APA guidelines: Textual works reference examples

Author, A., & Author, B. (Publication date). Title: Subtitle. Publisher.

• 1 author

Parenthetical citation: (Erdrich, 2012)

Narrative citation: Erdrich (2012)

• up to 20 authors

Parenthetical citation: (Hurtienne et al., 2020)

Narrative citation: Hurtienne et al. (2020)

• organization as author and publisher

Parenthetical citation:  (American Psychological Association, 2020)
Narrative citation: American Psychological Association (2020)

• ebook with DOI

Author, A. (Publication date). Title: Subtitle. Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Domingues, 2021)

Narrative citation: Domingues (2021)

•  ebook without DOI

Author, A. (Publication date). Title: Subtitle. Publisher. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx or https://xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (McKinney et al., 2021)

Narrative citation: McKinney et al. (2021) 

If you have consulted a chapter from a book that was compiled by one or more editors, refer to that chapter.

The source reference contains information about both the chapter and the book.  It works as follows:

Author, A. (Publication date). Chapter title: Subtitle. In A. Editor(Ed.), Book title: Subtitle (pp. xx-xx). Publisher.

Parenthetical citation: (Dillard, 2020)

Narrative citation: Dillard (2020)

• for an e-book chapter, you also mention the URL or https://doi.org/xxxx:

Parenthetical citation: (Zeleke et al., 2020)

Narrative citation: Zeleke et al. (2020) 

When a word is looked up in a reference work (dictionary or encyclopedia) to be sure of its meaning it does not need to be referenced. If you quote or paraphrase from a reference work, you ought to include it in the reference list.

The general source citation of a reference work does not differ from that of a book, but often reference works have only editor(s) or no author(s) at all.

Author, A. (Publication date). Title. Publisher.

• with author(s) or editor(s)

Parenthetical citation: (Zalta, 2019)

Narrative citation: Zalta (2019)

• without authors

Parenthetical citation: (Oxford Languages, 2010)

Narrative citation: Oxford Languages (2010) 

• part of multi-part reference work

Parenthetical citation: (Kloft, 1979)

Narrative citation: Kloft (1979) 

• Wikipedia entry

Lemma. (year, Month day ). In Title reference work. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx of https://xxxx

Parenthetical citation ("ADHD", 2020)

Narrative citation: "ADHD" (2020)

• scientific journal article in print

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Publication date). Article title. Journal Title, volume(number), pages.

Parenthetical citation: (McCauley & Christiansen, 2019)

Narrative citation: McCauley and Christiansen (2019)

• scientific journal article electronic with DOI

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Publication date). Article title. Journal Title, volume(number), pages. https://doi.org/xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Lachner et al., 2020)

Narrative citation: Lachner et al. (2020) 

• journal article electronic without DOI

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Publication date). Article title. Journal Title, volume(number), pages. Retrieved Month day, year, from http(s)://xxxx 

Parenthetical citation: (Stegmeir, 2016)

Narrative citation: Stegmeir (2016)

• printed

Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Name newspaper, page number of section.

Parenthetical citation: (Hess, 2019)

Narrative citation: Hess (2019)

• online

Author, A. (year, Month day). Title of article. Newspaper name. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx or https://xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Gander, 2020)

Narrative citation: Gander (2020)

• Additional information such as edition, volume, issue or volume number may be included between the round brackets for identification.
• If necessary, a description for identification may be given in square brackets for less common informal publications, such as brochures, policy papers, press releases, etc.

Examples: 

• printed

Author, A. (Publication date). Title (Issue number or volume). Publisher

Parenthetical citation: (The Council of Europe Youth Sector, n.d.)
Narrative citation: The Council of Europe Youth Sector (n.d.)

• online: add 'Retrieved on..., from http(s)//:xxxx ' or DOI

Author, A. (Publication date). Title (issue number or volume). Publisher. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx or https://xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Boone, 2020)

Narrative citation: Boone (2020)

• unpublished
• When a dissertation or thesis is unpublished, include the description “[Unpublished doctoral dissertation]” or “[Unpublished master’s thesis]” in square brackets after the dissertation or thesis title.
• In the source element of the reference, provide the name of the institution that awarded the degree

Author, A. (Publication year). Title of thesis [Description]. Name of institution. 

Parenthetical citation: (Harris, 2014)

Narrative citation: Harris (2014)

• published
• In the source element of the reference, provide the name of the database, repository, or archive.

Author, A. (Publication year). Title of thesis [Description, Name of institution]. Name database or archive. 

Parenthetical citation: (Kabir, 2016)

Narrative citation: Kabir (2016)

• published with access
• Include a URL for the dissertation or thesis if the URL will resolve for readers

Author, A. (Publication year). Title of theses [Description, Name of institution]. Name database or archive. Retrieved Month day, year from http(s)://xxxx 

Parenthetical citation: (Zambrano-Vazquez, 2016)

Narrative citation: Zambrano-Vazquez (2016) 

Published dissertation or thesis references are covered in Section 10.6 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition

• legal text from a book - apply the guidelines for a book

Parenthetical citation: (Blanpain et al., 2002)

Narrative citation: Blanpain et al. (2002)

•   legal text online

The title is in front and the date is the day of issue. In the text you may refer to a specific article and/or section number.

Parenthetical citation: (Directive 2001/29/EC, 2001, Article 8)
Narrative citation: Directive 2001/29/EC (2001, Article 8)

• Describe the presentation in square brackets after the title. The description is flexible (e.g., “[Conference session],” “[Paper presentation],” “[Poster session]”).
• Provide the names of the presenter(s) in the author element of the reference.
• Provide the full dates of the conference in the date element of the reference.
• Provide the name of the conference or meeting and its location in the source element of the reference
• If video of the conference presentation is available, include a link at the end of the reference.

Presenter, A. (Year, Month day). Title of contribution [Type of contribution]. Conference name, Location. Retrieved Month day, year, from https://xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Evans et. al, 2019)
Narrative citation: Evans et al. (2019)

• When a text was originally published in another language, the original author is mentioned both in the text and in the reference list. The translator is only mentioned in the reference list.
• Credit the translator or translators in the reference by writing the abbreviation “Trans.” after the translator’s name and placing both the name and abbreviation in parentheses after the title of the work.
• Both the original publication date and the republished date of the translated work appear in the in-text citations, with the earlier year first, separated with a slash.
• Credit the original source by providing the year the work was originally published (in its original language) at the end of the reference in parentheses and preceded by the words “Original work published”.

• Printed book, republished in translation

• Journal article, republished in translation