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Academic Skills: UCS APA style

This guide provides information and instruction for developing academic, information, and digital literacy skills.

UCS APA style

University of Suffolk APA Style

The preferred referencing style for citations and bibliographies is in Psychology Routes courses is University of Suffolk APA.

Learning Services at University of Suffolk often runs workshops on the principles of using the University of Suffolk APA referencing style,
but you can also schedule a one-to-one appointment with either your Academic Skills Advisor or Academic Liaison Librarian.  
Advice can also be obtained from Library staff at each of the University of Suffolk centres.

University of Suffolk Harvard Style University of Suffolk APA Style University of Suffolk Footnotes (MHRA)  RefWorks and Reference Management

In-Text citations, Direct Quotations & Secondary Sources

In-text citations

General rules for in-text citations

  • Surname of the author(s).
    Where there are multiple authors the surnames should be separated by a comma, with '&' appearing before the last name.
  • Year of publication in brackets

Notes and exceptions

  • If the name of the author appears naturally in the sentence then the year of publication can follow in brackets without repeating the surname.
  • If the name does not naturally occur then the whole reference should be placed in brackets, usually at the end of the sentence.
  • The first time you site a reference with 3 or more authors; you should name all authors. However, when making subsequent references to this work, you should cite it using the words et al. after the name of the first author.
  • Where there are 6 or more authors, cite only the name of the first author followed by et al. and the year for the first and subsequent citations.
  • If there is no given author, but named organisation or governmental body the same principles must be applied. 
  • Where two or more works and authors are cited to support a statement list both authors with dates in alphabetical order, separated by a semi colon.
  • where the authors have the same surname include the initial of the first name.

In a similar study Maylor (1994) reported that.....

As Jenkins and Higgs (2005) results demonstrate....

In a similar study it was reported that.....(Maylor, 1994).

Alternatively, results in another study demonstrated that... (Jenkins & Higgs, 2005)

The annual British Beer and Pub Association Statistical Handbook (2004)....

(Brown, 1991; Smith, 2003)

(E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson, 1998)

Direct quotations

You should look to paraphrase or summarise wherever possible, to avoid word-for-word quotations.

  • If the quote is no more than 3 lines or forty words, incorporate it into the text in quotation marks, and give the page of the source after the year)
  • If the quote is longer, separate the quote into a new paragraph, indented from the main text. Quote marks are not required, but the page number must be given

Brown (1986, p. 456) stated that "UK hospitals......"

Maass, Montalcini and Bicotti (1998) stated:

      Considering all traits in a given lexicon, does nay single entry have the same
      chance of being part of a stereotype? the answer is clearly 'no'. There
      are some attributes that are particularly likely to be part of an outgroup
      stereotype: namely those that are negative, abstract, easy to acquire and
      difficult to lose (p. 395)

Secondary sources

Ideally you should locate the primary sources and read them yourself. However, when this is not possible you should refer to both the primary and secondary sources.

  • Include the primary and secondary source texts
  • Include the exact page number of the secondary source, where you read the primary.
  • Only include details of the secondary source in your final reference list.

"No one person, system, or technique will make a company marketing oriented" (Michaels, 1982, cited in Boddy, 2002, p. 203)

In this instance the text by Boddy would be in the reference list.

Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association (APA)

The principles for laying out your citations and references are found in the following text:

RefWorks Bibliographic Management Tool

RefWorks enables you to collect all your references in one place, together with any other files such as full-text pdfs, and then create citations and full references for any assignment, according to the required reference styles. This resource is available online and can be used anywhere.

Additional information is available under the Referencing tab

Additional Guidance

Click the link below to access the APA style guide created by Purdue University

Reference List Examples

Print Books by one or more author

Citation order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author / Editor: Surname,
  • Initial.
  • Year of publication: in round brackets
  • Title of the book: in italics
  • Edition  -  this is not required for the first edition. Give the edition in round brackets.
  • Place of publication: City:
  • Publisher

Where there are multiple authors:

  • For 2 authors - separate the authors using a comma and '&'
  • For 3 - 6 authors - separate the authors using a comma, except for the last author which should be separated using a comma and '&'
  • For more than 6 authors - list the first 6 authors followed by 3 full stops (...) and then include the last author's name.

Single author

Braun, S. (1996) Buzz: the science and lore of alcohol and caffeine. New York:  
         Oxford University Press

 Note: the following line of any reference must be indented.

Multiple authors (2)

Glassman, W. E., & Hadad, M. (2009).....

Multiple authors (3-6)

Carlson, N., Buskist, W. & Martin, G. (2008)...

Editors

Delanty, G., & Strydom, P. (Eds.). (2003)....

Editions

Coolican, H. (2004) Research methods and statistics in psychology (4th ed.),
              London: Hodder and Stoughton

e-Books - those available as both print and electronic versions

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author(s): Surname, Initial.
  • Publication date: in round brackets
  • Title of the publication: in italics
  • [E-book]
  • Edition: if not the first edition
  • Available at: - use this if the book is available through a subscription resource or had to be purchased. If the book is freely available use the words 'Retrieved from'
  • URL of e-book
Note

If a DOI is available, add this to the end of the reference instead of the URL. e.g.
Retrieved from doi:

Glassman, W. E. & Hadad, M. (2009) Approaches to psychology [E-book]. 5th edn.
        Available at: http://login.library.ucs.ac.uk/login?url=www.dawsonera.com
        /depp/reader/protected/external/Abstractview/s9780335237579

Book sections or chapters

Citation order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author of the chapter/section: Surname, Initial.
  • Year of publication: in round brackets
  • Title of chapter/section: followed by a full-stop
  • 'In' plus author/editor of book: Initial. Surname (Ed.),
  • Title of book: in italics
  • Page numbers of the chapter or section: in round brackets preceded by pp.
  • Place of publication: City:
  • Publisher


Thomson, R. (2007) A biographical perspective. In M. J. Kehily (Ed.), Understanding
         youth: perspectives, identities and practices. (pp. 73-106). London: Sage
         Publications.

Chapter or section from an e-Book

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author of the chapter/section: Surname, Initial.
  • Year of publication: in round brackets.
  • Title of chapter/section: followed by a full-stop
  • 'In' plus author/editor of book: Initial. Surname (Ed.),
  • Title of book: in italics
  • Chapter name or section number: in round brackets.
  • Available at: - use this if the book is available through a subscription resource or had to be purchased. If the book is freely available use the words 'Retrieved from'
  • URL of the chapter or section, not a URL to the site or whole book


Engelshcall, E. 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

Print Journals by one or more authors

Citation order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author / Editor: Surname, Initial.
  • Year of publication: in round brackets
  • Title of the journal article.
  • Journal Title: in italics,
  • Volume number
  • Issue number: in brackets, (if one is available)
  • Page numbers.


Single author

Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15 (30), 5-13.

Multiple authors

Hindmarch, I., Kerr, J. S., & Sherwood, N. (1991). The effects of alcohol and other
        drugs on psychomotor performance and cognitive function. Alcohol and
        Alcoholism, 26, 71-79.

e-Journal articles from online databases

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author: Surname, Initial.
  • Date of publication: in round brackets.
  • Title of article.
  • Title of the online journal: in italics.
  • Volume number,
  • Issue number if available (in round brackets),
  • Retrieved from doi: (use the url of the article if no doi is available)


Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living web. A list apart: for people who
           make websites, 149. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/writeliving

Webpages

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author / Editor / Corporate author.
  • Date of publication or n.d. : in round brackets.
  • Title of webpage / document: in italics.
  • Retrieved from URL


Institute of Alcohol Studies. (2004). Alcohol and you. Retrieved from
            http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/factsheets/factsheets.html

Graphic data

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Name of research organisation.
  • Date of publication: in round brackets.
  • Brief explanation of the graphic data and the form it is presented in: in square brackets.
  • Project name.
  • Retrieved from URL


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/cg  i-bin/ion-p?page=input_data_for_spectra.ion

Data sets

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author or corporate author.
  • Date of publication: in round brackets.
  • Title of the data set: in italics
  • [Data file].
  • Retrieved from URL


United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2008). Indiana
                income limits. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.huduser.org/Datasets
                /IL/IL08/in_fy2008.pdf

Computer programs - specialist software only, downloaded form the web.

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Program developer(s): Surname, Initial.
  • Date of development: in round brackets.
  • Title of program: in italics
  • Version details: in round brackets
  • [Software].
  • Available from URL


Hayes, B., Tesar, B., & Zuraw, K. (2003). OTSoft: Optimality Theory Software
            (Version 2.1) [Software]. Available from http://linguistics.ucla.edu/people
            /hayes/otsoft

Television programmes

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Name of producer (Producer).
  • Date of broadcast: in round brackets.
  • Title of broadcast: in italics.
  • [Television broadcast].
  • Location of network:
  • Name of network. 


Important, I. M. (Producer). (1990). The nightly news hour. [Television Broadcast].
              New York: Central Broadcasting Service.

Films on DVD / Blu-ray

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Director(s): Surname, Initials. (Director).
  • Date of release: in round brackets.
  • Title of film: in italics
  • [DVD] or [Blu-ray]. 
  • Country of origin:
  • Studio.


Johnson, J. (Director). (2004). Hidalgo [DVD]. United States: Touchstone.Disney.

Electronic discussion groups

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author of the post: Surname, Initial.
  • Date of the post: in round brackets (Year, Month, Day).
  • Title or subject of the post: these are NOT italicised
  • Post or message identifier: in square brackets.
  • Message posted to URL


Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of toylandia [Msg25].
         Message posted to http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html

Newspaper articles

Citation order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author: surname, Initial.
  • Date of publication: in round brackets: Year, Month, Day.
  • Title of the article.
  • Title of the newspaper: in italics,
  • Page numbers: preceded by pp.


Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies.
           The country Today, pp. 1A, 2A.

Online newspaper

Citation order - make sure you use all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author: surname, Initial.
  • Date of publication: in round brackets: Year, Month, Day.
  • Title of the article.
  • Title of the newspaper: in italics.
  • Retrieved from URL of newspaper


Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to the drug industry.
            The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Online, published dissertation or thesis

Citation order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author: Surname, Initial.
  • Year of publication: in round brackets.
  • Title of dissertation: in italics.
  • (Doctoral dissertation).
  • Retrieved from name of database. 
  • (Accession or order number).


Biswas, S. (2008). Dopamine D3 receptor: a neuroprotective treatment target in Parkinson's disease. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest Digital Dissertations. (AAT 3295214).

Unpublished dissertation or thesis

Citation order - make sure you also include all punctuation marks given in the examples below

  • Author: Surname, Initial.
  • Year of publication: in round brackets.
  • Title of dissertation: in italics.
  • (Unpublished doctoral dissertation).
  • Name of institution, location.

Printable Guides

For additional guidance, access the printable APA Reference guide from below

 

Attribution

All images included in this guide are available through Creative Commons licensing CC-BY-2.0