Type of reference |
Exact Wording (up to 40 words)
Enclose in quotes, with the author, year, and page number in parentheses |
Ideas and Organization
Paraphrase with attribution to original author with year after author's name, page number after text, no quotation marks |
Long Quotes (40+ words)
Indent full quotation with attribution at end, no quotation marks (unless part of quote) |
ReferencesInclude everything you cited in the list of references |
Examples |
“Frying foods makes them crunchy and salty, both of which are appealing to small children” (Orlofsky, 2013, p. 23). |
Orlofsky (2013) observed that small children really like fried potatoes (p. 23). |
Small children will eat anything ... doused in ketchup. (Orlofsky, 2013, p. 23) |
Orlofsky, V. L. (2013). French fries and small children. Journal of Fried Foods, 43(2), 19-34. https://doi.org/1234567/etc |
Contact the Stevens Writing and Communications Center for advice about writing.
Three components are required:
*Include a page number if you're directly quoting a work or discussing an observation from the work, but if you're speaking more generally about the gist of the work, page numbers are not needed.
Capitalize titles: If citing a title in-text, capitalize the key words (unlike the Reference list, in which only the first word of a title is capitalized).
In 2008, Burhans noted that:
As more and more Florida potato farms are lost to development, recent events in potato breeding may reduce chippers’ dependence on early Florida potatoes. At the time of this writing, new varieties, such as Dakota Pearl and Glacier Chips, have been successfully stored into June, well past the April date when storage potatoes are usually giving out. According to some, these varieties will be able to tolerate storage temperature fluctuations as great as ten to twenty degrees without turning to sugar, chipping white the whole time. (p. 9)
Author(s). (year, month day). Title of article. Journal Title, volume(number), page number-page number. DOI or URL.
Example:
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Subtitle of work. Publisher Name.
Example:
Formatting requirements:
For more help:
You refer only to authors by their last name, either in the use of the author's name in the text itself or in the parentheses. Use a page number if what you're citing is directly from a page (a quote or observation), but do not if you're speaking more generally about the gist of the work. The last of multiple authors is marked with an ampersand in parentheses, but spell out "and" if used in text.
Write all author names, starting with the listed first author, as Last name, First initial. Second initial (if applicable). (example: Orlofsky, V. L.). The last of multiple authors is marked with an ampersand unless there are more than 20 authors (see example below).
Garrett-Scott, S. (2019). Banking on freedom: Black women in U.S. finance before the New Deal. Columbia University Press.
Evans, S. Y., Domingue, A. D., & Mitchell, T. D. (2019). Black women and social justice education: Legacies and lessons. SUNY Press.
Cobb, C. E. Who Is Fannie Lou Hamer? A movement veteran reflects on teaching civil rights history. In H.K. Jeffries (Ed.), Understanding and teaching the Civil Rights Movement (pp. 13-21). University of Wisconsin Press.
Per the Purdue OWL APA guide: "It is not necessary to note that you have used an eBook or audiobook when the content is the same as a physical book. However, you should distinguish between the eBook or audiobook and the print version if the content is different or abridged, or if you would like to cite the narrator of an audiobook."
For example:
Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book. Publisher. URL
Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book [ebook edition]. Publisher. URL
Note: you can determine who to name as the author of the page by looking to the website's footer for the copyright notice. That will also tell you the year of publication, if you haven't found that info elsewhere on the site.
Wildland Tours [@WildlandsOceans]. (2020, August 21). Had a wonderful morning picking blueberries along the East Coast Trail in Petty Harbour! #berrypicking #blueberries #pettyharbour #EastCoastTrail #Hiking #locallove [Video attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/WildlandsOceans/status/1296816254406328320
Notes:
Refer to the author of the tweet in text by name, not their Twitter account.
Emojis and hashtags count as words toward the 20-word total for the tweet title.
For more on citing tweets, see Twitter References (APA Style blog).
National Cancer Institute. (2019). Taking time: Support for people with cancer (NIH Publication No. 18-2059). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/takingtime.pdf
Example taken from Report by a Government Agency References (APA Style blog).
National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). Anxiety disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml
Example taken from Webpage on a Website References (APA Style blog).
Note: If there is no author name listed, use the agency. Parent agencies should be listed in the reference citation, but not in-text.
When citing a review of a work (music recording, film, artwork, book, etc.), it's important to include the name of the work being reviewed as well as citation information about the review itself.