Referencing - APA : Introduction to Referencing

Referencing is an important skill to learn at university. You are required to reference all your sources including quotes, paraphrases, data, images, and diagrams. Marks are often given for accurate referencing as this allows you to:

• Avoid plagiarism and demonstrate good academic practice
• Support your arguments with evidence and examples
• Give others credit and recognition for their work
• Separate your ideas from the ideas of others
• Inform the reader of the sources you have used

A reference is comprised of two components: the in-text citation in the body of your work and the reference list at the end of your assignment. Please see below for further information how to create the in-text citation and a reference list. For referencing specific sources, refer to the A-Z section.

This is a short reference in the body of your assignment which includes the author’s family name or organisation’s name, the date, and where applicable, the page number. In-text citations are generally formatted in the same way, regardless of what type of source you have used. You must give an in-text citation for a direct quote, and when paraphrasing, summarising, reproducing data, using an image etc. Every in-text citation must match an entry in the reference list. There are two ways to write an in-text citation:

• Parenthetical citations (these are also called information-prominent citations)
• Narrative citations (these are also called integrated or author-prominent citations)

Both types of citation are acceptable to use, and you will probably find that you switch between both in your assignments.

 

Parenthetical citations

The information is placed in brackets, and normally at the end of a sentence before the full stop. However, the citation can be elsewhere in the sentence if this makes the reference clearer.

(Author, year) or (Author, year, p. x)

Example 1 (A summary of a whole book)

Data analysis uses an innovative technique for data mining (Tuccitto, 2017).

Example 2 (A direct quote)

The new technique makes "a dataset much more manageable than the giant original raw data" (Tuccitto, 2017, p. 5).

Narrative citations

The author's name is in the structure of your sentence followed by the date in brackets. The page number is also in brackets at the end of the quote or paraphrase. If this is at the end of the sentence, it is before the full stop.

 

Formats

Author (year) or Author (year) “Quote” (p. x).

Example 1 (A summary of a whole book)

Launer (2022) argues that reflection is an important skill in healthcare.

Example 2 (A paraphrased section across multiple pages)

Launer (2022) discusses how working cultures can be transformed by good conversation amongst colleagues (pp. 5-6).

Multiple citations

You may need to cite more than one source in the same sentence, for example, when showing that multiple authors agree:

• Parenthetical citations should be included in the same set of brackets, in alphabetical order, separated by a semi colon
• Narrative citations can be written in any order
• When citing multiple works by the same author, list the author's name once, followed by the dates in order of the earliest first

 

Example 1 (Multiple parenthetical citations)

Studies have shown work-life balance is important for productivity (Beverley, 2021; Hill, 2016; Veltri, 2017).

Example 2 (Multiple narrative citations)

Robinson (2023) and Ibrahim et al. (2022) found that . . .

Example 3 (Multiple narrative citations by the same author)

According to Gonzalez (2017, 2020, 2024) . . . .

Repeating citations

Sometimes, you may use more than one sentence to paraphrase, summarise, or discuss a source. If referring to the same source, you only need to include the citation in the first sentence. In subsequent sentences, to show that you are continuing to draw from the same source, you can mention the author’s name or use a phrase like “the study” to refer to the source. An example of a long paraphrase can be found on the APA style guide.

If you continue that discussion into a new paragraph, or return to a source later in your assignment, give the full citation again

Page numbers

Page numbers should always be included in your citation when quoting (if a page number exists). APA also encourages the use of page numbers when paraphrasing, although this is not essential. We suggest using page numbers when quoting and paraphrasing, unless otherwise directed by your module leader.

Tips

• Use p. for one page, or pp. for multiple pages. Put a dash between your numbers for multiple pages
• If the pages have Roman numerals (e.g. vii, ix), use the Roman numeral in your in-text citation, e.g. (p. iv)

What is a reference list?

The reference list gives the full details of every source to match your in-text citations. It provides the reader with the information to check the source themselves. If you have referred to the same source multiple times, you only need to include the source once in your reference list.

 

What information should I include?

The information required for a reference will change depending on the type of source. Refer to the A-Z page to find specific reference examples for the different source types.

 

How should I format the reference list?

The reference list is in alphabetical order by the author's last name. There is an option in Word to sort the list automatically. Your references should be in one long list - you do not need a separate list for books, articles etc. unless specified by your module leader.

Each entry in your reference list should have a hanging indent. This means that the first line of each reference is in line with the margin of the page, and any lines afterwards are indented 0.5 in (5-7 spaces) away from the edge. The paragraph formatting tool in Word can do this automatically for you.

For more information see creating and APA style reference list guide

 

Example reference list

Benitez, E., & López‐Fidalgo, J. (2024). Experimental designs for controlling the correlation of estimators in two‐parameter models. Journal of Chemometrics, 38(1), Article e3525. https://doi.org/10.1002/cem.3525

Human Rights Act 1998.

Mankiw, N. G., & Taylor, M. P. (2023). Economics (6th ed.). Cengage.

Statista. (2023). Poverty in the United Kingdom. https://www.statista.com/study/25947/poverty-and-economic-hardship-in-the-united-kingdom-uk-statista-dossier/

TED. (2024, February 5). How babies think about danger | Shari Liu [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6djPLVa9aQ4/

A reference will generally have four components: author, date, title, and source, with the first two components included in the in-text citation. The information in the reference will vary depending on the information available and the source type. The general format is discussed below, though refer to the A-Z page for examples of how to reference specific sources.

General Format

Author. (Date). Title [Format]. Publisher. www.website.co.uk

• Author’s family name
• [Comma]
• Initial(s)
• [Full stop]
• Year (in round brackets)
• [Full stop]
• Title (in sentence case and in italics)
• [Full stop]
• Publisher
• [Full stop]
• DOI (if there is one) or website link

 

Author

Almost all references start with an author. This is the creator of the work, (writer, artist, director, presenter, etc.), and might be a person/people or an organisation. The latter is sometimes known as a "corporate author". The in-text citation will include the author's family name (last name) or the organisation’s name. In your reference list, the initial(s) of the author's first or given name(s) are also included when it is a named author.

Examples

Example 1 (One author)

In-text citation: (O’Connor, 2020) or O’Connor (2020) suggests . . .

Reference: O’Connor, P. (2020). Skateboarding and religion. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24857-4

Example 2 (Organisation)

In-text citation: (Tesco, 2023) or Tesco (2023) contributed . . .

Reference: Tesco. (2023). Annual report & financial statements 2023. https://www.tescoplc.com/media/u1wlq2qf/tesco-plc-annual-report-2023.pdf

Author published more than one source in same year

These are distinguished by adding lower case letters (a,b,c, etc.) after the year and within the brackets. If you have citations in the main text of your work with an identical author's name and year, the added lower case letters after the year determines ordering in your reference list at the end of your work e.g. a reference starting with Johnson, C., 2020a. would be listed before Johnson, C., 2020b.

Example

Example (One author)

In-text citation: Johnson (2023a) discussed the subject…

Reference: Johnson, S. (2023a). Ageing consumers and e-commerce activities. Ageing consumers and e-commerce activities, 42(8), 1879–898. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X20001932

Multiple authors

See separate section below.

Abbreviating organisation names

Provide the full name of the group on first mention in the text, followed by the abbreviation. Thereafter just use the abbreviation. In the reference list entry, do not abbreviate the group author name. Instead, spell out the full name of the group as presented in the source.

Examples

Example 1 (In a narrative citation)

In-text citation: The American Psychological Association (APA, 2017) provided information on overcoming opioid abuse.

Example 2 (In a parenthetical citation)

In-text citation: People can overcome opioid abuse through residential treatment (American Psychological Association [APA], 2017).

Date

The second element is the date the source was published, updated, or completed. The date is in brackets, followed by a full stop:

• For a source which is published once or only updated infrequently, just give the year (see Example 1)
• If a source does not have an obvious date, use n.d. for no date (see Example 2)
• For webpages, if an exact year or date is not known, an approximate date preceded by ‘ca.’ (short for circa) may be supplied e.g. (ca.1750). It may be preferable to cite the year in which the page was accessed, e.g. (ca. 2020), rather than use (n.d).
• If a source has a specific date or is published regularly, e.g., newspaper articles or blog posts, give the full date in the following order: year, month day
• If a source changes regularly, e.g., social media posts, or the information updates over time, e.g., a share price, include a retrieval date. This is placed before the URL (see Example 3)  
• Use only the year in the in-text citation, even if the reference list entry has a more specific date

Examples

Example 1 (Date format)

In-text citation: (Li, 2024) or Li (2024) argues . . .

Reference: Li, Y. (2024). Oil spill detection, identification, and tracing. Elsevier.

Example 2 (No date format)

In-text citation: (DHL Group, n.d.) or DHL Group (n.d.) commits . . .

Reference: DHL Group. (n.d.). Our sustainability roadmap. https://group.dhl.com/en/sustainability/sustainability-roadmap.html

Example 3 (Retrieval date as content updates regularly)

In-text citation: (London Stock Exchange, 2024) or London Stock Exchange (2024) shows . . .

Reference: London Stock Exchange. (2024). FTSE 100. Retrieved 28 March, 2024, from https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100

Title

Titles are formatted as follows in the reference list:

• For individual sources such as books, reports, and websites, the title is in sentence case and in italics. If there is a sub-title, use a colon to separate the two titles and capitalise the first letter at the start of the sub-title (see Example 1)
• Where a publication has two titles, (e.g. journal articles), the formatting of the titles may vary. Refer to the A-Z page for guidance
• For sources that do not have an obvious title, describe it in [square brackets] and do not use italics (see Example 3)

Examples

Example 1 (Book title in sentence case and in italics)

Lia, P. (2020). Simplify your study: Effective strategies for coursework and exams. Red Globe Press.

Example 2 (Article title in sentence case and not in italics. Journal title in title case and italics)

Cairns, J. (2024). Phases of the Buddhist approach to the environment. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 31.

Example 3 (Source with no obvious title. Description in square brackets and not italicised)

FAME. (n.d.). [Top 25 UK companies by turnover]. Retrieved April 10, 2024, from https://fame-r1.bvdinfo.com/version-20241203-3-0/fame/1/Companies/Search.

Source format

The source format is not included in every reference type. Sometimes, it can be helpful to explain the type of source in a reference and this is placed in square brackets, e.g. [Presentation] or [Video] after the title. If this is required, the full stop that would normally go after the title moves to after the source format.

Examples

Example 1 (Presentation)

Bournemouth University. (2025). FLIE learning and teaching conference [Presentation]. https://bournemouth.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=82e0ebbd-5f12-4d5e-8a57-b31400b8a7f2

Example 2 (Video on a video sharing platform)

TED. (2024, February 5). How babies think about danger | Shari Liu | TED [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6djPLVa9aQ4 

Publisher

This component is primarily used for published books or where a source has been published, produced, or made available by an organisation and that organisation is not listed as the author.

Examples

Example 1 (Published book)

Smithers, G. W. (2024). Encyclopaedia of food safety (2nd ed.). Academic Press.

Example 2 (Document published by an organisation)

European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication. (2024). The EU in 2023: General report on the activities of the European Union. Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2775/900953 

DOIs (Digital Object Identifier) or web addresses

DOIs

DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier and is a string of numbers and letters. It is a unique, persistent number that is given to many online journal articles, books and other material, found on the title page or with the bibliographic information. If an electronic source has a DOI, use that number rather than the web address. The DOI should be formatted as a clickable link. If there is only the string of numbers and letters, turn this into a clickable link by putting https://doi.org/ at the beginning.

DOI Examples

Example 1 (e-book with a DOI)

Sully, A. (2024). Interior design: Conceptual basis (2nd ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51410-4

Example 2 (e-journal article with a DOI)

Nguyen, T. L. (2024). The hybrid languages of love and comics. World Literature Today, 98(1), 42–43. https://doi.org/10.1353/wlt.2024.a916069

Web addresses

When an electronic source does not have a DOI, give the web address. This will normally be the full web address to the exact page you have used. There are two exceptions to this:

• If the source is an e-book or journal article accessed through a standard library database (e.g. mySearch, Ebook Central, EBSCO, CREDOreference, JSTOR etc.) you do not need to give a web address if the source does not have a DOI
• If a login is required to access the source and you cannot link to the exact page, give a link to the homepage or the login page (see Example 2)

Web address examples

Example 1 (Website link)

Reliance Industries. (n.d.). Decarbonisation: Our carbon reduction strategy. https://www.ril.com/sustainability/decarbonisation

Example 2 (Link to subscription database requiring a login)

Euromonitor International. (2024). World in 2040: The future demographic. https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/analysis/tab

When citing multiple authors, list the authors in the order they appear on the source.

In-text citations

• Use an ampersand (&) between the authors’ names inside the brackets (parenthetical citation)
• Use the word ‘and’ between the authors’ names when integrating the names into a sentence (narrative citation)
• Use the first author's name, followed by 'et al.' for sources with three or more authors. 'Et al.' is short for the Latin phrase 'and others'. Remember to use a plural reporting verb after 'et al.' (i.e. “Willey et al. (2022) argue” rather than “argues”)

Examples

Two Authors: (Mankiw & Taylor, 2022) or Mankiw and Taylor (2022) discuss ...

Three or more authors: (Willey et al., 2023) or Willey et al. (2023) compare ...

 

Reference List

• All authors are included on the reference list in the order listed on the source
• Even when there are only two authors, include a comma after the first author's name, before the ampersand in the reference list
• For up to 20 authors, include all names in the reference. When the work has 21 or more authors, include only the first 19 names, three dots, and then the last name

Examples

Two Authors: Mankiw, N. G., & Taylor, M. P. (2023). Economics. Cengage.

Three or more authors: Willey, J., Sandman, K., & Wood, D. (2022). Prescott's microbiology (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Twenty-one authors or more: Ong, K. L., Stafford, L. K., Cruz, J. A., Aali, A., Abate, M. D., Abd ElHafeez, S., Adane, T. D., Adekanmbi, V., Agudelo-Botero, M., Ahmadi, A., Akinyemi, R. O., Al Hamad, H., Alvis-Guzman, N., Amusa, G. A., Anyasodor, A. E., Areda, D., Armocida, B., Arumugam, A., Aryan, Z., . . . Belete, M. A. (2023). Global, regional, and national burden of diabetes from 1990 to 2021, with projections of prevalence to 2050: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet, 402(10397), 203–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01301-6

Where possible, always read the original source and reference that source. For example, if you read a point of view by Tang in a book written by Khan, go to the original source written by Tang. Sometimes this may not be possible. For example, the original source could be out of print, or it could be written in another language. In this case create a secondary citation for your in-text citation.

In-text citation format

Parenthetical citation: (Original author, original year, as cited in author, year)

Narrative citation: Original author (original year, as cited in author, year)

Examples

Parenthetical citation: (Tang, 2005, as cited in Khan, 2024)

Narrative citation: According to Tang (2005, as cited in Khan, 2024) . . .

 

In your reference list, reference only the source you have read (i.e. Khan)

Sometimes a source may lack a title, author, publication date, page numbers, and more. In these circumstances, follow the Style and Grammar Guidelines on the American Psychological Association website. Specific examples include Missing reference information and Direct quotation of material without page numbers.