagh, K., Absalom, K., Beil, W., & Schliessmann, L. (1999). Connecting
and becoming culturally competent: A Lakota example. Advances in Nursing
Science, 21, 9-31. Retrieved March 26, 2001 from ProQuest/Nursing Journals
database.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (online, on a web site)   (for more details, see the APA's
official site)

Outbreak news. (2001, February 23). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 76, 57-
64. Retrieved February 28, 2001 from
http://www.who.int/wer/pdf/2001/wer7608.pdf

MAGAZINE ARTICLE (paper copy)

Ulrich, T. (1997, September 22). Linking an Amish hereditary disease with

cerebral palsy, a pediatrician challenges a dark inheritance. Time, 150, 30-33.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE (from an online database)

Ulrich, T. (1997, September 22). Linking an Amish hereditary disease with

cerebral palsy, a pediatrician challenges a dark inheritance. Time, 150, 30-33.
Retrieved March 1, 2001 from InfoTrac/Expanded Academic ASAP database.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE (paper copy)

Padilla, H. (2000, June 6). Hugo prohibits custom animal slaughter; the vote
will officially close a Hmong slaughterhouse, where animals were sacrificed
for religious reasons. Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), p. 1B.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE (from an online database)

 Padilla, H. (2000, June 6). Hugo prohibits custom animal slaughter; the vote
will officially close a Hmong slaughterhouse, where animals were sacrificed
for religious reasons. Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), p. 1B. Retrieved
February 28, 2001 from Lexis-Nexis Universe/General News database.

PAMPHLET / BROCHURE  (Cite like a book but add [Brochure] as shown)

Research and Training Center on Independent Living. (1993). Guidelines for

reporting and writing about people with disabilities (4th ed.) [Brochure].
Lawrence, KS: Author. 

ERIC DOCUMENT

Fredrickson, M. (2000). Parent/child communication in migrant communities.

Miami, FL: Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED 377 236)

DISSERTATION

If you obtain an actual dissertation (not just its abstract), in print or on

microform, check the Publication Manual of the APA for complete directions
on citing it properly.

DISSERTATION (abstract only, obtained on CINAHL)

Crow, G. K. (1988). Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: The Southeast

Asian experience: A study of the Cambodians' use of traditional and
cosmopolitan health systems. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Utah, 1988).
Abstract retrieved March 19, 2001 from CINAHL database.

DISSERTATION (abstract only, obtained from DAI on FirstSearch)

Crow, G. K. (1988). Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: The Southeast

Asian experience: A study of the Cambodians' use of traditional and
cosmopolitan health systems (Doctoral dissertation, University of Utah, 1988).
Dissertation Abstracts International, 49(08B), 3101. Abstract retrieved March
19, 2001 from First Search/Dissertation Abstracts International database.

WEBSITE   (NOT from an online database) (for more details, see the APA's official
site)
 The Amish, the Mennonites, and the Plain People. (n.d.). Retrieved May 30,
2000 from Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Web site:
http://www.800padutch.com/amish.shtml
INTERVIEWS, E-MAILS, PHONE CONVERSATIONS, etc.
"Because they do not provide recoverable data, personal communications are
not included in the reference list. Cite personal communications in text only. 
Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as
exact a date as possible." (APA Manual, section 3.102)  Example: I. M. Certain
(personal communication, April 1, 2000).
PRESENTATIONS, SPEECHES, POSTER SESSIONS, etc.
Like the example above, if they do not provide "recoverable data," these would
not be included in the reference list and would be cited in the text only.  If,
however, something tangible exists (e.g. handouts of PowerPoint slides, an
abstract in a conference program, etc.), it might be citable.  See the APA
Manual, section 4.16 D and F. Here is an example of a poster session:
Worral, P. S. & Levin, R. (2004, June). Developing a statewide research
agenda. Poster session presented at the biannual meeting of the American
Nurses Association, Minneapolis, MN.
Since they ask, I have suggested to students who wish to cite a presentation
unofficially, for an undergraduate paper, that they could cite it like this:

Twohy, K. (2004, January 15). Testimony given at Health, Human

Services and Corrections Budget Division, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT   See How to Cite Government Documents

LEGAL MATERIALS   See Citing Legal Materials in APA Style

(Remember that, in a real paper, the above citations would all be in
hanging indent format.)

NOTES - to clarify some of the trickier points!  

 Using italics, as in the examples above, is preferred, but underlining is still
acceptable.
 Italicize book and journal titles, but not article titles.
 APA's capitalization rules for titles can be confusing!  In the reference list,
capitalize the first letter of every main word of a journal, magazine or
newspaper title.  For book and article titles, capitalize only the first letter of the
first word of the title, the first word of its subtitle (if it has one), and any proper
 names.  In the text of a paper, however, the rules are different, and every main
word of a title gets capitalized.
 Use only the initials of the authors'/editors' first (and middle) names, leave a
space between initials (e.g. Rowling, J. K., not J.K.), and link multiple names
with an ampersand (&). 
 If no author is given, start with the title and then the date.
 Use "et al" in place of the additional authors when there are more than six
authors.
 Journal articles: If each issue of the periodical begins with page one, include
the issue number after the volume number as shown in the examples. If the
page numbering continues from issue to issue, do not include the issue number.
 Websites: if the date the page was created (or updated) is not given, put "n.d."
(no date) in the citation in place of the date.  (This is not to be confused with
the date you retrieved it.)
 For articles retrieved in full text from a database (e.g. ProQuest Nursing
Journals), you don't need the web address (URL), just the full name of the
database.
 These cities can be listed without a state abbreviation because they are well
known for publishing:  Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York,
Philadelphia, and San Francisco.  In addition, when the publisher is a
university and the name of the state (or Canadian province) is included in its
name, do not repeat the state (or province) in the publisher location.
 When typing your Reference List, double space all lines.
 Use hanging indents, that is, the first line of each item should be flush left, and
the second and subsequent lines should be indented.  (The above examples are
not displayed this way because hanging indents cannot easily be rendered on
web pages.)
 For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed manual, in the
reference collection at both libraries. Its call number is Reference BF 76.6 .P83
2001, or other APA websites listed on Citing Sources.

Peggy L. Roske
Public Services Librarian
Clemens Library
College of St. Benedict/St. John's University
37 College Ave. South
St. Joseph, MN 56374
(320) 363-5195
FAX: 363-5197
Email: proske@csbsju.edu

Format based on APA Citation Style from the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library.

Official Disclaimer

URL: http://employees.csbsju.edu/proske/Nursing/APA.htm

Revised: 22 March 2007