Referending in the APA style

There are many referencing styles available, each giving guidelines as to what information is required and how it should be presented in order to create your reference. Referencing styles are usually created by an organisation or institution (such as Harvard Style or American Psychological Association (APA)) or publishers themselves (eg. Journal of Biological Chemistry).

In Psychology, use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style as your guideline. Listed on this page are some common examples. If you require more information, you can consult the APA Style Manual.

In your report, whenever you refer to information from another publication, you must acknowledge the source in your sentence (in-text citations) and then provide more information at the end (reference list).

Always remember to correctly acknowledge the source of information that you use.

Need extra help in how to cite your reference?
Try out the citation builder from NC State University Library. Use only the APA style from the examples provided.

 

In-text citations

*1 Sample citation taken from:
Straube, E.R. & Oades, R.D. (eds.) (1992). Schizophrenia: Empirical Research and Findings. San Diego: Academic Press.

When referring to works used in your research within the text of an assignment, it is necessary to include the surname of the author/s, the year of publication, and the page/paragraph number whichever appropriate. In text citations may be placed immediately following the author’s name (year in brackets), or at the end of a sentence before the concluding punctuation in brackets (i.e., author surname, year) 1.

For more details, go to the UNSW Learning Centre Online Resources.

How to cite your references - common examples (APA style only)

Your reference list should be ordered alphabetically by author.

Publication type	Citation Format	Example
books	Author/editor(s). (Year of publication). Title of book. (edition). Place of publication: Publisher.	Limon, M. & Mason, L. (Eds). (2002). Reconsidering conceptual change: issues in theory and practice. London: Kluwer Academic.
journal articles	Author of journal article. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume of journal(issue of journal), article pages. Digital object identifier (if available).	Gotlib, I.H. & Asarnow, R.T. (1979). Interpersonal and impersonal problem solving skills in mildly and clinically depressed university students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47(1), 86-95. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.47.1.86
book chapters	Author of chapter. (Year of publication). Chapter title. In Editor(s) of book, Title of book. (edition, chapter pages). Place of publication: Publisher.	Gersch, F.S., & Fowles, D.C. (1979). Neurotic depression: the concept of anxious depression. In R. A. Depue (ed.), The Psychobiology of the depressive disorders. New York: Academy Press.
internet sites	Author's last name and initial (if known) or organisational name (Year of last update). Title of work (if available). Retrieved month day, year, from source [ie. URL].	Street, W. Today in the History of Psychology. Retrieved March 24, 2004 from Central Washington University Web site: http://www.cwu.edu.au/~warren/today.html

6.1	Module 6 objectives
6.2	What is plagiarism
6.3	Referencing in the APA style
6.4	Module 6 review
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