What is APA Style?
APA Style is a referencing, formatting, and citation style used in scholarly writing, most often in the social sciences. It can be used for papers, presentations, courses, and anywhere else where scholarly writing appears.
In CTLI, we use the latest version, APA-7e, in our courses and the course design process.
APA Style
Why cite and reference?
Practicing correct citations and referencing is important in academic work for many reasons, including to:
- give credit to the authors of the sources you used
- provide readers with more information about sources
- demonstrate your credibility
- keep the user experience consistent
- prevent plagiarism and protect the academic integrity of the college
Quick Guide
APA Style can be broken into 3 main elements:
- In-text citations appear in the body text of your writing and should:
- clearly indicate when information is from a source
- provide enough information for a reader to find the source in your references page
- References are listed in a reference list at the end of your written content (at the end of the paper or the course, etc.). This list should have information about every source you used so that a reader can find them if needed.
- Formatting: This is how your content looks, including spacing, font style and size, page numbers, etc.
Note that for the purposes of this page, using APA style for courses and course design, we will only cover in-text citations and references, not formatting. For more on formatting, please see the APA style webpage or our APA guide for student papers.
Each time you paraphrase or quote from a source, identify the source to your reader. When you paraphrase, provide the author and year; when you quote, provide the author, year, and page number. Use either a parenthetical or a narrative citation.
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Paraphrases Ideas you have summarized from a source, but have not used the exact words. |
Quotations Using a source’s exact words. |
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Parenthetical Citation An in-text citation that appears entirely in (parentheses). |
Format: Ideas and information paraphrased from a source (Author, year). Example: Students who attended optional study skills workshops had a greater chance of achieving higher grades (Blake et al., 2019). |
Format: Some context or transition to lead in to the "exact words borrowed from the source" (Author, year, page). Example: A recent study of student plagiarism found that “plagiarism is often a matter of confusion rather than deception” (Horváth & Kovács, 2020, p. 4). |
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Narrative Citation An in-text citation that is part of a sentence's structure instead of appearing in parentheses. |
Format: Author (year) found/studied/argued/established/etc. some information or ideas. Example: Blake et al. (2019) found that students who attended optional study skills workshops had a greater chance of achieving higher grades. |
Format: According to Author (year), "exact words borrowed" (page). Example: Horváth and Kovács (2020) argue that “plagiarism is often a matter of confusion rather than deception” (p. 4). |
How to cite, with examples
Single Author
Use the last name of the author, a comma, the publication date, and if quoting, the page number(s).
Examples
- It is not often that women will litigate, but if they do, they are usually representing themselves (Belknap, 2001).
- In the “rare cases where women conducted litigation in court, they were usually there on their own behalf” (Belknap, 2001, p. 341).
- Belknap (2001) advises that, in the “rare cases where women conducted litigation in court, they were usually there on their own behalf” (p. 341).
Two Authors
Use the last names of the authors, in the order they appear in the publication.
An ampersand is used before the last author when the authors’ names are in the brackets. Use “and” if they are not.
Examples
- The fourth stage, formal operations, is characterized by the differences in the child’s ability to understand their world, and what their reasoning ability is has a very direct bearing on their behaviour, their interactions with adults and peers, and their overall problem solving capability (Bisback & Kopf-Johnson, 2010).
- Bisback and Kopf-Johnson (2010) determined the fourth stage, formal operations, is characterized by the differences in the child’s ability to understand their world, and what their reasoning ability is has a very direct bearing on their behaviour, their interactions with adults and peers, and their overall problem solving capability.
Three or More Authors
List only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in all citations of the source. There is NO comma after the author’s name.
The authors for the following examples are Crimmins, S. M., Langley, S. C., Brownstein, H. H., and Spunt, B. J.
Examples
- Women who have killed their children, however, may not only suffer a great deal of guilt for their crime, they are also shunned by society at large and within the prison system (Crimmins et al., 2006).
- Crimmins et al. (2006) assert that women who have killed their children, however, may not only suffer a great deal of guilt for their crime, they are also shunned by society at large and within the prison system.
YouTube
Use the name of the video uploader, type as is, and use the year and date uploaded, but not the month and day.
Example
- (Nucleus Medical Media, 2013)
Key terms:
- A reference entry is for a single source and includes all the information your reader would need to find that source.
- References refers to multiple reference entries, or sometimes reference entries in general.
- References page or References list is the entire list of reference entries at the end of your paper.
Most reference entries have four main parts:
- Author – Who wrote/made this source? This is usually a person, group of people, or organisation.
- Date – When was this source published?
- Title – What is this source called?
- Location information – Where can your reader find this source?
This chart might help that make sense:
| Author | Date | Title | Locating information | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher, periodical, website, etc. | DOI or URL | |||
| One author: Author, A. A. |
Year: (2020). |
Book: Title of book. |
Publisher info: Publisher Name. |
https://doi.org/xxx OR https://xxx OR Retrieved Month date, year, from https://xxx |
| Multiple authors: Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (list all authors up to and including 20 authors) |
Year & month: (2020, January). |
Article: Title of article. |
Periodical info: Title of Periodical, volume(issue), pp-pp. |
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| Group author: Name of Group. |
Year & date: (2020, March 17). |
Webpage: Title of work. |
Website Name: Site Name |
|
Common examples of reference entries
- Journal Article (with DOI)
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803
- Online Newspaper or Magazine Article
Hess, A. (2019, March 27). People don’t bribe college officials to help their kids. They do it to help themselves. The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/magazine/people-dont-bribe-college-officials-to-help-their-kids-they-do-it-to-help-themselves.html
- Online video
Theory & Philosophy. (2022, May 21). Michel Foucault’s “the subject and power” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS1OQQnTBJA
- Book (printed version, no doi or url)
Oakes, C., & Cooper, A. (1994). Early childhood programs in community colleges (3rd ed.). Seal Press.
- Webpage with individual author
Colcutt, M. (n.d.). Early Japan (50,000 BC – 710 AD). Japan Society. https://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/early_japan_50000bc_710ad
- Chapter in an edited book
Lyon, D., Haggerty, K., & Ball, K. (2012). Introducing surveillance studies. In K. Ball, K. Haggerty, & D. Lyon (Eds.), Routledge handbook of surveillance studies (pp. 1–5). Routledge.
- Online document or report with group author
Parks Canada. (2019). Minister’s round table on Parks Canada 2017. https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/agence-agency/dp-pd/trm-mrt/rapport-report
Resources
- Perdue/OWL: In-text citations: The basics
- Lethbridge College APA Guide
- For help citing images and figures, see this webpage
- If you’d like even more detail, the APA Style folks published a webinar: Citing Works in Text Using Seventh Edition APA Style.
- Perdue/OWL: Reference list: The basics
- Lethbridge College APA Guide
- Electronic references: Reference List: Electronic Sources
- If you’d like even more detail, the APA Style folks published a webinar: Creating References Using Seventh Edition APA Style, a guide to common reference examples, and a page devoted to different types of sources.
APA guides tend to be webpages or documents with explanations and examples of how to apply APA Style to your specific situation. They are not meant to be read start-to-finish but to be searched when you have a question. For example, if you wanted to know how to write a reference entry for a webpage with no author, you might search an APA guide for “no author” or “webpage.”
The Following APA guides are available through APA Style:
- The Full APA Style guidelines are printed in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: The Official Guide to APA Style. At 427 pages long, it is very detailed. Available for purchase on the APA website or most university bookstores.
- The Concise Guide to APA Style or the Mastering APA Style Workbook may be more useful and less intimidating. Available for purchase on the APA website or most university bookstores.
- The APA Style website. Of the online APA Guides we recommend, this is the most detailed and official, which also means it can be more intimidating.
And these are the most popular APA guides not produced by APA Style:
- Part 2 of our APA Student Guide. This is available as a free PDF on this webpage. Lethbridge College students, faculty, and staff can also purchase a physical copy from our Bookstore.
- Purdue Owl’s online guide to APA. This site is popular among students because it’s relatively concise and simple and tends to show up near the top of Google searches. However, it might not have all of the examples and explanations you need. And, if you’re not careful, you can easily find yourself on Purdue Owl’s guide to older APA editions or other citation styles. Make sure you’re on an APA 7e Style page, not an APA 6e or MLA page.
FAQ
We use APA style in academic writing at Lethbridge College. You should also use proper APA referencing for:
- Credibility: APA makes your work more professional, and sources strengthen your argument. Just like you wouldn’t trust a treatment recommendation from someone without credentials, your sources matter in your research.
- Giving credit: As an academic, it’s important to credit others for their work and ideas and protect your academic integrity. Not doing so can get you—and potentially the college—into serious trouble.
- Setting an example: As an instructor or role model for students, using proper referencing and citation techniques and demonstrating academic integrity sets the stage for students.
Free citation generators and AI tools can help create reference lists or check for proper techniques, but they are not always correct. It is important to double-check the information for errors and formatting.
You can try citation generators like Citation Machine and Scribbr. You can also use ChatGPT with prompts, such as “rewrite this reference in proper APA 7e style.”
In APA, an image is called a figure. All figures should be labelled (typically with a number and title), but they only need to be cited if you do not own or create them yourself.
- So, if you made and included a pie chart with the content, you’d give it a number and title but wouldn’t have to cite it in a figures list. But if you used a pie chart from an article, you’d have to give it a number and a title, and cite it in a figures list.
Copyright law governs the re-use of images. Most images in books and on websites are owned by somebody. In Canada, you can legally reuse an image for educational purposes under Fair Dealing, but you must indicate the original source.
Resources:
- This website from Columbia College covers more details on using images, charts, graphs, maps & tables
- This blog post offers some short, easy-to-read advice on choosing and using images that don’t belong to you.
“Indigenous knowledge systems represent the accumulated experience, wisdom, and know-how unique to nations, societies, and/or communities of people living in specific environments of America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These knowledge systems represent the accumulated knowledge of what was over 70 per cent of the earth’s land mass before the era of colonization in the past few centuries – some ten thousand distinct Peoples and cultures. In the past, Euro-centric knowledge has condescendingly associated Indigenous knowledge with the primitive, the wild, and the natural.”
(Gregory Younging, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, 2018, p. 111)
APA Style is designed with the intention of sharing knowledge in an ethical and standardized way. However, those ethics and standards are written from a Western perspective and may conflict with Indigenous Protocols. Colonizers and Western academics have a long history of stealing, misusing, and de-valuing Indigenous Knowledge and Knowledge Keepers. When we learn how to seek and share Indigenous Knowledge according to Indigenous Protocols, we take a small but important step toward healing the wounds of that history.
APA Style does have a chapter on bias-free writing (pp. 131-49) and a section on “Citing Traditional Knowledge and Oral Traditions of Indigenous People” (pp. 260-61). They also have a webpage on citing Indigenous Knowledge Keepers. This can be a good place to start. However, these recommendations are still limited and written from a Western academic point of view.
Citing Oral Traditional Knowledge
APA Style recommends citing Oral Knowledge from an Elder or Knowledge Keeper the same way you would cite a personal communication (such as an email, interview, text message, etc.). This method excludes the Elder from your references list and fails to acknowledge Community Affiliations and Protocols. But such Knowledge is carefully curated and peer-reviewed and should be listed as an authoritative reference when re-shared.> Instead of following the APA guidelines, we recommend using the template published by Lorisia Macleod (James Smith Cree Nation) when citing an Elder or Knowledge Keeper:
Template
Last name, First initial., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. Where they live if applicable.
Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.
Examples
Weasel Moccasin, P. (Miiniipokaa [Berry Child]), Kainai Nation. Blackfoot Treaty/Treaty 7. Lives in
Standoff. Oral teaching. personal communication. January 29, 2021.
Cardinal, D., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching.
personal communication. April 4, 2004.
Notes
When approaching an Elder, be sure to follow their Protocols. If you are unsure of their Protocols, ask ahead of time.
When re-sharing information shared by and Elder, be sure to follow their Protocols for sharing. If you are unsure of their sharing Protocols, ask them. If these Protocols conflict with APA guidelines, follow the Elder’s Protocols. If you’re worried the Elder’s Protocols may conflict with your instructor’s (or publisher’s) guidelines, discuss this with your instructor, preferably before submitting the assignment.
Further Resources
- For more explanation on the template above, see Lorisia MacLeod’s 2021 paper More than Personal CommunicationL Templates for Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, published through KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 5(1), https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.135
- The Four Feather Writing Guide published by Royal Roads University is a student writing guide based in Costal Salish Traditions, especially those of the Cowichan Nation (shared through Elder Shirley Alphonse) and SC’I ÁNEW̱ Nation (shared through Elder Nadine Charles).
- Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing by and about Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging (2018) of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, published through Brush Education. This is written as a guide for professional writers and publishers, but is exceptionally accessible yet informative.
- Indigenous Information Literacy published through Kwantlen Polytechnic and authored by Rachel Chong is available as an open resource online. This resource outlines guidelines to ethically seek and verify Traditional Knowledge and reshare that knowledge in an academic setting.
- “Re-Defining Academic Integrity: Embracing Indigenous Truths,” authored by Yvonne Poitras Pratt and Keeta Gladue, which appears in Chapter 5 of Academic Integrity in Canada (2022), available as an open-source PDF download here. Pratt and Gladue include a full Relational Acknowledgement on p. 104, but speak from a primarily Cree and Michif (Cree-Métis) Perspective.
- Principles of Indigenous Academic Integrity, both a video and PDF booklet prepared by Keeta Gladue (Sucker Creek Cree and Métis Nations), available here.
- Simon Fraser University and Norquest College Library provide further examples of APA-style in-text citations and reference entries for citing Elders.
- Your local Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Elders.
- Your institution’s Indigenous Services/Department, and/or staff/faculty, provided it is in their job description or interest to support you in this manner.
Lethbridge College students, staff, and faculty can get support learning, applying, and teaching APA through workshops, appointments, email, etc. by contacting the Learning Café.
