APA Checklistfind more details on the citations page of the library website

Formatting of paper:
_____ 1 margins
_____ Double spaced
_____ Times New Roman 12 pt.
_____ Running head title of
your paper in ALL CAPS with
the words Running Head:
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER (top
flush left)
_____ Page number (top flush
right)
_____ Title page w/title of
paper, authors name,
institutional affiliation
(Central Magnet School) on
separate lines (centered &
double spaced)
_____ Reference(s) page

Formatting of Reference(s)
page:
_____ Titled Reference or
References
_____ Double spaced
_____ Hanging indent
_____ ABC order
_____ Correct punctuation,
capitalization, & italics within
citations

In-text citations
_____ Author, date, p. #
format used
_____ Proper punctuation
_____ Correspond to
Reference list
_____ n.d. used for no date

Basic rules for citations/reference(s) page

Titled Reference or References

Hanging indent
ABC order by the last name of the first author of the work
Invert authors names and use first initial instead of entire first name (list up to/including 7 authors)
If no author is found, the title of the work moves to the author position
If no date is available, use the abbreviation n.d.
Multiple articles by the same author are listed in chronological order
Italicize titles of longer works such as entire books
Do not italicize, enclose in quotation marks, or underline titles of shorter works such as articles, essays,
chapters in books, online articles, etc.
Titles of books, chapters, articles, or web pages only require capitalization of the first letter of the first word of
the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.
Titles of journals should maintain the capitalization that appears in print (ex. ReCall not RECALL or Recall)

Basic rules for in-text citations

All sources cited on the Reference(s) page must be included in the body of the paper and cited using in-text
citations
In-text citations occur within parentheses and must be used whenever you are discussing information gathered
from an outside sources or citing photos.
Pay close attention to placement of in-text citations which come before the closing punctuation of a phrase if
you choose to place it at the end
o Ex. "Every single one of the spectators were utterly shocked at the behavior of the player" (Jones,
1998, p. 50).
Alternately, you could use the following method of a signal phrase
o Ex. Jones (1998) stated that "every single one of the spectators were utterly shocked at the behavior of
the player" (p. 50).
For direct quotes, use author-date-pg. # method (Bradley, 2016, p. 25) to lead the reader to the Reference list
at the end of the paper
For summaries, paraphrases or general referring to ideas but not directly quoting from the source, use authordate method (Bradley, 2016) or state the author in the phrase and include the date in parenthesis.
o Ex. Most people do not retain information when they study with the television turned on (Bradley,
2016).
o Ex. According to Bradley (2016), most people do not retain information when they study with the
television turned on.
If no author name is available, use the first word or two of the title of the work and give the date
o Ex. Playing music while studying is beneficial in retention of information ("Music," 2015).
o Ex. The article "Music and Retention," discusses the idea that listening to music while studying is
beneficial in retention of information (2015).

If no date is available, use the abbreviation n.d.

If a source has more than one author, include all last names up to six authors and separate them with commas
o Ex. (Spellman & Lewis, 2013, pp. 5-60) or (Spellman, Lewis, & Brown, 2015, p. 20)
o For more than six authors, use "et al." Ex. (Spellman et al., 2011, pp. 170-171)
When referring to a title of a source, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater (remember that in
your Reference list, only the first word of a title/subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized)
Italicize or underline the titles of longer works such as books, movies, TV series, albums, etc.
Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works such as articles, song titles, TV show episodes, etc.

Most common citation examples

Book
Author, A.A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter for first word of subtitle and any proper nouns and don't
forget your hanging indent. Location both city and state: Publisher.
Johns, P., Pearson, A.R., & Wyatt, B. (2016). The inequality of life: Living and dying in squalor in the era of neocolonialism. New York, NY: Hyperion press.

Database article
Author, A.A. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range. Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Bryon, L. (2013). A longitudinal study of the effect of food deprivation on mammals. Journal of Animal Husbandry, 15,
98-102. Retrieved from http://www.articlehomepage.com/full/url/

Online article or page on a website

With an author:
Author, A.A. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Title of article or webpage. Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Simmons, B. (2015, January 9). The tale of two Flaccos. Retrieved from http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-tale-oftwo-flaccos
With no author:
Title of article or webpage. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Teen posed as doctor at West Palm Beach hospital: Police. (2016, January 15). Retrieved from
http://blog.apastyle.org/files/how-to-cite-something-you-found-on-a-website-in-apa-style-table.pdf

Photo or digital image retrieved online

Photographer, A.A. (Photographer). (Year, Month Date of Publication). Title of photograph or Description of image
[digital image]. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Turner, P. (Photographer). (2011, March 10). Liberty enlightening the world [digital image]. Retrieved from
http://worldnewsreport.com
No photographer or artist credit:

Title of photograph or Description of image [digital image]. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
No photographer, date, or title of image:
[Subject and type of work-come up with a short, valid description]. Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
[Photograph of a boat with a red mast]. Retrieved from www.iloveredboatsandsailing.com