LibGuides: Citation Styles: APA 7th

Introduction to the American Psychological Association (APA)

American Psychological Association (APA) is a citation style that is widely used in psychology and social sciences. There are two parts to referencing in APA:

In-text citations found within the text of the research paper. The APA style uses "author-date" style for its in-text citation.
List of references at the end of the paper.

This guide provides a brief introduction to the APA 7th style for referencing and citing. For more information about this style, please refer to Publication Manual of the APA or the APA Style website.

In-text citations

The table below provides a few examples of how in-text citations may be done based on the number of authors or type of authors. You may wish to refer to Purdue University's OWL (Online Writing Lab) Basics of In-Text Citations for more information or click here for more examples.

A work by a single author

Guidelines

Examples

The last name of the author and the year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate point.

......from theory on bounded rationality (Simon, 1945)

If the name of the author or the date appear as part of the narrative cite only missing information in parentheses.

Simon (1945) highlighted that....

In 1945, Simon highlighted that....

A work by two authors

Guidelines

Examples

When a work has two authors, cite both authors each time the reference occurs in the text.

In parenthetical, material join the names with an ampersand (&).

.... as has been shown (Leiter & Maslach, 1998)

In narrative text, join the names with the word :an: Include "and" between authors' name in the text.

...as Leiter and Maslach (1998) demonstrated....

A work by multiple authors (three or more authors)

Guidelines

Examples

When a work has three or more authors, cite only the first author's name, followed by et al. in each citation, including the first, and the year.

Note: "et al" means "and others"

(Kahneman et al., 1991)

Kahneman et al. (1991) found...........

Organisation / Corporate as an author

Guidelines	Examples
The name of corporate authors are written out each time they appear in a text reference.	(Institute of Mental Health [IMH], 2021)

Government agency as an author

Guidelines	Examples
The specific government agency responsible for the report is the author of the report, followed by the year.	(Singapore Department of Statistics, 2019)

Reference list

The table below provides a few commonly used sources. For many other examples, please click here.

You may also refer to the Reference List: Basic Rules for more information.

Guidelines	Examples
A book with single author	Freud, S. (2003). The uncanny. Penguin Books. Tall, D. (2013). How humans learn to think mathematically: Exploring the three worlds of mathematics. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139565202
A book with multiple authors	Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2009). Psychology (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. Silva, B. C., Boscancianu, C. M., & Littvay, L. (2020). Multilevel structural equation modelling. SAGE Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781544323077
A book with an editor instead of a main author. Use "Eds." if there are two or more editors.	Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2003). Psychologists defying the crowd: stories of those who battled the establishment and won. American Psychological Association.
Book chapter	Davis, D. A. (2008). Freud, Jung, and psychoanalysis. In P. Young-Eisendrath (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Jung (pp.39-55). Cambridge University Press. Ball, T., & Hunter, L. (2013). Supporting access to science and engineering through scientific argumentation. In G. Wells & A. Edwards (Eds.), Pedagogy in higher education: A cultural historical approach (pp. 123-139). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139035699
A journal article with single author, with DOI	Gallistel, C. R. (2009). The importance of providing the null. Psychological Review, 116(2), 439-454. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015251
A journal article with two or more authors, with DOI	Smith, E. R., & Collins, E. C. (2009). Contextualizing person perception: Distributed social cognition. Psychological Review, 116(2), 343-364. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015072 Burgess, M. G., Brough, P., Biggs, A., & Hawkes, A. J. (2020). Why interventions fail: A systematic review of occupational health psychology interventions. International Journal of Stress Management, 27(2), 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000144 Timilsina, R. R., Kotani, K., & Kamijo, Y. (2017). Sustainability of common pool resources. PLoS ONE, 12(2), Article e0170981. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170981 Fukuhara-Makiyama, N., Hayashida, M., Kobayashi, M., Sagara, I., Ogawa, S., Maeda, M., & Shirabe, S. (2021). Personality traits and BMI trends over three years in Japanese university students. PLoS ONE, 16(3), Article e0248833. https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248833
Articles from newspapers or magazines	Khalik, S. (2021, July 16). Half of hospitalised Covid-19 patients suffered at least one complication: UK study. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/half-of-hospitalised-covid-19-patients-suffered-at-least-one-complication-uk-study Kluger, J. (2008, January 28). Why we love. Time, 171(4), 54-60.
Blog post	Linebaugh, R. (2020, March 12). Writing unplugged. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/writing-unplugged Crisp, R. (2021, December 14). Putting your philosophical house in order. Practical Ethics. http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2021/12/putting-your-philosophical-house-in-order/#more-15527
Data from EIU	Economist Intelligence Unit. (2022). Global forecast data from 2012 to 2026 [Data file]. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from EIU Viewpoint database.
Data from Statista	YouGov. (2021, December 21). Share of people who wore face masks in public places during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore from February 2020 to November 2021 [Data set]. Statista. https://www.statista.com/
Government report	Singapore Department of Statistics. (2019). Report on the household expenditure survey 2017/18. https://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/households/household-expenditure-survey
Podcast	Lamble, K., & Razzell, N. (Hosts). (2021, September 28). What homes to build in a climate-changed world? [Audio podcast]. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct2dr2
Press release	Singapore Ministry of Health. (2022, January 5). Strengthening our readiness to live with the omicron variant [Press release]. https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/strengthening-our-readiness-to-live-with-the-omicron-variant
Report	Gage, H. M., & Kriedeman, C. L. (2021). Invasive plant management in Kenai Fjords National Park: 2020 summary report. (Natural Resource Report NPS/KEFJ/NRR—2021/2227). U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2284598 Statista. (2021). Digital media report 2021. https://www.statista.com/ Statista. (n.d.) Social media marketing worldwide. https://www.statista.com/ United Nations Children’s Fund. The state of the world’s children 2021: On my mind – promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health. https://www.unicef.org/media/108161/file/SOWC-2021-full-report-English.pdf
Singapore Statute (taking reference from Singapore Academy of Law Style Guide)	Education Act (Cap 87, 2013 Rev Ed) s 61(1) (Singapore). https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/EA1957-RG1?DocDate=20130731
TED video from YouTube	TED. (2019, June 3). Sleep is your superpower \| Matt Walker [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM
TED video from TED website	Walker, M. (2019, April). Sleep is your superpower [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_walker_sleep_is_your_superpower#t-7273
Thesis	Lau, W. K. (2020). Behaviors maintaining perceptual continuity [Doctoral dissertation, Nanyang Technological University]. Digital Repository of NTU. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/144248 Porter, T. (2015). Intellectual humility, mindset and learning [Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Video from Vimeo, YouTube	Three Minute Thesis (3MT). (2021, September 2). 2021 UQ 3MT winner – Rosie Stoke [Video]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/showcase/8799603/video/596930997 WIRED. (2022, February 22). Statistician answers stats questions from Twitter \| Tech Support \| WIRED [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW3KRaz4aI4
Webpage on a news website	Rodriguez-Cayro, K. (2021, October 21). How to help someone experiencing depression for the first time. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/help-depression-first-time-support_l_616ee3dfe4b005b245c2d25f
Webpage on a website with an organisational group author	World Health Organization. (2021, October 26). Bandung: Championing city-level tobacco control. https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/bandung-championing-city-level-tobacco-control

Additional resources

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association
ISBN: 9781433832161
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition is the official source for APA Style. With millions of copies sold worldwide in multiple languages, it is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields. Known for its authoritative, easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, language, and tone that will result in powerful, concise, and elegant scholarly communication. It guides users through the scholarly writing process-from the ethics of authorship to reporting research through publication. The seventh edition is an indispensable resource for students and professionals to achieve excellence in writing and make an impact with their work. The seventh edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect best practices in scholarly writing and publishing. All formats are in full color, with a new tabbed spiral version Improved ease of navigation, with many additional numbered sections to help users quickly locate answers to their questions Resources for students on writing and formatting annotated bibliographies, response papers, and other paper types as well as guidelines on citing course materials Dedicated chapter for new users of APA Style covering paper elements and format, including sample papers for both professional authors and student writers New chapter on journal article reporting standards that includes updates to reporting standards for quantitative research and the first-ever qualitative and mixed methods reporting standards in APA Style New chapter on bias-free language guidelines for writing about people with respect and inclusivity in areas including age, disability, gender, participation in research, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality More than 100 new reference examples covering periodicals, books, audiovisual media, social media, webpages and websites, and legal resources More than 40 new sample tables and figures Expanded guidance on ethical writing and publishing practices, including how to ensure the appropriate level of citation, avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and navigate the publication process Guidelines that support accessibility for all users, including simplified reference, in-text citation, and heading formats as well as additional font options