Referencing guides

APA referencing guide

Academic conventions and copyright law require that you acknowledge when you use the ideas of others. In most cases, this means stating which book or journal article is the source of an idea or quotation.

To help you get started have a look at a short Breeze presentation APA Referencing - a brief guide (requires Flash).

On this page:

List of references
How to cite references within the text of an assignment
Additional help

List of References

At the end of your essay, place a list of the references you have cited in the text. Arrange this in alphabetical order of authors' surnames, and chronologically (earliest publication date first) for each author, where more than one work by that author is cited. The author's surname is placed first, followed by initials or first name, and then the year of publication is given. If the list contains more than one item published by the same author in the same year, add lower case letters immediately after the year to distinguish them (e.g. 1983a). These are ordered alphabetically by title disregarding any initial articles (a, an or the).

A reference list is defined as a list of resources actually used and cited by you, the writer, in any submission; this is the preferred resource list in APA Style.
The Reference List begins a new page.
Reference List entries should be indented five to seven spaces on the second and subsequent lines of the Reference List for every entry - a hanging indent is the preferred style. (i.e. entries should begin flush left, and the second and subsequent lines should be indented).
Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author.

Reference examples

Books (print and online)

The details required, in order, are:

Name(s) of author(s), editor(s) as (Eds), compiler(s) or the institution responsible
Date of publication in parenthesis. ( ).
Title of publication and Subtitle if any (all titles must be italicised).
Edition in parenthesis. (if other than first).
Page numbers preceded by the abbreviation for pages pp. contained within the edition parenthesis ( ).
Place of publication (followed by a colon) :
Publisher - when the author and publisher are identical, use the word Author as the name of the publisher.

Type	Examples
Two authors	Bernstein, D. K., & Tiegerman, E. (1989). Language and communication disorders in children (2nd ed.). Columbus, OH: Merill.
Author as publisher	American Psychiatric Association. (2001). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Book, no author or editor	Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Place the title in the author position. Alphabetise books with no author or editor by the first significant word in the title (Merriam in this case). In text, use a few words of the title, or the whole title if it is short, in place of an author name in the citation: (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1993).
Book, revised edition	Rosenthal, R. (1987). Meta-analytical procedures for social research (Rev. ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Edited book	Pressley, M., & Brainerd, C. J. (Eds.). (1985). Cognitive learning and memory in children. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Brochure	Leadership Research Institute. (1999). Creative leadership [Brochure]. Toowoomba, Qld: Author.
Article or chapter in an edited book or an encyclopedia	The details required, in order, are: Article or chapter author/s. Date of publication in parenthesis. ( ). Article or chapter Title. Book authors or editors (preceded by the word In) *Book title* (italicized) and article or chapter page numbers. Place of publication (followed by a colon) : Publisher - when the author and publisher are identical, use the word Author as the name of the publisher. (American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed., pp. 252-253). Washington, DC: Author.) Examples Rogoff, B., & Mistry, J. (1985). Memory development in cultural context. In M. Pressley & C. J. Brainerd (Eds.), Cognitive learning and memory in children (pp. 117-142). New York: Springer-Verlag. Bergmann, I. (1997). Attention Deficit Disorder. In The new Encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Cormier, L. S. (1985). Action responses. In Interview strategies for helpers (2nd ed., pp. 114-118, 121). Monterey: Brooks.
Electronic books	If the print and electronic forms of the book are the same (e.g. PDF format), a reference for the print form is preferred. If the book is available only in electronic format on a public Web site, or hard to find in print, include the source location (URL). For books downloaded in part or in whole from a database, include the database name in the reference. Burton, R. (1832). The anatomy of melancholy. Retrieved from http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/robert/ melancholy/ McClain, M., & Roth. J. D. (1999). Schaum's quick guide to writing great essays. Retrieved from ebrary database. Nazareth, L. (2007). The leisure economy: How changing demographics, economics, and generational attitudes will reshape our lives and our industries. Retrieved from Books24x7 database. Use "Available from" when the URL leads to information on how to obtain the cited material (rather than to the material itself). Tyler, G. W. (n.d.). Evolution in the systems age. Available from http://www.onlineoriginals.com/showitem.asp? itemID=46&page=2
Chapter in an edited electronic book.	Dadds, M. R., James, R. C., Barrett, P. M., & Verhulst, F. C. (2004). Diagnostic issues. In T. H. Ollendick & J. S. March (Eds.), Phobic and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: A clinician's guide to effective psychosocial and pharmacological interventions (Part 1, pp. 3-33). Retrieved from ebrary database.

Journal and newspaper articles

The details required, in order, are:

Article author/s
Date of publication in parenthesis ( ).
Article title.
Periodical Title and volume number (italicised),
Issue (or part) number for journals without continuous pagination, which goes in brackets followed by a comma e.g. ( ),
Page number(s) - finish the element with a full stop (period).

Type	Examples
Journal article, one author	Korhonen, T. T. (1991). Neuropsychological stability and prognosis of subgroups of children with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24(2), 48-57.
Journal article, two authors, journal paginated by issue	Klimoski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and the hiring process in organisations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 45(2), 10-36.
Journal article, several authors	Tran, M. G., Hooper, S. R., Curley, A. D., & Nardolillo, E. M. (1990). Determinants of psychiatric disorders. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29(6), 265-268.
Magazine article (no volume number)	If a journal or newsletter does not use volume numbers, include the month, season or other designation with the year. Beemster, M. (2008, December). Saving the Southern Bell Frog. Australian Landcare, 27-29.
Daily or weekly (include the day)	Precede page numbers for newspaper articles with p. or pp. New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, pp. A12, A14, A16-A17. In text, in this case, use a short title for the parenthetical citation: ("New Drug", 1993, July 15) Parker, K. (2008, December 3). Plea for languages. Koori Mail, pp. 19-20.
Newspaper article; letter to the editor	Murray, E. (2001, May 9).Refugee crisis! [Letter to the editor] Weekend Australian, p. A13.
Reviews	The details required, in order, are: Review author/s Date of publication in parenthesis. ( ). Review Title. Medium being reviewed in [square brackets]. *Periodical title* (reviews are generally published in a periodical) italicized, Publication information; title (and volume number if any) in italics, (i.e. volume number , issue, page numbers) (a) Review of a book Schatz, B. R. (1998). Learning to learn. [Review of the book The learner's guide]. Magpies, 23 (3), p. 12. (b) Review of a motion picture Kraus, S. J. (1992). Visions of psychology [Review of the motion picture Discovering Psychology]. Contemporary Psychology, 37, pp. 1146-1147. (c) Review of a test (i.e. Mental measurements yearbook) Review author/s. Date of publication in parenthesis. ( ). Title of the test being reviewed [Title of the review]. Place of publication: Publisher. In Title of Periodical or Book or Database (reviews are generally published in a periodical) or Publication information. (i.e. volume number, issue, page numbers). If accessed from a database, cite publication details if stated (e.g. place of publication: publisher) and when retrieved and the name of the specific database. Sawyer, D. J. (1987?). Tests of Reading Comprehension [Review of the Tests of Reading Comprehension]. Hawthorn, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research. In Mental Measurements Yearbook [Electronic Version]. Lincoln, Nebraska: Buros Institute of Mental Measurement. Retrieved October 2, 2001, from WebSpirs database. Lane, Suzanne (n.d.). Progressive Achievement Test of Mathematics [Revised] [Review of the Progressive Achievement Test of Mathematics (Revised)]. Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Council for Educational Research. In Mental Measurements Yearbook [Electronic Version]. Lincoln, Nebraska: Buros Institute of Mental Measurement. Retrieved October 6, 2001, from WebSpirs database.
Online periodical article	Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000). Title of article. Title of Periodical, vol(issue), pages' paragraphs used. Retrieved month day, year, from source. Kawasaki, J. L., & Raven, M.R. (1995, May 2). Computer- administered surveys in extension Journal of Extension, 33(3), 252-255. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from http://journals.apa.org/prevention/ volume3/pre0030001a.html Specify length of article in pagination or by paragraph number(s).
Internet articles based on a print source	Where possible, cite the original source. If you have viewed the article only in its electronic form, and, it is an exact duplicate of the print version (e.g. PDF) the following format should be followed: Name(s) of author(s) (if no author identified, begin the reference with the title of the document) Date/ year of publication (use n.d. when a publication date is not available). Title of article. Format of item (i.e. [Electronic version].) *Journal title* and *volume* (italicised),Journal issue in parenthesis ( ), Pages of the article NOT PRECEDED by pp. Arnold, T. (2001, Winter). Achieving playtime positives [Electronic version]. Journal of Early Childhood, 5(4), 117-121. If the electronic version is different from the print version in some way (e.g. HTML format, pagination, additional data or commentary), the following format should be followed: Name(s) of author(s) (if no author identified, begin the reference with the title of the document) Date/ year of publication (use n.d. when a publication date is not available). Title of article. *Journal title* and *volume* (italicised), Journal issue in parenthesis ( ), Pages of the article NOT PRECEDED by pp. (if available) Date item retrieved Site address on the Internet Flibshaw, T. (1997, August 1). Helping seniors targeted for telemarketing fraud. Journal of Aging, 17(2), 123-132. Retrieved February 2, 1999, from http://www.fraud.org./elderfraud/helpsen.htm Direct readers as closely as possible to the source you used.
Articles from full-text databases	Where possible, cite the original source. An item's database accession number may be included. If you have viewed the article only in its electronic form, and, it is an exact duplicate of the print version (e.g. PDF) the following format should be followed: Examples of database articles in PDF format. Dysart, J. (2008, April). The case for Wi-Fi security [Electronic version]. American School Board Journal, 195(4), 58-59. Beulig, A., & Fowler, J. (2008, April). Fish on prozac: Effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitors on cognition in goldfish [Electronic version]. Behavioral Neuroscience, 122(2), 426-432. Johnson, A. (2008, April). Internet strategies fro gifted students [Electronic version]. Gifted Child Today, 31(2), 58-64 (EJ789921). 2001: A reading odyssey. Program manual. Arizona reading program [Electronic version] (2001). Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services (ED451492). If the electronic version is different from the print version in some way (e.g. HTML format, pagination, additional data or commentary), the following format should be followed: The second date which follows is the date the user accessed the material. Examples of database articles in HTML format. Fullagar, R. (2005). Little lady of Flores. Nature Australia, 28(6), 68-71. Retrieved June 3, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Verhaegen, M. (1995). Aquatic ape theory, the brain cortex, and language origins. ReVision, 18(2). Retrieved June 3, 2008, from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection database. Wilson, R., & Wolverton, B. (2008, January). The new faces of college sports. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(18), A27 (EJ783437). Retrieved June 2, 2008, from ERIC database. Australian Law Reform Commission (2003). Essentially yours: The protection of human genetic information in Australia. Sydney, NSW: Australian Law Reform Commission. Retrieved June 5, 2008, from AustLII database (ALRC 96).
Reviews or commentaries (online)	Where possible, cite the original source. If the title of the book or article being reviewed is clear from the title of the review, no explanatory material in brackets is needed. Book reviews. Morris, S. (2008). Henry Giroux - urgently necessary and necessarily urgent: An essay review [Review of the book Against the terror of neoliberalism: politics beyond the age of greed]. Education Review, 11(3). Retrieved from http://edrev.asu.edu/essays/v11n3index.html Handler, L. (1996). John Exner and the book that started it all: A review of "The Rorschach systems". Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(3), 650-658. Retrieved from http://www. informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a785040107~ db=all~order=page Harrington, J. J. (2008). [Review of the book The blackboard and the bottom line: Why schools can't be businesses]. Retrieved from http://edrev.asu.edu/reviews/rev621.htm Article commentaries. Riley, A. (2007). Commentary on Rowland's article [Peer comment on the journal article "Will medical solutions to sexual problems make sexological care and science obsolete?"]. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 33, 385-397. Retrieved from http://www. informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a781079267~db=all ~order=page Colliver, J. A. (2002). Commentary on Cicchetti's "Reliability of peer review". Teaching and Learning in Medicine 14(3),142-143. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/ smpp/content~content=a 785834188~db=all~order=page

Web documents and sites

As with any published reference, the goals of an electronic reference are to credit the author and to enable the reader to find the material. The researcher has immediate access to a wealth of information but must consider the reader's access to that material:

Will the information be available to the reader even if the reader follows a given retrieval path, or will the material soon be archived and difficult to obtain?
Is the information widely accessible or accessible only on the campus' local network?
If print forms and electronic forms of the material are the same, a reference for the print form currently is preferred (this preference may change, however, as technology progresses and electronic forms become more accessible to libraries and researchers.)
If electronic and print versions are not the same, and you researched the electronic form, what follows are some models for formatting the main elements.

Electronic correspondence, such as email messages and conversations via bulletin boards and electronic discussion groups, is cited as personal communication in the text.

Authors using and citing Internet sources should observe the following two guidelines:

Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited; whenever possible, reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages.
Provide addresses that work where possible.

Type

Examples

Author and date known

Author, A. A. (2000). Title of work. Retrieved month day,
year, from source.

Eyre, J. (2001, March 8). Information implosion. Retrieved
June 25, 2001, from http://www.une.edu.au/foe/htm

American Psychological Association. (2008). HIV Office on
Psychology Education (HOPE). Retrieved June 24, 2008,
from http://www.apa.org/pi/aids/hope.html

No author and no date known

Title of work. (n.d.). Retrieved month day, year, from
source.

Psychological perspectives (n.d.). Retrieved June 2,
2001, from http://www.onl.org.jp/horo~3/htm

Other electronic media

Follow previous sections for format of author, date, and title elements.
The date element should indicate the year of publication or, if the source undergoes regular revision, the most recent update; if a date cannot be determined, provide an exact date of your search.
After the title of the work, insert in brackets as part of the title element (i.e., before the period) the type of medium for the material (current examples include CD-ROM, data file and computer program).
Specify length of article in pagination or by paragraph number(s).
An availability statement replaces the location and name of the publisher typically provided for text references. Provide information sufficient to retrieve the material.
Include the location and the name of the producer and distributor if citing an entire bibliographic database.

Type	Examples
Theses retrieved from a database	Murray, B. P. (2008). Prior knowledge, two teaching approaches for metacognition: Main idea and summarization strategies in reading. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (AAT 3302116)
Dissertations retrieved from an institutional or personal Web site	McDonald, J. (2007). The role of online discussion forums in supporting learning in higher education (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Queensland, 2007). Retrieved from http://eprints.usq.edu.au/3588/2/ McDonald_2007_whole.pdf
Encyclopedias and dictionaries	Give the home or index page URL for reference works. Claiborn, C. D. (2008). Psychotherapy. In D. Hoiberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia Britannica online (Academic Ed.). Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://search.eb.com Psychotherapy. (2008). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved June 17, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Main_Page Psychotherapy. (2008). In AskOxford.com. Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://www.askoxford.com/?view=uk
Annual reports	BHP Billiton. (2007). 2007 BHP Billiton annual report. Retrieved from http://bhpbilliton.com/bbContent Repository/20071114140799/bhbpannualreport07.pdf
Fact sheets, brochures and press releases	Florek, S. (2003). Megafauna extinction: Patterns of extinction [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets/megafauna.htm Australian Museum. (2003). Concretions, thunder eggs and geodes [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from http://www.austmus. gov.au/factsheets/geodes.htm Xerox Corporation. (2004). Looks small, acts big: The Xerox Phaser 3150 personal laser printer for business [Brochure]. Retrieved from http://www.office.xerox.com/latest/315BR-01 .PDF Apple Inc. (2007). iPhone delivers up to eight hours of talk time [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.apple. com/pr/library/2007/06/18iphone.html
PowerPoint slides	OWL at Purdue University. (2004). Conquering the comma [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://owl.english. purdue.edu/workshops/pp/comma.PPT#256,1,Conquering the Comma
Technical or research reports	If a report number is given, insert it in parentheses after the title. Hoff, P. D. (2008). A hierarchical eigenmodel for pooled covariance estimation (Technical Report No. 531). Retrieved from University of Washington, Department of Statistics: http://www.stat.washington. edu/research/reports/2008/tr531.pdf
Messages posted to newsgroups, discussion groups or mailing lists	Moore, R. (2006, October 29). Survey of test subjects [Msg 4]. Message posted to news://sci.psychology.consciousness Blaire, T. (2007, January 20). Transition in leadership [Msg 7]. Message posted to Politics and Government electronic mailing list, archived at http://www.polgov.org/mail-archive/rp/msg7.html For personal email, refer to personal communication in the section on unpublished works.
Wikis	Self-study: Broadening the concepts of participation and program support. (2007). Retrieved June 18, 2008, from the Adult Literacy Education (ALE) Wiki: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index. php/Self-Study:_Broadening_the_Concepts_of_Participation_ and_Program_Support
Audio podcasts	Humphrey, D. (n.d.). The lavender evening dress [Episode 100]. Tales of horror. Podcast retrieved from http://www.podanza. com/podcast/tales-of-horror/d1c81df57d3a4f047eef880d23 8bded5/ Hutcheon, J. (2008, June 15). Jane Hutcheon reflects on life in London. Correspondents report. Podcast retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2008/ s2274772.htm
Televsion feature podcasts	Give the name and, in parentheses, the function of the originator or primary contributors (the director or the producer, or both). National Geographic Society (Producer). (2008, May 19). Chimp memory beats humans' [Motion picture]. In National Geographic video shorts. Podcast retrieved from Podanza: http://www.podanza.com/podcast/national- geographic-video-shorts/42ac4d6d3d12b6ad80 303e9f6556d4a0/ Holland, A. (Producer), & Harris, H. (Director). (2008, June 12). Bog man [Television broadcast]. In N. Lee (Executive Producer), Catalyst. Podcast retieved from ABC: http://www.abc.net.au/ catalyst/stories/2272392.htm
Interviews	Interviews that are not retrievable should be cited in text as a personal communication (including month, day, year) and not included in the reference list (see section on unpublished works). Hughes, R. (Interviewer), & Cilento, D. (Interviewee). (2000, June 20). Diane Cilento [Interview transcript]. Retrieved from Australian Biography Project Web site: http://www. australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/cilento/intertext1. html
Weblog posts	Bedford, T. (2008, June 12). Re: Got a problem using EndNote? Let us know here. Message posted to http://library.usq.edu. au/wordpress/?p=539 McGarry, A. (2008, June 13). China's pain fires Olympic dream. Message posted to http://blogs.abc.net.au/olympics/
Video Weblog posts	Simplecoat. (2007, April 26). Inside One Laptop per Child: Episode 02 [Video file]. Video posted to http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=EXg3w_jbNrc
Computer programs, software, or programming languages	Reference entries are not necessary for standard off-the-shelf software and programming languages. Provide entries for specialized software or programs with limited distribution. In text, give the name of the software, the version number and year. Schoonjans, F. (2008). MedCalc Statistical Software (Version 9.5.2.0) [Software]. Available from 3D2F.COM Software Directory: http://3d2f.com/programs/13-638- medcalc-statistical-software-download.shtml Accurate Personality Test [Software]. (2007). Retrieved June 19, 2008. Available from Shareware Connection: http://www.sharewareconnection.com/accurate- personality-test.htm Do not italicise the names of software, programs, or languages. If an individual has proprietary rights to the software, name him or her as the author; otherwise, treat such references as unauthored works. Immediately after the title, identify with a source type such as [Computer program], [Computer language], or [Software]. If no version number is available, include the retrieval date.

Audiovisual and other media

The details required, in order, are:

Producer's name followed by (Producer)
Directors/Writers name followed by (Writer) or (Director).
Date of release in parenthesis. ( ).
Title. (italicised) - immediately followed by format, e.g. [Motion picture]
Place of origin (followed by a colon) :
Studio producing the motion picture.

Type	Examples
Film (Motion Picture), limited circulation	Harrison, J. (Producer), & Schmiechen, R. (Director). (1992). Changing our minds: The story of Evelyn Hooker [Motion picture]. (Available from Changing Our Minds, Inc., 170 West End Avenue, Suite 25R, New York, NY 10023). Give the name and, in parentheses, the function of the originator or primary contributors (in this example, Harrison and Schmiechen, who are, respectively, the producer and the director). Specify the medium in brackets immediately after the title (in this example, the medium is Motion picture NOT Film). Give the location and name of the distributor (in this example, because Changing Our Minds is a small establishment, a complete address is provided).
Television broadcast	Crystal, L. (Executive Producer). (1993, October 11). The MacNeil/Lehrer news hour [Television program]. New York and Washington, DC: Public Broadcasting Service.
Television series	Miller, R. (Producer). (1989). The mind [Television program] New York: WNET.
Single episode from a television series	Hall, B. (Writer), & Bender, J. (Director). (1991). The rules of the game [Television series episode]. In J. Sander (Producer), I'll fly away. New York: New York Broadcasting Company. In the author position, list the script writers first, followed by the director (identify his or her function in parenthesis after the name). Place the producer of the series in the editor position.
Music recording	Writer, A. (Date of copyright). ( ). Title of song [Recorded by artist if different from writer]. On *Title of album* [Medium of recording; CD, record, cassette, etc.]. Location: Label. (Recording date if different from copyright date). Badnews, U. R. (1927). We only live twice [Recorded by P. Murray]. On Resurrection [CD]. Sandgate, Queensland: Ibis Records. (1999).
Audio recording	Costa, P. T., Jr. (Speaker). (1998). Personality and continuity (Audio Recording No. 207-433-88A-B). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Smith, D. (2001, August 16). Airline nightmare (Audio Recording from Nightline series). Brisbane, Queensland: Australian Broadcasting Commission. Give the name and function of the originators or primary contributors. Specify the medium in brackets immediately after the title. Give a number after in parenthesis for the recording if it is necessary for identification and retrieval. Give the location and name of the distributor.
Other non-book media	Specify the medium in brackets, [ ], immediately after the title. Media can include the formats mentioned above - Motion picture, Television program, Television series episode, CD, Record, Cassette, as well as other formats such as DVD, Videotape, Videorecording, Computer software, Data file, Audiorecord, Audiotape, Chart, Flashcard, Game, Picture, Transparency, Slide, Realia, Kit, Filmstrip, Print, Work of art, Microform, etc. Try to be consistent. Fractions are as easy as pie: A game of common fractions [Game]. (1985). Baltimore: Media Materials. Casciani, J. M. (1988). A comprehensive guide to working with the elderly [Cassette]. Del Mar, Calif.: Aging and Mental Health Alliance. Shaping the future: Working with the under-threes [Kit]. (2000). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Nervous system [Picture]. (2006). Burleigh Heads: Network Education Australia. Measuring cylinders [Realia]. (n.d.). England: Gradplex.

Unpublished works

Type

Examples

Personal communication

Personal communication may be unpublished lecture notes, letters, memos, personal interviews, telephone conversations, email or messages from non-archived discussion groups or bulletin boards – all these sources are non-recoverable from the reader's perspective and are not to be included in the reference list, but should be cited in text as they are referred to.

Cite personal correspondence in text only.

Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible:

Stone (personal communication, March 29, 2001)
(Toby, personal communication, May 2, 1987)

Lecture notes are treated as personal communication if they are unpublished (i.e. not copied and distributed in print or on the web with the instructor's permission).

Doctoral and Master's theses (unpublished)

Swinton, M. A. (1984). Family stress in phenylketonuria.
Unpublished master's thesis, University of Auckland,
N.Z.

Proceedings and technical reports

Report from a university: if the name of the province or country is included in the name of the university, it should not be repeated in the publisher location.

Type	Examples
Published proceedings, published contribution to a symposium, article or chapter in an edited book	Rice, D. N., Houston, I. B., & Lyon, I. C. T. (1983). Transient neonatal tyrosinemia. In H. Naruse & M. Irie (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Symposium on Neonatal Screening for Inborn Errors of Metabolism (pp. 306-310). Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica. Capitalise the name of the symposium, which is a proper name. If there are more than two editors a comma is placed before the ampersand. Give the month of the symposium if it is available.
Proceedings published regularly	Cynx, J., Williams, H., & Nottebohm, F. (1992). Hemispheric differences in avian song discrimination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 89, 1372- 1375. Treat regularly published proceedings as periodicals.
Unpublished paper presented at a meeting	Lanktree, C., & Briere, J. (1991, January). Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, San Diego, CA.
Technical and research reports	The details required, in order, are: Report author/s Date of publication in parenthesis. ( ). *Report Title* (italicized). – if the issuing organization assigned a number to the report, give the number in parenthesis immediately after the title. Place of publication (followed by a colon) : Publisher - for reports from a document deposit service (e.g. ERIC), enclose the document number in parenthesis at the end of the entry and do not use a period after the document number. (American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed., pp. 255-260). Washington, DC: Author.) (a) Author(s) named Birney, A. J., & Hall, M. M. (1981). Early identification of children with written language disabilities. (Report No. 81-1502). Washington, DC: National Education Association. (b) Government report Commonwealth Schools Commission. (1994). Quality and equality: Commonwealth specific purposes programs for Australian schools. Canberra, ACT: Author. (c) Report available from an information service (eg ERIC) Gottfredson, L. S. (1980). How valid are occupational reinforcer pattern scores? (Report No. CSOS-R- 292). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social Organization of Schools. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED182465).

USQ Course materials

Type	Examples
USQ course materials (print)	Austin, L. (2004). ECE 1001 Child studies I: Introductory book. Toowoomba: University of Southern Queensland. When the author's name is unknown or unclear - ACC 5003 NIA advanced financial accounting: Study book (2004). Toowoomba: University of Southern Queensland.
USQ lecture notes (print)	These are treated like books if they are published, but like personal communication if they are your own notes or unpublished. Lecture notes are considered published if they have been copied and distributed in print or on the web with the instructor's permission. Stevens, J. (2004). ECO 2640 Applied econometrics course notes. Toowoomba: University of Southern Queensland.
USQ selected readings	Where possible, cite the original source. If you need to cite from the selected readings, refer to the page numbers from the reader. Kuebler, S. A. (2004). OSHA's enforcement strategy. Occupational Health & Safety. In I. Eddington (Ed.), MGT 8015 Corporate occupational health and safety: Selected readings (2005, pp. 71-72). Toowoomba: University of Southern Queensland. Zawawi, C. (2000). History of public relations in Australia. Public relations theory and practice. In PRL 1002 Principles and practice of public relations: Selected readings (2005, pp. 19-28). Toowoomba: University of Southern Queensland.
Customized publications	Dessler. G., & Tan, C. H. (2010). Human resource management: An Asian perspective. In Staffing and remuneration: Strategy and practice, Frenchs Forest, NSW, Pearson. Note: If page numbers are required in text, use the custom publication page numbers, not the page numbers from the original publication.
USQ lecture notes (online)	Where possible, cite the original source. Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited; whenever possible, reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages. JRN 2001 Lecture 4: Copy editing. (2006). Retrieved July 11, 2006, from http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=878889 Austin, L. (2004). ECE 1001: Wk9.ppt [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php? id=123666
Course readings on USQStudyDesk	Where possible, cite the original source. If you have viewed the item only in its electronic form, and, it is an exact duplicate of the print version (e.g. PDF) the following format should be followed: Periodical article. Arnold, T. (2001, Winter). Achieving playtime positives [Electronic version]. Journal of Early Childhood, 5(4), 117-121. Book chapter. Shore, R. (1997). What have we learned. In Rethinking the brain: New insights into early development (pp. 15-52). Retrieved from http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php? id=659909 If the electronic version is different from the print version in some way (e.g. HTML format, pagination, additional data or commentary), the following format should be followed: Periodical article. Arnold, T. (2001, Winter). Achieving playtime positives. Journal of Early Childhood, 5(4), 117-121. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod.resource/view.php? id=234987 Book chapter (edited book). Tuczay, C. (2005). Trance, prophets and diviners in the Middle Ages. In E. Pocs (Ed.), Communicating with the spirits: Christian demonology and popular mythology (pp. 215-233). Retrieved from http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=657890

Additional formatting

M, Mc, Mac: treat as the letters appear so MacDonald precedes McAllister
Alphabetise entries commencing with numerals as if the numerals were spelled out
If there is no author, the title moves to the author position (first significant word of the title)
References by the same author or authors (if in the same order) are arranged by year of publication, the earliest publication date first.
Capitalise only the first letter of the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and proper nouns. The exception is periodical titles where all significant words begin with capitals.
Only list up to and including six authors. When there are seven or more authors, the seventh and subsequent authors are abbreviated as 'et al.'.

How to cite references within the text of an assignment

Use the author-date method of citation for quotations (exact words of another autor) and paraphrasing (summarising the words and ideas of one or more authors).

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is when you summarise the ideas, concepts or words from the work or one or more authors.
Please note: changing only a few words from another author does not constitute paraphrasing.

Type	Examples
If you are referring to the general theme of a book or article	Brown (1991) investigated the effects of … An investigation into the effects of maternal age (Brown, 1991) found that …
When to include page numbers	When paraphrasing or referring to an idea in another work, page or paragraph numbers are not required. But it can be helpful, for example when paraphrasing or referring to information or an idea that can be located on a particular page, quoting or referring to images, figures or data, or when a work is particularly long and page numbers might be useful for the reader. Soil layers below the well tip contribute relatively little water (Kozeny 1988, pp. 223-4). Kozeny (1988, p. 223) found soil layers below the well tip contributed little.
When the authors of a source are not part of the formal structure of the sentence, both the authors and years of publication appear in parentheses, separated by semicolons.	Reviews of research on sport and reading have concluded that at least some types of reading behaviours are related to higher levels of physical health (Austin, 1990; McGovern & Henderson, 2001; Wright & Morgan, 2001).
When the names of the authors of a source are part of the formal structure of the sentence, the year of publication appears in parentheses following the identification of the authors.	Wright and Mander (2002) found that although there was a reduction in literacy, the difference was not statistically significant.
Use abbreviations sparingly after always spelling out what the abbreviations means when first used. If a group is readily identified by its initials, spell it out only the first time.	As reported in a university study (University of Southern Queensland [USQ], 2001), ... The previously cited study (USQ, 2001) found that ...
When a reference is paraphrased and has one or two authors always cite both names every time the reference occurs:	Smythe and Jones (2001) found … (first and subsequent citations) OR ... as has been shown (Smythe & Jones, 2001) …
When a reference is paraphrased and has three, four or five authors cite all authors in the first instance, thereafter, only first author followed by "et al." (not underlined and with no stop after "et") and the year of publication. For an article with six or more authors cite only the first author followed by "et al." and the year. In the list of references give all names up to and including six authors.	Campbell, Brady, Bradley, and Smithson (1991) found … (first citation) Campbell et al. (1991) found … (subsequent citations)
In running text use "and" to join the names of multiple authors, but use an ampersand (&) inside parentheses.	Jones and Brady (1991) continued to find … The authors found the same result in the second and third trials (Jones & Brady, 1991).
When citing multiple works by the same author at the same time, arrange dates in order (oldest to newest). Use suffixes after the year when there are multiple publications from the same year. If the publication dates are same, the suffixes are assigned in the reference list where these kinds of references are ordered in alphabetical order by title (article, chapter or complete work).	Several studies (Jackson, 1999, 2001a, 2001b, 2005) revealed a similar outcome.
If publications have primary authors with the same surname, include the first author's initials in all text citations even if the year of publication differs.	T.R. Smith (2006) and B. E. Smith (2007) found that ... J. J. Jackson and Robertson (2000) and E. M. Jackson and Johns (2005) reached the conclusion that ...
In secondary citations you must acknowlege both the primary and secondary source of information. To do this, include the primary source first and then insert the words "as cited in" before the secondary source.	Cumming's (1980) study (as cited in Pauley, 1991) … This belief has been confirmed (Cumming, 1980, as cited in Pauley, 1991) ... You do not need to source the primary or original work cited (e.g. Cumming, 1980) but the secondary source (e.g. Pauley, 1991) needs to be given in your list of references.
When a citing an online source in-text that has no author, use a short title and year for the parenthetical citation. If there is no year, state n.d. to indicate 'no year'.	The in text citation for the online source below would be ("New Drug," 2001) New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (2001, July 15) Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html

Quotes

Quotations or quotes are when you use the exact words of another author. Quotations must always be referenced with page numbers.

Quotations of less than 40 words (approximately) should form part of the text and be designated with double quotation marks.
With quotations of 40 or more words, DO NOT use quotation marks; set the quotation in block style - start quote on a new line indented five spaces and ensure anything referenced is cited in your List of References.

Type	Examples
When a direct quotation is used, always include the author, year, and page number(s) as part of the citation.	Students receiving "additional information literacy training achieved higher grades than students who did not attend any skills' sessions" (Capel, 2002, p. 323).
Specific parts of a source; always give page numbers for quotations (the words page and chapter are abbreviated in such text citations. For electronic sources that do not provide page numbers, use the paragraph number, if available, preceded by the abbreviation 'para.'	(Pierce & Bone, 1985, p. 195) (Bray, 1999, chap. 3) (Zelow, 2001, para. 17) (Broome & Davies, 1999, para. 5)
If neither paragraph or page numbers are visible, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph following it to direct the reader to the location of the material.	(Myers, 2000, para. 5) (Beutler, 2000, Conclusion section, para. 1)

Publication dates

Type	Examples
Use the year for journals, books and audiovisual media.	Within the text - (Smith, 2007) or Smith (2007) List of References - (2007)
If a journal or newsletter does not use volume numbers, include the month, season or other designation with the year.	Within the text - (Jones, 2007, December) or Jones (2007, December) List of References - (2007, December)
For dailies and weeklies, include the day.	Within the text - (Brown, 2007, December 12) or Brown (2007, December 12) List of References - (2007, December 12)
Works accepted for publication but not yet published.	Within the text - (Mills, in press) or Mills (in press) List of References - (in press)
No date available.	Within the text - (Boon, n.d.) or Boon (n.d.) List of References - (n.d.)

General guidelines

Use the Arabic symbol with numbers 10 and above unless the numeral begins a sentence.
The body of the paper should be in a serif typeface such as Courier or Times Roman.
The size of the type in the main body should be 12 points and be in a serif typeface (such as Courier or Times Roman).
Justify your text on the left side of the paper only; the only exception being an indented block style format for quotes of 40 words or more.

Additional Help

More Information and Additional Guides

This guide and many of the examples cited are drawn from:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. (Call number 808.06615 Pub, held Toowoomba, Fraser Coast and Springfield).

Many electronic media examples in this guide also draw from:

American Psychological Association. (2007). APA style guide to Electronic References. Washington, DC: Author. (Call number 808.06615 Apa, held Toowoomba, Fraser Coast and Springfield).

Please note: Whilst these referencing guides are offered to assist you to learn how to reference, University policy mandates the use of the APA style defined by the USQ Library's referencing guides.

Some other web guides to APA referencing

Some other published guides to APA referencing practice

Perrin, R. (2007). Pocket guide to APA style (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Call number 808.02 Per, held Toowoomba and Springfield).
Burton, L. (2006). An interactive approach to writing essays and research reports in psychology (2nd ed.). Milton, Qld: Wiley. (Call number 808.06615 Bur, held Toowoomba, Fraser Coast and Springfield).
Lewis, D. (Ed). (2002). The written assignment: A guide to the writing and presentation of assignments. Brisbane: QUT. (Call number 808.066 Lew, held Toowoomba and Fraser Coast).
Cope, R. (Ed). (2006). The written assignment: A guide to the writing and presentation of assignments (New rev. ed.). Brisbane: QUT. (Call number 808.02 Lew, held Springfield).

Need additional help applying these guides?

Contact the Library or consult the following:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. (Call number 808.06615 Pub).
American Psychological Association. (2007). APA style guide to Electronic References. Washington, DC: Author. (Call number 808.06615 Apa).
APA style homepage: http://www.apastyle.org/

Please note: The Library is not responsible for checking lists of references. We can, however, refer you to our referencing guides and the published manuals listed to help you ensure the accuracy of your referencing.

Help with assignment writing and referencing is also available from The Learning Centre.