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APA 6th Style:  Journal articles

UON Library guide for APA 6th

General Rules and Examples

Journal articles

 

General rules:

Author Names

  • Appear first in the reference, surname first followed by a comma, then initials (do not include the full first names of authors).
  • Include all author names in the reference list when an article has up to 7 authors.
  • When authors number 8 or more, list the first 6 authors, insert three ellipses points (. . .), then add the last author.
  • If the article does not have an author move the title to the author position, before the year of publication. End with a full-stop.

Article Title

  • Capitalise the first word of the title and sub-title (and any proper nouns).

Journal Title

  • Capitalise all words in the journal title (except for common words - of, and, etc).
  • Journal titles appear in full (not abbreviated), and in italics.

Volume Number

  • Volume numbers appear in italics immediately following the journal title and a comma.
  • If the article appears to be missing the volume number, see the guidance on the official APA Style Blog.

Issue Number

  • The issue number should only be included when each new issue of the journal begins on page 1.
  • If there is no obvious issue number, check the journal home page or database where you accessed the article from. If you can confirm that no issue is listed, only include the volume information.

Page Numbers / Article numbers

  • APA requires the complete page range of articles to be included in the reference list entry (e.g. 353-367, not just the starting page of 353).
  • If your article has non-consecutive page numbers (e.g. due to the structure of the journal or advertising, etc.), use only the pages relating to your article and skip the others in between (e.g. Journal of Stuff, 100(1), 31-36, 38).
  • Some articles from online-only journals are not assigned unique page numbers and are given an article number instead. APA does not use these article numbers and prefers the generic page ranges from the articles to be used. For example, if the article is listed as "Volume 8 Article 99", the page numbering is usually shown as "Page 1 of 8", "Page 2 of 8", and so on. In this case the page numbers used for the reference would be 1-8 and the article number would be ignored. See the official APA Style Blog for more information.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • Most individual articles are assigned an identifying "digital object identifier" or DOI. If an article is assigned a DOI, this alphanumeric sequence is required to be added to the journal article reference. Check the What are DOIs? page for more information.

  • For formatting purposes, DOIs can be listed in APA references as either "doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2004.03.029" or "http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.03.029" (or the alternative dx.doi.org), but users should be consistent and use one format or the other and not mix formats within their reference lists. Note that the latter link version does not require a retrieval statement as it is not a 'standard' web URL.

Layout and Spacing

  • All references cited in-text must appear in the Reference List, and vice versa (unless classed as personal communication).
  • Arrange Reference List entries in one alphabetical sequence by the surname of the first author or by the title if there is no author.
  • If 2 or more entries are included in the Reference List by the same author(s), list them in chronological order with the earliest first.
  • The second and subsequent lines of each reference are indented.
  • Include a double-space between each entry in the Reference List.

References within articles

 

In your research you will often encounter articles that refer to another researcher's work. This source within a source is known as a 'secondary source' and is referenced in a particular way.

Where possible, you should try to obtain the original work being referenced and read through the research to form your own opinions.

Often, however, it is impossible to obtain the original publication - it may be published in another language, or in a book or journal which is difficult to access.

In these circumstances, you are permitted to include a citation to the secondary source.

For more information on how to reference these resources see the page on Secondary sources.

Journal articles with 1 author

 

The general format of a reference to an online journal article with one author and a DOI is:

Example of a Journal Article Reference List Entry

 

 

Reference list examples:

 

In-text

Every time you paraphrase, or use an idea from another source you must include an in-text citation to that source.

This is the general format for a source that has 1 author:

 

(Author's surname, Year)

Australian education providers will need to address a number of challenges to ensure standards of special education are fully supporting students with special needs and their families (Dempsey, 2012).

 

Direct Quotations

If you include a direct quote, that is word-for-word from a source which has 1 author, the general format of the in-text citation appears;

 

(Author's surname, Year, p. xxx)

“These films absorb, through a collage of images, traces of the Italian inheritance of neo-realist cinema” (Acciari, 2014, p. 14).

NOTE: Use "p" when quoting from one page - for example (Acciari, 2014, p. 14), and "pp" when quoting from more than one page - for example (Wessel, 2015, pp.53-54).

 

Journal articles with 2 authors

 

The general format of a reference to an online journal article with two authors and a DOI is:

 

Reference list examples:

 

In-text

Every time you paraphrase, or use an idea from another source you must include an in-text citation to that source. If the source has 2 authors the general format for each in-text citation to that source is:

 

(1st Author's surname & 2nd Authors's surname, Year)

...new technologies need to be evaluated before large scale investment is made by organisations (Marra & Edmond, 2014).

Direct Quotations

If you include a direct quote, that is word-for-word from another source which has 2 authors, the general format of the in-text citation appears;

 

(1st Author's surname & 2nd Authors's surname, Year, p.xxx)

..."the convergence of media means that the dichotomy between old and new media economies is hard to maintain" (Gorton & Garde-Hansen, 2013, p. 298).


NOTE: Use
"p"when quoting from one page - for example (Smith & Brown, 2010, p. 110), and "pp" when quoting from more than one page - for example (Smith & Brown, 2010, pp. 134-135).

Journal articles with 3-7 authors

 

When a journal article has 3-7 authors you must list each author's name in the Reference List entry - include a comma after each author and an ampersand (&) before the last author's name.

The general format of a reference to an online journal article with 3-7 authors and a DOI is;

Example of a Journal Article Reference List Entry

 

 

 

 

Reference list examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In-text

First Citation to a Source

If the source has 3-5 authors include all authors names within the in-text citation the first time the source is cited, in the format: (example for 5 authors below)

(1st Author's surname, 2nd Author's surname, 3rd Author's surname, 4th Author's surname & 5th Author's surname, Year)

Example:

... as described in a case series on manual therapy and exercise treatment for patients with hip osteoarthritis (McDonald, Whitman, Cleland, Smith, & Hoeksma, 2006).

Second and Subsequent Citations to a Source

In subsequent in-text citations, include just the first author's surname followed by "et al.":

(1st Author's surname et al., Year)

Example:

... techniques including visual observations during ambulation on a flat surface (McDonald et al., 2006).

 

If a source has 6 or more authors, all in-text citations must include the first author's surname followed by "et al.":

(1st Author's surname et al., Year)

Example:

... comparison and sampling based on the grounded theory model formed the basis for data analysis (Endacott et al., 2004).

... "NS-RPLND has been suggested as an alternative for patients reluctant to receive chemotherapy or undergo regular surveillance, the latter being psychologically stressful" (Kopp et al., 2006, p. 646).

Jorm et al. argue "the key areas for action are prevention and early intervention with first-onset disorders" (2006, p. 4).

Journal articles with 8+ authors

 

When a journal article has 8 or more authors, list the first 6 authors, insert an ellipsis (...), then add the last author's name.


The general format of a reference to an online journal article reference with 8 or more authors and a DOI is:

 

Reference list examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In-text

If a source has 6 or more authors, all in-text citations must include the first author's surname followed by "et al.":

(1st Author's surname et al., Year)

Example:

... comparison and sampling based on the grounded theory model formed the basis for data analysis (Endacott et al., 2004).

... "NS-RPLND has been suggested as an alternative for patients reluctant to receive chemotherapy or undergo regular surveillance, the latter being psychologically stressful" (Kopp et al., 2006, p. 646).

Jorm et al. argue "the key areas for action are prevention and early intervention with first-onset disorders" (2006, p. 4).

Journal articles with corporate authors

 

'Corporate authors' are groups, societies or organisations who have written publications. This includes universities, research groups, museums, government departments, professional associations, and so on.

 

The general format of a reference to a journal article by a corporate author is:

 

Reference list examples:

Note for the first example the word 'group' is lowercase as this follows the original capitalisation from the article.

 

 


 

In-text citations:

If the source is a corporate author (eg. a university, association, or government department) include the corporate author's name within the in-text citation, plus the year of publication, in the format:

(Corporate Author, Year)

Example:

... thousands of teachers, principals, early childhood workers and academics have graduated and gone on to make their mark in and out of the classroom in communities (University of Newcastle, 2009).

 

If an author's name is known by a common acronym (eg. ABS  for Australian Bureau of Statistics, AIHW for Australian Institute for Health and Welfare), include the full name, plus the acronym in the first in-text citation, in the format:

(Corporate Author (CA), Year)

Example:

"Over half of people aged 15 years and older (56%) considered their overall health to be very good or excellent, and 29% stated that their health was good" (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2009, p. 3).

In subsequent references, include just the acronym:

(CA, Year)

Example:
... 19% of people aged 18 years and over (19%) were current daily smokers (ABS, 2009).

Journal articles with no authors listed

 

The general format of a reference to an anonymous online journal article with a DOI is:

 

Reference list example

The example above is a news article on a single page from a trade/industry journal that has no author listed.

 

In-text

If the source has no author, include the first few words of the reference list entry (enclosed in double quotation marks) and the year of publication in-text, in the format:

("first few words of the title", Year)

 

It may be necessary to use a slightly larger number of words in the brackets to make the partial title make sense.

 

Example:

... to avoid visiting the doctor ("Australians turning to Dr Google", 2016).

 

 

See Also the Missing Elements in Your Reference? page if your entry lacks other elements.

Journal articles - 'In press', advance publication, online first

 

Many journal publishers provide access to articles before they have been assigned a volume, issue or page number, referring to them as "Advance Publication" or "Online First" articles.

It is important to re-check references prior to submitting assessment tasks in case an 'in press' article has been assigned a volume, issue and page numbers. If this is the case, ensure you re-format the citation following the guidelines on the appropriate tab on this page for the number of authors the article has.

 

Referencing 'in press' articles:

Where the article is only available as 'in press' at the time of submission, provide the author(s), year of posting, title of the article, name of the journal, the notation Advance online publication, and the DOI (if assigned) or a retrieval statement with the URL of the journal’s home page (if not):

Where possible always refer to the final versions of your sources.

 

In-text citation:

As with other journal articles - (Author surname, Year).

 

Reference list example:

 

Articles submitted or accepted for publication (but not yet published)

 

For information on how to reference these articles see the official APA Style Blog.

Online journal articles without a DOI

 

If an online journal article does not have a DOI assigned, APA requires the use of a URL.

The general format of a reference to an online journal article with one or more authors and a URL is:

 

  • If the article was found online include the URL of the journal home page only, not the full article URL and not the name of the database.

For example, even if the Australian Journal of Adult Learning was accessed from the EBSCO, Informit or ProQuest databases, APA requires the inclusion of the link for the journal home page in the citation: http://www.ajal.net.au/

  • No retrieval date is needed for online articles.
  • Do not insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL across lines. Break the URL before a slash or dash or at another logical division point.
  • Do not include a full-stop after the URL at the end of the reference.

 

Reference list examples:

 

Print journal articles

 

The general format of a reference to a print journal article with one author which does not have a DOI is:

Example of a Journal Article Reference List Entry

 

 

Reference list examples:

Newspaper articles

 

Articles from newspapers are formatted differently in APA to articles sourced from journals.

See the page on Newspapers for more information.

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