APA Style

WHAT IS APA STYLE?

APA Style refers to citation guidelines developed by the American Psychological Association. APA is widely used in social sciences.

HOW DOES APA WORK?

The APA style uses an author-date system of citation. Brief citations in the text direct the reader to the corresponding entries in the reference list at the end of the paper.

EXAMPLES

Book

In-text Citation:

Some believe that personality analysis began with Hippocrates and the theory of the four humours (Nettle, 2007).

Reference list entry:

Nettle, D. (2007). Personality: What makes you the way you are. Oxford University Press.

Journal Article

In-text Citation:

Rats display different reactions to flavoured solutions (Mackintosh, 2009).

Reference list entry:

Mackintosh, N.J. (2009). Varieties of perceptual learning. Learning & Behavior, 37, 119-125.

Electronic Journal Article (DOI Assigned)

In-text Citation:

It is possible that working-memory affects language acquisition (Van den Noort et al., 2006).

Reference list entry:

Van den Noort, M.W., Bosch, P., & Hugdahl, K. (2006). Foreign language proficiency and working memory capacity. European Psychologist, 11, 289-296. https://doi.org:10.1027/1016-9040.11.4.289 

Electronic Journal Article (Without DOI)

In-text Citation:

Sheridan and Flowers (2010) discuss delays in reaction time caused by lying.

Reference list entry:

Sheridan, M.R., & Flowers, K.A. (2010). Reaction times and deception: The lying constant. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2, 41-51. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijps/index

Website

In-text Citation:

Descartes died of pneumonia (Wozniak, 1995).

Reference list entry:

Wozniak, R.H. (1995). Mind and Body: Rene Déscartes to William James. https://serendipstudio.org/Mind/

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on APA style, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is available at the Library Reference desk, or see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.