APA style referencing tutorial | APA in text citation | How to reference in APA style, by Shomu's Biology on YouTube. 9 min 17 s.
- Video length
- 9 min 17 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Open your document and decide which sources you will cite. Write down the author, year, title and publisher or journal for each one.
For an in-text citation, put the author's surname and the year in brackets after the sentence, like (Smith, 2018).
If you name the author in the sentence, put only the year in brackets after the name, like Smith (2018) found.
For a direct quote, add the page number after the year, like (Smith, 2018, p. 24).
Start a new page at the end titled References. Centre the word References at the top.
List each source in alphabetical order by the author's surname. Do not number the entries.
Format a book entry as: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Publisher. Use italics for the title.
Format a journal article as: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages. Italicise the journal name and volume.
Format a web page as: Author or organisation. (Year). Title of page. Site name. URL. Add the retrieval date only if the page changes often.
Check that every in-text citation has a matching reference entry and every entry is cited in the text.
Tips and common mistakes
Use a hanging indent of 0.5 inches for each reference entry so the author's name stands out.
If a source has no date, write (n.d.) in place of the year in both the citation and the reference.
Keep the author order and punctuation exact, since small errors like a missing comma are common.
Do not guess page numbers for quotes. Check the original source before you submit.
Questions
Do I need page numbers for every in-text citation?
No. Page numbers are only required for direct quotes. For a summary or paraphrase, the author and year are enough.
What if a source has two authors?
Use both surnames joined by an ampersand in brackets, like (Smith & Jones, 2019). In the reference list, list both authors with initials.
How do I cite a website with no author?
Use the organisation name or the page title in place of the author. Match the same wording in the reference list entry.
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.
