Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
Citing Sources
As a scholar, you need to cite the sources that you use in your research. Your discipline determines the citation style you use. Many disciplines, particularly psychology, commonly use the American Psychology Association (APA) citation style. Citations are important because they:
In-Text Citation
These in-text examples use the APA author-date method of citation; the author's last name and year of publication are inserted within the text of the paper and refer to the reference list at the end of the work.
Reference List
The reference list is organized alphabetically typically by the author's last name, followed by additional info that describe the source to help readers locate the item. The following examples are the most commonly referenced types of sources.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The biology of humans at our best and worst. Penguin Books.
Schulian, J. (2019). The great American sports page: A century of classic columns from Ring Lardner to Sally Jenkins. Library of America.
Herndon, D. (2018). Total burn care
Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345-359). American Psychological Association.
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
O'Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks. (ICPSR 36966; Version V1) [ Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Culture. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
News From Science. (2019, June 21).Are you a fan of astronomy? Enjoy reading about what scientists have discovered in our solar system--and beyond? This [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNOW/photos/
a.117532185107/10156268057260108/?type=3&theater
National Cancer Institute. (2019). Taking time: Support for people with cancer (NIH Publication No. 18-2059). U.S. Department of Health and Services, National Institute of Health https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/takingtime.pdf
Images (note: site name or museum location may be used)
National Institutes of Health. (2015). No 7 diabetic foot [3D print model ID 3DPX-001560]. NIH 3D Print Exchange https://3dprint.nih.gov/discover/3dpx-001560
Vishniac, A. (1976). Cicada Kill Wasp: Bugs are Coming [Online image]. Smithsonian Institute. https://www.si.edu/object/cicada-killer-wasp-bugs-are-coming:npg_NPG.78.TC33
Joly, J. F., Stapel, D. A., & Lindenberg, S. M. (2008). Silence and table manners: When environments activate norms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(8), 1047-1056. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167208318401
Barber, A. E., & Roehling, M. V. (1993). Job postings and the decision to interview: A verbal protocol analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 845-856.
Hess, A. (2019, January 3). Cats who take direction. The New York Times, C1.
King, M. L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream. [Speech audio recording]. American Rhetoric. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm.
Barris, K. (Writer & Director). (2017, January 11). Lemons (Season 3, Episode 12) [TV series episode]. In K. Barris, J. Groff, A. Anderson, E. B. Dobbins, L. Fishburne, & H. Sugland (Executive Producers), Black-ish Wilmore Films; Artists First; Cinema Gypsy Productions; ABC Studios.
Gates, B. [@BillGates]. (2019, September 7). Today, it's difficult for researchers to diagnose #Alzheimers patients early enough to intervene. A reliable, easy and accurate diagnostic would [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1170305718425137152
Note: URLs are no longer preceded by “Retrieved from,” unless a retrieval date is needed.
Fagan, J. (2019, March 25). Nursing clinical brain OER Commons. Retrieved September 17, 2019, from https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/53029-nursing-clinical-brain/view
World Health Organization. (2018, May 24). The top 10 causes of death. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death
Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs
About the APA Style Manual
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Guide is the official guide to the APA citation style. Generally it is used in the field of Psychology and heavily used in other fields of social and life sciences. The examples have been adapted from this manual and demonstrate how to document common source materials.
Check our print copy for more examples or ask a librarian for help. The print copy is located on a wooden stand next to the reference collection on the first floor of the Hatfield Library.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
About Zotero
Zotero is a free citation app that collects, manages, cites, and shares your research sources. The browser extension saves the citation info about articles, books, and more, then connects with the desktop Zotero to create citations and work with Google Docs (you need both desktop and browser extension).
More info at https://libguides.willamette.edu/zotero
For Zotero help, contact:
Bill Kelm, bkelm@willamette.edu or
John Repplinger, jrepplin@willamette.edu