APA Citation Examples

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This guide will show you how to structure APA citations according to the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) and will show you example citations for different source types. For information on other APA topics—such as formatting your paper, creating a title page, etc.—check out the EasyBib APA format guide.  It even has an example paper.


Table of Contents


The Basics of APA

We’re going to start from the beginning for all of you newbies out there, or for those of you looking for a refresher.

Another widely used style is MLA format. Believe it or not, there are thousands of other styles, so perhaps your teacher or professor requested a completely different one. If you’re in that boat, head to EasyBib.com to check out more styles. While you’re at it, poke around and check out our APA reference generator. It may be just what you’re looking for.


References vs. Citations – What’s the difference?

References and citations are two terms that are thrown around a lot and quite often mean the same thing. A reference, or citation, shows the reader that a piece of information originated elsewhere. But, along came APA and decided to throw a curveball at us. In APA, the two terms have two different meanings.


A rundown on references

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details on how to structure references for your APA paper, let’s get one more quick piece of information off the table.


Fundamentals of an APA citation

This entire section goes into detail on each component of a reference. If you’re looking to learn how to style the names of the authors, the title, publishing information, and other aspects related to the reference, this section is for you!

Formatting Author Information


Formatting Titles & Dates


Citing Books in APA

You’ll find plenty of source types below. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, try out our APA reference generator on EasyBib.com! Or, here’s a great informative site we like. If you’d like to see a full APA sample paper, take a glance at the main citation guide for this style on EasyBib.com.


Citing Journals and Articles in APA


Citing a Source on the Internet in APA

Citing digital sources in this style is much easier than other styles. If you’re wondering why, it’s because a lot of information isn’t included in the reference.


Citing Media Sources in APA

Citing Additional Sources in APA


Putting it All Together

You’ve structured your sources correctly, right? You have the periods, italics, and commas where they belong? Capital letters where they’re supposed to be? Great! You’re almost through! The last step is organizing your citations properly on the page. For easy to follow, in-depth instructions on structuring the last page in your project, check out our APA reference page. If you’d like to see a sample APA paper, check out the main guide for this style on EasyBib.com!

Before you hit submit, make sure you run your paper through our plagiarism checker. It checks for instances of accidental plagiarism and scans for spelling and grammatical errors. Even if you think you have every verb, adverb, or interjection where it belongs, you may be surprised with what our innovative technology suggests.

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Listing of APA templates

 


Troubleshooting

Solution #1: How to cite a photo with no creator, date, or title in APA

  1. Describe the photo and place brackets around it.
  2. Add “n.d” with parentheses around it.
  3. List where the reference was found without italics.
  4. Follow with the URL information of where you found the photo if it was found online.

Example of a photo citation with no creator, date, or title

[Photograph of two hens in a barn]. (n.d). Theoretical Prints. http://Theoretical_Prints.org/two-hypothetical-hens/


Solution #2: How to cite a dictionary entry in APA

Dictionary entry in print

  1. List the organization or the author’s name in last name, first name initial, and middle name initial (if there is one) with a period following.
  2. List the date in parentheses with a period following.
    1. Use n.d if the date is not listed.
  3. List the name of the dictionary term. Capitalize the first letter and use a period after.
  4. Write “In” followed by the name of the dictionary used. The dictionary name should be italicized.
  5. In parentheses, write the volume abbreviated as “Vol.” followed by the volume number and page number. Add a period after it.

Examples for a printed dictionary entry citation

Hypothetical Association of Learning. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 3).

Johnson, C. K. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 3).

Dictionary entry from an online source

  1. List the organization or the author’s name in last name, first name initial, and middle name initial (if there is one) with a period following.
  2. List the date in parathesis with a period following.
    1. Use “n.d” if the date is not listed.
  3. List the name of the dictionary term. Capitalize the first letter and use a period after.
  4. Write the name of the dictionary in italics and follow it with a period.
  5. Write “Retrieved” then the date you accessed the entry online in this format: Month Day, Year. End it with a comma.
  6. Write “from” and add the page URL.

Examples for an online dictionary entry citation

Hypothetical Association of Learning. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary.   Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https;//dictionary.hypothetical.org/dictionary/English/cake

Johnson, C. K. (2014). Cake. In The Hypothetical Learner’s Dictionary. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https;//dictionary.hypothetical.org/dictionary/English/cake


Solution #3: How to ensure that an auto-generated citation in APA style is correct

  1. Ensure that the correct number of people are accredited by counting the names in the source and the website citation.
  2. Ensure that all names are spelled correctly.
  3. If 2-20 authors are used, ensure that an ampersand is used before the last name.
  4. If more than twenty authors are used, ensure that an ellipsis is used before the final author.
  5. Check to make sure that the date is correct and that the month or year do not need to be adjusted.
  6. Ensure that the title is correctly capitalized and formatted.
    1. Generally, works cited as a whole, such as books, are written in italics, while shorter works that are part of a bigger work, such as a chapter in a book or articles from a periodical (e.g., journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.), are usually in regular font.
    2. The title of webpages are italicized, while the title of the site they are on is in regular font.
    3. Social media post citations use the written post content (up to 20 words) as the title. This “title” should be italicized.
  7. If using a chapter, make sure that the editor is accredited.
  8. If using an article, make sure that the journal number is italicized and that the volume number is in parentheses.
  9. Make sure that your links are active and that they bring you to the correct location. You may need to rewrite the link.

 


Published August 2, 2019. Updated March 10, 2020. 

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a dedicated school library media specialist and one of the in-house EasyBib librarians. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.


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How do I use the EasyBib APA citation generator?

Go to www.easybib.com and follow the directions to create a citation. After you create a citation or citation list, you can choose APA as your citation style (default is MLA). APA is a premium style, so you will need a subscription or trial to EasyBib Plus in order to create citations in APA. Upgrade your account at https://www.easybib.com/upgrade.