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Citation Guide: APA

APA Style

Always ask your supervisor about the style you should use in your theses. In case you are using APA style, ask also should you use edition 6 or 7.

APA Manuals (7. p.)

APA Style In-Text Citations
APA Style References
APA Style Reference Examples

Bibliography - APA 7

Here you have some examples on how to add different source types into your bibliography using APA 7th (American Psychological Association) -style. 

When referring to a book, the following bibliographic information is entered in the bibliographic list:

  • Provide the author, year of publication, title, and publisher of the book. Use the same format for both print books and ebooks.
  • Use the copyright date shown on the book’s copyright page as the year of publication in the reference, even if the copyright date is different than the release date.
  • Include any edition information in parentheses after the title, without italics.
  • If the book includes a DOI, include the DOI in the reference after the publisher name.
  • Do not include the publisher location.
  • If the ebook without a DOI has a stable URL that will resolve for readers, include the URL of the book in the reference. 

Some examples:

Bennett, D. (2005). The art orecaf pst concrete: Colour, texture, expression. .Birkhäuser https://doi.org/10.1007/3-7643-7668-6

Ympäristöministeriö. (2016). Eläköön lähiö!: 22 reseptiä lähiöelämään. Ympäristöministeriö.

   Meikäläinen, M. & Virtanen, V. (2020). Title. Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx
   Meikäläinen, M. (2020). Title. Publisher. http://www.xxxxxx
   Meikäläinen, M. (ed.). (2020). Title of the edited work. Publisher.

 

Article from the edited book:

 

Merchant, G. (2017). Hands, Fingers and iPads. In: C. Burnett, G. Merchant, A. Simpson & M. Walsh (Eds.), The Case of the iPad: Mobile literacies in education (pp. 245–256). Springer.

 

  • Merchant, G. = author of the article
  • (2017) = year of publication
  • Hands, Fingers and iPads = atitle of the article
  • C. Burnett, G. Merchant, A. Simpson & M. Walsh = editors
  • The Case of the iPad: Mobile literacies in education = title of the book
  • (s. 245–256) = pages of the article
  • Springer = publisher

 

 

The method varies somewhat depending on whether the article is included in a magazine or an edited book.

  • Author name
  • Publication year
  • In case the article is not publisher jet, you add (in print, in press). In case of a manuscript, you add (manuscript).
  • Article title
  • Title of the journal (or a book) in italics + volume and number.
  • Article page numbers.

 

Article in a journal:

Herbst-Damm, K. L. & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24(2), 225–229. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225 

Article in an edited publication:

Merchant, G. (2017). Hands, Fingers and iPads. Teoksessa C. Burnett, G. Merchant, A. Simpson & M. Walsh (toim.), The Case of the iPad: Mobile literacies in education,  245–256). Springer.

Article in a journal without DOI number:

Sillick, T. J. & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. Sensoria: A Journal of Mind, Brain & Culture, 2(2), 38–48. http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap

Light, M. A. & Light, I. H. (2008). The geographic expansion of Mexican immigration in the United States and its implications for local law enforcement. Law Enforcement Executive Forum Journal 8(1), 73–82.

In print:

Woods, R. K. (In print). Technique for myocardial protection in pulmonary atresia intact ventricular septum. The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Journal article with an article number

Jerrentrup, A., etc. (2018). Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House.” PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972

  • If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word “Article” and then the article number instead of the page range.

Examples of different types of publications:

 

Conference proceeding:

Fahrenberg, U., Jipsen, P. & Winter, M. (toim.). (2020). Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 12062. Relational and Algebraic Methods in Computer Science: 18th International Conference, RAMiCS 2020, Palaiseau, France, April 8–11, 2020, Proceedings. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21070-9

   

  Article in conference publication:

Katz, I., Gabayan, K. & Aghajan, H. (2007). A multi-touch surface using multiple cameras. In J. Blanc-Talon, W. Philips, D. Popescu & P. Scheunders (toim.), Lecture notes in Computer Science: Vol 4678. Advanced concepts for Intelligent Vision Systems, 97–108. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74607-2_9

 

Article in a periodical:

Rönkkö, T., etc., (2017). Traffic is a major source of atmospheric nanocluster aerosol. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(29), 7549–7554. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1700830114

 

Published in another publication:

Viitanen, K. & Reiman, T. (25.–29.6.2017). Building an adaptive safety culture in a nuclear construction project - insights to safety practitioners [Conferece paper].7th Resilience Engineering International Symposium, Liège, Belgium. http://www.resilience-engineering-association.org/resources/symposium-papers/2017-liege-luik-b/

When you use an electronic material as a source, the bibliographic list must also indicate how to access that material. 

  • If possible, use permanent link to the source. E.g., DOI, URN, Handle or permalink. 
  • address to database or e.g. Internet Archive 
  • URL address

Examples:

Aivelo, T. (2018, January 18). Miksi plagiointi on väärin? [Blog post]. Retrieved 6.10.2022 from https://www.tiede.fi/blogit/kaiken-takana-loinen/miksi-plagiointi-vaarin

Hakala, J. (2017). E-viittaamisen ihanuus ja kurjuus. Informaatiotutkimus, 36(2),  77–85. https://doi.org/10.23978/inf.65190

 

 

Enter the author, publication year, title and publication channel. 

 

Tiiro, A. (2018). Effect of visual realism on cybersickness in virtual reality (Master's thesis, University of Oulu).  http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201802091218

 

Oikarinen, E. (2018). Perspectives on humor in recruitment advertising on the Internet (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oulu). Acta Universitatis Ouluensis. G, Oeconomica, 97.  http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789526218397

 Artwork in a museum or on a museum website 

van Gogh, V. (1889). The starry night [Painting]. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh-the-starry-night-1889/

  • Use this format to cite all types of museum artwork, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings, digital art, crafts, and installations.
  • List the artist as the author of the work.
  • Always include a description of the medium or format in square brackets after the title. The description is flexible (e.g., a general description such as “[Painting]” or a more specific description such as “[Oil painting]” or “[Oil on canvas]”).
  • For untitled artwork, include a description in square brackets in place of a title.
  • The name and location of the museum appear in the source element of the reference.
  • Provide a link to the artwork on the museum website if available.

Art exhibition

Design for eternity: Architectural models from the ancient Americas [Art exhibition]. (2015–2016). The Met Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/design-for-eternity

Martinez, J.-L., & Douar, F. (2018–2019). Archaeology goes graphic [Art exhibition]. The Louvre, Paris, France. https://www.louvre.fr/en/expositions/archaeology-goes-graphic

  • Provide the curator(s) of the exhibition in the author element of the reference.
  • When the curator is unknown, move the title of the exhibition to the author position of the reference.
  • The year or range of years of the exhibition appears in the date element of the reference.
  • The name and location of the museum appear in the source element of the reference.
  • Provide a link to the exhibition on the museum website if available.

Film or Movie

Fleming, V. (Director). (1939). Gone with the wind [Film]. Selznick International Pictures; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

  • Provide the director in the author element of the reference, followed by the notation “(Director).”
  • Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple production companies with a semicolon.

TV series

Serling, R. (Executive Producer). (1959–1964). The twilight zone [TV series]. Cayuga
Productions; CBS Productions.

  • Provide the executive producer(s) in the author element of the reference.
  • When there is one executive producer, use the notation “(Executive Producer).” When there are multiple executive producers, provide the notation once after all the producers’ names, the same as you would the notation “(Eds.)” for an edited book: “(Executive Producers).”
  • Provide the year(s) during which the series aired in the date element of the reference.
  • If the series is still airing at the time you are writing the paper, replace the second year with “present”: (2017–present).
  • Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple production companies with a semicolon.

Episode in a TV show

Favreau, J. (Writer), & Filoni, D. (Director). (2019, November 12). Chapter 1 (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. InFavreau, J. (Writer), & Filoni, D. (Director). (2019, November 12). Chapter 1 (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In J. Favreau, D. Filoni, K. Kennedy, & C. Wilson (Executive Producers), The Mandalorian. Lucasfilm; Golem Creations.

Sherman-Palladino, A. (Writer & Director). (2018, December 5). All alone (Season 2, Episode 10) [TV series episode]. In A. Sherman-Palladino, D. Palladino, D. Gilbert, M. Shapiro, S. Carino, & S. Lawrence (Executive Producers), The marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions; Picrow; Amazon Studios.

  • Include the writers and directors for the episode. Include the contributor’s role in parentheses after each name.
  • If one person performed multiple roles, combine the descriptions with an ampersand.
  • Provide the season number and episode number after the title in parentheses.
  • Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple production companies with a semicolon.

Music

Picker, T., & McClatchy, J. D. (1995). Emmeline: An opera in two acts [Study score]. Schott Music.
Gilbert, W. S., & Sullivan, A. (2012). The Mikado in full score (C. Simpson & E. H. Jones, Eds.) [Musical score]. Dover Publications. (Original work published 1885)

  • Provide the composer and librettist in the author element of the reference for a musical score. Present the names in the order shown on the work.
  • Specify the type of score in square brackets (e.g., “[Musical score],” “[Piano score],” “[Vocal score],” “[Study score]”).
  • If the score has been edited, provide the editors’ names in parentheses after the title of the score.
  • For an older score that has been republished, provide the year of the republication in the main date element of the reference. Provide the year of original publication at the end of the reference in parentheses after the words “Original work published.”
  • Both publication years appear in the in-text citation, separated with a slash, with the earlier year first.

 

Blog

Morton, S. (2020, January 12). A midlife crisis or a midlife unraveling? PsychCentral. https://psychcentral.com/blog/a-midlife-crisis-or-a-midlife-unraveling/

Facebook page

Community of Multiculturalism. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved 14.10.2022, from https://www.facebook.com/communityofmulticulturalism/

  • Use the page title in the reference (e.g., “Home,” “About,” “Reviews”). Italicize the page title.
  • Include the notation “[Facebook page]” in square brackets.
  • Provide a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and is not archived.
  • Provide the URL of the page.

 

To cite laws (also commonly referred to as statutes or acts) in APA Style, include the name of the law, “U.S.C.” (short for United States Code), the title and section of the code where the law appears, the year, and optionally the URL.

The year included is when the law was published in the source consulted, not when it was passed, amended, or supplemented.

APA format Name of Law, Title number U.S.C. § Section number (Year). URL
APA reference entry Anti-Smuggling Act, 19 U.S.C. § 1701 (1935). https://www.loc.gov/item/uscode1958-004019005/
APA in-text citation (Anti-Smuggling Act, 1935)

Bibliography

Aliev, M. R., & Watson, J. (1985). Higher-order effects in the vibration-rotation spectra of semirigid molecules. In K. N. Rao (Ed.), Molecular spectroscopy: Modern research (1–67). Orlando: Academic Press.

HART Communication Foundation. (2009, December 22). Wireless hart. Retrieved 25.4.2022, from http://www.hartcomm.org/

Mitra, S. K. (1991). Some unconventional signal processing applications of multirate techniques. Proceedings - IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems 1, 13–16.

Paulson, M. (1992). Basement membrane proteins: Structure, assembly, and cellular interactions. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 27(1–2), 93–127. https://doi.org/10.3109/10409239209082560

Paulsson, M., Saladin, K., & Landwehr, R. (1988). Binding of Ca2+ influences susceptibility of laminin to proteolytic digestion and interactions between domain-specific laminin fragments. European Journal of Biochemistry, 177(3), 477–481. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1988.tb14396.x

The Royal Mardsen Hospital Bone-Marrow Transplantation Team. (1977). Failure of syngeneic bone-marrow graft without preconditioning in post-hepatitis marrow aplasia. Lancet, 310(8041), 742–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(77)90241-0

Watson, M. A. J. (1985). Higher-order effects in the vibration-rotation spectra of semirigid molecules. Molecular Spectroscopy: Modern Research, 3, 1.

Yonkers, K. A., etc., (2001). Onset and persistence of postpartum depression in an inner-city maternal health clinic system. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(11), 1856–1863. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.158.11.1856

Zar, J. H. (1984). Biostatistical Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Page numbers

Page numbers - in text citation.

Mark page numbers when:

  •     you are using a direct quote
  •     you are referring to a picture, table, or other detailed information.

The APA recommends adding a page number at other times as well if it helps the reader locate the relevant point from the source.

Mark any page numbers with the p. abbreviation, e.g. (Virtanen, 2020, p. 11-14).
If the source has no page numbers, refer to the paragraph (Korhonen, 2021, paragraph 4).