Citing sources according to APA guidelines

Note: the format used for Twitter is also used for Instagram and TikTok.

In the reference list

• Begin the reference with the author's username (beginning with the @ sign).
• Provide the specific date (year/month/day). 
• List up to the first 20 words of the tweet as the title (italicize the text; do not italicize emoji’s). Do not otherwise modify the title to meet APA guidelines for titles. Count a URL, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each. 
• Then, add a form-specific description in square brackets (important for identification and retrieval of the tweet).  
• List Twitter as the publishing platform.
• End the reference with the URL of the tweet (do not include a period after the URL).

In the text

Note: the format used for Twitter is also used for Instagram and TikTok.

In the reference list

• Begin the reference with the author’s surname and initial(s) if known / organizational author's name, followed by the username (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets. Capitalize the first word and all major words in organizational authors' names.
• Provide the specific date (year/month/day). 
• List up to the first 20 words of the tweet as the title (italicize the text; do not italicize emoji’s). Do not otherwise modify the title to meet APA guidelines for titles. Count a URL, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each. 
• After the title, indicate in square brackets any included: 
  • images (incl. animated gifs);
  • videos;
  • thumbnail links to outside sources;
  • polls.
• Then, add a form-specific description in square brackets (important for identification and retrieval of the tweet).  
• List Twitter as the publishing platform. 
• End the reference with the URL of the tweet (do not include a period after the URL).

n the text

Note: the format used for Twitter is also used for Instagram and TikTok.

In the reference list

• Begin the reference with the surname and initial(s) of the author if known / full name of the organizational author, followed by the username (beginning with the @ sign) in square brackets. Capitalize the first word and all major words in organizational authors' names.
• Provide the specific date (year/month/day). 
• List up to the first 20 words of the tweet as the title (in italics). Do not otherwise modify the title to meet APA guidelines for titles. Count a URL, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each. 
• Replicate emoji’s, if possible, and do not italicize them. If that doesn’t work, provide the emoji’s name in square brackets (do not use a capital letter). For example, the emoji's in this example can be replaced with: [broccoli emoji], [carrot emoji], and [paprika emoji]. For a full list of emoji names, visit the website of the Unicode Consortium. 
• After the title, indicate in square brackets any included: 
  • images (incl. animated gifs);
  • videos;
  • thumbnail links to outside sources;
  • polls.
  In this example, an image is attached. More examples are provided under the tab on the left.
• Then, add a form-specific description in square brackets (important for identification and retrieval of the tweet).  
• List Twitter as the publishing platform.
• End the reference with the URL of the tweet (do not include a period after the URL).

n the text

In the reference list

• Begin the reference with the author’s surname and initial(s) or the name of the organizational author. Capitalize the first word and all major words in organizational authors' names.
• Provide the specific date (year/month/day). 
• Include up to the first 20 words of the post as the title (italicize the text; do not italicize emoji’s). Do not otherwise modify the title to meet APA guidelines for titles. Count a URL, a hashtag, or an emoji as one word each. 
• Replicate emoji’s, if possible. If that doesn’t work, provide the emoji’s name in square brackets (do not use a capital letter). For example, the emoji in the second example can be replaced with: [raising hands emoji]. For a full list of emoji names, visit the website of the Unicode Consortium. 
• After the title, indicate in square brackets any included: 
  • image (incl. animated gif);
  • video;
  • thumbnail link to outside sources;
  • content from another post (such as when sharing a link).
• Then, add a form-specific description in square brackets (important for identification and retrieval of the status update).
• List Facebook as the publishing platform.
• End the reference with the URL of the status update. Because the content of the page is designed to change over time and is not archived, the URL is preceded by the retrieval date.
• Do not include a period after the URL.

In the text

In the reference list

• Begin the reference with the author’s surname and initial(s) if known / the full name of the organizational author, followed by the username in square brackets. Capitalize the first word and all major words in organizational authors' names.
• If only the username is known, provide the username without square brackets (as in this example).
• Give the specific date of the post (year/month/day). 
• List up to the first 20 words of the comment as the title (in italics). Do not otherwise modify the title to meet APA guidelines for titles. 
• Then, include a form-specific description followed by the full title of post on which the comment appeared (in square brackets). Italicize only the title of the post.
• List the name of the publishing platform.
• End the reference with the URL. To access the URL of the comment itself, select the date stamp of the comment and then copy and paste the resulting URL from your browser.
• Do not include a period after the URL.

In the text