Books and Book Chapters
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Book
Entry in reference list
Author. (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Hassan, R. (2004). Media, politics and the network society. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.
Castells, M. (2000). End of millennium (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
For example - in text citation
Hassan (2004) has argued that…
OR
In a major study (Hassan, 2004), it was found that…
OR
In his major study Hassan (2004, pp. 20-23) discusses the network society.
Style notes
- Book titles are italicised.
- Capitalisation - Capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and any proper nouns.
- Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed in parentheses directly after the title, with the period after the parentheses, e.g., (2nd ed.). or (Rev. ed.). or (Vol. xvi).
- In the in-text citation, if pages are being directly referenced, include the page number/s after the year.
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Electronic Book
Entry in reference list (entire electronic book)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. http://dx.doi.org/xxxx.
Entry in reference list (electronic book from an online library)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Retrieved from http://xxxx.
Entry in reference list (electronic version of print book)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book: xxxx [Version]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com
For example - reference list
Neville, C. (2010). The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Blaire, L. (2016). Writing a graduate thesis or dissertation. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-426-8
For example - in text citation
Neville (2010) has argued that…
OR
In a study (Neville, 2010), it was found that....
OR where you are paraphrasing someone else's words
In his book Neville (2010, pp. 20-23) discusses plagiarism.
Style notes
- Book titles are italicised.
- Capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and any proper nouns.
- If the book has been assigned a DOI, give the DOI in the reference. No URL or database name is then needed.
- Provide the alphanumeric string for the DOI exactly as published. This is not a style issue, but a retrieval issue.
- If no DOI has been assigned for the book, provide the home page of the online library (e.g. Google Books, NetLibrary, ebrary, etc.), rather than the full URL. Books are easily available by search, and some sites requires login credentials.
- Some archival documents (e.g., monographs, dissertations, etc.), can only be found in electronic databases such as ERIC or JStor. When the document is not easily located through its primary publishing channels, give the home or entry page URL for the online archive.
- Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material may change over time.
- Do not insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL across lines. Instead, break the URL before punctuation. (An exception would be http://). Do not add a period after the URL. This is not a style issue, but a retrieval issue.
- In the in-text citation, if pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in text citation after the year.
- When quoting, always provide the author, year, and specific page citation, in the in-text citation.
- Where the quotation comprises fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into text and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks.
- If the quotation appears mid-sentence, end the passage with quotation marks, and continue the sentence. Use no other punctuation, unless the meaning of the sentence requires such punctuation.
- If the quotation appears at the end of the sentence, close the quoted passage with quotation marks, cite the source in parentheses immediately after the quotation marks, and end with a period or other punctuation outside the final parentheses.
- Where the quotation comprises 40 or more words, display it in a freestanding block of text, and omit the quotation marks. Start such a block quotation on a new line and indent the block about a half inch from the left margin.
- If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each an additional half inch.
- Double-space the entire block quotation. At the end of the quotation, cite the quoted source and the page or paragraph number in parentheses, after the final punctuation mark.
- Direct quotations must be accurate, and the quotation must follow the wording, spelling, and interior punctuation of the original source, even if the source is incorrect.
- If any incorrect spelling, punctuation, or grammar in the source might confuse readers, insert the word sic, italicised and bracketed, immediately after the error in the quotation.
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Book chapter
Entry in reference list-
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter or section. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of the chapter referred to). Place of publication: Publisher.
If there is no author, as in an article or section from a reference work:
Title of entry or section (Year of publication). In Title of reference work (xx ed., Vol. xx, pp. xxx-xxx). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Daniels, P. J. (1993). Australia's foreign debt: Searching for the benefits. In P. Maxwell & S. Hopkins (Eds.), Macroeconomics: Contemporary Australian readings (pp. 200-250). Pymble, Australia: Harper Educational.
For example - in text citation
…has been argued (Daniels, 1993)
OR
Daniels (1993) argues that…
OR
Daniels (1993, p.221) states that…
Style notes
- Provide both the title of the chapter (not italicised) and the title of the book (italicised).
- Give inclusive page numbers for the chapter in the Reference List.
- Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed in parentheses, e.g., ( 2nd ed.). or (Rev. ed.). or (Vol. 16).
- If there is no chapter author, use the editor's name as author and do not repeat as editor.
- If pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text citation after the year.
- Do not invert the editor's name. (e.g. P. Maxwell, not Maxwell, P.)
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Edited book
Entry in reference list
Editor, A. A., & Editor, B. B. (Eds.). (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Beckman, K. R., & Ma, J. (Eds.). (2008). Still moving: Between cinema and photography. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
For example - in text citation
Beckman and Ma (2008) suggest that…
OR
…this theory was disproved (Beckman & Ma, 2008).
OR
Beckman and Ma (2008, pp.108-112) posit that…
Style notes
- Book titles are italicised.
- Use the abbreviation (Eds.). for multiple editors.
- For major reference works with a large number of editors, use the name of the lead editor followed by et al. and, in parentheses, the year.
- If pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text citation after the year.
- Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed directly after the title in parentheses, with the period after the parentheses, e.g., (2nd ed.). or (Rev. ed.(. or (Vol.26).
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Two authors
Entry in reference list
Author, A. A., & Author B. B. (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Wellman, B., & Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). The Internet in everyday life. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
For example - in text citation
In their findings (Wellman & Haythornthwaite, 2002)…
OR
Wellman and Haythornthwaite (2002) refute the argument…
OR
Wellamn and Haythornthwaite (2002, pp. 34-35) refute the argument…
Style notes
- Book titles are italicised.
- Capitalisation - capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and any proper nouns.
- An ampersand (&) is used to link authors names' when citations are placed in parentheses (not when the names are included in the text).
- If pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text citation after the year.
- Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed in parentheses directly after the title, with the period after the parentheses, e.g., (2nd ed.). or ( Rev. ed.). or (Vol. 26).
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Three or more authors
Entry in reference list
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Sharp, J. A., Peters, J., & Howard, K. (2002). The management of a student research project. Aldershot, England: Gower.
For example - in text citation
First use:
In a major study (Sharp, Peters, & Howard, 2002)…
OR
Sharp, Peters, and Howard (2002) have argued that…
Subsequent use:
…as argued (Sharp et al., 2002)
OR
Sharp et al. (2002) argued…
OR
Sharp et al. (2002, p.45) have found…
Style notes
- Cite all authors (surnames and initials) the first time the reference appears, then for subsequent references, use et al. (not italicised).
- For in-text citation, include the names of three to five authors the first time the citation appears. Subsequently include only the name of the first author followed by et al. (not italicised) and (in parentheses) the year. Within one paragraph, you can omit the year for non-parenthetical subsequent citations.
- In-text, for six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. and, in parentheses, the year.
- Use an ampersand in parenthetical in-text citations between the last two authors' names (but spell out and when the authors' names are included in the narrative).
- Distinguish references that would otherwise be identical by adding information such as a first name (in brackets) or an additional author.
- Book titles are italicised.
- Capitalisation - Capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and any proper nouns.
- If pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text citation after the year.
- Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed in parentheses directly after the title, with the period after the parentheses, e.g., (2nd ed.). or (Rev. ed.). or (Vol. 26).
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No author
Entry in reference list
Title of book (Edition). (Year of publication). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
The Good Housekeeping illustrated book of child care: From newborn to preteen. (1995). New York, NY: Hearst Books.
For example - in text citation
As discussed in Good Housekeeping (1995)…
OR
…infants are weaned (Good Housekeeping, 1995)…
OR
Good Housekeeping (1995, p.15) recommends…
Style notes
- When a work has no author, move the title to the author position, before the date of publication.
- In the text citation, use a few words of the title, or the whole title if it is short, in place of an author's name.
- Book titles are italicised.
- Capitalisation: Capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if any, and any proper nouns.
- If the author is specifically designated as "Anonymous" cite in-text as (Anonymous, Year of publication) and in the Reference List use Anonymous as the author.
- Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed in parentheses directly after the title, with the period after the parentheses, e.g., (2nd ed.). or (Rev.ed.). or (Vol.26).
- In the in-text citation, if pages are being directly referenced, include the page number/s after the year.
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Secondary source in a book
Entry in reference list
Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Smith, P., Jones, M., & Black, J. (1983). Introduction to psychology: A reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
For example - in text citation
Freud's study (as cited in Smith, Jones & Black, 1983)…
OR
Jung (as cited in Smith, Jones & Black, 1983, pp.46-50) suggested that…
Style notes
- Use secondary sources sparingly, for instance, when the original text is not accessible.
- In the reference list, record only the secondary source. Details about edition, volume number or chapter page range are placed in parentheses directly after the title, with the period after the parentheses, e.g., (2nd ed.). or (Rev. ed.). or (Vol.26).
- In the text, name the original work, and give a citation in parentheses for your secondary source. That is, if you did not read the work cited, list the reference for the work you did access in the Reference List, but in the text, after identifying the original work, put in parentheses the phrase as cited in followed by the authors' names for your source and the publication year of their work.
- Book titles are italicised.
- If pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text citation after the year.
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Group as author
Entry in reference list
Full name of group author. (Year of publication). Title of publication (Additional information). Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). Babies and bosses: Reconciling work and family life: A synthesis of findings for OECD countries. Paris, France: Author.
For example - in text citation
First use:
In a recent study, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2007) found…
OR
…was found (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2007).
Subsequent use:
A recent OECD (2007) report suggested…
OR
…in work situations (OECD, 2007).
OR
The OECD (2007) states that "the aim is for each member country to have a female employment rate in excess of 60% by 2010" (p.15).
Style notes
- When a group author is responsible for a publication (e.g., a Government agency, a university department or an association) its name is usually spelled out each time the work is cited in the text. However, if the name is long and the abbreviation is familiar or readily understandable, you may abbreviate the name in the second and subsequent citations.
- If the publication originates from a sub-group of a larger organisation, put a comma between the name of the larger group and the sub-group, e.g., University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education. In the text citation, include enough of the full name to enable identification in the Reference List.
- Book titles are italicised.
- Additional information should include edition, report number, volume number or series volume as required for retrieval.
- If pages are being directly referenced in the text, include the page number/s in the in-text citation after the year.
- Edition is written as 2nd ed. or Rev. ed. for revised.
- When author and publisher are identical, use the word Author as the publisher.
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Musical score
Musical scores are not discussed in the manual used in the compilation of the APA 6th examples for this module. Our librarians suggest the following, however we advise that you check with your subject guideline or tutor for recommended format.
Entry in reference list
Composer, A. A., & Composer, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of publication [Medium]. Place of publication: Publisher.
For example - reference list
Stravinsky, I. (1975). Rite of spring [Score]. London, England: Hansen House.
If the score is part of a collection or anthology:
Whitfield, N., & Strong, B. (1966). I heard it through the grapevine [Score]. In Motown anthology (pp.98-104). Milkwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard.
If there is an editor:
Porter, C. (1953). It's all right with me [Score]. In W. L. Simon (Ed.), Treasury of great show tunes (pp.104-110). Pleasantville, NY: Reader's Digest.
For example - in text citation
"It's Alright With Me" (Porter, 1953) was also used in High Society.
OR
Porter (1953) wrote "It's Alright With Me" for the musical Can-Can.
Style notes
- Examples of medium: score, choral score, miniature score, orchestral score, libretto, song lyrics, etc
- Often correct details for referencing items can be found on the Library catalogue record.
This is an introduction to the APA style which is widely used in the social sciences and other fields, such as education, commerce and nursing.
This guide is based on the 6th edition of the APA's style rules which are set out in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition.
APA is an author-date style with two key components:
- Citations in the text, including the name of the author and year of publication.
- Reference list at end of paper, alphabetically listing of all references used in the text.
The purpose of referencing is to acknowledge the source and to enable the reader to trace the sources. Reference data must be accurate, including specific page numbers or specific URLs (web addresses), when otherwise it might be difficult to retrieve the original text.
For more information see:
- A tutorial for beginners
- A general outline of changes from the 5th edition. For details of the changes, see APA’s tutorial
- The American Psychological Association website.
Before writing your list of references, check with your tutor or lecturer for the bibliographic style preferred by the School or Department.
Reference list notes
- References cited in the text must be listed in the reference list, and all references listed in the reference list must be cited in the text.
Exceptions: do not include in the reference list sources such as:
- Personal communications, such as letters, informal email, or private social media posts
- Classical works or major religious texts
- Web sites or Facebook orTwitter feeds when discussed as a whole.
Cite all these sources only in the text.
- Order the reference list alphabetically by author surnames:
- Where an item has no author it is cited by its title, and ordered in the reference list alphabetically by the first significant word of the title (not A or The) .
- References by the same single or multiple authors are arranged by year of publication, the earliest first, e.g.,
- Hong, B.H. & Yeung, K.L. (2001)
- Hong, B.H. & Yeung, K.L. (2009)
- References with the same first author and different second or third author are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the second author, or if the same, third, and so on, e.g.,
- Brown, J., Gold, F., & Black, L. (2007)
- Brown, J., Gold, F., & Greene, H. (2006)
- References by the same author (or by the same two or more authors in the same order) with the same publication date are arranged alphabetically by the title (excluding A or The) that follows the date. Lower case letters – a, b, c – are placed immediately after the year in parentheses.
- Smith, J.R. (2008a)
- Smith, J.R. (2008b)
References with multiple authors
- Give surnames and initials for up to seven authors. With eight or more authors, include the first six authors' names, then insert three ellipses and add the last author's name.
Formatting the reference list
- APA requires that the reference list be double-spaced
- Entries in the reference list should have a hanging indent (the second and subsequent lines of the reference must be indented five spaces.) e.g.
American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington D.C: Author.
- Book titles are italicised, e.g., Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Chapter or section titles within a larger work are not italicised.
- Translated works: if you used the non-English version of a work, cite using the original title and immediately following that title, give the English translation in brackets. If you used the English translation, just cite the English translation.
- Give the publication date (the year the work was copyrighted) in parentheses, e.g., (2009). Note: APA uses parentheses (…) for standard parts of a reference, e.g., the year of publication, and brackets […] for information that you have inserted, e.g., format information such as [Audio podcast].
- Place of publication: within the United States, give the city and the abbreviation for the state, e.g., Boston, MA. Outside the United States, record the city and country, e.g., London, England, or, Melbourne, Australia.
- Journal titles in the reference list must be italicised and be given in title case; do not abbreviate titles (e.g., Journal of Immunology, not J Immunol). Article titles are not italicised.
- Inclusive page numbers for all articles and chapters in books should be included in the reference list.
- List page numbers in full (e.g., 132-135, not 132-5).
- Electronic sources: in general, include the same elements, in the same order, as you would for a reference to a fixed-media source and add as much electronic retrieval information as needed for others to locate the source.
Acceptable abbreviations in the reference list for parts of books and other publications include:
| ed. | edition |
| Rev.ed. | revised edition |
| 2nd ed. | second edition |
| Ed. ( Eds.) | Editor (Editors) |
| Trans. | Translator(s) |
| n.d. | no date |
| p. (pp) | page (pages) |
| Vol. | Volume (as in Vol. 4) |
| Vols. | Volume (as in Vols. 1-4) |
| No. | Number |
| Pt. | Part |
| Suppl. | Supplement |
| Tech. Rep. | Technical report |
In-text citations
- If more than one reference is used in a set of parentheses, the references are ordered alphabetically by author name. Separate multiple citations using a semi-colon, e.g., (Coats, 2005; McMinn, 2003; Ng, Leung, Kwok, & Chan, 2007).
- References with multiple authors: cite all authors up to five in the first in-text citation (surnames only). In subsequent citations, use the surname of the first author followed by et al. (not italicised and followed by a period) and the year.
- With six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. and the year.
- Always give specific page numbers for quotations in the text and include a complete reference in the reference list, e.g.,
…(Miller, 1994, p. 276)…
OR
Miller (1994) found that, "the 'placebo effect,'… in all participants" (p. 245).
- No distinction is made between print and electronic sources when citing in text.
- If quoting the full title of a reference in the text, the first word of titles and subtitles and all other major words are capitalised and italicised e.g., When The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle was published…
- For classical, major religious and very old works not included in the reference list, give the year of the translation or version that you used, with the word trans. or version, and give section numbers rather than page numbers, e.g., (Aristotle, trans. 1931); 1 Cor. 13:1 (Revised Standard Version). When the date of the original publication is available, include that date, e.g., James (1890/1983).
- To cite a web site or a Facebook or Twitter feed as a whole or to discuss it in general, you need only to provide the site URL in parentheses in the text; there is no need for a reference list entry.
Direct quotation of sources
These notes apply to the word-for-word reproduction from another author's work.
The quote is fewer than 40 words
- If the quote is fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into the text and use double quotation marks.
- Always provide author, year, and page number or paragraph number for non-paginated material, e.g.
According to Palladino and Wade (2010), "a flexible mind is a healthy mind" (p. 147).
In 2010, Palladino and Wade noted that "a flexible mind is a healthy mind" (p. 147).
"A flexible mind is a healthy mind," according to Palladino and Wade's (2010, p. 147) longitudinal study.
- List the complete reference in the bibliography
- If the quote is at the end of a sentence, close the quote with quotation marks, cite the source in brackets after the quotation marks, and place a full stop after the bracket, e.g.
In fact, "a flexible mind is a healthy mind" (Palladino & Wade, 2010, p. 147).
The quote is more than 40 words
- If the quote is more than 40 words, display in a freestanding block of text and omit the quotation marks.
- Start the quote on a new line, and indent about half and inch (equal to a tab space or 1.27cm) from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph).
- If there are additional paragraphs in the same quote, indent the first line of each by half an inch (one tab space).
- Double-space the entire quotation. Cite the quoted source, page or paragraph number in brackets after the final punctuation mark.
- Use p. for a single page number (Example: p. 15) and pp. for multiple page numbers (Examples: pp. 125-126).
- If citing an online source without page numbers, cite the paragraph number (Example: para. 4).
- When citing multiple authors after a quotation use the ampersand symbol '&' instead of the word 'and'.
- If the quoted source is cited and included in the introductory sentence only the page or paragraph number is required at the end of the quotation.
Example
Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often had difficulty using APA style especially when it was their first time citing source. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)
Block quote with author at beginning
Lyoob, Rossetti and Chen (2013) noted:
Many software providers take advantage of these developing technologies to provide new cloud computing services or transform their existing products to the cloud. Since the term cloud could refer to any infrastructure, platform or software that serves for cloud computing, every component in the cloud may be provided as a service. (p. 34)
Block quote with author at the end
Cyber threats are not the only challenge to cloud computing:
While security has been a major topic of interest, reliability is a much bigger concern. Cloud computing is based on Internet access, so a fast and constant Internet connection is critical to cloud computing solutions. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure the enterprise's connectivity to the Internet is well-established and that there are backup connections in case of connectivity failure. (Lyoob, Rosetti, & Chen, 2013 pp. 35-36)
Direct quotations of online material without pagination
- List author year and page number in brackets
- If paragraph numbers are available, use these when page numbers are absent
- Use the abbreviation para, e.g.
Basu and Jones (2007) went so far as to suggest the need for a new "intellectual framework in which to consider the nature and form of regulation in cyberspace " (para. 4).
- If a subheading is available but no paragraph or page numbers, cite the heading and the numbers of the paragraph following it, e.g.
In their study, Verbunt, Pernot, and Smeets (2008) found that "the level of perceived disability in patients with fibromyalgia seemed best explained by their mental health condition and less by their physical condition " (Discussion section, para. 1).
- If the subheading is too long and unwieldy to use (and there is no paragraph or page numbers) a short title enclosed in quotation marks will suffice, e.g.
"Empirical studies have found mixed results on the efficacy of labels in education consumers and changing consumption behaviour " (Golan, Kuchler, & Kirssof, 2007, "Mandatory Labelling Has Targeted, " para. 4).
Citations within quotations
- Do no omit citations already present in the material you are quoting. The work cited should not be listed in the bibliography either unless cited as a primary source in another part of the assignment.