It may be helpful to see how APA citation rules work in practice. 

To view a sample APA-formatted paper, click here. 

Below are some basics. For citing sources not mentioned here, consult the downloadable APA handout on this page. 

When building your works cited page, remember to: 

• Begin each entry at the left margin and indent any subsequent line(s) one-half inch.
• Double-space the entire list, both between and within entries.
• Alphabetize the entries by the author’s last name or, in the absence of an author, by the title. 

Books (single author)

Rosenthal, R. (1987). Meta-analytic procedures for social research (Rev. ed.). Sage. 

Books (two authors)

Beck, C. A. J., & Sales, B. D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts, myths, and future prospects. American Psychological Association.

Entry in an Online Reference Work

At some point in your studies, you are bound to look up a tricky word or concept in an online dictionary or encyclopedia. For an example of how to cite such materials in your paper, see below. 

Graham, G. (2005). Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2007 ed.). http: //plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/

Website

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. http://Web address

Journal Articles

Provide the DOI (or Digital Object Identifier), if one has been assigned to the content. 

A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet. All DOI numbers begin with the number 10 and contain a prefix and suffix separated by a slash.

Without DOI

If there is no DOI assigned, give the URL of the journal home page. 

Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap

With DOI

Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times
of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229. 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Plagiarism occurs when you use another person’s words or ideas and present them as your own, intentionally or unintentionally.