APA Citation Examples
The most common sources you will be citing in APA format will include journal articles, well-chosen web-based sources,
and books or pieces from edited books. The examples below explain how to create the references for these commonly
used sources, and the chart at the bottom of the second page explains how to cite these references in your paper.
References
Capitalization Rules for Titles in APA References
Sentence-Case Capitalization – Capitalize like you would a sentence (only the first word, proper nouns,
acronyms, and the first word after a colon capitalized)
Title-Case Capitalization – Capitalize the first word as well as all “major” words (nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, and pronouns) in the title/heading, including the second part of hyphenated major words/all
words over four letters in length.
Citing Articles from Academic Journals
Format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume #(issue #), page range #–#.
http://doi.org/xxxx
Example:
Hunt, L. A., Brown, A. E., & Gilman, I. P. (2010). Drivers with dementia and outcomes of becoming lost while
driving. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(2), 225-232.
https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.64.2.225
Citing a Reliable Web Sites
Format:
Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of page. Site Name. http://www.entireurl.com
Example:
Avramova, N. (2019, January 3). The secret to a long, happy, healthy life? Think age-positive. CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/health/respect-toward-elderly-leads-to-long-life-intl/index.html
Site name should be in title case
capitalization. Also, do not include
the site name if it is the same as the
author organization.
The author name can also be the
name of the authoring organization if
no specific person’s name is listed.
Provide as much publication date
information as possible with year first,
then month and/or day if available.
Include the entire URL of the page. URL
may appear as an active hyperlink. Do not
place a period after URL.
Page title should be
in sentence case
capitalization and
italicized.
Journal title should be in title case
capitalization, and journal title and
volume number should be italicized.
Issue number should not be italicized.
Article title should
be in sentence case
capitalization.
Include the DOI in the form of a URL if
available. DOI URL may appear as an active
hyperlink. Do not place a period after the DOI.
List authors last name first followed by a
comma and the first initial and middle initial if
listed. Retain source order of authors’ names.
Updated October 19, 2021
Citing Books
Format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of book (edition). Publisher.
Example:
Cronin, A., & Mandich, M. B. (2015). Human development and performance throughout the lifespan (2nd ed.).
Cengage Learning.
Citing Authored Pieces from Edited Books
This type of source includes articles, stories, poems, or other written pieces that appear in edited
books/textbooks.
Format:
Author of piece. (Year piece was published). Title of piece. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book
(edition, pp. #–#). Publisher.
Example:
Carr, N. (2008). Is Google making us stupid? In R. Bullock & M. D. Goggin (Eds.), The Norton field guide to
writing with readings (5th ed., pp. 789–802). W. W. Norton & Company.
In-text Citations
Author Type
Parenthetical Citation
Narrative Citation
One Author
(Avramova, 2019).
Avramova (2019) states,
Two Authors
(Cronin & Mandich, 2015).
Cronin and Mandich (2015) suggest,
Three or More Authors
1
(Hunt et al., 2010).
According to Hunt et al. (2010),
Group Author with Abbreviation
2
First Citation of Source in the
Paper
All Other Citations of Source
in the Paper
(National Institute of Mental
Health [NIMH], 2020).
(NIMH, 2020).
The National Institute of Mental
Health (HIMH, 2020) explains,
NIMH (2020) stresses,
Group Author – No Abbreviation
(Mayo Clinic, 2019).
Mayo Clinic (2019) points out,
1. For sources with three or more authors, use the last name of the first author listed on the source followed
by et al. in all in-text citations.
2. Define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text, choosing either the parenthetical or the
narrative format. Thereafter, use the abbreviation for all mentions of the group in the text.
This brief guide covers only the basics of APA documentation.
For more information, refer to the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.
Book title should be in sentence
case capitalization and italicized.
If the book has an edition number, place it in parentheses after the
book title before the period. See correct formatting in example below.
Book title should be in sentence
case capitalization and italicized.
Piece title should be in sentence case
capitalization and not italicized.
Author of piece should be listed last
name first followed by a comma and the
first initial and middle initial if listed.
Editors’ names should be listed with first initial and
middle initial (if listed) first followed by last name
and should be followed by (Eds.) in parentheses.
This page range should show where the piece begins and ends in the book.
Include edition number of book if listed with comma before the page range.
