LibGuides: Cite Your Sources: APA Format

Getting Started with APA

APA 7 Quick Reference Guide

"APA Style" refers to guidelines published by the American Psychological Association.

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition details the organization's rules on how to format a paper, how to document research sources you use, and other matters of writing style. The American Psychological Association released a new edition of the Publication Manual in 2020. You can read about the changes on the APA Style website.

The APA Publication Manual is available at the first floor library reference desk (two-hour checkout, in-library use only) and for purchase, but students can refer to help guides like this for almost any question about APA Style. The American Psychological Association also publishes the Concise Guide to APA Style, Seventh Edition specifically for students.

Why is APA Style so important?

If you don't use a citation style to document the sources you used to help write a research paper, you're in danger of plagiarism.

Even if you don't mean to plagiarize, not citing your sources correctly might make it look as though you're passing someone else's words or ideas off as your own. There are serious consequences for plagiarism at LSC-CyFair.

The best way to protect yourself from plagiarism is to get familiar with APA Style and use it consistently.

APA Format Exercise

Open and use this handy guide to help you prepare citations for each of your sources. There's a worksheet for each:

Reference source
Periodical source from an online database like ProQuest or Academic Search Complete
Web source

APA Format Exercise

Citing Images

Finding & Citing Images

Finding Flickr Creative Commons Images in Canvas
This guide will show you how to embed and cite Creative Commons images in Canvas.

Annotated Bibliography Example

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography: APA

Sample APA Paper

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): APA Sample Paper
APA style paper to help you format your own paper.

Printable Guide

Printable Guide [PDF version]

These are succinct, well-laid out guides that cover the most common citation situations and give examples of each.

Additional APA Sources

Additional Sources -providing more in-depth information and examples

Frequently Asked Questions about APA Style American Psychological Association (2010 ed.) Includes information about citing web sites, etc.

Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications) from Purdue OWL Have questions specifically about citing electronic resources? Look here!

In-text Citations for APA style (2010 ed.) Includes a table with information on how to do in-text citations for multiple authors.

Referencing Sources in APA Style: A Basic Introduction (Video -- covers how to do in-text citations)

APA Style Reference List: How to Reference Journal Articles (Video -- covers how to cite journal articles)

The Alvin Sherman Library Includes a collection of How Do I Cite? videos

The OWL at Purdue A great source for APA formatting and style, with examples.

Duke University Library Provides examples for all citation styles in Citing Sources Within Your Paper and Assembling a List of Works Cited.

Using a DOI vs. a URL in APA Style (2010 ed.) Shows when to use a DOI and when to use a URL in your APA citations.

Acknowledging, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources From the Writing Center at University of Wisconsin - Madison, this guide gives examples of successful and unsuccessful paraphrasing.

APA Tutorial

American Psychological Association (APA): The Basics of APA Style
This tutorial is designed for those who have no previous knowledge of APA Style®. It shows users how to structure and format their work, recommends ways to reduce bias in language, identifies how to avoid charges of plagiarism, shows how to cite references in text, and provides selected reference examples.

Cite Your Sources: APA Format