APA citation & referencing for beginners, by NUSTNamibia Library on YouTube. 57 min 47 s.
- Video length
- 57 min 47 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Collect the full details of every source you used: author names, publication year, title, publisher, and for web pages the URL and access date.
Note where each source appears in your text so you can match it to a reference entry later.
Write an in-text citation at the point where you use an idea. Use the author surname and year in brackets, like (Smith, 2020).
For a direct quote, add the page number after the year, like (Smith, 2020, p. 15), and put quotation marks around the copied words.
For two authors, join the surnames with an ampersand, like (Smith & Jones, 2019). For three or more, use the first author plus et al.
Start the reference list on a new page at the end of your document and title it References, centred and bold.
List entries alphabetically by the first author's surname, with a hanging indent of about 1.27 cm (0.5 inch) on each entry.
Format a book entry as: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work in italics. Publisher.
Format a journal article as: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name in italics, volume in italics(issue), page range.
Format a web page as: Author or organisation. (Year, Month Day). Title of page in italics. Site name. URL. Check every in-text citation has a matching entry.
Tips and common mistakes
Every in-text citation must have a matching reference entry, and every entry must be cited at least once.
Use the 7th edition rules, since older guides still show the 6th edition format with the place of publication.
Keep a running list of sources as you research so you do not lose the details later.
Double-check italics and punctuation, as small formatting errors are common in APA reference lists.
Questions
Do I need page numbers for every citation?
No. Page numbers are only required for direct quotes. For paraphrased ideas, the author and year are enough.
What if a source has no author?
Move the title to the author position and use the year. For a web page, use the organisation name if one is given.
How do I cite a source I found cited in another work?
Cite the original author and year as given, and add the words as cited in followed by the source you actually read.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
