Writing a Bibliography: APA Format

Below are standard formats and examples for basic bibliographic information
recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Basics

▪ Your list of works cited should begin at the end of the paper on a new page with the
centered title, References.
▪ Alphabetize the entries in your list by the author's last name, using the letter-by-
letter system (ignore spaces and other punctuation.) Only the initials of the first and
middle names are given. If the author's name is unknown, alphabetize by the title,
ignoring any A, An, or The.
▪ For dates, spell out the names of months in the text of your paper, but abbreviate
them in the list of works cited, except for May, June, and July. Use either the day-
month-year style (22 July 1999) or the month-day-year style (July 22, 1999) and be
consistent. With the month-day-year style, be sure to add a comma after the year
unless another punctuation mark goes there.

Underlining or Italics?

▪ When reports were written on typewriters, the names of publications were

underlined because most typewriters had no way to print italics.
▪ If you write a bibliography by hand, you should still underline the names of
publications. But, if you use a computer, then publication names should be in italics
as they are below.

Hanging Indentation

▪ All APA citations should use hanging indents, that is, the first line of an entry should
be flush left, and the second and subsequent lines should be indented 1/2".

Capitalization, Abbreviation, and Punctuation

▪ The APA guidelines specify using sentence-style capitalization for the titles of books
or articles, so you should capitalize only the first word of a title and subtitle.
▪ The exceptions to this rule would be periodical titles and proper names in a title
which should still be capitalized. The periodical title is run in title case, and is
followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized.
▪ If there is more than one author, use an ampersand (&) before the name of the last
author. If there are more than six authors, list only the first one and use et al. for the
rest.
▪ Place the date of publication in parentheses immediately after the name of the
author. Place a period after the closing parenthesis. Do not italicize, underline, or
put quotes around the titles of shorter works within longer works.

Format Examples
A. Books
Format:
Author's last name, first initial. (Publication date). Book title.Additional information. City of
publication: Publishing company.
Examples:

Allen, T. (1974). Vanishing wildlife of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic

Society.

Boorstin, D. (1992). The creators: A history of the heroes of the imagination. New York:
Random House.

Nicol, A. M., &Pexman, P. M. (1999). Presenting your findings: A practical guide for creating
tables. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Searles, B., & Last, M. (1979). A reader's guide to science fiction. New York: Facts on File, Inc.

Toomer, J. (1988). Cane.Ed. Darwin T. Turner. New York: Norton.

B. Encyclopedia & Dictionary

Format:
Author's last name, first initial. (Date).Title of Article. Title of Encyclopedia (Volume, pages).
City of publication: Publishing company.

Examples:

Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity.In The new encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-

508). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-

Webster.

Pettingill, O. S., Jr. (1980). Falcon and Falconry. World book encyclopedia. (pp. 150-155).
Chicago: World Book.

Tobias, R. (1991). Thurber, James. Encyclopedia americana. (p. 600). New York: Scholastic
Library Publishing.

C. Magazine & Newspaper Articles

Format:
Author's last name, first initial. (Publication date).Article title. Periodical title, volume
number(issue number if available), inclusive pages. 

Note: Do not enclose the title in quotation marks. Put a period after the title. If a periodical
includes a volume number, italicize it and then give the page range (in regular type)
without "pp." If the periodical does not use volume numbers, as in newspapers, use p. or pp.
for page numbers. 
Note: Unlike other periodicals, p. or pp. precedes page numbers for a newspaper reference
in APA style.

Examples:

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of

Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

Kalette, D. (1986, July 21). California town counts town to big quake. USA Today, 9, p. A1.
Kanfer, S. (1986, July 21). Heard any good books lately? Time, 113, 71-72.

Trillin, C. (1993, February 15). Culture shopping. New Yorker, pp. 48-51.

D. Website or Webpage
Format:
Online periodical:
Author's name. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number,
Retrieved month day, year, from full URL

Online document:
Author's name. (Date of publication). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from full
URL 

Note: When citing Internet sources, refer to the specific website document. If a document is
undated, use "n.d." (for no date) immediately after the document title. Break a lengthy URL
that goes to another line after a slash or before a period. Continually check your references
to online documents. There is no period following a URL. 
Note: If you cannot find some of this information, cite what is available.

Examples:

Devitt, T. (2001, August 2). Lightning injures four at music festival. The Why? Files.
Retrieved January 23, 2002, from http://whyfiles.org/137lightning/index.html

Dove, R. (1998).Lady freedom among us. The Electronic Text Center. Retrieved June 19,
1998, from Alderman Library, University of Virginia website:
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/subjects/afam.html 

Note: If a document is contained within a large and complex website (such as that for a
university or a government agency), identify the host organization and the relevant
program or department before giving the URL for the document itself. Precede the URL
with a colon.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and
well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from
http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html

GVU's 8th WWW user survey.(n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/usersurveys/survey1997-10/

Health Canada.(2002, February). The safety of genetically modified food crops. Retrieved

March 22, 2005, from
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/biologics_genetics/gen_mod_foods/
genmodebk.html

Hilts, P. J. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out. New
York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2000, from http://www.nytimes.com
Advanced Notes : Writing the Research Title November 28, 2018

❖ Drafting a Research Title

▪ Creswell (2014, p.26) compared the research title to “a major road sign in research”.
▪ He mentioned that the title is an “an orienting device” which aids the researcher in
focusing one’s investigation.
▪ In addition, it helps convey to others the central idea behind your own research.
● The title summarizes the main idea or ideas of your study.
● It is the part of a paper that is read the most, and it is usually read first.
● Therefore, it is the most important element that defines the research study.
● Drafting a research title is a key task that will have to capture the essence of what you wish
to do in your inquiry.

➢ Ways to consider in developing a research title:

1. Identify the main ideas behind your research topic. Try to form a possible title using
these main ideas.
For example: If your topic is about vegetarians and their motivation behind their
decision to become so, the main ideas would be vegetarians and their motivation

2. You may also consider mentioning several features of your research study such as its
purpose, approach, and methods used.
For examples:
● (approach) The Feminist Approach: Therapy of Battered Wives
● (method used) An Ethnography : Understanding a Child’s Perception of Divorce
● (purpose) A Comparison: Human Rights Under the Corazon Aquino and
BenignoAquino II Administrations

3. Wilkinson (1991) advised to create a research title as brief as possible and to avoid
unnecessary words.
For example: Evade using these phrases : An Approach to… ; A Study of…

4. Consider also developing a single title or a two-part title

For examples:
(single title) - A Prologue to the Social Sciences
(two-part title) - Policing the Lying Patient: Surveillance and Self-Regulation in
Consultations with Adolescent Diabetics

➢ At this point of your research project, the draft research title is a “working title:, that is,
usually at the latter stage of the research, you will need to look at your title again and see if
it captures the focus of your research.
➢ The working title should be developed early in the research process because it can help
anchor the focus of the study in much the same way the research problem does.
➢ Referring back to the working title can help you reorient yourself back to the main purpose
of the study if you find yourself drifting off on a tangent while writing.

Overall Basic Tips to Keep in Mind

1] Keep it simple, brief and attractive:
● The primary function of a title is to provide a precise summary of the paper’s content.
● Use active verbs instead of complex noun-based phrases, and avoid unnecessary details.

2] Use appropriate descriptive words: 

● A good research paper title should contain key words used in the manuscript and should
define the nature of the study.
● In most cases, you should avoid including words or phrases that do not help the reader
understand the purpose of your paper.
3] If the title is too long, this usually indicates there are too many unnecessary words.
● Avoid language, such as, "A Study to Investigate the...," or "A Review of the...." These phrases
are obvious and generally unnecessary.
● Moreover, a good title for a research paper is typically around 10 to 15 words long. A
lengthy title may seem unfocused and take the readers’ attention away from an important
point.

4] On the other hand, a title which is too short often uses words which are too broad and it does not
tell the reader what is being studied.
● For example, a paper with the title, "African Politics" is so non-specific it could be the title of
a book and could literally examine anything associated with politics in Africa.
● A good title should provide information about the focus of your research study.

5] Avoid abbreviations and jargon: 

● Known abbreviations such as AIDS, NATO, and so on can be used in the title.
● However, other lesser-known or specific abbreviations and jargon that would not be
immediately familiar to the readers should be left out.

Keywords Present in the Title :

● The purpose of the research
● The narrative tone of the paper [typically defined by the type of the research]
● The methods or design used

CONCLUSION:
Effective titles in academic research papers can have several characteristics:
1. Indicate accurately the subject and scope of the study,
2. Rarely use abbreviations or acronyms unless they are commonly known,
3. Use words that create a positive impression and stimulate reader interest,
4. Identify key variables, both dependent and independent,
5. Reveal how the paper will be organized,
6. Suggest a relationship between variables which supports the major hypothesis,
7. Is limited to 5 to 15 substantive words,
8. Does not include redundant phrasing, such as, "A Study of," "An Analysis of" or similar
constructions,
9. Takes the form of a question or declarative statement,
10. If you use a quote as part of the title, the source of the quote is cited [usually using an asterisk
and footnote,
11. Use correct grammar and capitalization with all first words and last words capitalized, including
the first word of a subtitle. All nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that appear
between the first and last words of the title are also capitalized, and,
12. Rarely uses an exclamation mark at the end of the title.

APA (American Psychological Association) Book Citation Guide

 ➢ Attach are some of the basic format you will be using to cite some materials from
references.
➢ Be sure to take note of all essential parts needed to correctly cite or mention from the
references you are using.
➢ Take note of the given format examples on how the APA format is applied.
➢ Observe the proper placement of punctuation marks as well.

Notes: When citing a book in APA, keep in mind:

➢ Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any subtitles, as well as the first
letter of any proper nouns.
➢ The full title of the book, including any subtitles, should be stated and italicized.

A. Citing a book in print

Author, A.A..(Year of Publication). Title of work. Publisher City , State: Publisher.

APA format example:

Finney, J. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

B. Citing an e-book from an e-reader

➢ E-book is short for “electronic book.” It is a digital version of a book that can be read
on a computer, e-reader (Kindle, Nook, etc.), or other electronic device.
Author, A.A..(Year of Publication). Title of work [E-Reader Version]. Retrieved from
http://xxxx
ordoi:xxxx

APA format example:

Eggers, D. (2008). The circle [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from

http://www.amazon.com/

Notes: When citing an online book or e-book in APA, keep in mind:

● A DOI (digital object identifier) is an assigned number that helps link content to its location
on the Internet. It is therefore important, if one is provided, to use it when creating a
citation. All DOI numbers begin with a 10 and are separated by a slash.

C. Citing an encyclopedia entry in print

Author, A.A..(Publication Year).Entry title. In Encyclopedia title, (Vol. XX, pp. XX).City, State
ofpublication: Publisher.

APA format example:

Kammen, C., & Wilson, A.H. (2012).Monuments.InEncyclopedia of local history. (pp. 363-
364)Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

D. How to Reference an Interview in APA

Author, A.A.. (Year, Month Date). Interview type.

APA format example:

 Marino, B. (2014, October 18). Personal Interview.

Important Note on Personal Interviews:

● A personal interview should NOT be included in a reference list in APA. They are not
considered recoverable data (they cannot be found by a researcher). You should reference
personal interviews as in-text citations instead.
● Example: (J. Doe, personal communication, December 12, 2004)

E. How to Reference a Journal Article in APA

➢ Citing a journal article in print
Author, A.A..(Publication Year).Article title. Periodical Title, Volume(Issue), pp.

APA format example:

Nevin, A. (1990). The changing of teacher education special education. Teacher Education
and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for
Exceptional Children, 13(3-4), 147-148.

➢ Citing a journal article found online

Author, A.A..(Publication Year).Article title. Periodical Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp. doi:XX.XXXXX
or Retrieved from journal URL

APA format example:

Jameson, J. (2013). E-Leadership in higher education: The fifth “age” of educational technology
research. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12103

Notes: When creating your online journal article citation, keep in mind:

● APA does NOT require you to include the date of access/retrieval date or database
information for electronic sources.
● You can use the URL of the journal homepage if there is no DOI assigned and the reference
was retrieved online.
● Example: Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-
8535;jsessionid=956132F3DE76EEB120577E99EE74CE9C.f04t01
● A DOI (digital object identifier) is an assigned number that helps link content to it’s location
on the Internet. It is therefore important, if one is provided, to use it when creating a
citation. All DOI numbers begin with a 10 and are separated by a slash.

F. How to Reference a Magazine in APA

➢ Citing a magazine article in print

Author, A.A..(Year, month of Publication).Article title. Magazine Title,Volume(Issue), pp.

APA format example:

Tumulty, K. (2006, April). Should they stay or should they go? Time, 167(15), 3-40.

Notes: When citing a magazine in APA, keep in mind:

● You can find the volume number with the other publication information of the magazine.
● You can typically find page numbers at the bottom corners of a magazine article.
● If you cannot locate an issue number, simply don’t include it in the citation.

➢ Citing a magazine article found online

Author, A.A.. (Year, Month of Publication). Article title. Magazine
Title,Volume(Issue), Retrieved from http://xxxx

APA format example:

Tumulty, K. (2006, April). Should they stay or should they go? Time, 167(15) Retrieved from
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1179361,00.html

Notes: When creating an online magazine citation, keep in mind:

● The volume and issue number aren’t always on the same page as the article. Check
out the other parts of the website before leaving it out of the citation.

G. How to Reference a Newspaper in APA

➢ Citing a newspaper article in print

Author, A.A.. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Magazine Title, pp. xx-xx

APA format example:

Rosenberg, G. (1997, March 31). Electronic discovery proves an effective legal weapon.The
New York Times, p. D5.

Notes: When creating you newspaper citation, keep in mind:

● Precede page numbers for newspaper articles with p. (for a single page) or pp. (for multiple
pages).
● If an article appears on discontinuous pages, give all page numbers, and separate the
numbers with a comma (e.g., pp. B1, B3, B5-B7).

➢ Citing a newspaper article found online

Author, A.A.. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Newspaper Title,Retrieved from
newspaper homepage URL

APA format example:

Rosenberg, G. (1997, March 31). Electronic discovery proves an effective legal weapon.The
New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Notes: When citing a newspaper in APA, keep in mind:

● APA does NOT require you to include the date of access for electronic sources. If you
discovered a newspaper article via an online database, that information is NOT required for
the citation either.
● Multiple lines: If the URL runs onto a second line, only break URL before punctuations
(except for http://).

H. How to Cite a TV/Radio Broadcast in APA

➢ Citing an episode from TV or radio show

 Writer, A.A.(Writer), & Director, A.A. (Director). (Year of Airing).Episode title [Television
series episode]. In Executive Producer, A.A. (Executive Producer), TV series name. City, State
of original channel: Channel.

APA format example:

Kang, K. (Writer), &Fryman, P. (Director). (2006). Slap bet [Television series episode]. In
Bays, C. (Executive Producer), How I met your mother Los Angeles, CA: Columbia
Broadcasting System.

Note: When citing a TV show or episode, keep in mind: IMDB is a great resource for finding
the information needed for your citation (Director, Writer, Executive Producer, etc.) This
information can also be found in the opening and closing credits of the show.

I. How to Cite a Website in APA

➢ Citing a general website article with an author

Author, A.A.. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Retrieved from URL

APA format example:

Simmons, B. (2015, January 9). The tale of two Flaccos. Retrieved from
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-tale-of-two-flaccos/

➢ Citing a general website article without an author

Article title. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Retrieved from URL

APA format example:

Teen posed as doctor at West Palm Beach hospital: police. (2015, January 16). Retrieved
from http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Teen-Posed-as-Doctor-at-West-Palm-Beach-
Hospital-Police-288810831.html