Reference Types
For every end-text reference, you will need to provide the author, date, title, and source of the work. Much of APA style referencing can be generalised. The basic format of your end-text reference will be:
Author, A. (Date). Title of the work. Source.
However, the exact formatting and details to include will be different depending on the type of work you're citing.
- Does the work stand alone, or is it a part of a larger work?
- If it is part of a larger work, you might need to include that work in the source element for your reference.
- Would a reader require more than the year of publication to locate the work you used?
- References for newspaper articles and tweets, which are published frequently but lack a volume or issue number, include the month and day; some magazines include the season.
- Is the work intended to change over time, or is it a completed work?
- Works intended to change frequently require a retrieval date unless there is a permanent link for the version you accessed.
You might need to search for some details about the work you used, but if a particular element does not exist, you don't need to include it.
Some common examples are below. If the work you want to cite doesn't exactly match one of these examples, see if there are similar elements in another reference type. For instance, edition of a book and report number are formatted similarly; and ebooks look just like print books but may include a DOI.
In-text citations are in the format (Author, Year) regardless of reference type. A parenthetical citation for each example on this page is included above the reference example. For more information about in-text citations, visit the in-text citations page.
Reference Examples
Specific reference examples
Examples of types of works that you might want to reference.
A periodical is a title that is published regularly. It may be published weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, or on some other schedule. This includes sources like journals, newspapers, and magazines.
An article in a journal or other periodical is considered a part of a larger whole. The title of the periodical the article was published in must be cited, along with the title of the article. Because the article is a part of a whole, its title is not in italics.
Format:
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of the article. Periodical Title, volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/10.xxxx
The volume, but not the issue, is in italics as well.
Not all journals have a volume, issue, or page numbers, but most have at least one of these.
If you are trying to cite an article with no volume, issue, or page number, and other articles in the same journal have this information, you may have read an article that has been made available online before its official publication, and the format is slightly different.
Journal article with DOI
In-text: (Smith & Li, 2010)
Smith, G. M., & Li, Q. (2010). The role of occupation in an integrated boycott model: A cross-regional study in China. Journal of Global Marketing, 23(2), 109-126. https://doi.org/10.1080/08911761003673421
Journal article with no DOI: print or electronic
In-text: (Panoyan et al., 2008)
Panoyan, L., Lee, S., Arar, R., Abboud, H., & Arar, N. (2008). The informed consent process in genetic family studies. Genomics, Society and Policy, 4(2), 11-20.
Journal article with an article number
Some online journals assign article numbers instead of using continuous page numbering within an issue. If you have an article like this, where you would place your page range in your reference, instead write the word "Article" followed by the article number, which may include a mix of letters and numbers. Another example can be found on the APA Style website.
In-text: (Kerr et al., 2020)
Kerr, D., Ostaszkiewicz, J., Dunning, T., & Martin, P. (2020). The effectiveness of training interventions on nurses' communication skills: A systematic review. Nurse Education Today, 89(2), Article 104405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104405
Journal article with more than 20 authors
Include the first 19 authors, then an ellipsis, and then the last author.
In-text: (Leung et al., 2015)
Leung, W., Shaffer, C. D., Reed, L., Smith, S. T., Barshop, W., Dirkes, W., Dothager, M., Lee, P., Wong, J., Xiong, D., Yuan, H., Bedard, J. E. J., Machone, J. F., Patterson, S. D., Price, A. L., Turner, B. A., Robic, S., Luippold, E. K., McCartha, S. R., . . . Elgin, S. C. R. (2015). Drosophila Muller F elements maintain a distinct set of genomic properties over 40 million years of evolution. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 5(5), 719-740. https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.114.015966
Journal article: advance online publication
If you can't find either a volume or issue number on a journal article, it is possible that the article is not yet formally published. Some terms you might see on these articles are in press, early view, or corrected proof. This means that the journal has accepted the article and made it available online ahead of formal publication. This is usually not the final version, so don't be surprised if some information changes when it is finally published officially.
To cite an article like this, omit the missing volume/issue/page number details, and add the phrase "Advance online publication" after the journal title. The date to cite is the year it was made available online.
In-text: (Grinberg & Orhon, 2020)
Grinberg, E., & Orhon, M. (2020). A scrapbook of inadmissible line complexes for the X-ray transform. Advances in Applied Mathematics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aam.2020.102028
More journal article examples are available on the APA Style website, including articles with missing information (e.g. no volume, no issue, or no page numbers for an article).
Newspaper article (print or online)
In-text: (Harlan, 2013). Even if a more specific date is included, only the year is used in your in-text citation.
Harlan, C. (2013, April 2). North Korea vows to restart shuttered nuclear reactor that can make bomb-grade plutonium. The Washington Post, A1, A4.
In-text: ("Italian Government Declares," 2019). The title takes the place of the author in-text as well. For help formatting a title in-text, see this section.
Italian government declares state of emergency in flood-ravaged Venice. (2019, November 15). The Age. https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/italian-government-set-to-declare-state-of-emergency-in-venice-20191115-p53ast.html
For online-only news sources (i.e. the news site has no print edition), articles are treated as a webpage. This means that the article title is in italics, and the site is not.
In-text: (Vrajlal, 2020)
Vrajlal, A. (2020, January 10). Thousands gather at Sydney climate rally as bushfire crisis continues. HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/bushfires-nsw-sydney-climate-rally_au_5e182ff6c5b650c621dc51d9
Magazine article
The second example here looks like an academic journal, but it is a magazine aimed at a general audience. Because it has a volume and issue number, and a DOI, include those in your reference.
In-text: (Barras, 2020)
Barras, C. (2020, May 22). All five of Earth's largest mass extinctions linked to global warming. New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2244353-all-five-of-earths-largest-mass-extinctions-linked-to-global-warming/
In-text: (Patel, 2017)
Patel, P. (2017, February). Bots in your bloodstream. Scientific American, 316(2), 15. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0217-15
Blog post
In-text: (Thomas-Bolduc, 2018)
Thomas-Bolduc, A. (2018, December 6). Discovery and invention part I: Distinctions and notations. A Philosopher's Take. https://aphilosopherstake.com/2018/12/06/discovery-and-invention-part-i-distinctions-and-notation/
Comment on an online article or blog post
If the comment does not have a title, include up to the first 20 words of the comment in place of the title.
In-text: (Casey, 2019)
Casey, A. (2019, November 17). As a redhead, I wonder if part of the reason Elizabeth shaved them off is because redhead eyebrows (and eyelashes) [Comment on the article “Friday essay: Shaves, shaped and slit – Eyebrows through the ages”]. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-shaved-shaped-and-slit-eyebrows-through-the-ages-123872
Article from a proprietary database, or works of limited circulation (not available elsewhere)
Most journal articles, even if you found them on a database, will not include information about the database. Most academic articles can be found on multiple databases, and this information is not needed to find the article.
However, some databases or archives publish original content or works that are only available in their collection; information about the source might not come up on other search engines or databases. If a reader would need to go to that specific database to retrieve the source you are trying to cite, then you should include it in the reference. There are two formats for this, depending on the type of source:
- Articles from a proprietary database: These databases publish original content that is available only in their collection. Some examples of these databases are Cochrane Systematic Reviews, MarketLine, and IBISWorld. For reports from databases like MarketLine & IBISWorld, more examples are available here.
- Treat the database as you would a journal: the article is not in italics, but the database (as the larger work) is.
- If there is no DOI and the URL will not work without a login, provide a link to the homepage of the database.
- As with other online sources, if the work is designed to change over time and there is no permanent link to the work at the time you used it, include a retrieval date. For the year, use the year of last update.
Example from a proprietary database (individual authors):
In-text: (Gordon et al., 2019)
Gordon, M., Gohil, J., & Banks, S. S. C. (2019). Parent training programmes for managing infantile colic. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012459.pub2
Example from a proprietary database (no author, content changes over time - another example available here):
In-text: (Morningstar, 2021)
Morningstar. (2021). BHP Group Limited: Financial data [Company report]. DatAnalysis. Retrieved April 12, 2021, from https://datanalysis.morningstar.com.au/
- Articles or works of limited circulation. These works are available only in one location, but not necessarily created for that database. This includes archives, university or government repositories, and preprint archives (e.g. ArXiv). Some examples are ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, ECU's Research Online repository, and ERIC.
- Treat the database as a publisher, using the format you would use for reports. The work is in italics; the database is not.
- If there is no DOI and the URL will not work without a login, provide a link to the homepage of the database or archive.
Example from a database for works of limited circulation:
In-text: (Breen, 2006)
Breen, L. (2006). Silenced voices: Experiences of grief following road traffic crashes in Western Australia [Doctoral dissertation, Edith Cowan University]. Research Online. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1776
A book is a stand-alone work, but a chapter in a book or an entry in a reference work is a part of a larger whole. Even if you are using only one chapter from a book, you will usually cite the whole work. Only include a separate reference list entry for a book chapter if:
- the author of the chapter is not the author or editor of the whole book, or
- you are citing a specific entry in a reference work like an encyclopaedia or a dictionary.
Cite the edition that you used.
All books, whether print books or ebooks (and even audiobooks), are referenced the same way. If the content is the same, you do not need to explain how you accessed it. The only difference is that ebooks might include a DOI or URL. Include a DOI if the book has one. If a book has no DOI, but is available on the internet to everyone without requiring a password, include the URL. Otherwise, do not include a link.
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if a work is a book or a webpage, especially with reference works that have a new page for each subject. As a rule of thumb, APA style says to use the webpage format only if the work could not be described in another way. Cite dictionary, encyclopaedia or Wikipedia, and NCBI Bookshelf/StatPearls entries using this format.
Format:
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of the book (xth ed.). Publisher. https://doi.org/10.xxxx
Chapter-Author, A. A. (Date). Chapter title. In E. Editor & E. E. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (xth ed., chapter page range). Publisher. https://doi.org/10.xxxx
Book (including ebooks)
In-text: (Wilcox, 2014)
Wilcox, J. (2014). Carbon capture. Springer.
In-text: (Lopez-Correa & Patrinos, 2018). Do not include roles (like editor or director) in the in-text citation.
Lopez-Correa, C., & Patrinos, G. P. (Eds.). (2018). Genomic medicine in emerging economies: Genomics for every nation. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2016-0-00703-9
In-text: (Hoffnung et al., 2019)
Hoffnung, M., Hoffnung, R. J., Seifert, K. L., Hine, A., Pause, C., Ward, L., Signal, T., Swabey, K., Yates, K., & Burton Smith, R. (2019). Lifespan development (4th Australasian ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Diagnostic manual authored by an organisation (e.g. DSM, ICD)
In-text: (American Psychiatric Association, 2022)
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
This reference is for the entire book, but individual entries in a diagnostic manual may be cited separately, in a similar way to encyclopaedia entries below.
Your in-text citation should include only the author and year. When using or discussing diagnostic manuals in your assessments, there is often an expectation that you will mention the title of the work in your discussion. Some APA style formatting rules related to italics and capitalisation dictate the way the title will appear in your writing; however, follow the instructions of the teaching staff for your unit if they prefer a different style. A section heading is used instead of page numbers to locate the quote in the example below, because there are no page numbers in the online version of this book.
Discussing a diagnostic manual in-text:
...as detailed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022). The DSM-5-TR offers criteria for each disorder that inform the judgment of "individuals with appropriate clinical training and experience" (APA, 2022, Use of Clinical Judgment section).
Chapter in a book
Use the format for a chapter in a book only when the whole book was not written by the same person, people, or group.
Cite (including in-text) the author of the chapter you used, not the book as a whole. Include the details of the overall book, including its title and editors or authors, as part of the source. This will help the reader locate the chapter, while also giving credit to the person who came up with the idea you used (the author of the chapter).
Note that the format for the editors' names in the source is E. Editor (Ed.).
In-text: (Wang, 2018)
Wang, W. (2018). Genomics and public health: China's perspective. In C. Lopez-Correa & G. P. Patrinos (Eds.), Genomic medicine in emerging economies: Genomics for every nation (pp. 27-48). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811531-2.00004-7
If the whole book was written by the same author or authors, your end-text reference should be for the whole book, even if you used only one chapter. If you would like to mention the specific chapter, this should be done in-text. For examples, click on the question How do you cite a specific part of a text?
Entry in an encyclopaedia (individual author)
In-text: (Jensen, 2015)
Jensen, R. (2015). Advocacy journalism. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The concise encyclopedia of communication (pp. 94-95). Wiley Blackwell.
Entry in an online reference work (e.g. NCBI Bookshelf)
If an online reference work has a "last update" date that differs from that of the whole book, use the date that applies to the page you used. Use the full date in the format (Year, Month Day) if available. This will be the case for many NCBI Bookshelf books, such as this StatPearls example.
In-text: (Ringer & Lappin, 2022)
Ringer, M., & Lappin, S. L. (2022, May 25). Orthostatic hypotension. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448192/
Entry in a dictionary or encyclopaedia (continually updating)
If a work is continually updating and does not provide a date when last updated, there is no fixed publication date. Use "no date" for the work, but include a retrieval date to indicate when you accessed the URL.
In-text: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Major depressive disorder. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 6, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/major%20depressive%20disorder
Wikipedia (or online dictionary with no author)
For Wikipedia entries, use a permanent link to the version you used.
In the example below, the revision date of the page on the day it was accessed was December 1, 2019. The link goes to an archived version of the page from that date. The entry for "Bird" might have changed in the time since the page was first consulted, but if you include the permanent link, the reader will be able to access the version you used to inform your work.
In-text: ("Bird," 2019). The title takes the place of the author in-text as well. For help formatting a title in-text, see this section.
Bird. (2019, December 1). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bird&oldid=928751793
Republished edition of an old or classic book
Cite the edition you read, with information about the editors of that edition in your end-text reference. Include the original publication date, without a full stop after the parentheses.
In-text: (Shakespeare, 1623/1963). Your in-text citation includes the author of the book and both original and republished dates.
Shakespeare, W. (1963). Macbeth (S. Barnet, Ed.). Signet Classic. (Original work published 1623)
Some classic works (like Shakespeare's works or the Bible) use a numbering system that is consistent across editions, and when citing specific portions it can be more helpful to use that system than to give page numbers. For example, to cite lines in Act 5, Scene 1: (Shakespeare, 1623/1963, 5.1.38-43). See the APA Style website for more information about works with canonically numbered sections.
Translated book
Similarly, cite the edition you read, and include the translator's name in the reference list entry. Include the original publication date at the end, without a full stop after the parentheses.
In-text: (Han, 2007/2015). Your in-text citation includes the author of the book and both original and translated dates.
Han, K. (2015). The vegetarian (D. Smith, Trans.). Portobello Books. (Original work published 2007)
Grey literature refers to research and reports published in a way that is not controlled by the usual commercial/academic publishing industry - for instance, government and company reports, theses, patents and standards, and conference papers. Grey literature can be more difficult to find than traditionally published materials, as it is less likely to be collected into one location.
- For your end-text reference, the URL should be the full link to the document you used, if it is freely available online. If that's not possible, link to a page where the document can be found. If a login is required, reference it as print (with no URL).
- For reports, the author is often an organisation or group. This section on the APA Style website might help you determine the author of a work where there are several possibilities.
- If multiple layers of a government organisation are listed as author on a report, use the most specific agency as the author. Include the parent organisation as publisher (up to department level, or state/country if needed to differentiate between two similarly named organisations in your reference list).
- If individual authors are credited, the organisation is listed as the publisher.
- If the group listed as author is the same as the publisher, do not include the publisher.
Most types of grey literature are considered stand-alone works.
Format:
Author. (Date). Title of work (Report No. xxx). Publisher. URL
Author, A. (Date). Thesis or dissertation title [Thesis type, awarding University]. Publisher/repository. URL
Report with a group author
In-text: (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2022)
A direct link to a PDF is preferred where possible, but some reports have a download button instead. Using the landing page for the report is also acceptable.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2022). Australia's health 2022: In brief (Cat. No. AUS 241). https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2022-in-brief/summary
Report with a group author (parent organisation as publisher)
If the group author is a government agency with multiple layers, use the most specific agency as the author. Parent agencies are treated as 'publisher' as shown in the reference below. The jurisdiction (e.g. Government of Western Australia) may be omitted from the reference if it is not required for clarity.
See here for an example with more than one layer of parent agencies.
In-text: (Women and Newborn Health Service, 2016)
Women and Newborn Health Service. (2016). Antenatal shared care: Guidelines for general practitioners (7th ed.). North Metropolitan Health Service. https://www.kemh.health.wa.gov.au/-/media/Files/Hospitals/WNHS/For-health-professionals/56-WNHS-0062-Antenatal-Shared-care-guidelines-for-GPs.pdf
Report with individual authors
In-text: (Stewart et al., 2014)
Stewart, J., Hedwards, B., Richards, K., Willis, M., & Higgins, D. (2014). Indigenous youth justice programs evaluation. Australian Institute of Criminology. https://aic.gov.au/publications/special/special-5
Report from a proprietary database
Some databases publish original content only available in their collection, and information from this source would not come up on other search engines or databases. A person following a reference to these items could only access these items from this source, which may be behind a subscription paywall, so these items are treated differently to a normal report or journal article. Some examples of these databases are MarketLine, IBISWorld, and Cochrane Systematic Reviews (see link for more examples).
A reference to articles or reports in these sources will look slightly different to normal report references: the database is in italics, rather than the title; and the URL will usually only go to the database login page, unless there is a DOI. Include a more specific date if this is printed on the title page or cover of the report.
Example of a report from a proprietary database (individual authors listed):
In-text: (Caldwell, 2020)
Caldwell, J. P. (2020). Ridesharing services in Australia (Report OD5540). IBISWorld. https://www.ibisworld.com/
Example of a report from a proprietary database (no author; database as the author):
In-text: (MarketLine, 2021)
MarketLine. (2021, April). Digital media in Australia [Industry Profile]. https://advantage.marketline.com/
Report from the United Nations or non-governmental organisation
For reports, declarations, and treaties from these organisations, use the organisation's name as the author unless a more specific author (group or individual) is named on the front or title page of the work.
Use the full date (if available). If there is a treaty or document number, include it after the title in the same way you would a normal report number.
In-text: (United Nations, 1948)
United Nations. (1948, December 10). Universal declaration of human rights. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
Technical report or standard
Often the author and the publisher of a standard are the same group. In that case, do not repeat the name.
If the standard is only accessible through a subscription database, do not include a URL. You may include a URL if the issuing body has provided an openly accessible information page (see examples here).
In-text: (Standards Australia, 2016)
Standards Australia. (2016). Pavements. Part 1: Residential (AS 3727.1:2016).
In-text: (Story et al., 2018)
Story, P., Zimmeck, S., & Sadeh, N. (2018). Which apps have privacy policies? An analysis of over one million Google Play Store apps (CMU-ISR-18-100R). Carnegie Mellon University. http://reports-archive.adm.cs.cmu.edu/anon/isr2018/CMU-ISR-18-100R.pdf
Conference paper or presentation
Include the type of paper or presentation as the format. A conference presentation might include the location of the conference.
If a conference paper has been published in a book or journal, use the book or journal article format when citing that paper.
In-text: (Jones, 1993)
Jones, P. (1993, September). Backyard bird watching [Poster presentation]. Annual Meeting of the Naturalist Club, Perth, WA, Australia.
In-text: (Smith, 2003)
Smith, C. L. (2003). Understanding concepts in the defence in depth strategy. In Proceedings of the IEEE 37th Annual 2003 International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology (pp. 8-16). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/CCST.2003.1297528
APA 7 Tutorial: Conference Presentation Reference
Learn how to format references for material presented at conference meetings or symposia, including formats for symposium contributions, paper presentations, poster sessions, and proceedings published in book or periodical form.
Academic Writer, © 2020 American Psychological Association.
Code of ethics
Reference the entire document, not a specific section. You can cite a specific section in your in-text citations or as part of your own text. It can be useful to give the name of the specific standard or section in your writing, as well as the standard number; most of your audience would not know every standard by number alone. When citing a section title in your work, that title should be in title case and within quotation marks; if mentioning the title of the code as a whole, the title should be in title case and italics.
More examples available on the APA Style website.
In-text: (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016)
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2016). Registered nurse standards for practice. http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx
Thesis/dissertation
In-text: (Kershaw, 2016)
Kershaw, L. H. (2016). Journeys towards expertise in technology-supported teaching [Doctoral dissertation, Edith Cowan University]. Research Online. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1776
Use the above format if the thesis is available online through the awarding university, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, or other websites or thesis sources. If a thesis is only available by request from the university, cite it as an unpublished thesis and give the university name as the source.
Unpublished thesis/dissertation
In-text: (Chen, 2020)
Chen, Q. (2020). The effects of learning lexical chunks on the English writing proficiency of Chinese-speaking tertiary students in Australia [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Edith Cowan University.
In-text: (Choo, 2018)
Choo, J. (2018). The XYZ group (CS-1209). Edith Cowan University. https://www.ecu.edu.au/cases/cs-1209
Where the case study is published as a stand alone item, cite as a report (as above).
Cite published case studies in the format as published (where the case study is published in a Journal Title cite as a journal article, where published as part of an edited book, cite as a book section). Include any case study reference number as part of the title.
If the case study is only available as a part of your class materials, cite as class materials.
Audiovisual media include motion pictures; audio or television broadcasts including podcasts; static objects such as maps, artwork, or photos; and streaming videos.
Academic Writer has an interactive tutorial that will help you learn to reference audiovisual works.
Film
In-text: (Bell, 1998). Do not include roles (like editor or director) in the in-text citation.
Bell, A. J. W. (Director). (1998). Lost for words [Film]. Yorkshire Television.
TV episode
In-text: (Benioff et al., 2011). Even if a more specific date is included, only the year is used in your in-text citation.
Benioff, D. (Writer), Weiss, D. B. (Writer), & Van Patten, T. (Director). (2011, April 17). Winter is coming (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In D. Benioff, G. Casady, V. Gerardis, G. R. R. Martin, C. Strauss, R. Vicinanza, & D. B. Weiss (Executive Producers), Game of thrones. Home Box Office.
YouTube or streaming video
Credit the person or group who uploaded the video as the author (e.g. the channel name), even if they did not create it. This is to help the reader find the video. If the uploader is a person using a real name, use their family name for citations as you would for any other type of work.
In-text: (Lindsey, 2022)
Lindsey, G. (2022, October 11). Revealing how The pink panther teaches English rhythm! [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfCsiF80TX0
The reference above also uses "reverse italics" because it includes the title of another work (The Pink Panther) within the italicised title.
In-text: (American Psychological Association, 2024)
American Psychological Association. (2024, April 17). First-Year writing in APA style: Advice for beginner scholarly writers [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oiZsmtHbf0
Webinar
In-text: (Boisvert, 2019)
Boisvert, H. (2019, May). How I’m using biological data to tell better stories – and spark social change [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/heidi_boisvert_how_i_m_using_biological_data_to_tell_better_stories_and_spark_social_change
Podcast
In-text: (Fink & Cranor, 2012-present). If you are citing a whole work that has been published over a number of years, include the date range both in-text and in your full end-text reference.
Fink, J., & Cranor, J. (Producers). (2012–present). Welcome to Night Vale [Audio podcast]. http://www.welcometonightvale.com/
Podcast episode
In-text: (Midgley, 2019)
Midgley, D. (Host). (2019, December 16). Words of the week of the year 2019 (No. 390) [Audio podcast episode]. In Talk the talk. http://talkthetalkpodcast.com/390-words-of-the-week-of-the-year-2019-live-qa/
Play or performance
To reference the text of a published play, reference the edition you used as a book. To reference the performance (live or recorded), then use this format. Note that many courses at ECU that commonly cite plays use a referencing style other than APA; check your assignment instructions to be sure you should be using APA 7th style.
- The director (not the writer of the text) will usually be considered the 'author' of a performance. If there is no director for a dance performance, the choreographer might be considered the author.
- The date is the performance date, not the year the play was written.
- Describe the type of performance in square brackets after the title. Include the production or theatre company as the 'publisher' in the source element.
- Many performances are only available on one streaming platform or from one provider. If the work has this type of limited distribution, you might include the URL to the database in order to help the reader locate the work.
In-text: (Fentiman, 2018)
Fentiman, M. (Director). (2018). The importance of being earnest [Recorded performance]. Classic Spring Theatre Company. https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/
Music recording
You do not need to include the medium (e.g. CD or streaming site), but if the version you used needs to be specified, you can include that information as part of the format. e.g. Title of album [Album recorded by Recording Group].
In-text: (Shocked, 1992)
Shocked, M. (1992). Over the waterfall [Song]. On Arkansas traveler. PolyGram Music.
Some parts of music referencing can be tricky. For a brief video, go to the Workshops & Videos page.
Artwork
See also Images & tables.
Note that this in-text citation is used when you mention artwork in your writing. If you are reproducing an image or a part of an image in your own work, you will need to add a caption below the image. The page on Figures, Tables, & Images has guidelines, example captions, and a video to explain the concepts.
In-text: (Chagall, 1912)
Chagall, M. (1912). Calvary [Painting]. The Museum of Modern Art, Manhattan, NY, United States. http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=79365
Software or mobile app
Provide a reference for any software or mobile app if you use a specific idea or quote from it, and also provide a reference when you mention any app or software that your audience is not likely to be familiar with. For common software and apps (e.g. Microsoft Office, Twitter, Photoshop, etc.) mentioned in your work but not quoted or paraphrased, you do not need to provide a reference list entry. If you are not sure if it is common, include a reference.
This example is for the software or app itself. For content hosted on the app (e.g. a tweet that was posted on Twitter), you should use a different format.
In-text: (Epocrates, 2019)
Epocrates. (2019). Epocrates medical references (Version 18.12) [Mobile app]. App Store. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epocrates/id281935788?mt=8
When using APA 7th style referencing, you should only use the webpage format if the source you are citing does not fit into any other category (see section 9.2 in the publication manual). For instance, an online dictionary or Wikipedia entry is a reference work that is hosted online, and a blog post is a periodical article that is hosted online. Many journal articles and books are only published electronically, but they will still be considered an article or a book. Consider whether the source you are citing could fit into another category.
For most webpage sources, you will give a more specific date than just the year to ensure that the exact source you used can be found. However, it can be more difficult to find the publication date for works found online: sometimes the only date you can find is the copyright year in the footer of the website. If you can't find the date when the content you're citing was actually published, treat it as "no date".
This section has examples of webpages, as well as other sources you might find online.
Format:
Author. (Year, Month Day). Webpage title. Website Name. URL
Webpage with an individual author
In-text: (Freeman, 2000). Even if a more specific date is included, only the year is used in your in-text citation.
Freeman, S. (2000, April 1). How anesthesia works. HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/anesthesia.htm
Webpage (no date; author name is the same as site name)
In-text: (British Society for Nanomedicine, n.d.)
British Society for Nanomedicine. (n.d.). What is nanotechnology and what is nanomedicine? https://www.britishsocietynanomedicine.org/what-isnanomedicine/
Whole website
If you are discussing a website as a whole, but you are not citing any specific content on a particular page, you do not need to include an end-text reference. Just include the web address after your first mention of the site, within your own writing.
How is a website different from a webpage? A website is a collection of webpages (or reports, videos, and so on), similar to the way a journal or magazine is a collection of articles. You may wish to discuss a whole website or journal—for instance, to evaluate its credibility—but if you are citing information found on a website, you should provide a reference to the specific page or pages you used.
KidsPsych (http://www.kidspsych.org) is an interactive website for children…
Online-only news source
Most newspaper articles will use the format shown in the periodicals section. However, for online-only news sources (e.g. BBC News, HuffPost, ABC News), articles are treated as a webpage. This means that the article title is in italics, and the site is not.
In-text: (Vrajlal, 2020)
Vrajlal, A. (2020, January 10). Thousands gather at Sydney climate rally as bushfire crisis continues. HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/bushfires-nsw-sydney-climate-rally_au_5e182ff6c5b650c621dc51d9
In-text: (Brown, 2015)
Brown, C. (2015, May 22). What's the best, most effective way to take notes? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-most-effective-way-to-take-notes-41961
Online sources designed to change
Some online sources do not have one specific publication date, because they are designed to change frequently. If the page or entry has a permanent or stable link that will retrieve an archived version of the page as it looked when you accessed it, include that link and reference the page as normal (see the Wikipedia example below).
If the page does not have a permanent link to the version you used, include a retrieval date so the reader will be aware that the page they accessed might not contain the same information you saw.
In-text: (Bureau of Meteorology, n.d.)
Bureau of Meteorology. (n.d.). Perth forecast. Retrieved February 17, 2020, from http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/perth.shtml
Online source with permanent link (Wikipedia; no author)
For frequently-updating sources where a permanent or archive link exists for the version you used, there might be a publication date included for the material. The publication date for this Wikipedia article is the date for the version I accessed in January 2020.
Note that Wikipedia is treated as a reference work, not a webpage source, so its format will look different to others on this page.
In-text: ("Bird," 2019). The title takes the place of the author in-text as well. For help formatting a title in-text, see this section.
Bird. (2019, December 1). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bird&oldid=928751793
Class materials, e.g. lecture notes and case studies from your unit site
If the class materials you would like to reference are on a closed site (such as Canvas), you can still reference them if you expect that the people reading your work will have access to that site, name the site and link to the login page only. If they are on a closed site, and you are writing for publication, or you expect your readers would not have access to the site, then you should either find another source or cite as personal communications.
If the materials you would like to cite are available online to anyone, include the full link. Items in your reading list or linked in your unit site may actually be journal articles, book chapters, or something else. If this is the case, use the reference type for a journal article, book chapter, etc.
For class materials, use the full date if you can find it. Many lecture notes will not have the date displayed, but if your lecturer uploaded the notes on Canvas there might be a publication date for the post.
Class materials in the unit site (e.g. Canvas)
In-text: (Watson, 2020)
Watson, S. (2020, March 5). Structuring your report: ENS1000 A3 report [Lecture notes]. Canvas. https://courses.ecu.edu.au/
Lecture notes available online
In-text: (de Haan, 2018). Use the capitalisation and spelling used by the author.
de Haan, M. (2018). Lecture 1: Introduction and review of statistics [PowerPoint slides]. University of Oslo, Department of Economics. https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/sv/oekonomi/ECON4150/v18/lecture1_intro-reviewofprobability.pdf
This format is the same as the format used for reports, streaming videos, etc. If you would like to cite a lecture you watched on Panopto, Canvas or YouTube, cite it similarly to the above examples, changing the type as appropriate, e.g. [Panopto lecture for ENS1000]. Make sure there is enough information for the reader to be able to find the exact lecture you are citing.
For more information, see the APA Style website: online course materials; classroom/intranet sources; PowerPoint slides.
YouTube or streaming video
Credit the person or group who uploaded the video as the author, even if they did not create it. This is to help the reader find the video.
Include the screen name in brackets after the uploader's real name, if both are known.
In-text: (McDonnell, 2011). If both real name and username are included, only cite the real family name in-text.
McDonnell, C. [charlieissocoollike]. (2011, May 17). Stop procrastinating [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/charlie#p/u/4/qjIsdbBsE8g
In-text: (Energy Futures Lab, 2019)
Energy Futures Lab. (2019, January 18). The liquid metal battery: Innovation in stationary electricity storage [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiRrvxjrJ1U
Blog post
A blog post is treated as a periodical source in APA style.
In-text: (Thomas-Bolduc, 2018)
Thomas-Bolduc, A. (2018, December 6). Discovery and invention part I: Distinctions and notations. A Philosopher's Take. https://aphilosopherstake.com/2018/12/06/discovery-and-invention-part-i-distinctions-and-notation/
Social media
This format is used when the content you are citing is a social media post of some sort. If you found another source through social media, you should cite the work you used. You do not need to say how you found it.
Social media references with no title should include up to the first 20 words of the post, using the spelling and capitalisation of the original source. You do not need to change this content to sentence case. Include any emojis if you can. If there are any audiovisual elements, note their presence in square brackets after the title.
These references are unusual in an academic context, so it might be helpful to include a description of the type of work you're citing (Status update, Twitter profile, Online forum post, etc.) in your reference. The type should be within square brackets, before the punctuation for the title element. In some cases, you will have two sets of information in brackets at the end of the title, as in this example:
In-text: (Evans, 2020)
Evans, C. [@ChrisEvans]. (2020, March 24). I know these are hugely challenging times for SO many folks around the world. Here are some fantastic ways [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans/status/1242170836754276365
For a profile or timeline page that is intended to change over time with new updates, use "no date" for the publication date and include a retrieval date indicating when you accessed the page.
In-text: (Ardern, n.d.)
Ardern, J. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/jacindaardern/
If you use software and AI tools to generate images or text, analyse data, or in any way help create your work, this use should be acknowledged. Similarly, code and data originally created or gathered by someone else must be cited, even when you have transformed it into a new product.
The version of the software you use affects the output, so it must be included in your reference. You may also need to include the software version within your writing as part of your acknowledgement of use.
Format:
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of the software/app (Version x.x) [Description]. Publisher or app store name. URL
The author is the creator of the software, tool, or dataset. If you are citing code or data that does not have a title, describe the contents in brackets in place of the title. The description should explain what kind of item you are citing, in brackets and with sentence case capitalisation. Examples: Software, Mobile app, Data set, Source code, AI image generation tool. Provide a link to where the app or software can be downloaded or accessed.
Artificial intelligence tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Midjourney, Bard)
AI tools are new and constantly developing, so this guidance may change over time.
If you have used an AI tool, you must acknowledge that use as a part of academic integrity. Note that each unit you take will have different rules for how you may use an AI tool or text generator; you should clarify with your lecturer if your use is appropriate before you rely on one of these tools for help. You may wish to keep a copy of your prompts and the responses generated by the AI tool, in case you need to show someone else how you used it.
All use of AI tools should be acknowledged with a written statement at end of your assignment, including 1) which tools you used, and the version number, and 2) how you used them. For example:
Acknowledgement: I acknowledge the use of ChatGPT (Version 4) to brainstorm ideas for the structure of my assessment and to help me understand what cultural norms are. I used Grammarly Go to help edit my draft.
Images used in this presentation were created using DALL-E.
In some assessments, you may also need to make a declaration that your work is your own and that you have appropriately cited or acknowledged all resources you have used to assist you. Please read these declarations carefully when you submit. A declaration may look like this:
More examples of ways to acknowledge your use can be found on the APA's official APA Style Blog. If you are a law student using AGLC4 style, follow the advice on the AGLC Legal Citation page.
Generative AI tools should not be used as a source of information for your assessments, so in most cases you would not directly reference their output outside of your acknowledgement. Locate more credible and authoritative sources to support the information they generate, and reference those sources instead. However, you may need to include in-text citations in addition to your acknowledgement, if you have created an image or have decided to quote or paraphrase information provided by the tool. You must include an end-text reference if you have an in-text citation for an AI tool. You may also need to include an end-text reference for the AI tool in your reference list, even if you have not cited its use directly; check with your unit teaching staff.
The format for your reference follows the software format. The author is the creator of the software, not the AI tool itself. You should include the version of the AI tool that you used.
In-text: (OpenAI, 2022)
OpenAI. (2022). ChatGPT (Version 3.5) [AI text generation tool]. https://chat.openai.com/
Note that the version of ChatGPT and similar AI tools is likely to change frequently, as the creators edit or update the code and parameters. Check for the version of the tool you are using each time you use it, and record it with the output. The format of a version number may look unusual, but report the details you see. For example: (March 23 version), (Version V1), or (Version 3.3.070).
Software or mobile app
Provide a reference and an in-text citation for any software or mobile app if you use a specific idea or quote from it. You should also provide a reference (including the version) for apps or software used to help create your work, analyse your data, or generate images. Common software and apps (e.g. Microsoft Office, Twitter, Photoshop, etc.) mentioned in your work do not require a reference list entry. If you are not sure if it is common, include a reference.
This example is for the software or app itself. For content hosted on the app (e.g. a tweet that was posted on Twitter), you should use a different format, as shown in the Online sources section.
In-text: (Epocrates, 2019)
Epocrates. (2019). Epocrates medical references (Version 18.12) [Mobile app]. App Store. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epocrates/id281935788?mt=8
In-text: (Xyris, 2019)
Xyris. (2019). FoodWorks (Version 10) [Software]. https://support.xyris.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/115001541211-Download-and-install-FoodWorks-10
Sample acknowledgement of use:
The data were analysed with FoodWorks (Version 10).
Data sets
Cite a data set when you are analysing and discussing data previously published elsewhere. If you gathered data yourself as part of a research project, you generally do not need to cite it when writing about the project. More information from the APA Style website.
If the data publisher and the author are the same organisation, do not repeat the organisation's name.
In-text: (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2023)
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2023). Chronic health conditions among culturally and linguistically diverse Australians, 2021 - Age-specific percentage [Data set]. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cald-australians/chronic-conditions-cald-2021/data
In accordance with APA 7th Style, Australian legal materials should be cited following the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) rules.
- A few sample legal references are given below. For more detailed explanation on applying AGLC in APA 7th Style, see the Australian Legal Materials referencing page.
- AGLC uses the term 'pinpoint' to refer to specifically cited pages, paragraphs, sections, clauses etc. See the AGLC Abbreviations for legislative materials or refer to the AGLC manual, Rules 1.1.6-1.1.7 (case law) & Rule 3.1.4 (legislation).
- See: Quick Guide to Citing Acts & Bills using APA (PDF)
Statute (Act of Parliament) or Delegated Legislation (Regulations, Rules, Orders)
Written law passed by a legislative body, e.g. Federal or State Parliament
In-text: (Mental Health Act 2014 (WA), s. 5(a))
Mental Health Act 2014 (WA).
High Court Rules 2004 (Cth).
Bill
Draft form of a statute (Act) before being introduced and passed by Parliament
In-text: (Police Amendment Bill 2006 (WA), cl. 8)
Police Amendment Bill 2006 (WA).
Explanatory memorandum
A document outlining the objectives and provisions of a Bill
In-text: (Explanatory Memorandum, Police Amendment Bill 2006 (WA), p. 2)
Explanatory Memorandum, Police Amendment Bill 2006 (WA).
Parliamentary debate (Hansard)
Hansard is the official record of parliamentary debates / proceedings in the Australian Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly
In-text: (Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 16 August 2000, p. 389 [Kevin Prince])
Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 16 August 2000.
Quasi-legislative materials (e.g. gazettes, delegated legislation issued by non-government entities)
Includes: Notices concerning legislation, professional conduct rules, ASX listing rules and similar
In-text: (Western Australia, Western Australian Government Gazette, No 30, 28 February 2014, p. 526)
Western Australia, Western Australian Government Gazette, No 30, 28 February 2014.
Coroner's inquest report
In-text: (Inquest into the Death of Tyler Jordan Cassidy (Coroner's Court of Victoria, State Coroner Coate, 23 November 2011) p. 59 para. 282 ('Tyler Cassidy'))
Inquest into the Death of Tyler Jordan Cassidy (Coroner's Court of Victoria, State Coroner Coate, 23 November 2011).
Reported case
Cases are reported in law report series. The law report series are ordered by volume or by year; see the Australian Legal Materials referencing page for more information.
In-text: (Stubley v Western Australia (2011) 242 CLR 374, p. 378) / (Rowe v McCartney [1976] 2 NSWLR 72, p. 74)
Stubley v Western Australia (2011) 242 CLR 374.
Rowe v McCartney [1976] 2 NSWLR 72.
Unreported case / judgment
Initial court judgment, not reported in a law report series. Assigned a unique court ID by the court (since 1998) or written out in full (before 1998)
In-text: (Markopoulous v Wedlock [2008] WASC 3, para. 4)
Markopoulous v Wedlock [2008] WASC 3.
Barton v Chibber (Supreme Court of Victoria, Hampel J, 29 June 1989).
If you can't see an example of the type of work you would like to cite, or you would like to see more examples to understand how to create your own references, visit the APA Style website for more examples.