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APA 7th edition

What are References?

References are on a separate page and it has a complete list of sources you have used in your paper/essay with each entry containing:

  • WHO is responsible for creating the information,
  • WHEN the information was created,
  • WHAT it is (title(s), subtitle, edition, etc.),
  • WHERE it can be found.

References are double-spaced, each entry is formatted with a hanging indent, and the complete list is alphabetized by the first word of each entry. For more information on formatting, go to the Document Formatting page. 


There are standards for how to write each part of a reference (who, when, what, where). The section below provides general rules for each of these and What goes where provides format examples of common sources.


 

Author(s)’ last name and initials only.

Use editor(s) name(s) if no author (encyclopedias, textbooks) followed by (Ed.) or (Eds.) then (year of publication). 

e.g.: Smith, J. A. (Ed.) (2019).

In artistic works, use the creator(s) name(s) and include the contribution (photographer, artist, producer, etc.)

Authorship is given to the party most responsible for the creation of the information. Sometimes that is a corporation, institution, government body, etc.

If no author, cite the title first, then the date.

 

(Year) of publication only for books, ebooks, journal articles, websites

(Year, Month) for magazine, reports, and other form of grey literature

(Year, Month day) for newspaper articles, blog posts, wikis, dictionaries, encyclopedias

(n.d.) for no date

 

Book or ebook title: italics, capitalize first word of title and subtitle and proper nouns only

Chapter in a book or ebook: NO italics, capitalize first word of title and subtitle and proper nouns only

Journal or magazine or newspaper title: italics, capitalize all major words and proper nouns

Article title in journal or magazine or newspaper: NO italics, capitalize first word of title and subtitle and proper nouns only

 

Books or ebooks may be a specific edition. If so, this statement is not italicized, comes in parentheses after the title of the book/ebook, and the word edition is abbreviated i.e.: (4th ed.).

If it is a Canadian edition, the word Canadian is spelled out, i.e.: (Canadian ed.).

If it is a revised edition use (Rev. ed.).

 

Books or ebooks (Encyclopedias): Put the volume number (Vol.) that you are using in parentheses after the title, followed by the page numbers that you used, e.g.: (Vol. 9, p. 416). Use pp. for more than one page, e.g.: (Vol 10, pp. 358-366). If there is also an edition, that precedes the volume number, e.g.: (15th ed., Vol. 9, pp. 255-301).

Journals (sometimes magazines and newspapers): Start with the journal title then the volume number, both in italics, then no space, then issue number NOT in italics in parenthesescomma and the page numbers, e.g.: Title of Journal, 44(3), 234-456.

Use Vol. for books or ebooks but NOT for journals or magazines.

 

For books, ebooks and newspapers use p. for a single page, and pp. for succession of pages, e.g.: pp. 312-322.

For journal and magazine articles use only the number(s) of pages, e.g.: 223-475.

 

Books include the name of publisher, e.g.: F. A. Davis Co.

If the publisher is also the author (often an association or institution), use the word ‘Author’, e.g.: NorQuest College. (2004). Artikulayshun: LSS voices: A poetry anthology. Author.

 

Journal articles have recently been assigned a number called a doi or digital object identifier that is unique to that one article.  If there is a doi in the article information use it. If there is no doi, the reference ends after the page range.

If it is a website, journal, magazine or newspaper found online NOT through a library database, provide the URL e.g.: http://www.jdentaled.org

If a URL is extremely long, and the website is archived and searchable, give the URL of the homepage only.

Do NOT use a period after a doi or URL.

Personal Communication

With the exception of conversations with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, do not include references for personal communication.


Referencing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers

NorQuest Library has noted that the formal APA style does not have a format to acknowledge Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers as a reference. In the spirit of wahkôhtowin and reconciliation, NorQuest College Library continues to follow templates created by Lorisia MacLeod and NorQuest College Indigenous Student Centre staff that meet this need.


 

Unlike other personal communications, Elders and Knowledge Keepers are cited in-text and in the reference list. The in-text citation should follow the same guidelines noted for a paraphrase or direct quote:

Name of Elder/Knowledge Keeper with year of communication.

Delores Cardinal described the nature of the... (2018).

OR

The nature of the place was... (Cardinal, 2018).

 

Format:

Last name, First initial., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. Where they live if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.

Example:

Cardinal, D., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. personal communication. April 4, 2004.


Note: If you would like to approach an Elder or Knowledge Keeper for teachings, remember to follow protocol or if you are unsure what their protocol is, please ask them ahead of time.

For entire book or ebook:

Author, A. A. (year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Publisher.

Author, A. A. (year). Title of ebook: Subtitle of ebook.

Editor, A. A. (Ed,). (year). Title of book: Subtitle of book (xx ed., Vol. xx). Publisher.

 

For a chapter in a book/ebook or article in encyclopedia:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or article. Title of book: Subtitle of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Publisher.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or article. Title of ebook: Subtitle of ebook (pp. xxx-xxx).

 

For a chapter in an edited book/ebook or article in an encyclopedia:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or article. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book: Subtitle of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Publisher.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of chapter or article. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of ebook: Subtitle of ebook (pp. xxx-xxx).

 

No author:

Title of chapter or article. (year). In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book: Subtitle of book (xx ed., Vol. xx, pp. xxx-xxx). Publisher.

Title of chapter or article. (year). In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of ebook: Subtitle of ebook (xx ed., Vol. xx, pp. xxx-xxx).

 

Indigenous Elder or Knowledge Keeper:

Last name, First initial., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. City/Community they live in if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.

Note: This is an internally developed reference template.

Journal article - online or from a library database:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page numbers. doi:xxxxx

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page numbers. 

 

Journal article - in print:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page numbers.

 

Magazine article - online or from a library database:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year, Month). Title of article. Title of Magazine, volume(issue), page numbers. http://www.xxxx

 

Magazine article - in print:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year, Month). Title of article. Title of Magazine, volume(issue), page numbers.

 

Newspaper article - online or from a library database:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pp. xx-xx. http://www.xxxx

 

Newspaper article - in print:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pp. xx-xx.

 

No author:

Title of article. (year, Month day). Title of Newspaper, pp. xx-xx. http://www.xxxx

Website of an association, government department, institution, group, etc.:

Name of association, government department, institution, group. (year). Title of webpage. http://www.xxxx

 

Website with no identifiable author:

Title of webpage. (year). http://www.xxxx

 

NOTE: Be aware that having too many citations with no author or date is not considered to be reliable, credible information.

Figure reprinted from a journal:

Creator, A. A. (Contribution). (year). Title of figure [Format]. In Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number. http://www.xxxx

 

Figure reprinted from a book:

Creator, A. A. (Contribution). (year). Title of figure [Format]. In Title of Book. Publisher

 

Figure reprinted from a website:

Creator, A. A. (Contribution). (year). Title of figure [Format]. Reprinted from Title of website. http://www.xxxx

 

Figure reprinted from a website with no creator, no date, no title:

[Description of image]. (n.d.). [Type of Work]. URL of website

Table reprinted from a website:

Author. (year). Title [Table]. Reprinted from Name of website. http://url

Two or more sources in References

For two or more references with the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to organize the entries in your References list:

Alberta Health Services. (2020a). Title of source 1 in italics. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/.....xxxx

Alberta Health Services. (2020b). Title of source 2 in italics. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/......xxx

Alberta Health Services. (2020c). Title of source 3 in italics. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/......xxx


When citing in-text, use the corresponding entries to clarify which source you are citing:

According to Alberta Health Services (2020c) ..... (para. 2). We also know that community support is integral to project success (Alberta Health Services, 2020a). 


For two or more references with the same author but different years, order in terms of publication year, with the earliest year first.

Yeon, S. H. (2019).

Yeon, S. H. (2021).

 

Single authors go before multiple authors. For multiple authors, organize alphabetically by the second author's last name.

Yeon, S. H. (2019).

Yeon, S. H., & Herr, H. M. (2022).

Yeon, S., Kim, D., Ryou, G., & Sim, Y. (2017).

 

What to do if you are missing information? 

The APA provides the following guidance: Missing Reference Information