APA referencing

This is a beginners’ guide to APA referencing. Referencing means showing where you got
your information from (citing your sources), and the APA system of referencing is one of a
number of standardised methods for doing this. As space for examples is limited, students are
strongly encouraged to consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th edition).

Why do you have to reference your sources of information?

Referencing serves three important purposes:
1. It gives credit to the person who first wrote the information or made the research findings,
and it avoids any possibility of plagiarism (academic cheating).
2. It shows your marker that you have done the required reading and can incorporate other
writers’ ideas into your written work.
3. It makes it easy for those who read your writing to find the sources you have referred to. It
is part of your academic training to learn how to cite sources so that others may also use
them.

When do you have to reference?

You have to cite your sources of information in two places:
In the text (body) of an assignment or essay. This is called in-text referencing and
means citing your sources in the body of your writing whenever you quote or paraphrase.
Paraphrasing means summarising an author’s ideas in your own words.

The reference list at the end of your assignment or essay. Every source referred to in the text
must also be listed in the reference list at the end.

In-text references

Paraphrasing
When you summarise information from books, journals, online articles etc, you are
paraphrasing, and you need to cite your source. At a minimum, you need to supply the
surname of the author(s) plus the date of publication.

Example:
While groups and organisations can provide members with support and security, they can also
sometimes be controlling and coercive (Sullivan, 2001).
Or:
Sullivan (2001) points out that while groups and organisations can provide members with
support and security, they can also sometimes be controlling and coercive.

Quoting
Sometimes you will want to include a quotation from another source. In this case, you must
quote directly, copying each word exactly as it was in the original. If you inadvertently misspell
a word or make a grammatical error, you are misquoting the original author. Statistics and
definitions are frequently quoted rather than paraphrased. When you quote from a source, you
need to place quotation marks around the quote and give the page number.

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 APA referencing
Quoting (cont.)
Example:
“Periods of quiet and of active sleep (often called REM sleep because of the rapid eye
movements) alternate throughout the night, with a total of perhaps ninety minutes devoted to
REM” (Gleitman, 1995, p.6).
Or
Gleitman (1995) explains that “periods of quiet and of active sleep (often called REM sleep
because of the rapid eye movements) alternate throughout the night, with a total of perhaps
ninety minutes devoted to REM” (p.6).

If the quote is more than 40 words long, you should indent it from the left margin 5-7 spaces,
double-space it, omit the quotation marks, and put the full stop before the brackets without
having one after, for example:

Essay introductions usually start with broad and general statements about the topic and

become gradually more focused until the key points are stated at the end of the

introduction. You might begin with some background information, a question, dilemma

or paradox or an eye-catching quotation. (Emerson, 1998, p.29)

Secondary sources

Sometimes you will not have read the original research but a summary or quotations from it, in
a book or article by another author. You need to acknowledge this by using the words as cited
in. In the following example the student has read about Anbar’s research in a book written by
Nicholson. Nicholson’s book is therefore the secondary source for the student.
Example:
Anbar reported a study of six children who learned to read before they went to school. Her
study showed that their parents had willingly put countless hours into their children’s reading
development (as cited in Nicholson, 2000).

Personal communication
Information from interviews, conversations, lectures and emails is non-recoverable (cannot be
found by anyone else) and so it is referenced only in the text, not in the reference list, for
example:
T. Heke (personal communication, August 12, 2012) commented that the demand for design
graduates has dramatically increased in the past five years.
Or
The demand for design graduates has dramatically increased in the past five years (T. Heke,
personal communication, August 12, 2012).

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 APA referencing
Work of art reproduced from a book

In the caption, label the artwork as a figure, for example:

Figure 1. “Cass” (R. Angus, 1936) is an iconic landscape of New Zealand’s countryside. From
The Invention of New Zealand: Art and National Identity 1930-1970, by F. Pound 2009, p. 235.
Copyright 2009 by Auckland University Press.
NB: see further on for an example of a reference list entry.

Paraphrasing or quoting from Internet sites

When you use information from the Internet, the in-text reference is the same as that for a book
or an article. You need the author’s surname, date of publication, and if possible a page
number. Many electronic sources do not provide page numbers. If this is the case, and
paragraph numbers are visible, use the paragraph number. If no author is mentioned, use the
name of the organisation and the date the information was published on the internet, e.g. The
Arthritis Foundation (2008, p.2). If you want to refer to an entire website (but not a document
on that site), just supply the URL in your text after you mention the site, and do not add the
reference to the reference list.

The reference list at the end of your assignment

A reference list is an alphabetically arranged list of all the authors and books, articles or other
sources that you have referred to in your assignment or essay, but NOT personal
communication. Every reference you have mentioned in the body (text) of your assignment,
and that the reader can access, must also appear in the reference list. Each entry must
contain the author’s surname(s), initials, date of publication, name of book or article, place of
publication and name of publisher. Books, journal articles and Internet sites are all included in
the same list, arranged alphabetically by first author’s surname. (Do not change the order of
the surnames on publications, e.g. a book by White, Anderson and Young is listed under W in
the reference list). The title of a book is italicised. In the case of a journal article, it is the title
of the journal and the volume that is italicised (see further on for an example of a reference
list).

Electronic sources in the reference list

For electronic sources, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(2010) recommends that you “include the same elements, in the same order, as you would for
a reference to a fixed-media source and add as much electronic retrieval information as
needed for others to locate the sources you cited” (p. 187). Include the author’s surname or
initials (or name of the organisation if there is no author stated), the date of publication or latest
update, the document title and the full uniform resource locator (URL), e.g. http://
www.otagopolytechnic.ac.nz. Include a retrieval date only if the information is likely to change
(e.g.Wikipedia).
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 APA referencing
Electronic sources in the reference list (cont.)

Since the URLs for online scholarly materials, such as academic journal articles, can
sometimes change over time, APA (2010) recommends that you provide a Digital Object
Identifier (DOI) if it is available, instead of the URL. The DOI system has been developed by a
group of international publishers, and attaches a permanent, unique identifying number for
each article published and made available electronically. An example of a DOI would be:
doi: 10.1108/03091561710823361. Publishers of online scholarly journals who use this system
will display the DOI for each article prominently on the first page of the article.

Reference list formats for commonly used sources

Book (one author)

Nicholson, T. (2000). Reading the writing on the wall. Palmerston North, New Zealand:

Dunmore Press.

Book (two authors)

Bird, L., & Drewery, W. (2004). Human development in Aotearoa: A journey through life.

Auckland, New Zealand: McGraw-Hill.

Book (second or later edition)

Hetherington, E. M., & Parke, R. D. (1979). Child psychology: A contemporary viewpoint (2nd

ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: McGraw-Hill.

Book (edited)

Emerson, L. (Ed.). (2007). Writing guidelines for education students. Auckland, New Zealand:

Thomson Learning.

Chapter in an edited book

Holmes, J. (1991). The role of the sociolinguist in society. In G. McGregor & M. Williams

(Eds.), Dirty silence: Aspects of language and literature in New Zealand (pp. 39-52).

Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Journal articles
Lindgren, M., Unosson, M., & Ek, A. (2000). Pressure sore prevalence within a public health

services area. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 6, 333-337.

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 APA referencing
Online journal article with DOI (no URL required if article has DOI)

Callaghan, P., Khalil, E., & Morres, I. (2010). A prospective evaluation of the Transtheoretical
Model of Change applied to exercise in young people. International Journal of Nursing
Studies, 47(1), 3-12. doi: 10.1016/ijnurstu.2009.06.013

Online journal article with no DOI assigned

Kenneth, I.A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist
Ethics,8, 55-66. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

Journal article (electronic copy) retrieved from a database. (In general, do not include
database information.)

Groer, M. W., Davis, M. W., & Hemphill, J. (2002). Postpartum stress: Current concepts and
the possible protective role of breastfeeding. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and
Neonatal Nursing, 31(4), 411-417.

Magazine article

Hales, B. (2006, July). Management for design. New Zealand Management, 24-25.

Online magazine article

Vincent, K. (2009, December). NZIM Managing: Hard facts of soft skills management. New
Zealand Management. Retrieved from http:www//management.co.nz/ToC.asp

Newspaper article

Goodwin, E. (2010, February 5). ODHB not “heartless” to elderly. Otago Daily Times, p.1.

Pamphlet (no publication date, group author as publisher)

Health and Disability Commissioner. (n.d.). Code of health and disability services: Consumers’
rights [Pamphlet]. Auckland, New Zealand: Author.

Article retrieved from Website

American Academy of Family Physicians. (2000). Pressure sores. Retrieved from

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/seniors/endoflife/039.html 31(4), 411-417.
from http://massageonline.wordpress.com

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 APA referencing
Web log (Blog)

McQuillan, D. (2009, April 30). Enhancing student motivation. [Web log message]. Retrieved
from http://massageonline.wordpress.com

Wikipedia

Person-centred therapy. (2009, December, 5). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 15, 2012,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person-centred_therapy

(Check with your lecturer whether citing Wikipedia is appropriate for your assignment.)

Sample reference list (showing APA formatting and alphabetical order)

NB: Start on new page and use double spacing

References
American Academy of Family Physicians. (2000). Pressure sores. Retrieved from

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/seniors/endoflife/039.html

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Beckmann, M. (1919). Large self-portrait [Drypoint on heavy woven paper]. Brooklyn

Museum, New York.

Bird, L., & Drewery, W. (2004). Human development in Aotearoa: A journey through life.

Auckland, New Zealand: McGraw-Hill.

Callaghan, P., Khalil, E., & Morres, I. (2010). A prospective evaluation of the Transtheoretical

Model of Change applied to exercise in young people. International Journal of Nursing

Studies, 47 (1), 3-12. doi: 10.1016/ijnurstu.2009.06.013

Emerson, L. (Ed.). (2007). Writing guidelines for education students. Auckland, New Zealand:

Thomson Learning.

We can help you to succeed in your studies on or off campus. Just contact us.
Learning Support @ Student Success studentsuccess@op.ac.nz 0800 762 786
 APA referencing
Goodwin, E. (2010, February 5). ODHB not “heartless” to elderly. Otago Daily Times, p.1.

Groer, M. W., Davis, M. W., & Hemphill, J. (2002). Postpartum stress: Current concepts and

the possible protective role of breastfeeding. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and

Neonatal Nursing, 31(4), 411-417.

Health and Disability Commissioner. (n.d.). Code of health and disability services: Consumers’

rights [Pamphlet]. Auckland, New Zealand: Author.

Hetherington, E. M., & Parke, R. D. (1979). Child psychology: A contemporary viewpoint (2nd

ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: McGraw-Hill.

Holmes, J. (1991). The role of the sociolinguist in society. In G. McGregor & M. Williams

(Eds.), Dirty silence: Aspects of language and literature in New Zealand (pp. 39-52).

Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Kenneth, I.A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist

Ethics, 8, 55-66. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

Lindgren, M., Unosson, M., & Ek, A. (2000). Pressure sore prevalence within a public health

services area. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 6, 333-337.

Nicholson, T. (2000). Reading the writing on the wall. Palmerston North, New Zealand:

Dunmore Press.

Panteli, N. (2002). Richness, power cues and e-mail text. Information & Management, 40(2),

75-86. Retrieved November 1, 2002, from the ProQuest database.

Person-centred therapy. (2009, December, 5). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 15, 2009,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person-centred_therapy

Pound, F. (2009). The invention of New Zealand: Art and national identity 1930-1970.

Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press.

Vincent, K. (2009, December). NZIM Managing: Hard facts of soft skills management. New

Zealand Management. Retrieved from http:www//management.co.nz/ToC.asp

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Learning Support @ Student Success studentsuccess@op.ac.nz 0800 762 786
 APA referencing
Punctuation of titles

Use a capital letter for: the first letter of the first word, the first letter in a subtitle after a colon (:),
the first letter of all names. All other letters are lower case.

Place of publication details for books

In the USA: City, two letter postcode for state: Publisher.

eg San Francisco, CA: Prentice Hall.
New York, NY: Random House.

All other countries: City, Country: Publisher.

eg Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press.
London, England: Oxford University Press.

To get help from the official APA site go HERE

(http://www.apastyle.org/)

For a simplified outline of APA referencing go HERE (you may have to log in
to the Robertson Library)
(http://www.otago.ac.nz/library/robertson/pdf/APA_referencing_guide.pdf)

For another guide to APA referencing go HERE

(http://www.waikato.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/236120/APA-Quick-Guide-6th.pdf

To use an online APA referencing tool go HERE

(http://www.cite.auckland.ac.nz/index.php?p=quickcite)

To watch a video on APA referencing go HERE

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOEmM5gmTJM)

To watch a video on how to reference electronic sources, go HERE

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6KZK4-SXfU)

To watch a video on what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it, go HERE
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptHIA5bMnio)

We can help you to succeed in your studies on or off campus. Just contact us.
Learning Support @ Student Success studentsuccess@op.ac.nz 0800 762 786