Source: APA Citation Guide, UC Berkeley Library / Publication Manual of the APA
Tags: APA style, reference list, bibliography, print citations, books, journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, review articles, APA format, academic writing, citation formatting
APA reference list entries for print sources follow a consistent pattern: author(s), date, title, and publication information. Each source type (book, chapter, journal article, magazine, newspaper, review) has its own template, but the underlying logic is the same. Master the general formula and the type-specific tweaks fall into place.
Reference list
The alphabetised list at the end of your paper containing full citation details for every source you cited in-text. APA prefers the title "References" over "Bibliography" when only cited works are included.
Hanging indent
The formatting convention where the first line of each reference entry is flush left and subsequent lines are indented. Standard in APA reference lists.
et al.
Latin abbreviation meaning "and others." Used in APA when a source has seven or more authors: list the first six, then write et al.
n.d.
Abbreviation for "no date." Used in place of a publication year when no date is available.
Volume number
The number identifying a particular volume of a periodical. Italicised in APA references. Issue numbers, when needed, appear in parentheses immediately after the volume number and are not italicised.
The general template is:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.
Only the first word of the title (and subtitle) is capitalised, plus any proper nouns.
The book title is italicised.
A colon separates the publication location from the publisher name.
Example: Holmberg, D., Orbuch, T., & Veroff, J. (2004). Thrice-told tales: Married couples tell their stories. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
The general template is:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. nnn–nnn). Location: Publisher.
The chapter title is not italicised; the book title is.
Page numbers for the chapter are given in parentheses after the book title.
The word "In" precedes the editor(s).
Editor names are not inverted (first initial, then surname).
Example: Stein, A. (1997). Sex after 'sexuality': From sexology to post-structuralism. In D. Owen (Ed.), Sociology after postmodernism (pp. 158–172). London: Sage.
The general template is:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume, page-numbers.
The journal title and volume number are both italicised.
The article title is not italicised.
If each issue of the journal starts at page 1, include the issue number in parentheses after the volume: 55(2), 84–93.
If pagination is continuous across a volume, the issue number is omitted.
Example: McCright, A. M., & Dunlap, R. E. (2003). Defeating Kyoto: The conservative movement's impact on U.S. climate change policy. Social Problems, 50, 348–373.
The general template is:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, volume if given, page-numbers.
The date includes the month (and day, if applicable), not just the year.
If there is no named author, the article title moves to the author position.
Example: Kenji, M., & Tanako, K. (2003, February 13). Conflict and cognitive control. Science, 303, 969–970.
No-author example: The disability gulag [Letter to the editor]. (2003, December 14). The New York Times Magazine, 28.
The general template is:
Author or Article title. (Year, Month day). Title of article if not given before [descriptive information]. Title of Newspaper, p./pp. nn–nn.
Page numbers for newspaper articles are preceded by p. or pp.
Section letters are included with the page number (e.g., p. F6, p. G1).
Example: Nagourney, E. (2003, October 28). Impatience, at your own risk. The New York Times, p. F6.
The general template is:
Review author. (Year, Month day as needed). Review title [Review of the medium Title of item reviewed]. Title of Periodical, publication information.
The bracketed description identifies what is being reviewed and its medium (book, motion picture, television programme, etc.).
If the review has no title or no author, the bracketed material serves as the title; the brackets are retained.
Example: Petrakis, J. (2004, February 24). Regrets. [Review of the motion picture The fog of war]. The Christian Century, 121, 66–67.
Universal APA reference formula (print):
Author(s). (Date). Title. Source information.
Each source type fills in the "source information" slot differently:
Books: Location: Publisher.
Chapters: In Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. x–x). Location: Publisher.
Journals: Journal Title, volume, pages.
Magazines/Newspapers: Periodical Title, volume/pages with month/day in date.
Reviews: [Review of the medium Title]. Periodical Title, publication info.
⚠️ Article and book titles use sentence-case capitalisation (only first word + proper nouns). Journal and periodical titles use title case. This is the single most common formatting error.
⚠️ Use the ampersand (&) before the last author in a reference list entry, never the word "and."
⚠️ Page numbers get p./pp. only for book chapters and newspaper articles, not for journal or magazine articles.
⚠️ Issue numbers in parentheses after the volume appear only when each issue restarts at page 1. If you include them unnecessarily, it signals you do not understand the rule.
⚠️ The book title is italicised in a chapter-in-a-book entry, not the chapter title.
Q: In an APA reference for a journal article, when should you include the issue number?
A: Only when each issue of the journal begins with page 1 (i.e., pagination is not continuous across the volume). The issue number goes in parentheses immediately after the italicised volume number.
Q: How does the date format for a magazine article differ from that of a journal article?
A: Magazine articles include the month and, where applicable, the day in the date parenthetical, e.g. (2003, February 13). Journal articles typically include only the year, unless the journal specifies a season.
Q: When citing a chapter in an edited book, whose name is inverted and whose is not?
A: The chapter author's name is inverted (surname first). The editor's name is not inverted; it appears in normal order (e.g., In D. Owen (Ed.)).
Q: How do you handle a newspaper article with no named author in APA format?
A: Move the article title to the author position before the date. Everything else follows the standard newspaper format.
Q: What goes in brackets in a review article citation?
A: A description of the item being reviewed, including the medium and title, e.g. [Review of the book The opening of the American mind]. If the review itself has no title, this bracketed description serves as the title.
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