17 APA Formatting
As mentioned previously, with APA formatting, the way a source is formatted depends on the type of source. Whatever type of source you use, it’s important to be sure that the source is creditable (not Wikipedia!). Take careful notes from the source, and be sure to quote direct quotes exactly as they are written. Citing directly from the library databases will help tremendously! You can link your student account to RefWorks to cite sources that are not from the library databases as well, such as websites and YouTube videos. Remember that each source you use must be cited twice within your essay: the reference page and the in-text citation. This means that every source listed in your References page must be cited at least once in the text of the paper.
APA Formatting for Common Sources
Note that the in text citation is the first piece of information listed in the Reference citation.
| Type of source | Resource Citation | In-Text Citation |
| Book |
Author’s Last Name, First Initial.Middle Initial. (Publication Date). Title of work. Publisher Name. DOI (if available) |
(Author’s Last Name, Year of Publication, include p.# if direct quote). |
| Scholarly Article |
Author’s Last Name, First Initial.Middle Initial. (Publication Date). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol. (Issue), page numbers. DOI |
(Author’s Last Name, Year of Publication include p.# if direct quote). |
| Basic Website / No Author |
Title of Web Page. (Year, Month, Date). Site Name. URL |
(Title of Web Page, Year of Publication). |
| Website for Corporation / Government / National Organization |
Organization’s Name. (Publication Date). Title of page. Site name. URL |
(Organization’s Name, year of Publication). |
| Video |
Author’s Last Name, First Initial.Middle Initial. [or organization that uploaded the video]. (Year, Month, Date). Title of video. Streaming Service. URL |
(Author’s Last Name or Organization, Year of Publication). |
| Newspaper / Magazine |
Author’s Last Name, First Initial.Middle Initial. (Year, Month, Date). Title of article. Title of Publication, volume / issue number, page numbers. URL |
(Author’s Last Name, Year of Publication, include page # if a direct quote) |
TIP: Here is a great online citation creator that can help you cite websites correctly: http://www.citationmachine.net.
