LibGuides: Citing sources according to APA guidelines: 3.5 Reference elements: Author, Date, Title, Source

3.5 Reference elements: Author, Date, Title, Source

A reference is made up of four elements: author, date, title, and source. Each element answers a question:

Author:	Who is responsible for this work?
Date:	When was this work published?
Title:	What is this work called?
Source:	Where can I retrieve this work?

Cameron, L. D., Thomason, B., & Conzon, V. M. 2021. Risky business: Gig workers and the navigation of ideal worker expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(12), 1821–1833. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000993

References in APA Style have a hanging indent, which means the first line is flush left, and all subsequent lines are indented 0,5 inch to the right. How a hanging indent is made (in Word) is explained in Subsection 3.1: Formatting of the reference list.

Explanation by element

Format of the author element

List surnames first, followed by the initial(s). Use comma’s to separate an author’s surname and initials. Use one space between initials. If there are multiple authors, place an ampersand (&) before the final author. List up to and including 20 authors.
Author, A. A.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author C. C., Author, D. D., & Author, E. E.
If there are 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis, then give the final author’s name (which is not preceded by an ampersand).
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., . . . Author, Z. Z.
Retain hyphens in given names (e.g., Jean-Paul):
Sartre, J.-P.
Write particles in surnames (e.g.: van, de, van de(r), von) depending on the spelling the author uses in the work you are citing (this also applies to the corresponding in-text citation.) Dutch authors, for example, typically use lower-case letters for prefixes while American and Flemish authors tend to use capital letters.
van der Linden, J.

Van Nuys, K. B.

In-text citations: (van der Linden, publication year) and (Van Nuys, publication year).

Spell out the full name of organizations. When the organizational author is part of a larger organization, mention the larger entity first.
American Psychological Association.

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary.

In text, you may abbreviate the organization’s name (after you have mentioned the full name once) if the abbreviation is familiar. How to do this is explained in Subsection 1.3: Works with an organization as the author.

Move the title of a work without a known author to the author position. Capitalize the first word of the title and the subttile (if present), and all proper nouns.
Sleep disorders as risk factor for chronic postsurgical pain: A systematic review.

In text, a shortened title is used when the title is long. The (shortened) title is enclosed in double quotation marks when the work is part of a greater whole (e.g., book chapters). For titles of stand-alone works (e.g., books) italics are used. For more guidance and examples, see Subsection 1.4: Works with an unknown author.

If a real name and a username name are both known (e.g., for some social media authors), provide the real name of the author, followed by the username in square brackets.
Obama, M. [@MichelleObama].
If only a username is known, provide the username.
TimmyD.
When referencing an entire edited book, place the editor’s name in the author position, followed by the abbreviation “Ed.” (or “Eds.” when a book has more editors) in parentheses.
McLachlan, M. K. (Ed.).

Smythe, B., & Jansson, Y. M. (Eds.).

For a reference example, see Subsection 4.2: Edited book or e-book.

When referencing a chapter in an edited book, provide the chapter author’s name and initial(s) first, followed by the publication date and the chapter title. Then provide the initial(s) and surname (in that order) of the book editor(s). Precede the name of the (first) editor by the word “In.” and give the title of the edited book (in italics). Note that between the names of the editors and the title of the edited book, there is a comma.
Simon, G. (2022). Title of edited book chapter. In B. Smythe, & Y. M. Jansson (Eds.), Title of edited book.

For a reference example, see Subsection 4.2: Chapter in an edited book or e-book.

Format of the date element

Immediately after the author’s name, give (in parentheses) the publication date.

For books, this is the publication year. Use the copyright year, as stated on the book’s copyright page.
For journal articles, this is the year of the volume, even if it differs from the copyright year.
- For manuscripts accepted for publication but not yet published, write “in press” (without capital letters).
  Schaefer, J. R. (in press).
For magazines, this is the year and month.
(2022, August).
For newspapers, newsletters, blog posts, podcast episodes and social media posts, this is the year, month, and day.
(2021, January 12).
For a contribution to a conference, this is not the day of the contribution, but the entire time period of the conference.
(2022, February21-25).
For a work whose date cannot be traced, this is “n.d.” (for “no date”).
Smith, P. (n.d.).
For webpages or websites, this is not the copyright date, as the copyright date may not indicate when the content was published.
- If no specific date is mentioned, but there is a “last updated” date that clearly applies to the content, you can use the “last updated” date.
- Use “n.d.” (for “no date”) if there is no specific or “last updated” date.

Retrieval date in references to online sources

You only need to Include a retrieval date in the reference if the online source is unarchived AND designed to change over time. The majority of references to online sources do not include a retrieval date.

. . . Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https//xxxxx

For more guidance and examples of online sources that require a retrieval date, see Subsection 3.6: Retrieval dates in references to online sources.

Format of the title element

How the title of a work is written – italicized or not – depends on the type of work.

• Title element of works that stand alone

Italicize the title of stand-alone works.

Books, reports, webpages and websites

Capitalize the first word of the main title and the subtitle (if any), and all proper nouns. Place a colon between the main title and the subtitle.

Crime and corruption in organizations: Why it occurs and what to do about it.

Periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, blogs)

Provide only the main title of the periodical (omit subtitles). Capitalize the first word of the title and all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and all words with four letters or more (including “Between,” “About,” “From,” “With”).

International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology.

More examples of stand-alone works include: reports, dissertations, theses, films, press releases, television series, podcasts, Youtube videos, data sets, unpublished manuscripts, blogs, or social media.

• Title element of works that are part of a greater whole

Do not italicize the title of works that are part of a greater whole.

Book chapters, journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles

Capitalize the first word of the main title and the subtitle (if any), and all proper nouns. Place a colon between the main title and the subtitle.

Diversity in the workforce: Current issues and emerging trends.

More examples of works that are part of a greater whole include: television episodes, tweets, Facebook updates, encyclopedia/dictionary entries, Wikipedia entries, or podcast episodes.

Descriptions of form

After the title, any description of form is provided (in square brackets) that is important for identification and retrieval of the work.

Aerosols persist in insufficiently ventilated elevator cabins [Press release].

Other form-specific descriptions include:

[Video]	[Facebook status update]	[PowerPoint slides]	[Blog post]
[Computer software]	[Photograph]	[Brochure]	[Mobile application software]
[Tweet]	[Special issue]	[Working paper]	[Podcast episode

Please note

When you used an ebook, do not include “[E-book]” in the title element.
For ebooks, the platform or device (e.g., Kindle) are not included in the title element.

Format of the source element

First, the source element consists of publisher information. Since nowadays many (academic) works are available online, the source element often comprises a DOI or a URL. Never heard of the DOI? Read all about it in Subsection 3.4: Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

As with titles, sources fall into two categories: works that stand alone and works that are part of a greater whole.

• Source element for works that stand alone

For books and other stand-alone, nonperiodical publications (such as reports, dissertations, theses, films, TV series, podcasts, data sets, and social media) the name of the publisher is included in the source element.

List the name of the publisher as shown on the work. Do not include designations of business structure such as Inc., Ltd., or LLC.. After the name of the publisher, add a URL or DOI (as applicable). If a work has a DOI and a URL, always include the DOI. Note that no period follows a DOI or URL.

Greenberg, L. S. (2021). Changing emotion with emotion: A practitioner's guide. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000248-000
When the organizational author and publisher are the same, omit the publisher in the source element.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

• Source element for works that are part of a greater whole

For works that are part of a greater whole, the source element consists of information about the "parent" publication.

Articles from a periodical work
For articles, the source element consists of periodical information: the title of the periodical (e.g., journal, magazine, newspaper, blog, newsletter), and (if applicable) volume number, issue number, and page range or article number/eLocator.

List the title and volume number of the periodical (both in italics). Separate title and volume number with a comma.
Include the issue number for all periodicals that have issue numbers. Place the issue number immediately after the volume number, and enclose it (not in italics) in parentheses. The issue number is not italicized, is enclosed in round brackets and follows immediately – without a space – after the volume number.
Provide the page range of the article. Separate page numbers with an en dash (–).

Rebora, A. (2021). Zaretta Hammond on equity and student engagement. Educational Leadership, 79(4), 14–18.
- Some online-only journals publish articles that have article numbers (sometimes called “eLocators”) rather than unique page ranges.
  PLOS ONE, 16(2), Article e0246739.
- Precede page numbers for newspapers articles by “p.” (if the article appears on one page) or “pp.” (if the article appears on a range of pages). Use an en dash (–) to separate page numbers.
  The Guardian, p. 12.
  
  Financial Times, pp. 6–7.
  Provide all page numbers (separated by a comma) for newspaper articles printed on discontinuous pages.
  The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4.
After the periodical information, add a DOI or URL (as applicable). Note that DOIs and URLs are not followed by a period.
- For articles with a DOI from a periodical work, include the DOI in the reference. If an article has a DOI and a URL, provide the DOI.
  
  Salisu, A. A., Adediran, I. A., & Gupta, R. (2022). A note on the COVID-19 shock and real GDP in emerging economies. Emerging Markets Finance & Trade, 58(1), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2021.1981854
- For journal articles without a DOI in print or from a library database, end the source element with the periodical information. For a reference example, see Subsection 4.1: Journal article without DOI.
- For articles without a DOI that are found on the free web (outside a database), include a URL that links directly to the article when possible. For a reference example, see the third tab of Subsection 4.1: Journal article without DOI: Online (free web)
  Please note You do not need to include a retrieval date before the URL. APA 7 requires this only for a small category of online sources. See subsection 3.6: Retrieval dates in references to online sources for explanation and examples.

Chapters in edited books & Entries in reference works
For edited book chapters and entries in reference works (e.g., dictionary definitions) the source is the edited book or the whole reference work. The title of the edited book or the entire reference work is therefore italicized. For reference examples, see Subsection 4.2: Chapter (with DOI) in an edited book and Subsection 4.3: Reference works.

Retrieval date in references to online sources

. . . Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https//xxxxx

For more guidance and examples of online sources that require a retrieval date, see Subsection 3.6: Retrieval dates in references to online sources.