In writing a paper there are two types of citations you need to use: in-text citations and reference list citations. In-text citations will be in parenthesis throughout the paper anytime you quote or paraphrase from a source. The reference list citations come at the end of the paper on a "references" page, which can also be called a "works cited" or "bibliography."
Below are examples of reference list citations and in-text citations for commonly cited source types (books, book chapters, and articles). If you are using a type of source not covered here, check out the Purdue Owl. It is a comprehensive guide to creating APA citations. Also, don't hesitate to ask a librarian. We are happy to help!
Template
Lastname, F. M. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI (if available)
Example
Welch, J. (1994). Killing Custer: the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the fate of the Plains Indians. W.W. Norton.
Template
Lastname, F. M. & Lastname, F. M. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher. DOI (if available)
Example
Wall, C. (2011). Stranger at home: James Baldwin on what it means to be an American. In C. Kaplan & B. Schwarz (Eds.), James Baldwin: America and beyond, (pp. 33-138). University of Michigan Press.
Template
Lastname, F. M. & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue), page numbers. DOI
Example
Ngai, S. (2015) Visceral abstractions. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 21(1), pp. 33-63. 10.1215/10642684-2818648.
Template
Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Publication. URL
Example
Delvin, H. (2023, September 13). Cats may get health benefits from vegan diet, study suggests. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/sep/13/cats-may-get-health-benefits-from-vegan-diet-study-suggests
Template
Lastname, F.M.* (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL.
*If authored by a group use the group's name; if no author is given put the title of the page first followed by date, site name, and URL.
Example
Living, S. (2023, August 11). Grow fall fruits to feed migrating birds. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. https://dwr.virginia.gov/blog/grow-fall-fruits-to-fuel-migrating-birds/
Every in-text citation requires two pieces of information: an author's name and a year. The year should always follow immediately after the author's name. If you are directly quoting from a source then you will need to include a page number as well.
The author's name can either be in the body of your paper such as:
The Cold War, Wall (2011) writes of Baldwin's career "necessarily shaped the reception of his work" (p. 36).
Or the author's name can appear in the parenthesis after the quote such as:
The Cold War "necessarily shaped the reception" of Baldwin's work (Wall, 2011, p. 36).
When paraphrasing it is not necessary to include the page number.
With the author's name in the body of the text:
Wall (2011) suggests that the Cold War played a big part in the reception Baldwin's writing received.
With the author's name in the parenthetical:
The Cold War played a big part in the reception Baldwin's writing received (Wall, 2011).
