APA 7th referencing guide

Book references should be given in the following order:

Author name, initial(s), date, Title of book in italics: Capital letter also for subtitle, Publisher.  Example below:

Bloggs, J. (1996). Delinquency. Blackwell.

OR

Bloggs, J., & Jones, C. (1997). Delinquency: A social problem? Blackwell.

Note the punctuation: comma after surname, full stop after initial, date (inside brackets), title of book, name of publisher. Also note that the book title appears in italics.

If you are citing a chapter in an edited book then the reference should be written as follows:

Valls-Ferrer, M., & Mora, J. C. (2014). L2 fluency development in formal instruction and study abroad: The role of initial fluency level and language contact. In C. Pérez-Vidal (Ed.), Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instructional contexts (pp. 111-136). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Here Valls-Ferrer and Mora are the authors of the chapter which is entitled ‘L2 fluency development in formal instruction and study abroad: The role of initial fluency level and language contact’. This chapter appears in the book by Pérez-Vidal.  Note that the editor's initial appears before the surname in this type of reference and the surname is followed by the abbreviation Ed. in brackets.  

Note that it is the title of the book in which the chapter appears which is in itallics.

eBooks may include books found on personal websites, databases, or even in audio form.  There is no need to note that you have used an eBook or audiobook when the content is the same as a physical book.  However, you should distinguish between an eBook / audiobook and the print version if the content is different or abridged, or if you want to cite the narrator of an audiobook.  The format should be as follows:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI (if available) OR URL

Example:

Gross, R. (2015). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book (edition). Publisher. DOI (if available) OR URL

Example:

Gross, R. (2014). Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology (4th ed.) Hodder Education Group.  www.ebookwebsite.com

There is no set format for a PDF document as it could be a journal article, book chapter, report etc.  Therefore, you need to identify the type of resource you are using, and look up how to reference that. 

Sometimes when you search on Google your result page will open up a PDF document straight away.  To be able to reference this you will need to identify what it is e.g. report, policy paper, book chapter, journal article. 

Sometimes this will be stated quite clearly on the document, other times you will need to do some investigating. 

Book Chapter:

The below example is a clue to the pdf being a chapter/ section of a publication - it states that is is 'Chapter 2''; another clue would be the page number. 

Report:

PDFs will possibly state within the title or copyright page that they are a 'report' - you should also be able to identify them from the contents and layout. 

If you are unsure what the document is or can't find all the reference information you need have a look at the URL and try to go backwards to the homepage.

Example: The above report URL for the PDF is https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Eat-Fat-Cut-The-Carbs-and-Avoid-Snacking-To-Reverse-Obesity-and-Type-2-Diabetes-National-Obesity-Forum-Public-Health-Collaboration.pdf 

Here you would need to go to http://phcuk.org and then search for the document.

Finding where the document is published can help you evaluate it - you may also find that there is additional information or links to more recent documents.  

You should treat online resources with caution. Unlike academic books and journals, much of the content of the web is not peer reviewed.  In many cases the author of the text is also unclear.  This means that the content of websites can vary from very good to downright dodgy.  It is best to check with the person setting the assessment whether you should use a particular website as a resource for your assessment.  If you do use a website as a resource then you do need to reference it.  

If you decide to use a web source, you should make sure your reference directs the reader to specific documents, rather than generic home or menu pages.  It’s also imperative that you include a DOI, or if one is unavailable, a URL:

If the webpage names an individual author, cite their name first:

Lastname, A. B. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site Name. URL

Warren, M. (2021, May 25). Drug researchers who admit to using psychedelics are seen as having less integrity. The British Psychological Society Research Digest. https://digest.bps.org.uk/2021/05/25/drug-researchers-who-admit-to-using-psychedelics-are-seen-as-having-less-integrity/#more-42252

If the resource was written by a group or organisation, use the name of the group/organisation as the author.  Additionally, if the author and site name are the same, omit the site name from the citation.

Group Name. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site Name (if applicable). URL

World Health Organization. (2021, May 18).  WHO and UNICEF launch new tools for the promotion of adolescent mental health. https://www.who.int/news/item/18-05-2021-who-and-unicef-launch-new-tools-for-the-promotion-of-adolescent-mental-health-and-the-prevention-of-mental-health-conditions

If the page's author is not listed, start with the title instead.  Additionally, include a retrieval date when the page's content is likely to change over time (e.g. if you're citing a dictionary entry that is not archived and is constantly updated).

Title of page. (Year, Month Date). Site Name. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Tuscan white bean pasta. (2018, February 25). Budgetbytes. Retrieved May 18, 2021, from https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/

If the date of publication is not listed, use the abbreviation (n.d.):

Author or Group Name. (n.d.). Title of page. Site name (if applicable). URL

The British Psychological Society. (n.d.). What is Psychology? https://www.bps.org.uk/public/what-is-psychology

The format for this type of source depends on whether your source comes from a site with an associated newspaper, or not.

If the source does come from a site with an associated newspaper, leave the title of the article unformatted, but italicize the title of the newspaper:

Lastname, A. B. (2021, May 26). Title of article. Title of Publication. URL

Neate, R. (2019, December 9).  Airships for city hops could cut flying’s CO2 emissions by 90%. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/airships-for-city-hops-could-cut-flyings-co2-emissions-by-90

On the other hand, if the source doesn't come from a site with an associated newspaper, italicize the title of the article, but leave the name of the site unformatted:

Lastname, A. B. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Name of Publishing Website. URL

Gallagher, J. (2021, May 25). Algae proteins partially restore man's sight.  BBC.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57226572

An online dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia may be continuously updated and therefore not include a publication date.  If that is the case, use “n.d.” for the date and include the retrieval date in the citation:

Institution or Organization Name. (Year). Title of entry. In Title of reference work. Retrieved Month date, year, from (if applicable) URL

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Cognition. In APA Dictionary of Psychology.  Retrieved May 26, 2021, from https://dictionary.apa.org/cognition

There is no set style for clinical trials, but I would suggest you follow this format:

Clinical Trials trial from ClinicalTrials.gov with no completion date:

National Library of Medicine (U.S.). (2005, March - ). Radiation therapy (WBI versus PBI) in treating women who have undergone surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ or stage I or stage II breast cancer. Identifier NCT00103181. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00103181

Trial from ClinicalTrials.gov with a completion date and named investigators Soh, A.Y.S., & Wang, Y.T. (2018, May 7 - 2019, May 7). Changes in microbiota and metabolomic profile between Rifaximin responders and non-responders in diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Identifier NCT03557788. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03557788

Common software (e.g. Word, Excel), mobile apps and programming languages mentioned in-text, but not paraphrased or quoted, do not need citations.  Provide references only for specialized software, or where you have paraphrased or quoted from the software/ app.

Lastname, A. B. or Name of Group. (Year). Title of software (Version No.). Publisher. URL

Maplesoft. (2019). Maple companion (Version 2.1.0). Cybernet Systems Co. https://www.maplesoft.com/products/MapleCompanion/

TV episodes, podcast episodes and songs from albums follow the same pattern as edited book chapters:

Writer, W. W. (Writer/s), & Director, D. D. (Director/s). (Original air date). Title of episode (Season number, Episode number) [TV series episode]. In X. Executive Producer (Executive Producer), Series title. Production company(s). 

Crane, D., Kauffman, M., Calhoun, W., Ungerleider, I., Kurland, S., Goldberg-Meehan, S & Silveri, S. (Writers), & Mancuso, G. (Director). (2016, September 26). The one where no one's ready (Season 3, Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In M. Borkow, K. Bright, D. Crane & M. Kauffman (Executive Producers), Friends. Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions; Warner Bros. Television. 

The author of an image can be an artist or photographer.  If the artwork is available via a museum website, cite that website at the end of the citation. If there is no associated website, simply omit the URL:

Artist, A. (Year of release). Title of artwork [medium]. Name of museum, City, State, Country. URL of museum

Hopper, E. (1942). Nighthawks [Painting]. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111628/nighthawks

Note: if the artwork does not have a title, briefly describe the work and put that description in square brackets.

Photograph (not associated with a museum):

Photographer, P. (Year of publication). Title of photograph [Photograph]. Source. URL

Ryan, S. (2019). Sea smoke on Lake Michigan [Photograph] New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/world/year-in-pictures.html

You need to provide citations for data sets when you have either conducted secondary analyses of publicly archived data or archived your own data being presented for the first time in the current work.

Please note:

• If you are citing existing data or statistics, cite the publication in which the data were published (e.g., a journal article, report, or webpage) rather than the data set itself.
• The date in the reference is the year of publication for the version of the data used.
• Provide the title of the data set in italics. Then provide any numerical identifier and version number for the data in parentheses without italics, separated by a semicolon.
• The bracketed description is flexible (e.g., “[Data set],” “[Data set and code book]”).
• Provide the publisher of the data set in the source element.

NB: Date of retrieval is not normally required for datasets.  However if the information is likely to change, it is recommended to include this information.

Author, A. B. & Author, C. D. (date). Title of data set (Version 1.2) [data set]. Publisher Name. (If applicable: Retrieved date) DOI or URL

O’Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks (ICPSR 21600; Version V1) [Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1

This section covers both NICE guidelines and other NICE guidance series found on their website, e.g. Medical technologies guidance or Interventional procedures guidance.

The first time you cite NICE in your document, write the full name of the organisation, 'National Institute for Health and Care Excellence'.  If you cite NICE again in the same document, insert the abbreviation after the full name in square brackets, and all subsequent citations can be inserted as 'NICE':

In text, first citation: (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2013) or National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2013).

In text, subsequent citations: (NICE, 2013) or NICE (2013).

The information you need to include in the reference is: 

• Organisation. (followed by full stop)
• Year of publication (in round brackets, followed by full stop)
• Title (in italics)
• [Title of guidance series with number]. (in square brackets, followed by full stop)
• URL

For example:

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2019). Fever in under 5s: assessment and initial management [NICE Guideline No. 143]. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng143

When citing an online video sharing platform (like YouTube), you need the following information:

• Creator (surname followed by initials) and/or [Screen name]
• Year, month day (in round brackets)
• Title of video (in italics)
• [Video file]
• Retrieved from URL

Example:

In-text citation:

Boot talked about speech and language therapy (Tia Martin, 2021).

Reference list:

Boot, K. [Tia Martin]. (2021, February 2). Implementing PERMA on a School-Wide Basis - Kate Boot [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K35cI0HbfZ0&list=PLdjkEO39apQTwYDfjuwZbk9iNsIBzBzdC&index=2