How do I use APA Citation Style

 All examples in this guide are using APA Citation Style (7th) edition.  

If you need help with the 6th edition, please visit Purdue OWL.   If you have any further queries, please email library@smu.edu.sg.

The formats provided below are based on Section 10.3 in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed.

• Book Chapter in Edited Book, without a DOI, from most academic research databases or print version

  Format: Author, A. A. (YYYY). Chapter title. In B. Editor & C. Editor (Eds.), Book title (pp. xx-yy).  Publisher.
   

  Chua, B. H. (1998). Racial Singaporeans: Absence after the hypen. In J. S. Kahn (Ed.), Southeast Asian identities (pp. 28-50). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

  In-text: (Chua, 1998).

   
• Book Chapter in Electronic Book with DOI

  Format: Author, A. A. (YYYY). Chapter title. In B. Editor & C. Editor (Eds.), Book title (pp. xx-yy). Publisher. doi
   

  Rudisill, J. R., Edwards, J. M., Hershberger, P. J., Jadwin, J. E., & McKee, J. M. (2010). Coping with job transitions over the work life. In T. W. Miller (Ed.), Handbook of stressful transitions across the lifespan (pp. 111-131). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0748-6_6

  In-text: (Rudisill et al., 2010).

The formats provided below are based on Section 10.3 in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed.

• Dictionary, Thesaurus or Encyclopedia Entry Online - with individual author 

  Format: Author, A. A. (YYYY). Title of entry.  In Editor, A. A. (Ed.), Title of reference work (xx ed.). Publisher. URL
   

  Smuts, A. (2009). The paradox of suspense. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2009 ed.). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/paradox-suspense/

  In-text: (Smuts, 2009).

   

  Anderson, C. (2000). Violence and aggression. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology (Vol. 8, pp. 162-169). https://doi.org/10.1037/10523-068

  In-text: (Anderson, 2000).

   

• Dictionary, Thesaurus or Encyclopedia Entry Online - with group author, continuously updated

  Format: Group. (YYYY). Title of entry.  In Title of reference work (xx ed.). Retrieved Month, date, YYYY, from URL

  Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Heuristic. In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Retrieved May 26, 2020, from http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/heuristic

  In-text: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). 

   

• Dictionary, Thesaurus or Encyclopedia Entry Online - with group author, with publication dates

  Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2017). Cognition. In britannica.com encyclopaedia. https://www.britannica.com/topic/cognition-thought-process

  In-text: (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017).

   

• Dictionary Entry - print

  Format: Author/Group. (YYYY). Title of entry. In D. Editor (Ed.), Title of reference work (x ed.). Publisher.
   

  American Psychological Association. (2007). Externalization. In G. R. VanderBos (Ed.), APA dictionary of psychology. American Psychological Association.

  In-text: (American Psychological Association, 2007).

   

• Wikipedia Entry 

  Format: Title of entry. (YYYY, Month XX). In D. Editora, E. Editorb, & F. Editorc (Eds.), Title of reference work (xx ed.). DOI or URL
   

  Snail slime. (2020, March 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snail_slime&oldid=943942641

  In-text: ("Snail Slime," 2020).

For a comprehensive list of APA citation rules, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, as well as the APA Style Blog (an official companion to the Publication Manual).  Here are a few common rules related to article citations:

• Retrieval dates: Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material may change over time (e.g. Wikis).  If needed, provide the retrieval date in the format: Retrieved Month dd, YYYY, from URL
• Retrieved from: The prefix "Retrieved from" is no longer needed before URLs. 
• URLs and DOIs:

  • Where a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is provided, use it in the citation in the format: https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600810870589 

  • Where no DOI is provided and the article is retrieved online, give the URL of the publication or the journal home page. This can be easily found using Google Scholar. 

  • Where the article is from private or non-commercial sources or hard to locate, give the complete and specific URL.

  • If no publication URL is available, and you retrieved the item from one of the Libraries' databases, no URL is needed.  You will treat this as a print iteml.

• Volume for books:

  • Always include volume number for books.

  • If the information is not available, omit it from the reference. 

• Pagination (p. and pp.)

  • The prefix pp. only goes before page numbers reported for book chapter and encyclopaedia article references.

• Place of publication:

  • Omit the place of publication.  Instead, only list the publisher.