General APA style: authors are named last name followed by initials; publication year goes between parentheses, followed by a period. The title of the article is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized. The periodical title is run in title case, and is followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized or underlined.
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.
Web Page Authored by an Organization
Greater New Milford (Ct) Area Healthy Community 2000, Task Force on Teen and Adolescent Issues. (n.d.). Who has time for a family meal? You do! Retrieved from http://www.familymealtime.org
Blog (Weblog) and Video Blog Post
Include the title of the message and the URL. Please note that titles for items in online communities (e.g. blogs, newsgroups, forums) are not italicized. If the author’s name is not available, provide the screen name.
J Dean. (2008, May 7). When the self emerges: Is that me in the mirror? [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.spring.org.uk/the1sttransport. (2004, September 26).
Psychology Video Blog #3 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqM90eQi5-M
YouTube-type Video Blog Post (Note that titles are not italicized)
Goyen, A. (2007, February 22). Downtown Marquette dog sled races [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW3CNCGGgTY
University of Chicago. (2007, December 12). European cartographers and the Ottoman world,
1500–1750 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xax5d4IKqrQ
Video Webcast from Television Series Single Episode
ABC News (Producer). (2007, September 21). Dying professor’s lecture of a lifetime [Video webcast]
[Television series episode]. In Good Morning America. Person of the Week. Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/PersonOfWeek/Story?id=3633945&page=1
For a visual outline of how to identify the varied components of a You Tube posting for an online reference see YouTube videos – APA Formatting Style Guide – Lynn Library ..
Audio Podcast
For all podcasts, provide as much information as possible; not all of the following information will be available. Possible addition identifiers may include Producer, Director, etc.
Bell, T. & Phillips, T. (2008, May 6). A solar flare. Science @ NASA Podcast. Podcast retrieved from http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm
Video Podcasts
For all podcasts, provide as much information as possible; not all of the following information will be available. Possible addition identifiers may include Producer, Director, etc.
Scott, D. (Producer). (2007, January 5). The community college classroom [Episode 7]. Adventures in Education. Podcast retrieved from http://www.adveeducation.com
Online articles follow the same guidelines for printed articles. Include all information the online host makes available, including an issue number in parentheses. Provide a retrieval date only if the information is likely to be updated or changed at a later date (as in the case of blogs and wikis). Since many online periodicals appear in their “final” form, a retrieval date is not necessary.
Newsletter/newspaper articles
Markoff, J. (1996, June 5). Voluntary rules proposed to help insure privacy for Internet users. New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 1996, from http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/yo5dat.html
Journal articles (Print, electronic copy, changed source, online journal, paged by issue):
Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 1807ñ1814.
.Journal article, electronic facsimile:
Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial [Electronic version]. JAMA, 287, 1807-1814.
Journal article, changed/doubtful source:
Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 1807-1814. Retrieved July 7, 2002, from http://www.jama.org/articles.html
Journal article, retrieved from a database:
Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 1807-1814. Retrieved July 7, 2002, from MEDSYS database.
Online only journal (paged by issue):
Kortepeter, M. G., & Parker, G. W. (1999). Potential biological weapons threats. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 5(4). Retrieved January 20, 2003, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol5no4/kortepeter.htm
Online Forum or Discussion Board Posting
Include the title of the message, and the URL of the newsgroup or discussion board. Please note that titles for items in online communities (e.g. blogs, newsgroups, forums) are not italicized. If the author’s name is not available, provide the screen name. Place identifiers like post or message numbers, if available, in brackets. If available, provide the URL where the message is archived (e.g. “Message posted to…, archived at…”).
Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of toylandia [Msg 25]. Message posted to http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html
Nonperiodical Web Document, Web Page, or Report
List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt around to find the information; don’t be lazy. If there is a page like http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and somepage.htm doesn’t have the information you’re looking for, move up the URL to http://www.somesite.com/):
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Graphic Data (e.g. Interactive Maps and Other Graphic Representations of Data)
Give the name of the researching organization followed by the date. In brackets, provide a brief explanation of what type of data is there and in what form it appears. Finally, provide the project name and retrieval information.
Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment. (2007). [Graph illustration the SORCE Spectral Plot May 8, 2008]. Solar Spectral Data Access from the SIM, SOLSTICE, and XPS Instruments. Retrieved from http://lasp.colorado.edu/cgi-bin/ion-p?page=input_data_for_ spectra.ion
Article From a Database
Please note: APA states that including database information in citations is not necessary because databases change over time (p. 192). However, the OWL still includes information about databases for those users who need database information.
When referencing a print article obtained from an online database (such as a database in the library), provide appropriate print citation information (formatted just like a “normal” print citation would be for that type of work). By providing this information, you allow people to retrieve the print version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the article. You can also include the item number or accession number in parentheses at the end, but the APA manual says that this is not required.
For articles that are easily located, do not provide database information. If the article is difficult to locate, then you can provide database information. Only use retrieval dates if the source could change, such as Wikis. For more about citing articles retrieved from electronic databases, see pages 187-192 of the Publication Manual.
Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating, 8(3), 120-125.
Electronic Books
Electronic books may include books found on personal websites, databases, or even in audio form. Use the following format if the book you are using is only provided in a digital format or is difficult to find in print. If the work is not directly available online or must be purchased, use “Available from,” rather than “Retrieved from,” and point readers to where they can find it. For books available in print form and electronic form, include the publish date in parentheses after the author’s name.
De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/
taytay.html
Davis, J. (n.d.). Familiar birdsongs of the Northwest. Available from http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-
9780931686108-0
Chapter/Section of a Web document or Online Book Chapter
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. In Title of book or larger document (chapter or section number). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Engelshcall, R. S. (1997). Module mod_rewrite: URL Rewriting Engine. In Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3 Documentation (Apache modules). Retrieved from http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html
Peckinpaugh, J. (2003). Change in the Nineties. In J. S. Bough and G. B. DuBois (Eds.), A century of growth in America. Retrieved from GoldStar database.
NOTE: Use a chapter or section identifier and provide a URL that links directly to the chapter section, not the home page of the Web site.
Government report online accessed through GPO database
National Institute of Mental Health. (2002). Breaking ground, breaking through: The strategic plan for mood disorders research of the National Institute of Mental Health (Publication No. 0507-B-05). Retrieved January 19, 2003, from NIMH Web site via GPO Access: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS20906