Psychology

APA style is widely used in the social sciences. Citations are created using both a detailed reference list appearing at the end of a paper and brief in-text citations that direct readers to particular sources from that reference list. 

• APA in-text citations include the following elements in parentheses, separated by commas:
  • Author's last name
  • Publication year
  • Page number of the quoted or paraphrased material
• The author's last name and publication year should match the last name and publication year given in the reference list. 
• If an author's name is referred to in-text, it does not need to be repeated in parantheses. 

Journal Article

Gold (2012) notes that Edmonia Lewis created her Cleopatra sculpture for Centennial celebrations (p. 318). 

Edmonia Lewis carved the Cleopatra sculpture for the Centennial (Gold, 2012, p. 318). 

Book

Morris (2014) argues that the great abolitionist schism of 1840 was less extreme in the west (p. 6). 

Even as eastern abolitionist groups split in 1840, western abolitionists tended to remain affiliated with multiple organizations (Morris, 2014, p. 6). 

An APA reference list includes the author name, publication date, title, and publication information. All elements should be separated with a period. 

• Journal Article
  • Author name
    • List last name first
    • Use initials for first name
  • Publication date
    • List year of publication in parentheses 
  • Article Title
    • Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle, as well as proper nouns
    • Put in quotation marks
  • Journal Title
    • Use title-case
    • Italicize
  • Publication Information
    • List volume number in italics after publication title. 
    • List issue number and page number, separated by commas. 
  • DOI
• Book
  • Author name
    • List last name first
    • Use initials for first name
  • Publication date
    • List year of publication in parentheses 
  • Title
    • Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle, as well as proper nouns
    • Italicize
  • Publication Information​
    • Publisher location and publisher name, separated by a colon

Journal Article

Gold, S. W. (2012). The death of Cleopatra/The birth of freedom: Edmonia Lewis at the new world's fair. Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 35(2), 318. doi: 10.1353/bio.2012.0014

Book

Morris, J. B. (2014). Oberlin, hotbed of abolitionism: College, community, and the fight for freedom and equality in antebellum America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

We are happy to help you with your citation and paraphrasing questions at the Research Help Desk or during individual consultations.

• Our full citation guide provides online resources and citation examples.
• We have copies of the major citation styles manuals at the Research Help Desks in the Libraries.
• We support two citation management software, RefWorks and Zotero, which can help you to organize your references and create your citations.

The Oberlin College Writing and Speaking Center can also assist with writing your research paper and citations. They provide assistance with writing mechanics, including citation, developing a research question or thesis, developing an argument to support your thesis, reviewing your paper for sentence-level corrections, and editing for flow and clarity.

Ways to Get Help