APA Referencing Guidelines for Students
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APA Referencing Guidelines for Students
Referencing is a way of acknowledging that you have used ideas and written material
belonging to another author. It applies to what you have read, watched, or listened to
including electronic sources, like websites.
There are several different ways of referencing. The Psychology Department uses the APA
(American Psychological Association) referencing system.
Why do it?
Accurate referencing demonstrates that you have undertaken appropriate reading and have
an appreciation of the links between theory and practice.
Proper and consistent referencing is an important aspect of achieving academic standards in
your work and you will lose marks for lack of (or poor) referencing. So it is important to
make a full note all the sources you use when you are doing the research for your
assignment. ‘Quotes notes’ cards are available for download on your BREO units to help you
record and manage your quotes and references, and you can also use the RefWorks
referencing system to organise and store your citations (more information on the Learning
Resources website).
Failure to acknowledge another writer’s work or ideas will be considered plagiarism
(literary theft). To paraphrase without referencing the original source is an academic
offence and you may be penalised for it; the penalties can be serious, and include removal
from your course. Full Academic discipline policy and procedures can be accessed here:
http://documents.beds.ac.uk/dl/uob/handle/6488119637278433099/Academic-Disciline-
Nov=2010.PDF
Where do you put this information?
References should be included in all kinds of assignments – essays, portfolios, posters,
presentations and dissertations. Each reference should appear in two places:
1. in the body of the text
Whenever you refer to someone else’s work, either directly or indirectly, indicate
whose work it is. This applies equally to either quotations or paraphrases in your
own words.
2. in the reference list
A reference list including the full details for all the references (discussed, quoted or
paraphrased) should be provided.
Do not create separate lists according to source type. However, each type of resource has
its own specific layout, as illustrated in the following pages. The basic principle is that you
should cite enough information for the reader to be able to locate the source in the future.
11 Books in general
Always use the title page and the information on the back of it, rather than the book’s
cover, to find these details. Ignore any reprint dates; you need the date when the first,
second, third edition, etc. of the book was published, according to which edition of the book
you are using.
Note that ‘Book’ format also applies to similar items such as booklets, as well as reports that
are not part of a series.
Books with one author
i. Author’s surname, followed by initial(s), followed by a full stop.
ii. (Year of publication) in round brackets, followed by a full stop.
iii. Book title (in italics, in sentence case: Subtitle separated by colon)
iv. Edition of book, in round brackets (if not the first edition), with ‘edition’
abbreviated to ‘ed.’
v. Place of publication, followed by colon:
vi. Publisher, followed by full stop.
Example:
1. in the body of the text
In her latest work, Miller (2011, p. 27) says that.....
or
“There are many psychological theories of development” (Miller, 2011, p. 27).
2. in the reference list
Miller, P. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology. New York: Worth
Publishers.
Books with more than one author
Include up to six authors; if there are more than this you should use the name of the first
author and then et al., not italicised, and followed by a full stop (because ‘al.’ is an
abbreviation). Use a comma after the penultimate (next to last) author’s initials, before the
ampersand (&).
i. Author, Initials., Author 2, Initials., & Author 3, Initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title of book
iv. (Edition if later than first e.g. 3rd ed.).
v. Place of publication:
vi. Publisher.
2Example:
1. in the body of the text
(note that ‘and’ should be used rather than an ampersand if the authors appear
outside the round brackets. Note the comma after the penultimate author’s name.)
Martin, Carlson and Buskist (2010, p. 5) suggest that psychology is more closely
related to biology than to sociology.
or
“The discipline is closer to its natural science cousins than its social science
acquaintances” (Martin, Carlson, & Buskist, 2010, p. 5).
2. in the reference list
Martin, G.N., Carlson, N.R., & Buskist, W. (2010). Psychology (4th ed.). Harlow:
Allyn & Bacon.
Books with a corporate author (e.g. the NHS)
Remember that some resources have a corporate author, instead of a person’s name. The
layout is the same as for a book with a person as author.
Example:
1. in the body of the text
... the ordering of the reference list (American Psychological Association, 2001, p.
219) is essentially alphabetical ...
or
According to the APA (2001, p. 219), the reference list should be essentially
alphabetical....
2. in the reference list
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: APA.
1.1 Edited books
Complete book
Some books consist of writings by a number of people, collected together and organised by
one or more editors. It is unlikely that you would reference a complete edited book very
often, as you are more likely to reference individual chapters within the book (see below). If
you do use a complete edited book, the reference should follow this format:
3i. Editor, Initials (Ed.).
ii. (year).
iii. Title of book.
iv. Place of publication:
v. Publisher.
Example:
1. in the body of the text
(this would be the same as for a book with a single or multiple authors (above); there
is no need to include ‘Ed.’)
2. in the reference list
Freiberg, K.L. (Ed.). (2010). Human development: 2010 update. London: McGraw-
Hill.
Chapter in an edited book
Use this format for a chapter in an edited book, where the contents page lists chapters
written by several different people. Treat multiple authors of a chapter in the same way as
multiple authors of a book.
i. Author(s) of chapter, Initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title of chapter.
iv. In
v. Initials. Name of Editor/s (Ed.),
vi. Title of book
vii. (pp. start and end page numbers of chapter).
viii. Place of publication:
ix. Publisher.
Example:
1. in the text
(this would be the same as for an unedited book with single or more than one
author, above. There is no need to include the editor(s) or title of the book in which
the chapter appears)
2. in the reference list
Bentsen, D., & Bohn, A. (2009). Cultural life scripts and individual life stories. In P.
Boyer, & J.V. Wertsch (Eds.), Memory in mind and culture (pp. 62-81). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
In all the above cases, if no author is identifiable, list by the first significant word of the title.
41.2 Electronic books
Referencing an electronic book, for example from DawsonEra or NetLibrary, is similar to
referencing a print book, but you need to include the url to show where you accessed the
item – you can find it by clicking ‘Permanent url for this record’ on the library catalogue
record.
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title of book.
iv. Place of publication:
v. Publisher.
vi. Retrieved from url of source.
Example:
1. in the text
(this would be the same as for an unedited book with single or more than one
author, above. You don’t need to include any information about electronic books)
2. in the reference list
Glassman, W.E. (2009). Approaches to psychology. London: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved
from http://library.beds.ac.uk/record=b1456354~S11.
2 Journals
Make sure you understand the pattern of the journal - does it have a volume number, does
it have a part number (restarting at 1 in each volume) or a running issue number which
increases through each succeeding volume?
There are slightly different ways of referencing different types of journals.
2.1 Print journals
i. Author (s), Initials. (same as for a book)
ii. (year).
iii. Title of article.
iv. Title of Journal,
v. Volume number – if there is one
vi. (Issue number),
vii. start and end page numbers of article.
Example:
1. in the text
Ferrara (1991, p. 47) suggests that....
5or
In the past, researchers (Ferrara, 1991, p. 47) have suggested that....
2. in the reference list
Ferrara, N. (1991). Art as a reflection of child development. American Journal of Art
Therapy, 30 (2), 44-51.
2.2 Electronic editions of print journals
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title of article.
iv. Title of Journal,
v. Volume number
vi. (issue number),
vii. start and end page numbers of article.
viii. doi:number of digital object identifier
In the Ebsco databases you can find the doi via the ‘permalink’ button to the right of the
article abstract in the database.
Example:
1. in the text
(this would be the same as for the print version – you don’t need to add any
information about the electronic format)
2. in the reference list
Leman, P.J., Macedo, A.P., Bluschke, A., Hudson, L., Rawling, C., & Wright, H.
(2011). The influence of gender and ethnicity on children's peer collaborations.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29 (1), 131-137.
doi: 10.1348/026151010X526344
2.3 Internet journal
If you are referencing a journal which is only available on the Internet, the layout is slightly
different. Whenever possible the URL you give should link directly to the article itself. Use
the complete publication date shown in the article. Note that page numbers may not be
given, in which case you would need to use the paragraph number preceded by the
abbreviation para. when citing.
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year, plus month and day if given).
iii. Title of article.
iv. Title of Journal,
v. Volume number (if there is one)
vi. (Issue number).
6vii. Retrieved month day, year,
viii. from Internet address.
Example:
1. in the text
this would be the same as for the print version, except that you might put the
paragraph number rather than the page number – you don’t need to add any
information about the electronic format
2. in the reference list
Brainard, D.A., & Moloney, L.T. (2011, May 2). Surface colour perception and
equivalent illumination models. Journal of Vision, 11 (5). Retrieved May 4, 2011,
from http://www.journalofvision.org/content/11/5/1.full.
3 Newspaper articles
Print version
If there is a named author (byline) begin the reference with the author. If there is no byline,
put the title in the place of the author. Precede page numbers for newspaper articles with a
p. or pp. If page numbers are discontinuous, give all page numbers and separate the
numbers with a comma.
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year, month day).
iii. Title of the article.
iv. Title of Newspaper,
v. p. page number.
Example:
1. in the text
Note that, where there is no author, the title of the article needs to be in quote
marks.
Excessive intake of caffeine ("High consumption of caffeine", 1991, p. B8) has been
suggested in a newspaper report to ...
Young (1996. p. 15), in an article, declares ...
2. in the reference list
High consumption of caffeine linked to mental illness. (1991, July 13). New York
Times, pp. B13, B15.
7Young, H. (1996, July 25). Battle of snakes and ladders. The Guardian, p. 15.
Electronic version
If you get your information from the online version of a newspaper, you need to include the
internet address in the reference list as well.
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year, month day).
iii. Title of the article.
iv. Title of Newspaper,
v. p. page number.
vi. Retrieved from Internet address
High consumption of caffeine linked to mental illness. (2006, December 6). Times
Colonist, p. B18. Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis
Young, H. (1996, July 25). Battle of snakes and ladders. The Guardian, p. 15.
Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis
4 Lectures & seminars
These are treated like books if they are published (i.e. as handouts or on BREO), 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. It should be noted that your lecturers may not approve of the
use of lecture materials in this way; they may well expect you to go and find out the
information for yourself, from original sources. You should check before using this type of
material for your assignments.
4.1 Listening to a speaker/lecturer – Personal communication
If you only listen to a lecture and the text isn’t available via BREO etc., then you need to
reference it as a ‘personal communication’. According to APA guidelines, verbal
communications should not be included in the bibliography when the printed text is not
available. Give the initials and surname of the communicator as well as the date of the
communication.
You would cite a personal communication in the text of your assignment, following this
pattern:
Les Ebdon stated (personal communication, 24 January 2007) that brevity and
clarity are usually more impressive than long lists.
If using a personal interview, always ask the permission of the interviewee before using such
material as they may want their contribution to be anonymised. If the interviewee is a
practitioner, include their occupation.
84.2 Lecture materials from BREO
If the text of the lecture etc. is available as a print or electronic resource, for example on
BREO or in a handout, then that is what should be referenced. Direct readers as closely as
possible to the information being cited; whenever possible, reference specific documents
rather than home or menu pages.
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title of the lecture or presentation.
iv. For Powerpoint slides, include [PowerPoint slides]
v. Retrieved from Internet address
If your lecturer has not indicated where they got their information, and you want to use the
original, go and ask for the source.
Example:
1. in the text
According to McMurray (2010) ....
or
Research indicates (McMurray, 2010) ....
2. in the reference list
McMurray, I. (2010). Introduction to developmental psychology [PowerPoint
slides]. Retrieved from
http://breo.beds.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fweba
pps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_127105_1
%26url%3d
5 Internet sites and materials
The format below can be used for most Internet resources.
i. Author, Initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title.
iv. Retrieved from Internet address
If no date is shown on the document, use n.d. If the author is not given, begin your
reference with the title of the document. If a document is part of a large site such as that
for a university or government department, give the name of the parent organization and
the relevant department before the web address.
9If you cannot identify the originator or age of a webpage, however, you should consider
whether the information is likely to be reliable and authoritative. There are guidelines on
evaluating websites (and other materials) in the InfoSkills sections of core BREO units.
Never write the web address (URL) in the text of your essay. Use the author of the web
page if your reference has one; otherwise use the first few words of the web page title.
Example:
1. in the text
The APA’s HOPE programme (“Information for mental health care providers”, 2008)
offers guidance for mental health practitioners....
2. in the reference list
American Psychological Association. (2008). HIV Office on Psychology Education
(HOPE). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/aids/hope.html
Podcasts
Reference as for an ordinary web page, but add [Audio podcast] immediately after the title.
6 Reports
The format for a report is very much like a book, with author, year, title, place of publication
and publisher. However, if it comes from a recognised series, include the series title and
number in round brackets after the title. Like books, some reports may have a corporate
author.
i. Author, initials.
ii. (year).
iii. Title of the report
iv. (Series title number).
v. Place of publication:
vi. Publisher.
Example:
1. in the text
The prosecution of rape before 1990 (Harrris & Grace, 1999, p. 33) was affected by
or
Harris and Grace (1999, p. 33) state that the prosecution of rape....
2. in the reference list
Harris, J., & Grace, S. (1999). A question of evidence? Investigating and prosecuting
rape in the 1990s (Home Office Research Study 196). London: Home Office.
10Electronic versions of reports
If documents found on the internet are clearly facsimiles of books in print format they
should be referenced as e-books. This covers many reports from the government and other
public bodies. However, where a publication is not presented as a single document, but
broken down into separate HTML pages or PDF files, it is better to treat these as web pages,
and reference them individually.
Example:
As a webpage
Harris, J., & Grace, S. (1999). A question of evidence? Investigating and prosecuting
rape in the 1990s (Home Office Research Study 196). Retrieved from the UK Home
Office website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors196.pdf
As an e-book
Harris, J., & Grace, S. (1999). A question of evidence? Investigating and prosecuting
rape in the 1990s (Home Office Research Study 196) [Electronic version]. London:
Home Office.
Secondary referencing
Please note that it is bad practice to habitually use secondary referencing. It is a useful
technique but only for infrequent use. One acceptable application is when an author refers
to another author’s work and the primary source is not available (for example because the
primary source is very old).
Lecturers may also tolerate the use of secondary references to arguments/quotations that
are not central to your essay or when the secondary reference is used only to reinforce the
argument made from original work already discussed; you should check with them to be
sure. However, remember that it is good practice to consult the original text whenever
possible. Get into the habit of following up references to try to track down the original
source.
Multiple works by one author
Frequently you may need to cite more than one work by the same author. When these are
published in different years you can cite them in the usual way.
To distinguish between works published in the same year, you should attach a lower-case
letter of the alphabet to the publication date, starting with ‘a’. The letter used is determined
by the alphabetical list of references at the end of the document, not the order in which the
citations appear in your assignment. This example illustrates what to do.
1. in the text
Official guidance on consent (Department of Health, 2001b), coupled with the policy
aim of improving social care services (Department of Health, 2001a) led to changes…
2. in the reference list
Department of Health. (2001a). Improving older people’s services: inspection of social
care services for older people. London: The Stationery Office.
11Department of Health. (2001b). Seeking consent: working with older people. London:
The Stationery Office.
How to find out more about referencing
If you are confused about referencing for your assignment, talk to your lecturer, the PAD
advisers or contact your librarian for help (http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/contact/alls). Also, read
the feedback you receive on the references you include in your initial assignments.
Referencing software
The referencing management software RefWorks is licensed to all University of Bedfordshire
staff and students. Users of Refworks will need to create a personal account and download
Write-N-Cite software. Access Refworks via the University of Bedfordshire library catalogue
http://library.beds.ac.uk
Averil Robertson,
Academic Liaison Librarian, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, May 2011.
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