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References Page Citation Guide
APA Citation has been broken down into two sections: Print Sources and Online Sources. For additional examples and instruction, ask a teacher or librarian, stop by the Academic Resource Center, or visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
- Citations in the References are alphabetized by (first) author’s last name, or title if no author, and are aligned to the left margin in the first line with all subsequent lines having a hanging tab.
- The order of authors in scientific research articles is relevant, and that order should not be altered. The first author named is the primary author, and his or her last name will determines the article’s place in your alphabetized References list.
- References include only the initials of the first and middle names of all authors.
- The Reference list does, however, include the full last names and initials of up to twenty authors.
- If there are multiple titles written by the same author, then those titles are listed chronologically (oldest to newest) in the References list.
- Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals. Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.
- Pay attention to title capitalization and punctuation in the examples below.
Examples of Citations for Print Sources
Basic Book Format:
Author. Last, first initial. (Date). Title (italicized). Publisher.
(In the case of multiple authors, all are noted – separated by commas, with “&” sign before final author’s last name.)
Davis, R. E. (2006). Modern chemistry. Rinehart and Winston.
Examples of Citations for Online Sources
In APA periodical citation, authors are named by their last name followed by initials; the publication year goes between parentheses and is followed by a period. Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized for article titles. Periodical titles are written in title case and followed by the volume number, which, with the title, is also italicized.
Scholarly Journal Article from a Library Database With DOI:
Rees, C. E., & Monrouxe, L. V. (2010). “I should be lucky ha ha ha ha”: The construction of power, identity and gender through laughter within medical workplace learning encounters. Journal of
Pragmatics, 42(12), 3384-3399. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2010.05.004
Online Newspaper Article:
Angier, N. (2010, December 13). Musk oxen live to tell a survivors' tale. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com