American Psychological Association (APA)

The American Psychological Association (APA) prefers in-text documentation, a means of documenting source materials within the text of the essay itself rather than citing them below in footnotes or endnotes. This method of documentation is used in the field of psychology and other social sciences. For reasons of economy, APA style recommends that the author integrate as much information as possible about the source itself into the text rather than resort to lengthy, disruptive citations. Below are some common examples of APA in-text citation methods.

Note that, in contrast to MLA style, APA now prefers titles to be italicized, where it was once acceptable to italicize or underline.

APA In-Text Documentation

One author

When possible, try to include the author's name in the main text when quoting directly. This enables you simply to note the year of publication in parentheses after the author's name and insert the page number(s) at the end of the quotation. Note that APA style includes the abbreviation "p." before the page number.

As Dempster (2002) notes, "Vietnam had a severe impact on the psyche of the American soldier" (p. 32).

Otherwise, you must cite the author, year, and page number in parenthesis at the end of the quotation. Note that commas separate the three elements in the citation.

There is no doubt that "Vietnam had a severe impact on the psyche of the American soldier" (Dempster, 2002, p. 32).

If you do not use a direct quotation, there is no need to cite a page number.

Most psychologists agree that Vietnam negatively affected those who were subject to its horrors (Dempster, 2002).

More than one author

When referring to a work with more than one author, simply join the two names using and in the text or & in the parenthetical citation.

Jess and Simpson (1996) disagree with findings that indicate that most veterans of WWI have at some point suffered from shell shock, or post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Certainly, there is no reason to believe that because "shell shock is common among veterans of the Great War" this was also the case for soldiers returning from Vietnam (Jess & Simpson, 1996, p. 56).

If your source has more than two authors, cite them all the first time, and for subsequent references simply cite the first name followed by "et al." (Latin for "and others").

Multiple citations in the same parentheses

When it is necessary to cite more than one source in the same parenthetical citation, treat each as a single work and separate them with semicolons.

Many psychologists have studied the impact of shell shock upon war veterans (Falwell, 1993; Cohen, 1997).

Unknown authors

Should the author for some reason be unknown, cite the full title of the source when referring to it in your text, or the first few words of the title in the parenthetical citation.

Statistics in The Canadian Report on Shell Shock (1998) show that not "all soldiers suffer from shell shock" (p. 89).

If the author is identified as Anonymous, treat this as a proper name.

Although these statistics are not conclusive, they do help support the claim that "shell shock continues to plague aging veterans" (Anonymous, 1998, p. 90).

Corporate author

When referring to corporate authors, such as a government agency, cite the full name of the organization or department in the first citation, followed by an abbreviation in square brackets. You may use the abbreviation for all later citations.

A large percentage of Canadian veterans suffer from shell shock (Department of National Defence [DND], 1999).

Personal communication

When citing a conversation, telephone call, interview, letter, or memo, identify it as "personal communication" and provide the name of the person you communicated with and the date of contact.

Statistics do not tell the whole story when it comes to shell shock, particularly when veterans fail to report their illness (personal communication, L. Wyck, December 1, 2004).

Because they are not recoverable, personal communications are not included in your References list.

APA References List

APA uses the term References as a heading for a list of sources cited in the main body of your paper. Items on a References list are placed in alphabetical order by author's last name. Note that only the first letter of the title and subtitle is capitalized, with the exception of proper nouns. Below are some of the most common types of references.

Books by a single author

Saigon, J. (1995). Coping with shell shock. Kingston, ON: Saigon Press.

Books by two or more authors

Simpson, M., & Tingle, L. (1978). Aggression therapy. Halifax, NS: Dalhousie UP. 

Edited books

Casson, A., & Cook, J. (Eds). (1998). Veterans and remembrance day. Toronto: Toronto UP.

Editions subsequent to the first.

Bzrechski, D. (1996). The principles of book editing (2nd ed.). New York: Basic.

Work in an anthology

Talbot, J.R. Veterans learning to cope. (2001). In I. Donaldson (Ed.), Battle cries: Learning to cope with shell shock (pp. 89-102). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Article in a journal with continuous pagination for each issue

Nixon, J. (1989). Shell shock and the American public. American Military Journal, 65, 654-678.

Article in a journal with a separate pagination for each issue

Faber, K.M. (1990). Let loose the dogs of war: Soldiers and shell shock. Military Psychology, 43(3), 54-63.

Article in a magazine

Amis, K. (1976, June). Living with shell shock. Reading Digest, 12-16.

Internet resource

Donaldson, G. (1999). "FAQs and arguments." Shell Shock Home Page.
          Retrieved November 11, 2004 from http://www.shellshock.org