Referencing Toolkit

These pages are an introduction to the APA (American Psychological Association) referencing system. The content is based on and gives credit to the APA Referencing guide created by Victoria University, which is an interpretation of the information in the APA's official style guide

American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

How-To Video

Video Transcript

In this presentation, you will learn the basics of how to create an in-text reference and a reference list in APA 7th edition style.

So, what is the APA style of referencing? The APA Style is an author-date referencing system which draws upon the 7th edition of the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). Each work or source referred to within the body of your writing is given an in-text reference and an entry in the Reference list at the end of the document.

So, how do I format an In-text reference? When formatting your in-text reference you need to consider the following: Are you quoting directly or in other words copying “word to word” from a source? Or are you paraphrasing or summarising the words or ideas of others in your own words? If using a direct quote from a source, include the Author’s surname, the year of publication and the page number in round brackets and place quotation marks around the direct quote. Alternatively, the author’s name can be used anywhere within the sentence. In this case, place the year of publication in round brackets immediately after the Author’s surname name, and the page number in round brackets directly following the quote. When paraphrasing or summarising the ideas or opinions of others, include the authors’ surname and year of publication in round brackets within the text of your writing. If including the author anywhere in the sentence, place year of publication in round brackets immediately after the Author’s surname.

So, how do I reference when there is more than one author of a particular source? Here are some examples of how you would write an in-text reference when there is more than 1 author of a particular source.

The next component of APA 7th edition Referencing is to compile a Reference List. A Reference list includes full details of all your in-text references and is listed on a separate page at the end of your assignment titled: References. It is arranged in alphabetical order and must be indented from the second and subsequent lines of each entry (5-7 spaces).

For further assistance, follow the link to the APA 7th referencing Guide OR Contact us through ‘Ask a Librarian’.

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