A Quick Guide to Using the APA Citation Style, 5th edition

The following are examples of how to cite common formats. These are only examples. The APA Style
Manual, which can only be obtained in print, is the only authoritative guide to using the APA style and
should be consulted if questions arise. You can use the copy at the Reference Desk in Boatwright Library,
the copy in the CMC, or buy your own.

PRINT SOURCES
Book:

Wortham, S.E. (2006). Learning identity: The joint emergence of social identification and academic

learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Article or chapter in a book:

Huerta, L.A. (2000). Losing public accountability: A home schooling charter. In B. Fuller (Ed.), Inside

charter schools: The paradox of radical decentralization (pp. 146-163). Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press.

Journal article:

Hong, E., Sas, M., & Sas, J.C. (2006). Test-taking strategies of high and low mathematics achievers.

Journal of Educational Research, 99, 144-155.

Magazine article:

Goodwin, B. (2001, November 8). Schools fail Net test. Computer Weekly, 8-14.

Article in Encyclopedia:

Unger, H.G. (1996). Teacher unions. In Encyclopedia of American education (Vol. 3, pp.970-971). New

York: Facts on File, Inc.

Newspaper article:

Wermers, J. (2002, February 15). Report outlines test study plan. The Richmond Times-Dispatch, p. C3.

Government Publications

General:

National Center for Education Statistics. (2000). Teacher use of computers and the Internet in public

schools (report number, if available). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Hearing:

Field hearing on education at a crossroads: Hearing before the Committee on Education and the

Workforce, House of Representatives, 105th Cong., 1 (1997).

ERIC Document:

Walker, D. & Felt, M. (1995). School violence prevention (Report No. EDO-EA-95-2). Eugene, OR:

ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.

ED379786)

ELECTRONIC SOURCES

General Website:

The National Institute for Literacy. (n.d.). About LINCS. Retrieved April 21, 2006, from

http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/about/about.html.

Periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers)

Internet articles based on a print source:

Jacob, B., & Lefgren, L. (2006). When principals rate teachers [Electronic version]. Education Next, 6,

58.

Online only:

Drucker, M.J. (2006). Commentary: Crossing the digital divide: How race, class, and culture matter.

Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 6(1). Retrieved April 24, 2006, from

http://www.citejournal.org/vol6/iss1/languagearts/article2.cfm.

Journal Articles Obtained from Full-text Online Subscription Databases:

Hong, E., Sas, M., & Sas, J.C. (2006). Test-taking strategies of high and low mathematics achievers.

Journal of Educational Research, 99, 144-155. Retrieved April 21, 2006, from Education Full Text

database.
 APA In-text Citations

Give the author’s last name and the year of publication. If the author is mentioned in the sentence,
then include the year only.

Work with one author:

In a recent study of violence in elementary schools (Jones, 2000)

Jones (2000) compares incidences of bullying

Work with two authors:

According to a recent report (Brown & Kent, 2002)

Works with 3-5 authors:

List all of the authors the first time the work is cited, then list the first author with et al. for all subsequent
citations.

Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, and Rock (1994) found

[first citation]

Wasserstein et al. (1994) found

[subsequent citations]

Works with 6 or more authors:

Only list first author and et al. followed by year

Groups as authors:
Must write out the entire name each time the work is cited unless it has a common abbreviation.

(University of Richmond, 2000)

[cite this way every time]

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1999)

[cite this way the first time]

(NIMH, 1999)
[subsequent citations]

Authors with the same last name:

Include the author’s initials even if the years of publication are different.

(Brown, M., 2001)

Work with no author:

Use the first few words of the title. Use double quotation marks around article titles or chapters, and
italicize the title of a periodical, book, or report.

(“Test-Taking Strategies,” 2006)

(Learning Identity, 2006)

If there is no date, use (n.d.):

(Scott, n.d.)

Exact quotations:
You must include page numbers for exact quotations.

Print:

“Teaching is an incredible process” (Melon, 1999, p.282)

Melon (1999) declares, “Teaching is an incredible process” (p.282).

Electronic:
Often, electronic sources do not provide page numbers. Include exact paragraph number if listed. If not,
include the section title and the number of the paragraph.

(Jones, 2000, ¶ 5)

(Jones, 2000, Conclusion section, para. 1)

Personal communications:
Personal communications (including interviews, e-mails, etc.) should only be cited in-text, not in the
references list.

(M. Brown, personal communication, April 18, 2006)

Guides to Citing Sources

University of Richmond Libraries’ Citing Sources Page & NoodleBib:

http://library.richmond.edu/help/citing/index.htm

Writer’s Web – Documenting Sources (University of Richmond)

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html#document

Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html

APA Style.org – FAQs and Electronic References sections are particularly helpful:
http://www.apastyle.org/

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center:

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html