MASS Program - Library Literacy: APA Style

Different subject disciplines use different citation styles. This section will focus on how to make references in APA (American Psychological Association) style.

How to cite APA style? Watch this ~ 4 min 30sec video and see!

In-Text Reference

• If the author can be identified, write the author's surname (family name, last name) and publication year in brackets:
   

  Photography provides the model for modern technoscientific vision (Garlick, 2009), ...

  
   
• If the author can't be identified, write the first few words of the article title and the year, use double quotation marks around the title:
   

  A smartphone might consume up to 15Mbps downstream ("Can can you," 2013)...

   

End-of-paper References

• Include all sources you have cited (make in-text reference to), except personal communications, in your paper
   
• General format:
  Author surname, Initials. (Year). Article title. Magazine title, volume no. (issue no.), page range.
  
  Author surname, Initials. (Year). Article title. Newspaper title, page number.
   
  If the author can't be identified, article title will come first. 
   
  Precede page numbers for newspaper articles with p. or pp.
   
• Sources should be listed in alphabetical order
   
• Examples:

References Can can you you hear hear me me now now? (2013, April 13). Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2013/04/voice-quality Garlick, S. (2009). Given time: Biology, nature and photographic vision. History of the Human Sciences, 22(5), 81-101. Kelly, M. (2013). Living in an era of technology revolution. Electronics World, 119(1924), 42-43.

 

HKUST Library Guide: How to Cite in APA Style  - comprehensive guide on how to cite different sources in APA style.

Examples

Book

Bynum, W. F. (2012). The M-factor: A little history of science. New Haven : Yale University Press.

In text reference = (Bynum, 2012)

Wei, J. (2012). Great inventions that changed the world. Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons.

In text reference = (Wei, 2012)

Article or Chapter in a Book

Neves, J., & Pinheiro, L. D. (2012). Cyberbullying: A Sociological Approach. In (Ed.), Ethical Impact of Technological Advancements and Applications in Society (pp. 132-142). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

In-text reference=  (Neves & Pinheiro, 2012)

Journal Article  - 1 author

Weissman, I. (2012). Stem cell therapies could change medicine... if they get the chance. Cell Stem Cell, 10(6), 663-665.

In-text reference = (Weissman, 2012)

E-Journal Article – more than 1 authors & d.o.i.

Ding, H. T., Suet, F. L., Tanusina, S. P., Low, C. G., & Ker, G. C. (2011). Dependency on smartphone and the impact on purchase behaviour. Young Consumers, 12(3), 193-203. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17473611111163250

In-text reference= (Ding et al., 2011)

Magazine Article on the Web

Grossman, L. (2010, December 15). Mark Zuckerberg - Person of the Year 2010 - TIME. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037183,00.html?artId=2036683?contType=article?chn=specials

In-text Reference = (Grossman, 2010)

Newspaper Article on the Web

Gray, R. (2009, Mar 13). Top 10 'inventions' that changed the world. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/4981964/Top-10-inventions-that-changed-the-world.html

In-text reference = (Gray, 2009)

General Webpage

Disruptive innovation. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation

In-text reference = ("Disruptive innovation," n.d.)

Note:

• If the publication date is not available (unknwon), use n.d.
• It is not necessary to include the retrieval date, unless the source material may change over time (e.g., Wikis).
• Detailed explanations at APA Style Blog: How to Cite Wikipedia in APA Style

Government Report on the Web

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (2013). Designing a Digital Future: Federally Funded Research and Development in Networking and Information Technology.. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-nitrd2013.pdf

In-text Reference = (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2013)

 

Youtube Video

General format:
Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx

In-text reference = (Author, year)

• The person who posted the video is put in the author position
• On YouTube and many other video-posting websites, users must post under a screen name. This screen name is integral to finding the video on YouTube, so including it in the reference is important.

If the user’s real name is not available, include only the screen name, without brackets:

• Screen name. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx
• Bloomberg. (2013, May 28). Mark Zuckerberg's Profile: Bloomberg Game Changers [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/5WiDIhIkPoM

In-text reference = (Bloomberg, 2013)

See also: How to Create a Reference for a YouTube Video