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Nursing- Legacy: APA

Created by Health Science Librarians

Articles

Journal Article

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy
 

In-press Articles

Author, A.A. (in press). Title of article. Title of Periodical.
 

Pre-prints

Author, A.A. (year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy
 

Magazine Article

Author, A.A. (year, month day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, issue, pages.
 

Newspaper Article

Author, A.A. (year, month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pp. A1, A2.*

*for one page use p. A1; for two or more pages use p.p. A1, A2,A3.

Lots of authors? See how to cite with one or two authors, 3-7 authors, 7 or more authors, or unknown authors in your reference list at the Purdue OWL Authors page.

Wondering how to write an in-text citation for them?  See this Purdue OWL In-text Citation Authors page too.

Websites

Websites

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://web address
 

Webpages from one website

American Psychological Association. (n.d.-a). Divisions. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/division/

American Psychological Association. (n.d.-b). Exercise and Sport Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/division/div47.aspx

American Psychological Association. (n.d.-c). For division leaders. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/division/officers/index.aspx

Books

Print book

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
 

Electronic book

Author Last Name, First Name (publication year). Title. Retrieved from URL.   

OR (if book must be purchased or is not available directly online)

Author Last Name, First Name (publication year). Title. Available from URL. 
 

Electronic book chapter

Author(s) (publication year). Chapter title. In: Editors, ed(s). Book Title (pages of chapters). Available/Retrieved from URL.
 

Edited book without author

EditorName, B.B. & EditorGuy, C. (Eds.). (year). Title of book. City, State: Publisher.
 

Edited book with author

Author, A.A. (year). Title of book. B.B. EditorName (Ed.). City, State: Publisher.

Posters/Abstracts

Presented paper/poster: Author, A.A., & Author, B.B. (Year, Month). Title of paper or poster. Paper/Poster presented at the meeting of Organization Name, City, State.

Published Proceedings: Author, A.A., & Author, B.B. (Year). Title of paper or poster. Title of the Journal, Volume, Issue, Pages-Pages. URL (if applicable).

Guidelines

Guideline with named authors

Author, A.A., & Author, B.B. (Year). Title of guideline. Location: Publisher. OR Retrieved from url
 

Guideline with institution as author

Name of the organization. (Year). Title of guideline.  Location: Publisher. OR Retrieved from url
 

Guideline published in journal

Name of the organization. (Year). Title of guideline. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

Apps

Rightsholder, A. A. (year). Title of Software or Program (Version number) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://web address

Data Sets

Data source. (year). Name of data set [Data file]. Retrieved from http://web address

Social Media

For tweets, status updates, photo or video posts, infographics, blog posts, etc.

Author [screen name]. (year, month day). Title [Type of content*]. Retrieved from URL

 

For real examples of these, see the APA Style Blog's page How to Cite Social Media in APA

 

*Types of content: Tweet, Facebook status update, Video file, Infographic, Web log post, etc.

In-Text Citations

Two Authors:
Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...
(Wegener & Petty, 1994)

Three to Five Authors:
First time: (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993)
Next time: (Kernis et al., 1993)

Six or More Authors:
Harris et al. (2001) argued...
(Harris et al., 2001)

Unknown Author:
A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using APA," 2001).

Organization as an Author:
According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2000),...
First time: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000)
Next time: (MADD, 2000)

Indirect Sources
Johnson argued that...(as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

See the Purdue OWL site for these examples and more details.

  • Last Updated: May 19, 2025 4:03 PM
  • URL: https://guides.lib.unc.edu/nursing_