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Citation Help

Citation resources for all citations styles needed for your research.

APA citation header

 

APA Resources


Use this guide to learn more about APA citations, and to view helpful citation examples on resources like books and articles. Here you will find information on the APA Style Guide, and where you can go to find more helpful information. 

 

In Text Citation


When you reference another source use an in-text citation in the body of your paper. 

Basic Format:
(Author's Last Name(s) or Organization, Year).

I'm using...

 

In-text citations differ depending on the number of authors listed for a work, and if there is a group author.

I'm citing a work with...

 

Work Cited References


Include the complete citation at the end of your paper in a references section. References are organized by the author's last name in alphabetic (A-Z) order. Use a hanging indent to separate each list item.

Basic Format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date). Title of the work. Source where you can retrieve the work. URL or DOI if available

I'm citing a...

*Note* that all APA citations on the official work cited page should have a hanging indent. Due to formatting issues with our program, our examples do not. Need help with hanging indents? Scroll down to get instructions on adding hanging indents in Word. 

  1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.
  2. (Year, Month Date). Note: You do not need to abbreviate the month.
  3. Title of the article. Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.
  4. Title of the online newspaper or publication. Note: Capitalize each word in the publication and italicize. If the publication has an associated newly newspaper in print, use the newspaper article reference example .
  5. URL

 

Rogers, O. (2021, July 9). Why naming race is necessary to undo racism. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/who-am-i-who-are-we/202107/why-naming-race-is-necessary-undo-racism
  1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.
  2. (Year).
  3. Title of the book. Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, reports), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.
  4. (Edition). Note: If there is an edition or volume, include it in parentheses and use abbreviations of ed. or vol.
  5. Publisher. Note: You do not need to include the publisher location or databases where you retrieved it.
Schmidt, N. A., & Brown, J. M. (2017). Evidence-based practice for nurses: Appraisal and application of research (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
  1. Author(s). Note: List each chapter author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.
  2. (Year).
  3. Title of the chapter. Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.
  4. In Editor(s), Note: List each editor's last name and initials as A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, & C. C. Editors, include (Ed.) or (Eds.) in parentheses, and end with a comma.
  5. Title of the book Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, reports), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.
  6. (pp.xx-xx).
  7. Publisher. Note: You do not need to include the publisher location or databases where you retrieved it.

 

McCormack, B., McCance, T., & Maben, J. (2013). Outcome evaluation in the development of person-centred practice. In B. McCormack, K. Manley, & A. Titchen (Eds.), Practice development in nursing and healthcare (pp. 190-211). John Wiley & Sons.
  1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. If there is no author, spell out the name of the organization or site.
  2. (Year, Month Date). Note: Read more about date formats from the APA Style website. Provide as specific a date as is available. Use the date last updated, but not the date last reviewed or copyright date. If there is no date, use (n.d.).
  3. Title of page or section. Note: Italicize the title of the page.
  4. Source. Note: Usually the official name of the website. If the source would be the same as the author, you can omit the source to avoid repetition.
  5. URL

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Preventing HPV-associated cancers. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/basic_info/prevention.htm/
  1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. If there is no author, spell out the name of the organization that published the report.
  2. (Year, Month Date). Note: Provide as specific a date as is available.
  3. Title of the report or document. Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, reports), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.
  4. Source. Includes the names of parent agencies or other organizations not listed in the group author name here.
  5. URL
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. (2017, January). Key indicators of health by service planning area. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ha/
  1. Author. Note: List the author's last name and initials as Author, A. A. There is usually only one author for a thesis or dissertation, you don't need to include any faculty advisers.
  2. (Year, Month Date). Note: Provide as specific a date as is available.
  3. Title of the dissertation or thesis [Doctoral dissertation or Master's thesis, Name of University]. Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, dissertations, theses), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns. The title page will indicate whether it's a Doctoral dissertation or Master's thesis and list the name of the university granting the degree.
  4. Source. Note: Include the name of the database or institutional repository where you can access the work (e.g. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, PQDT Open, CSU ScholarWorks) here.
  5. URL Note: If available it's available.
Valentin, E. R. (2019, Summer). Narcissism predicted by Snapchat selfie sharing, filter usage, and editing [Master's thesis, California State University Dominguez Hills]. CSU ScholarWorks. https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/3197xm925?locale=en

Check out more examples for citing dissertations and theses on the APA Style site.

 

 

Formatting Your APA Paper


APA Style offers sample student and professional papers, including a free annotated student sample paper.

 

 How do I make a hanging indent in Word?


1. Highlight the citation with your cursor. 

2. Right-click. 

3. Select Paragraph.

4. Under Indentation, select Special and Hanging.

 

Animated gif of creating a hanging indent in Word. Highlight the full citation. Right click. Go to Paragraph. To to the Special drop down menu, select Hanging. Select Okay.

Elements of this guide were borrowed from a guide originally created by Tessa Withorn at CSUDH Library and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.