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APA 6th Style:  Education resources

UON Library guide for APA 6th

General Rules and Examples

Syllabus documents

 

General notes:

  • Syllabus documents follow the same pattern as books and ebooks written by a corporate author.
  • For print syllabi where the author is also the publisher it is permitted to use Author in the citation to indicate the publisher.
  • Electronic syllabus documents usually have material for the complete K-10. For print editions, some syllabus documents are separated into multiple volumes (e.g. Mathematics). Usually K-6 material is included in Volume 1 and years 7-10 is included in Volume 2.
  • If you are referring to syllabus information on a website (rather than a downloaded document), you should cite the information as a web page.
  • Note that while the Board Of Studies NSW is now known as the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), older syllabus documents will still have the original name. Be sure to use the author as stated on each syllabus document - do not change it.

 

Electronic document:

The general format for a syllabus downloaded from a website (e.g. NSW Education Standards Authority) is:

 

Reference list examples:

 

If referencing more than one syllabus from the same publication year, follow the guidelines here and apply letters to differentiate the citations in-text:

 

Print document:

The general format for a print syllabus is:

Note: Where the publisher and the author are the same (as with NSW syllabus documents), instead of repeating the name as the publisher, replace it with the word 'Author'.  See the example below.

 

Reference list example:

 

 

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).

Graded (or guided) reading programmes

 

General notes:

  • There are a number of reading programmes that offer guided/graded levels. These can be grouped by numbers or colours and include a large number of short books. These include (but are not limited to) PM Library/Plus/Benchmark, Springboard, Winners, Oxford Literacy, Macmillan Readers, and Sunshine Classics. More information about these graded readers can be found on our pages for Huxley Library and Ourimbah Library.
  • The readers within these programmes usually have individual titles, authors, and ISBNs (order numbers). The Library has received confirmation from APA that readers should be treated as individual book titles and referenced accordingly.
  • If the reader has images/pictures, it may also be appropriate to include the illustrator as an 'author'. The official APA Style Blog suggests that if the images are essential to the story being understood, both creators should be identified as authors (e.g. for a graphic novel or a children's picture book), especially if both creators are listed on the cover. Note that in these cases the illustrator (or in some cases, photographer) is considered to be an 'author' as they have contributed to the work in a major way. If images are taken from multiple creators that aren't listed in a place of importance (e.g. on the cover or title page), these contributors would then not be included in the reference as an 'author'.
  • For other children's books see the next tab. For graphic novels, see the Book & ebooks page.

 

The general format for a reference to a guided (or graded) reader is:

OR, if including the illustrator:

where the second 'author' is the illustrator (or in some cases, photographer).

 

Reference list examples:

 

Children's Books

 

General notes:

  • Children's books should be referenced following the standard guidelines for books, the main difference being that in addition to a writer, there can also be an artist.
  • If the book has images/pictures it may be appropriate to include the illustrator as an 'author'. The official APA Style Blog suggests that if the images are essential to the story being understood, both creators should be identified as authors, especially if both creators are listed on the cover. Note that in these cases the illustrator (or in some cases, photographer) is considered to be an 'author' as they have contributed to the work in a major way. If images are taken from multiple creators that aren't listed in a place of importance (e.g. on the cover or title page), these contributors would then not be included in the reference as an 'author'.
  • Include the creators in the order they are listed on the book. Standard order is usually writer/s then artist/s, but this is not always the case.
  • As with any book, include an edition statement if one is stated, e.g. 'Possum Magic' below is the 30th anniversary edition.
  • For graded readers see the previous tab. For graphic novels, see the Book & ebooks page.

 

The general format for a reference to a children's book is:

OR, if including the illustrator:

where the second 'author' is the illustrator (or in some cases, photographer).

 

Reference list examples:

 

Online resources

 

For the following document types, refer to their specialist pages:

 

Documents from intranet locations

 

Electronic documents viewed while on placement or at work may only be available via a secured intranet or staff-only network location. APA suggests considering the readership of the document you're writing before referencing this material.

The Library recommends that guidance is sought from lecturers or colleagues to see which of the options below is best for your situation.

Note that the examples listed below are for illustration purposes only and are not taken from actual documents.

 

Option 1:

Treat the document as if it were accessible online and provide the full details in the citation. You could then make note of the access limitations in-text near the citation.

General format:

In-text example:

St Catherine's requires staff to follow strict guidelines when dealing with troubled students, as detailed in a best practice guide located on the staff intranet (St Catherine's Catholic College, 2015).

Reference list example:

 

Option 2:

As the resource is not publicly available you could treat the document as an irretrievable Personal Communication, which would mean citing the material in-text only.

In-text example:

It is suggested in the staff-only pamphlet 'Student Educators' that ... (Cardiff High School, intranet document, March 5, 2016).

Reference list example:

No entry needed.

 

A third option is suggested by the University of Portsmouth (UK).

Option 3:

General format:

In-text example:

(Author, Year)

Reference list examples:

Difficult-to-reference textbooks

 

For advice on how to reference chapters from difficult textbooks such as:

see the 'No editor/s listed' tab on the page for Book chapters.

 

For other textbooks with clear authors or editors see the information on the pages for Books & ebooks and/or Book chapters.

Subjects: Referencing