APA Citation Examples for Research Papers
The American Psychological Association (APA) citation style is one of the most commonly used formats for citing sources in research papers, particularly in science and psychology fields. APA citation guidelines require including parenthetical citations in the body of text that directly relate to a source, along with a full reference list at the end. Here are some examples of citing sources within the text of a research paper as well as reference list entries for common types of sources according to the APA style manual.
In-Text Citations
Whenever a direct quote or paraphrase from another source is used in the body of the paper, an in-text, or parenthetical citation should be included. These citations consist of the last name of the author and year of publication. For a direct quote, include the page number as well.
Example of a direct quote citation:
According to Smith (2020), “Students often had difficulty applying concepts from class to real-world examples” (p. 199).
Example of a paraphrased citation:
Many students struggle to translate academic theories into practical applications (Jones, 2019).
For sources with two authors, include both last names separated by an ampersand:
(Brown & Thomas, 2022)
For sources with three to five authors, include all authors’ last names the first time the source appears. Then use the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” in subsequent citations:
(Johnson, Smith, Miller, Davis, & Williams, 2021)
(Johnson et al., 2021)
If the author is not named in the narrative, include their last name in the parenthetical citation.
One study found that students performed better with hands-on activities (Acme Research, 2020).
Reference List Citations
The reference list appears at the end of the paper and provides full publication details for all sources used in-text. List entries are sorted alphabetically by the last name of the first author of each work.
Book
Last, F. M. (Year). Book title. Publisher.
Journal Article
Last, F. M., & Last, F. M. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), pages.
Neuwirth, C. M., & Jovic, E. (2020). The challenges of remote learning. Education Today, 42(3), 32-37.
Website
Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage. Name of Website. URL
Government Report
Government Department. (Year). Title of report. https://website.address/
U.S. Department of Education. (2021, September 15). Remote learning during COVID-19. https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus
Newspaper Article (from online newspaper with no DOI assigned)
Last name, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper. http:// webaddress/
Johnson, B. (2021, December 15). School budget cuts may increase class sizes. The Times. https://www.thetimes.com
APA provides specific formatting guidelines for titles, capitalization, italics, indentation and punctuation that must be followed for each source type for the reference list and in-text citations. Following APA citation style correctly is important for citing sources ethically as well as maintaining consistency and readability within research papers in many academic disciplines. Learning the basic citation formats and when to include parenthetical citations within the text of a paper are crucial initial steps for any student embarking on a research project.